8th Annual SQP- A, of chapter Weavers, Iron Smelters and Factory Owners

 8th SQP  History 

 Weavers, Iron Smelters and Factory Owners 

 Set A - 20 Marks 

 Multiple Choice Questions 

Assertion: Indian cotton textiles became very popular in Europe

Reason: Indian cotton has lovely floral design with low quality and cheap prices
Options

a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.

b) Both A and R are true, but R is NOT the correct explanation of A.

c) A is true, but R is false.  

d) A is false, but R is true

c) A is true, but R is false.

Which of the following title is/are more suitable for Britian?
A. The Sun never set.
B. Workshop of the world

Options

a) Both A & B are suitable

b) Both A & B are not suitable

c) A suitable but B not 

d) B suitable but A not

a) Both A & B are suitable

Which of the following is the feature of Patola?

Options

a) It is a fine muslin on which decorative design are woven on a loom 

b) Has animal, abstract or geometric designs

c) Brightly colored printed scarf

d) All the above are the features of Patola

b) Has animal, abstract or geometric designs

Identify the one that is not True with respect to the weavers.

 Options

a) Weaving provided livelihood for many Indians 

b) Weaving skills were not passed on from one generation to another

c) Weavers often belonged to the communities that specialized in weaving.

d) he tanti weavers, julahas are some of the important weavers.

b) Weaving skills were not passed on from one generation to another

 Very short Answer Questions  

 Why were printed Indian cotton textiles popular in England? (2 marks)

Printed Indian cotton textiles were popular in England for their exquisite floral designs, fine texture and relative cheapness. 

 Explain Calico Act of 1720 (2 marks)

The Calico act of 1720 was the British government act which banned the use of chintz from India in England due to the popularity of Indian textiles in BritianThe protest began by the Calico printing Industry in Britian

 Short Answer Questions (Anyone) 

Write any three reasons for the decline of Indian textile in 19th Century. (3 Marks)

 

Stiff Competition:Producers of Indian textiles were not able to compete with British textiles due to advanced technology used by them.
Imposition of heavy tax:It became very difficult to export Indian textiles to England due to imposition of very heavy import duties.
Lost the market:Textiles made in England completely replaced Indian textiles in their traditional markets in Africa, America and Europe even in India too.

How were wootz steel ingots manufactured? (3 Marks) 

1. According to J. D. Verhoeven and A. Pendray Muse, wootz was the first high-quality steel made anywhere in the world. 
2. According to reports of travellers to the East, the Damascus swords were made by forging small cakes of steel that were manufactured in Southern India. 
3. This steel was called wootz steel.
4. Francis Buchanan, who toured Mysore in 1800, described how wootz steel was manufactured in smelting furnaces of Mysore. 
5. Small clay pots filled with a mixture of charcoal and iron were placed in the smelting furnaces. 
6. This mixture was allowed to melt in the furnaces at controlled temperatures. 
7. The molten mixture of charcoal and iron thus obtained was used to produce steel ingots.

 Long Answer Questions (Anyone)   

Explain the factors contribute to establishment of cotton textile mills in India? (5 Marks) 

1. In 1854 first cotton mill came up in Bombay.
2. Since the availability of cotton in western India is more
3. Bombay port had been exporting cotton to England and China since 19th century.
4. Many of the mills in Bombay established by Parsi and Gujarati Businessman.
5. Cotton mills were also established in other cities like Ahmedabad and Kanpur.
6. The First World War helped for the development of cotton factories.
7. The import of the British textiles had declined.
8. Indian factories were required to produce the cloth for the military.

How do the names of different textiles tell us about their histories?(5 Marks) 

By tracing the origins of the names of different textiles, one can find out a lot about their histories. Muslin—a word that refers to any finely woven textile. This word is a derivative of the city of Mosul (in present-day Iraq). It was here that the European traders first encountered fine cotton cloth from India, which was brought over from India by Arab merchants.
Calico—the general name for all cotton textiles. This word is derived from the word Calicut, a city on the coast of Kerala. When the Portuguese first came to India, they landed in Calicut, and the cotton textiles that they took along with them to Europe came to be called calico. 
Chintz, a printed cotton cloth, is a term that is derived from the Hindi word chhint a cloth with small and colourful flowery designs. 
Bandanna, which refers to any brightly coloured and printed scarf for the neck or head, is a term that leads one to the Hindi word for tying, that is, bandhna a variety of brightly coloured cloth produced through a method of tying and dying. 

 Case Based Questions 

Read the given passage and answer the following questions.

Until the mid-18th century, the export of textiles contributed the largest share to India's

foreign trade. In 1515, a Portuguese traveller wrote that the ships which sailed from Gujarat

and the Coromandel Coast to Malacca (now in Southwestern Malaysia) carried thirty different types of cloth. In the early 17th century, a French ship navigator Pyrard de Laval said that Indian fabrics clothed 'everyone from the Cape of Good Hope to China, from head to foot.' In the second half of the 17th century, the Dutch East India Company and the English East India Company were the major importers of Indian textiles. Infact, Indian textiles formed 83 per cent of the foreign trade of the English East India Company. In the beginning, Gujarat exported calicos of a cheap variety for the lower income group

of England. Later, the demand for Bengal muslins and Coromandel chintz, which was used

to weave the aristocratic wear, increased tremendously. According to an English observer,

'Almost everything that used to be made of wool or silk, relating either to dress of the women or the furniture of our houses was supplied by the Indian trade. In the pre-industrial times India cotton cloth was the largest manufactured trade item in the world and was paid for in Gold and Silver

Who were the major importers of Indian textiles in the second half of the 17th century? (2 Mark)

East India Company, the Dutch East India Company 

What were the type of clothes that was exported?  (1 Marks)

Calicos, Muslin, Chintz

How did cotton cloth was paid in pre-industrial times? (1 Mark)

 

Cotton cloth was paid for in Gold and Silver