Before the factory: proto-industrialisation
Industrialisation means making goods in factories with machines. But even before factories, there was large-scale production for international markets. This is called proto-industrialisation (proto = first or early form).
In 17th- and 18th-century England, merchants moved to the countryside because in towns powerful guilds (associations of producers) controlled trade, prices and new entry. Merchants gave money and raw material to peasants and artisans in villages, who produced at home. Poor peasants liked this: they could stay on their small farms and earn extra.
One cloth could pass through many hands: a stapler bought wool by its fibres, a carder combed it, spinners spun it, weavers wove it, a fuller gathered cloth by pleating, and dyers coloured it. It was finished in London before export. The merchant controlled it all; this merchant-controlled household production was the base of proto-industry.
The coming up of the factory
The earliest factories in England came up by the 1730s, but grew fast only in the late 18th century. Cotton was the symbol of the new era: raw cotton imports rose from about 2.5 million pounds in 1760 to 22 million pounds in 1787. Inventions made each step faster (carding, twisting, spinning, rolling). Richard Arkwright created the cotton mill, bringing all steps under one roof and under supervision.
The pace of industrial change
- Cotton and metals (iron and steel) led the change; after 1840 railways made iron and steel boom.
- New industries could not quickly replace traditional ones. Even in 1840s Britain, most workers were in traditional industries.
- Change was slow even in "traditional" work: small innovations made the difference.
- New technology spread slowly. James Watt improved the steam engine (patented 1781) with Matthew Boulton, but industrialists were slow to buy costly engines. Even by 1871 hand power and water power were common.
Hand labour and steam power
In Victorian Britain there was no shortage of workers. Poor peasants came to cities looking for jobs, so wages were low. Industrialists did not want costly machines when cheap hand labour was available.
- Many industries were seasonal (gas works, breweries, book-binding, ship repair), so owners hired hands for the season instead of buying machines.
- Many goods needed hand-skill: 500 kinds of hammers and 45 kinds of axes were made in mid-19th-century Britain.
- The upper classes preferred hand-made goods as a sign of refinement; machine goods were for export to colonies.
Life of the workers
Getting a job depended on friends and relatives. Many waited weeks, sleeping under bridges or in night shelters. Seasonal work meant long periods without jobs. Real wages rose a little in the early 19th century, but in bad years about 10% of city people were very poor. When the spinning jenny (by James Hargreaves, 1764) came, women who lived by hand spinning attacked the machines because they feared losing work. After the 1840s building work (roads, railways, stations) created more jobs.
Industrialisation in the colonies
The age of Indian textiles
Before machine industry, Indian silk and cotton goods ruled world markets. Coarse cotton was made in many countries, but fine Indian cloth was in demand everywhere. Armenian and Persian merchants took goods from Punjab to Afghanistan and Central Asia; ports like Surat (Gujarat), Masulipatam (Coromandel) and Hoogly (Bengal) traded with the Gulf, Red Sea and South-east Asia. By the 1750s this network, controlled by Indian merchants, was breaking down as European companies gained power.
What happened to weavers
After the East India Company won political power in 1760s–70s, it wanted to control weavers directly. It appointed paid servants called gomasthas to supervise weavers, collect cloth and check quality. Weavers were given loans (advances) and then had to sell only to the Company at low prices. Many gomasthas were outsiders who punished weavers. Weavers in Carnatic and Bengal left villages or revolted.
Manchester comes to India
By the early 1800s, Indian textile exports fell sharply (cotton piece-goods from about 33% of exports around 1811–12 to about 3% by 1850–51). British manufacturers pushed the government to tax imports into Britain and to sell their cloth in India. Weavers faced two problems: their export market collapsed and cheap Manchester cloth took over the home market. Raw cotton was sent to Britain, so good cotton became costly for weavers. In the 1860s the American Civil War made cotton even costlier. Later, Indian factories too competed with them.
Factories come up in India
The first cotton mill in Bombay came up in 1854; by 1862 four mills were at work. The first jute mill came up in Bengal in 1855. In the 1860s the Elgin Mill started in Kanpur, and the first cotton mill of Ahmedabad was set up; by 1874 Madras had its first spinning and weaving mill.
The early entrepreneurs
Many made money in the China trade (opium to China, tea to England). Dwarkanath Tagore in Bengal set up joint-stock companies in the 1830s–40s. In Bombay, Parsis like Dinshaw Petit and Jamsetjee Nusserwanjee Tata built industrial empires; Tata set up the iron and steel works in Jamshedpur (1912). Seth Hukumchand, a Marwari, set up the first Indian jute mill in Calcutta (1917). But European managing agencies (Bird Heiglers, Andrew Yule, Jardine Skinner) controlled much of industry.
Where did workers come from?
Most came from nearby districts; in Bombay many came from Ratnagiri. Getting a job was hard. Industrialists hired a jobber, usually an old trusted worker, who brought people from his village, helped them settle, and later demanded money and gifts and controlled their lives.
Peculiarities of industrial growth
Early Indian mills made coarse yarn (for export to China) rather than cloth. After the Swadeshi movement (from 1905) nationalists pushed people to boycott foreign cloth. During the First World War, British mills were busy with war goods, so Indian mills supplied the home market and the army; Manchester never got back its old place in India. Small-scale industry also grew: handloom cloth production rose in the 20th century thanks to the fly shuttle (a device that moves the thread across the loom with a pull), which increased output per worker.
The market for goods
New goods needed buyers. Producers used advertisements to make products look necessary and desirable.
- Labels: Manchester cloth bundles carried a label "MADE IN MANCHESTER" to show quality. Labels also had images of Indian gods and goddesses (Krishna, Saraswati) so the product seemed familiar and blessed.
- Calendars: printed with pictures of gods, kings or important people, they hung in homes, shops and tea stalls all year, so even people who could not read saw the brand daily.
- Nationalist messages: Indian makers printed slogans like "If you care for the nation, buy products that Indians produce". Advertising became a vehicle of the swadeshi message.
So, with industry came a new way of selling: images and ideas, not only goods.
Try it yourself
Take a pencil and a thread. Twist the thread with your fingers for 30 seconds: that is one spindle. Now imagine 8 or 16 pencils turning at once with one wheel: that is the spinning jenny. In the 3D free play, predict how many threads per hour 12 spindles give, then move the slider to check. Also design a label for a cloth made in your town.
Exam tips
This chapter is for periodic assessment. Common questions: meaning of proto-industrialisation, why industrialists preferred hand labour, role of gomasthas and jobbers, why Indian weavers suffered, how World War I helped Indian industry, and the role of advertisements. Explain each with a reason.
Key formulas and definitions
- Proto-industrialisation = merchant-controlled production in village homes, before factories
- Spinning jenny (1764, Hargreaves): 1 wheel → many spindles
- Steam engine improved by James Watt (patent 1781), sold with Matthew Boulton
- Gomastha = paid Company agent who controlled weavers; Jobber = recruiter of mill workers
- First Bombay cotton mill 1854; first jute mill in Bengal 1855
Worked examples
1. Why did merchants in 17th-century England turn to the countryside?
In towns, guilds controlled production, prices and who could enter a trade, so merchants could not expand there. In villages, poor peasants and artisans were ready to work at home for extra income.
2. Why did some industrialists in 19th-century Europe prefer hand labour to machines?
1) Labour was cheap and plentiful. 2) Machines were costly and hard to repair. 3) Seasonal work needed workers only part of the year. 4) Many goods needed hand-skill, and upper classes preferred hand-made goods.
3. How did the East India Company control Indian weavers?
It appointed gomasthas to supervise weavers and collect cloth; it gave advances so weavers had to sell only to the Company at fixed low prices; and it stopped other traders from buying from them.
4. How did the First World War help Indian industry?
British mills were busy making war goods, so imports of Manchester cloth fell. Indian mills now supplied the home market and army goods (uniforms, jute bags, tents). Manchester never regained its old hold in India.
Common mistakes
- Thinking factories replaced hand work at once. Change was slow; hand labour remained common for a long time.
- Mixing up gomastha (Company agent over weavers) and jobber (recruiter of mill workers).
- Writing that the first Bombay cotton mill was in 1917. It was 1854; 1917 is Seth Hukumchand's jute mill in Calcutta.
- Thinking adverts only described products. They also used images and national feeling to make people want them.