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NCERT Class 10 Social Science The Age of Industrialisation: Write in brief Solutions

Point-by-point answers for every question of Exercises: Write in brief in NCERT's Class 10 Social Science book, chapter “The Age of Industrialisation”, written by Shishya. Each question is in our own short words; open the NCERT chapter for the exact wording and figures.

1. Write in brief Q1(a)

   Explain why women workers in Britain attacked the Spinning Jenny.

   1. The Spinning Jenny was a machine that allowed one worker to spin several threads at once by turning a single wheel.
   2. This new technology increased the speed of the spinning process and reduced the demand for manual labour.
   3. Women workers feared that the machine would take away their jobs and cause unemployment.
   4. Because of this fear, they became hostile and attacked the machines to protect their livelihoods.

   Answer: Women attacked the Spinning Jenny because it reduced labour demand and threatened their employment.

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2. Write in brief Q1(b)

   Explain why, in the seventeenth century, merchants from European towns began employing peasants and artisans in the villages.

   1. Merchants could not expand production in towns because powerful urban trade guilds restricted new entrants and controlled prices.
   2. Peasants and artisans in villages needed extra income as common lands were enclosed and their small plots could not support entire families.
   3. Merchants offered advances to rural producers, allowing peasants to keep their land while supplementing their shrinking agricultural income.

   Answer: Merchants employed rural workers because urban guilds blocked town expansion and peasants needed supplementary income due to land enclosures.

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3. Write in brief Q1(c)

   Explain why the port of Surat declined by the end of the eighteenth century.

   1. European trading companies gained monopoly rights to trade after securing concessions from local courts.
   2. This shift caused exports from old ports like Surat to fall dramatically as trade moved to new ports like Bombay and Calcutta.
   3. The credit that financed earlier trade dried up, leading to the bankruptcy of local bankers and the decline of the port.

   Answer: Surat declined because European companies gained trade monopoly, causing exports to drop and local bankers to go bankrupt.

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4. Write in brief Q1(d)

   Explain why the East India Company appointed gomasthas to supervise weavers in India.

   1. The East India Company needed to ensure a regular supply of goods for export after establishing political power in Bengal and Carnatic.
   2. Gomasthas were appointed as agents to supervise weavers, manage the supply of raw materials, and collect finished goods.
   3. These officials replaced older supply merchants who had lived in villages and maintained close social relationships with the weavers.

   Answer: The Company appointed gomasthas to supervise weavers to secure a regular supply of textiles for export and manage production through agents.

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5. Write in brief Q2

   True or false: (a) at the end of the nineteenth century, 80 per cent of Europe's workforce was in the technologically advanced industrial sector (b) India dominated the international market for fine textiles until the eighteenth century (c) the American Civil War reduced cotton exports from India (d) the fly shuttle let handloom workers raise their productivity.

   1. (a) False: as late as the end of the nineteenth century, under 20 per cent of all workers were in technologically advanced industries.
   2. (b) True: before machine industries, silk and cotton goods from India dominated the international textile market.
   3. (c) False: when the American Civil War cut off cotton supplies from the US, Britain turned to India, and India's raw cotton exports rose.
   4. (d) True: looms with a fly shuttle increased productivity per worker and speeded up production.

   Answer: (a) false, (b) true, (c) false, (d) true

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6. Write in brief Q3

   What is meant by proto-industrialisation?

   1. Proto-industrialisation is the phase before factories, when there was already large-scale industrial production for an international market.
   2. Merchants from towns gave advances to peasants and artisans in the countryside, who produced cloth and other goods in their own homes for these merchants.
   3. This production was organised and controlled by merchants through a network of commercial exchanges, not inside factories.

   Answer: Proto-industrialisation is the early phase of industrialisation, before factories, when merchants got peasants and artisans in villages to produce on a large scale for international markets.

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