🟢 I. Introduction to Industrialization
🔵 Industrialization refers to the process where industries were developed on a large scale with the use of machines, starting first in Britain in the 18th century.
🔵 The First Industrial Revolution began around 1750 and drastically changed the world economically, socially, and politically.
🔵 While commonly associated with modern factory production, the beginnings of industrialization were deeply rooted in pre-industrial systems of production.
🟣 Pre-Industrial World – Before Factories
🟡 Before the Industrial Revolution, handmade goods dominated the market.
🟡 In Britain, most goods like textiles, metals, and wooden items were produced in rural households.
🟡 This system is often referred to as the proto-industrialization phase.
🟠 Proto-industrialization:
- 🌾 Took place before factory-based industrial production.
- 👨👩👧👦 Merchants supplied raw material to rural families who made finished goods.
- 🧵 This was domestic system production – work done at home, not in factories.
- 📦 Goods were later sold in local or foreign markets by trading houses.
🔵 Rise of Factories in England
🔴 First factories appeared in the 1730s, but the real boom happened after 1780.
🔴 Factories were set up to bring together workers and machines under one roof.
🔴 Cotton textile industry led this change due to growing global demand.
🟢 Key inventions that accelerated factory production:
- ⚙️ Spinning Jenny (by James Hargreaves, 1764): Increased yarn production.
- ⚙️ Steam Engine (perfected by James Watt): Powered machines and revolutionized transport.
- ⚙️ Power Loom (1785): Mechanized the process of weaving cloth.
🟡 Why cotton was important:
- 🌍 Demand for Indian cotton textiles in Europe was high.
- 🧼 Britain imported raw cotton from colonies like India and the USA.
- 🧵 Cotton became central to Britain’s industrial economy.
🟣 Expansion of Industrial Production
🟠 The 19th century witnessed:
- 🏗️ Rapid construction of factories
- 👨🏭 Increase in wage labor
- 🚂 Expansion of railways and steamships
- 📈 Growth in production and urbanization
🔴 However, factory-based production didn’t completely replace hand-made goods.
🔴 Until the late 19th century, a significant amount of goods were still handmade, especially for luxury markets.
🔴 Many skilled artisans survived by serving niche demands for custom and high-quality work.
🟢 Life of the Workers
🟣 Factory work changed the lives of workers:
- 🔨 Rigid discipline and long hours in factories
- 🍞 Low and unstable wages
- 👶 Use of child labor
- 🏠 Poor housing in overcrowded cities
🟡 Workers’ conditions:
- 👷♂️ Job security was poor – hiring was seasonal.
- 👕 Clothing industry, for example, employed more people in winter and laid them off in summer.
- 🧺 Many continued working from home to supplement their income.
🟠 Protests and strikes were common due to exploitation.
🟠 Workers often demanded:
- Fair wages
- Better hours
- Safe working conditions
🔴 Industrialization in Colonies – India
🟡 Britain’s industrialization had direct effects on its colonies like India.
🟡 Indian textiles, once highly demanded worldwide, began to decline under British rule.
🟣 How British policies ruined Indian industry:
- 🚫 Import restrictions on Indian goods in Britain.
- 🧾 Heavy duties and taxes on Indian artisans.
- 📥 Free entry for British machine-made goods in India.
- 🧶 Indian weavers lost their markets both in India and abroad.
🟢 The decline of Indian textiles:
- 📉 Bengal and Surat lost their importance.
- 🚫 Skilled weavers had to shift to agriculture or become laborers.
- 💔 Some even cut their own thumbs (metaphorically) due to misery.
🟠 How Did Indian Industrialization Begin Again?
🔵 From the mid-19th century, some Indian entrepreneurs began to rise.
🔵 They established modern industries using local capital and resources.
🟡 Famous Indian industrialists:
- 🏢 Dwarkanath Tagore – involved in trading with China and Britain.
- 🏢 Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy – Parsi businessman in Bombay.
- 🏭 Dinshaw Petit – among the pioneers of cotton mills.
- 🏭 J.N. Tata – started Empress Mills in Nagpur (1877).
🟣 Growth of Indian industries:
- 👕 First cotton mill – Bombay, 1854
- 🧶 First jute mill – Rishra, near Calcutta, 1855
- ⛓️ By early 20th century, iron and steel industries emerged – Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO) in 1907
🟢 Role of Indian Traders and Financiers
🟠 Before British dominance, Indian merchants like Shikaripuri Shroffs and Nattukottai Chettiars were globally connected.
🟠 They traded across Central Asia, East Africa, and Southeast Asia.
🟠 But during colonial rule, they were pushed aside in favor of British business houses.
🔵 Many Indian entrepreneurs worked as middlemen, brokers, and agents for British firms.
🔵 Some reinvested profits to start their own mills and workshops.
🔴 Swadeshi Movement and Industrial Growth
🟢 Partition of Bengal (1905) led to widespread Swadeshi movement.
🟢 The call was to:
- 🚫 Boycott foreign goods
- 🧵 Promote Indian industries
- 💰 Invest in indigenous products and entrepreneurship
🟣 This gave a strong push to Indian mills.
🟣 Demand for Indian textiles, soaps, matchsticks, and other goods rose sharply.
🟡 But challenges remained:
- 💼 British firms had better marketing
- 💷 Access to cheap capital and technology
- 🧾 Indian products still had limited reach outside India
🟣 Industrial Workers in India
🟠 Indian workers came from villages, mostly poor peasants.
🟠 They maintained ties with rural families – worked seasonally in cities, and returned for farming.
🟠 The labor market was crowded, making wages low and jobs insecure.
🟡 Worker composition:
- 👷♂️ Men, women, and children
- 🧵 Worked in textile, jute, matchstick, and leather industries
- 💡 Many unskilled workers were paid less and worked long hours
🔵 Technology and Its Adoption in India
🟢 India lagged in adopting advanced industrial technologies.
🟢 Many Indian factories used old machines bought from Europe.
🟢 Labor-intensive techniques were common due to abundance of cheap labor.
🟣 Handicraft industries also adapted and survived:
- 🧣 Benares silk, Lucknow chikan, Kashmir wool
- 🎨 Focused on high-end, artistic, and cultural products
🟢 Timeline Summary – Key Events
🟢 1730s – First factories in Britain
🟢 1764 – Spinning Jenny invented
🟢 1854 – First cotton mill in Bombay
🟢 1905 – Swadeshi Movement
🟢 1907 – Establishment of TISCO
🟢 1947 – India becomes independent
🟡 Key Terms & Concepts
🟣 Industrialization – Process of using machines in production
🟣 Proto-industrialization – Pre-factory system with home-based work
🟣 Spinning Jenny – Device to spin yarn faster
🟣 Swadeshi – Self-reliance and boycott of foreign goods
🟣 TISCO – Tata Iron and Steel Company, 1907
🟠 Conclusion
🌍 The Age of Industrialization reshaped global economies, societies, and power structures.
🏭 While Britain led the revolution, its effects reached distant colonies like India.
📉 India initially suffered due to British policies, but slowly reclaimed its industrial strength through local entrepreneurship, nationalism, and labor reforms.
📘 This chapter teaches us that industrialization is not just a technological change, but a social and political transformation of great scale.