Weavers, Iron Smelters and Factory Owners Extra Questions Chapter 6 Class 8 History
Chapter 6 Weavers, Iron Smelters and Factory Owners Chapter Class 8 History Extra Questions that is very helpful in passing exams with flying colours and grasping the concepts properly. Extra Questions for Class 8 will give good experience and provide opportunities to learn new things.
Chapter 6 Weavers, Iron Smelters and Factory Owners Very Short Answer Questions (VSAQs):
1. Name the country where Patola was highly valued?
Answer
Indonesia.
2. What was Dacca famous for in the eighteenth century?
Answer
Mulmul and jamdani weaving.
3. During which period patola weaving was famous?
Answer
It was famous during the mid-19th century.
4. Name two places where chintz were produced during the mid-19th century.
Answer
Masulipatnam and Andhra Pradesh.
5. Name the origin of the word calico.
Answer
Calicut.
6. Give reasons why Indian textiles were renowned all over the world.
Answer
Their fine quality and beautiful craftsmanship made them renowned all over the world.
7. Why were bellows used?
Answer
Bellows were used to keep the charcoal burning.
8. How did Indian cotton factories prove to be helpful during the First World War?
Answer
They began to produce cloth for military supplies.
9. What became a symbol of nationalism?
Answer
Khadi became a symbol of nationalism.
10. How did European trading companies purchase cotton and silk textiles in India?
Answer
European trading companies purchased cotton and silk textiles in India by importing silver.
11. What were piece goods?
Answer
Piece goods were usually woven cloth pieces that were 20 yards long and 1 yard wide.
12. Why did the British government enact the Calico Art?
Answer
The British government enacted the Calico Act to ban the use of printed cotton textiles i.e., chintz.
13. Who were Agarias?
Answer
The Agarias are a community of iron smelters living in villages in Central India.
14. What is spinning jenny?
Answer
Spinning jenny is a machine by which a single worker could operate several spindles on to which thread was spun.
15. What were the furnaces made of?
Answer
The furnaces were made of clay and sun-dried bricks.
16. How did Indian cotton factories prove to be helpful during the First World War?
Answer
They began to produce cloth for military supplies.
Chapter 6 Weavers, Iron Smelters and Factory Owners Short Answer Questions (SAQs):
1. Who were the weavers? Mention the names of the communities famous for weaving.
Answer
Weavers belonged to communities that specialised in weaving. Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Their skills were passed on from one generation to the next. Some of the communities famous for weaving are the tanti weavers of Bengal, the julahas or momin weavers of north India, sale and kaikollar and devangs of south India.
2. Give a description of the four regions where textile production was concentrated in the early 19th century.
Answer
Textile production was concentrated in the following four regions in the early 19th century:
• Bengal was one of the most important centres. Located along the numerous rivers in the delta, the production centres in Bengal could easily transport goods to distant places.
• Dacca in Eastern Bengal, present- day Bangladesh, was the foremost textile centre in the 18th century. It was famous for its mulmut and jamdani weaving.
• Textile production was concentrated along the Coromandal coast stretching from Madras to nothem Andhra Pradesh.
• On the western coast there were important weaving centres in Gujarat.
3. How did the inventions of Spinning Jenny and Steam Engine revolutionise cotton textile weaving in England?
Answer
Textile industries had just emerged in England in the early 18th century. So, it was difficult for the English producers to compete with Indian textiles. This competition with Indian textiles led to a search for technological innovation in England. In 1764, the Spinning Jenny was invented by John Kaye which increased the productivity of the traditional spindles. Then came the steam engine. It was invented by Richard Arkwright in 1786. These two inventions revolutionised cotton textile weaving in England. Cloth could now be woven in immense quantities and cheaply too.
4. What was Wootz Steel? How was it produced?
Answer
Wootz was a special type of high carbon steel. It was produced all over south India.
• Wootz steel when made into swords produced a very sharp edge with a flowing water pattern. This pattern came from very small carbon crystal embedded in the iron.
• Wootz steel was produced in many hundreds of smelting furnaces in Mysore. In these furnaces, iron was mixed with charcoal and put inside small clay pots. Through an intricate control of temperatures the smelters produced steel ignots that were used for sword making not just India but in West and Central Asia too.
5. Give a brief description of growth of cotton mills in India.
Answer
The first cotton mill in India was set up as a spinning mill in Bombay in 1854. By 1900, over 84 mills started operating in Bombay.
Mills were set up in other cities too. The first mill in Ahmedabad was started in 1861. A year later a mill was established in Kanpur, in the United Provinces. Growth of cotton mills led to a demand for labour. As a result, thousands of poor peasants, artisans and agricultural labourers moved to cities to work in the mills.
6. Describe the process of cloth making.
Answer
The process of cloth making consists of two stages:
• The first stage of production was spinning, Le. work done mostly by women. The charkha and the takli were household spinning instruments. The thread was spun on the charkha and rolled on the takli
• When the spinning was over the thread was woven into cloth by the weaver.
In most communities weaving was a task done by men. For coloured textiles, the thread was dyed by the dyer, called rangrez. For painted cloth the weavers needed the help of specialist block printers called chhipigars.
7. What problems did the Indian textile industry face in the first few decades of its existence? What happened after that?
Answer
The textile factory industry in Indian faced several problems in the first few decades of its existence. It found it difficult to compete with the cheap textiles imported from Britain. In most countries, governments supported industrialisation by imposing heavy duties on import. This eliminated competition and protected infant industries. The colonial government of India usually refused such protection to local industries. However, cotton factory production in India increased suddenly during the First World War. This was the period when textile imports from Britain declined and Indian factories were called upon to produce cloth for military supplies.
8. In what way did the development of cotton industries in Britain affect textile producers in India?
Answer
Indian textiles were famous all over the world for their fine quality and exquisite craftsmanship. But the development of cotton industries in Britain marred their fame. Textile producers in India got affected due to this in the following ways:
• Indian textiles now had to compete with British textiles in the European and American markets.
• Exporting textiles to England also became increasingly difficult since very high duties were imposed on Indian textiles imported into Britain. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, English made cotton textiles successfully ousted Indian goods from their traditional markets in Africa, America and Europe.
Chapter 6 Weavers, Iron Smelters and Factory Owners Long Answer Questions (LAQs):
1. How did Iron and Steel factories come up in India?
Answer
Jamsetji Tata had decided to spend a large part of his fortune to build a big iron and steel industry in India. But this could not be done without identifying the sources of fine quality iron ore. For this reason his son, Dorabji Tata along with Charles Weld, an American geologist, began travelling in Chhattisgarh in search of iron ore deposits. It was the year 1904.One day, after travelling for many hours in the forests, Weld and Dorabji came upon a small village where they met the Agarias, who were carrying basket loads of iron ore. When asked where they had found the iron ore, the Agarias pointed to hill in the distance, Weld and Dorabji rushed to the hill. On exploring the hill the geologist declared that they had at last found what they had been looking for.
But there was a problem. The region was dry and the Tatas had to search for a more suitable place to set up their factory.
A few years later a large area of forest was cleared on the banks of the river Subarnarekha to set up the factory and an industrial township, i.e. Jamshedpur. Here, there was water near iron ore deposits. The Tata Iron and Steel Company, popularly known as TISCO began producing steel in 1912.
2. Describe how the Indian iton smelting industry declined in the nineteenth century.
Answer
There were several reasons behind this:
• The new forest laws introduced by the colonial government in India prevented people from entering the reserved forests. This created problems for the iron smelters. It became difficult for them to find wood for charcoal and iron ore. As a result, many gave up their craft and looked for other means of livelihood.
• In some areas the government did grant access to the forest. But the iron smelters had to pay a very high tax to the forest department for every furnace they used. This reduced their income.
• By the late nineteenth century iron and steel was being imported from Britain. Ironsmiths in India began using the imported iron to manufacture utensils and implements. This lowered the demand for iron produced by local smelters.
• By the early twentieth century, the artisans producing iron and steel faced a new competition that came up with the emergence of iron and steel industries in India.