NCERT Solutions for Class 8 History - Weavers, Iron Smelters and Factory Owners - 2

1. Textiles and 
2. Iron and Steel. 

Fig:Muslin.

Fig: Textile industry.

2. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, English made cotton textiles successfully outsets Indian goods from their traditional markets in Africa, America and Europe.

3. Thousands of weavers in India were now thrown out of employment. 

4. Bengal weavers were the worst hit. English and European companies stopped buying Indian goods and their agents no longer gave out advances to weavers to secure supplies. Distressed weavers wrote petitions to the government to help them. 

5. The textile factory industry in India faced many problems. It found it difficult to compete with the cheap textiles imported from Britain. 

6. In most countries, governments supported industrialization by imposing heavy duties on imports. This eliminated competition and protected infant industries. 

IRON SMELTERS 

Q 13. Why was the sword of Tipu Sultan very popular? 

1. Tipu Sultan ruled Mysore till 1799, fought four wars with the British and died fighting with his swords in his hand.Fig: Tipu Sultan.2. The swords had an incredibly hard and sharp edge that could easily rip through the opponent’s arm our. 

3. This quality of swords came from a special type of high carbon steel called wootz which was produced all over South India.Wootz steel when made into swords produces a very sharp edge with a flowering water pattern. 

• The iron smelting decline in the later years because the swords and amours making industry died with the conquest of India by the British and imports of iron and steel from England displaced the iron and steel produced by craft persons in India. 
• Production of wootz steel required a highly specialized technique of refining iron. But iron smelting in India was extremely common till the end of the nineteenth century. 
•  In most villages, furnaces fell into disuse and the amount of iron produced came down. 
• One reason was the new forest laws when the colonial government prevented people from entering the reserved forests, the iron smelters could not find wood for charcoal. They could not get iron ore. 
• Defying forest laws, they often entered the forests secretly and collected wood, but they could not sustain their occupation on this basis for long. 
• 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 smelter had to pay a very high tax to the forest department for every furnace they based. This reduced their income by the late 19th century iron and steel was being imported from Britain. Ironsmiths in India began using the imported iron to manufacture utensils and implements. This inevitably lowered the demand for iron produced by local smelter.Fig: Iron and steel industry.Q 15. What is the full form of TISCO and when was it setup?