Proto Industrialisation
The
period of industrialization before the first factories came up in Europe is
termed as proto-industrialization. This period was marked by merchants from
towns getting products made in villages.
Reasons
for focus of merchants on villages: There were powerful trade and craft guilds
in urban areas. These associations controlled competition and prices and
prevented entry of a new player in the market. Because of them, it was
difficult for new merchants to set business in towns.
Features
of proto-industrialization in Britain:
(a)
The merchants supplied money to the peasants in the countryside. They motivated
them to produce products for an international market.
Land
was becoming scarce in villages. Small plots of land were not enough to meet
the need of a growing population. Peasants were looking for some additional
sources of income.
The
proto-industrial system was a network of commercial exchanges. It was
controlled by merchants. Goods were produced by peasants who worked within
their family farms and not in factories. The finished product passed through
several stages and reached the markets of London. From London, the products
were supplied to the international market.
The
Coming Up Of Factory
The
earliest factories in England came up in the 1730s. By late 18th century, there
were numerous factories dotting the landscape of England. In 1760 Britain was
importing 2.5 million pounds of raw cotton. This quantity increased to 22
million pounds by 1787.
Benefits
of factories: The factories increased efficiency of workers. Because of new
machines a worker could produce better products in much bigger quantities.
Cotton textiles were the main area in which industrialization happened.
Managing and supervising the labour was much easier in factories than it was in
the countryside.
The
pace of Industrial Change
Cotton
and metals were the most dynamic industries in Britain. During the first phase
of industrialization (upto 1840s), cotton was the leading sector. The iron and
steel industries grew rapidly with the expansion of railways. The railways
expanded in England from the 1840s and in the colonies from 1860s. By 1873, the
export of iron and steel from Britain was valued at about 77 million pounds.
This was double the value of cotton export.
At
the end of the nineteenth century, less than 20% of total workforce was
employed in technologically advanced industrial sectors. This shows that the
traditional industry could not be displaced by the new industries.
The
cotton or metal industries could not set the change of pace in the traditional
industries. But the traditional industries experienced many changes which were
brought by small and apparently ordinary innovations. Food processing,
building, pottery, glasswork, tanning, furniture making and production of implements
were such industries.
The
new technology took a long time to spread across the industrial landscape. High
cost of machines and costly repair scared the merchants and industrialists. The
new machines were not as effective as claimed by their inventors and
manufacturers.
Historians
acknowledge the fact that the typical worker in the mid-nineteenth century was
not a machine operator but the traditional craftsperson and labourer.
Hand
Labour and Steam Power:
During this period, there was no shortage of human
labour. Because of good supply of workers, there was no problem of labour
shortage or high wages. As a result, the merchants and industrialists preferred
to manage with human labour rather than investing in costly machines.
Machine-made
goods were standardized and could not match the high quality finish of
hand-made goods. The people from the upper classes preferred things produced by
hand.
The
situation was different in nineteenth century America. There was shortage of
labour in America and hence mechanization was the only way out in that part of
the world.
Life
of Workers
There
was large scale migration from countryside to cities in search of jobs. Finding
a job depended on existing network of friendship and kin relations. People
without existing social connections in the cities found it difficult to find a
job. Many people had to wait for long periods before they could get a job. Such
people often had to spend nights on bridges or in night shelters. Some private
individuals set up Night Refuges. The Poor Law authorities maintained Casual
Wards for such people.
Many
jobs were seasonal in nature. Once a busy season was over, the poor were once
again on the streets. While some people returned to the countryside, many
stayed back to look for some odd jobs.
There
was some increase in the wages in the early nineteenth century. It is difficult
to arrive at figures from various trades and fluctuations which happened from
year to year. The period of employment was also critical in determining the
quality of life of a worker. During the best of the times till the
mid-nineteenth century, about 10% of urban population was extremely poor.
During the periods of economic slump, the unemployment increased anything
between 35 and 75%.
Workers
often turned hostile to new technology because of fear of unemployment. For
example; when Spinning Jenny was introduced, women began to attack the new
machines because they survived on hand spinning.
After
the 1840s, construction activity increased in the cities. This opened greater
employment opportunities. The number of workers in the transport industries
doubled in the 1840s, and doubled again in the subsequent 30 years.
The
Age of Indian Textiles
The
East India Company had consolidated its business by the mid-eighteenth century.
The earlier centres of trade; like Surat and Hooghly; declined during this
period. The new centres; like Calcutta and Bombay emerged.
Once
the East India Company established political power, it began to assert its
monopoly right to trade.
The
Company tried to eliminate the existing traders and brokers who were connected
with the cloth trade. It tried to establish a more direct control on the
weavers. A paid servant; called gomastha was appointed to supervise weavers,
collect supplies, and examine the quality of cloth.
The
Company prevented weavers from dealing with other buyers. This was done through
the system of advances. Under this system, the weavers were given loans to
purchase raw materials. Once a weaver took the advance, he could not sell his
produce to any other trader.
The
new system of advances created many problems for the weavers. Earlier, they
used to grow some crops on their land which took care of their family needs.
Now, they had not time for cultivation and they had to lease out their land.
Unlike
the traditional merchants, the gomastha was an outsider who had no social links
with the villages. He used to visit with sepoys and peons and punished weavers
who could not meet the deadline. The gomastha behaved arrogantly. There were
reports of clashes between weavers and gomasthas in many villages.
The
system of advances resulted in many weavers falling in debt trap. In many
places in Carnatic and Bengal, weavers deserted villages and migrated to other
villages to set up looms. Many weavers began to refuse loans, closed down their
workshops and took to farming.
Manchester
comes to India
By
the beginning of the nineteenth century; a long decline of textiles exports
from India initiated. In 1811 ? 12 piece-goods accounted for 33% of India?s
exports but it declined to less than 3% by 1850-51.
Because
of pressure from the British manufacturers, the government imposed import
duties so that the goods manufactured in Britain could sell in England. They
also pressurized the East India Company to sell British manufactured goods in
Indian markets. At the end of the eighteenth century, there had been negligible
import of cotton piece-goods in India. But by 1850 cotton piece-goods
constituted over 31% of the value of Indian imports. By 1870s, the value
increased to over 70%.
The
machine-made cotton was cheaper than hand-made cotton piece-goods in India. The
weavers thus lost a huge market share to imports from Britain. By 1850s, most
of the cotton producing centres in India faced a steep decline.
The
Civil War broke out in the US in 1860s. Due to that, the cotton supply from the
US to Britain was cut off. Britain turned began to source cotton from India.
This led to a huge shortage of raw cotton for weavers in India.
By
the end of the nineteenth century, cotton factories began to come up in India
as well. This was the final blow for traditional cotton textiles industry in
India.
Factories
Come Up
The
first cotton mill in Bombay came up in 1854 and it went into production two
years later. By 1862 four mills were in operation. Jute mills also came up in
Bengal around the same time. The Elgin Mill was started in Kanpur in the 1860s.
In Ahmadabad, the first cotton mill was set up in the same period. By 1874, the
first cotton mill of Madras began production.
The
Early Entrepreneurs
The
history of many business groups goes back to trade with China. From the late
eighteenth century, the British in India began to export opium to China and
import tea from there. Many Indians took active participation in this trade by
providing finance, procuring supplies and shipping consignments. Once these
businessmen earned enough, they dreamt of developing industrial enterprises in
India.
Dwarknanath
Tagore was among the pioneers to begin industries in the 1830s and 1840s.
Tagore?s enterprise sank during the business crises of the 1840s. But in the
later nineteenth century, many businessmen became successful industrialists. In
Bombay, Parsis like Dinshaw Petit and Jamsetjee Nusserwanjee Tata went on to
build huge industrial empires. Seth Hukumchand; a Marwari businessman; set up
the first Indian jute mill in Calcutta in 1917. The Birla Group was similarly
started by successful traders from China.
Capital
was also accumulated through other trade networks; like Burma, the Middle East
and Africa.
There
was a virtual stranglehold of the British players on business in India which
leaved little scope for growth of Indian merchants. Till the First World War,
European Managing Agencies controlled a large sector of Indian industries.
Where
Did the Workers Come from?
In
most of the industrial regions workers came from the surrounding districts.
Most of the workers were migrants from neighbouring villages. They maintained
contact with their rural homeland; by returning to their villages during
harvests and festivals.
After
some passage of time, workers began to migrate greater distances in search of
work. For example; people from the United Provinces began to migrate to Bombay
and Calcutta.
Getting
a job was not easy. Industrialists usually employed a jobber to hire new
people. The jobber was usually an old and trusted worker. The jobber usually
preferred people from his own village. He helped them settle in the city and
provided financial help during crisis. The jobber thus became an influential
person. He began to demand money and gifts for his favour and began to control
the lives of workers.
The
Peculiarities of Industrial Growth
European
Managing Agencies were interested in certain kinds of products. They focused on
tea and coffee plantations, mining, indigo and jute. These products were mainly
required for export and were not meant for sale in India.
The
Indian businessmen avoided competing with Manchester goods in the Indian
market. For example; they produced coarse cotton yarn which was used by
handloom weavers or exported to China.
By
the first decade of the twentieth century, various changes affected the pattern
of industrialization. This was the time, the swadeshi movement was gathering
momentum. Industrial groups organized themselves for collective bargaining with
the government. They pressurized the government to increase tariff protection
and grant other concessions. This was the period when the export of Indian yarn
to China declined. This was because the produce from Chinese and Japanese mills
flooded the Chinese market. The Indian manufacturers began to shift from yarn
to cloth production. Between 1900 and 1912, the cotton piece-goods production
doubled in India.
Industrial
growth was slow till the First World War. The War changed the situation. The
British mills became busy in meeting the needs of the army. This resulted in
decline of imports to India. There was a vast home market to be catered by the
Indian mills. The Indian mills were also asked to supply goods for the British
army. This created a boom in industrial activities.
After
the war, Manchester could never recapture its lost position in the Indian
market. The British industry was no longer in a position to compete with the
US, Germany and Japan.
Small
Scale Industries Predominate
In
spite of industrial growth, large industries formed only a small segment of the
economy. About 67% of the large industries were located in Bengal and Bombay.
Small-scale production continued to prevail in the rest of the country. Only a
small portion of the industrial workforce worked in registered factories. This
share was just 5% in 1911 and 10% in 1931.
The
handicrafts expanded in the twentieth century. The handicrafts people adopted
new technology. For example; weavers started the use of fly shuttle in their
looms. By 1941, more than 35% of handlooms in India were fitted with fly
shuttles. The percentage was 70 to 80 in major textile hubs; like Travancore,
Madras, Mysore, Cochin and Bengal. Many other small innovations helped in
improving productivity in the handloom sector.
Market
for Goods
The
manufacturers practiced various ways to lure new customers. Advertisement is
one of the various ways to attract new customers.
The
producers from Manchester labeled their products to show the place of
manufacture. The label ?Made in Manchester? was considered to be the sign of
good quality. The labels also carried beautiful illustrations. The
illustrations often carried the images of Indian gods and goddesses. This was a
good attempt to develop a local connect with the people.
By
the late nineteenth century, manufacturers began distributing calendars to popularize
their products. A calendar has a longer shelf life than newspaper or magazines.
It works as a constant brand reminder throughout a year.
The
Indian manufacturers often highlighted nationalist messages along with their
advertisement; in an attempt to develop a better connect with the potential
customers.
