Page 36 - SST Class 08

and cities, especially the places where from raw
materials could be transported to the shipping
centres. The first four cities to be connected by the
telegraph were Calcutta (now Kolkata, in West
Bengal), Peshawar (now in Pakistan), Bombay
(Mumbai) and Madras (now Chennai). Starting
from 1852, over 4,000 mile long cable was laid.
These two steps were revolutionary.
F ind Outind Out
Find out about the history of any handicraft around
the area you live.
Quiz Time
Fill in the blanks :
1. There were a large number of ____________
and ____________ in India.
2. The British ships carried finished goods from
____________ and raw materials from
____________ . Now India competes in a number of industries
3. The ____________ goods were cheaper in price
and finer in quality.
4. The arrival of the British resulted in the decline
of Indian ____________ and ____________ .
GROWTH OF INDUSTRY IN TWENTIETH CENTURY
The arrival of the British resulted in the decline of
old industries in India, but the Indians had to
make effort to compete with the British industry
for their own survival. So, effort was made during
the later half of the nineteenth and early twentieth
century to industrialise India. When the national
movement started to gain ground from 1885, the
British government was pressurised to start some
industries in India. So, the Imperial Department of
Commerce and Industries was established in
1905. Also, the Swadeshi Movement awoke the
Indians towards the need of industrial
development of India. A fine opportunity was
provided to the Indians in the First World War
(1914-18), because shipping became difficult, so
the British were forced to start some industries in
India so that they could get some finished goods
from here. As a result, some British capitalists and
Contemporary Social Science-8
36
industrialists took initiative and established some
industries in the field of tea and coffee plantations,
textile mills and mining. These British people
were assisted by the British government too.
Despite unfavourable conditions, the Indian
industries displayed some courage to compete
with the British and other European industries,
chiefly in textiles, jute, coal mining, iron and steel
and plantations. Gradually, industries started to be
organised on modern lines in the later half of the
nineteenth century. Thus, the proportion of
manufactured exports to total exports of India rose
from mere 8 percent in 1879 to 16 percent in
1892, and further to 22 percent in 1907-08.
During the same period, the proportion of
manufactured imports of the total imports fell from
65 percent in 1879 to 57 percent in 1892 and to
53 percent in 1907-08.
Special attention has been paid to industrial
development after India became free in 1947.
with the most powerful countries of the world and
is on the threshold of becoming a developed
country now.
ROLE OF RAILWAYS AND TELEGRAPH
The development of railways and telegraph can be
said to be an important step in the direction of
industrial development in India. The chief purpose
of these two was the transportation
of raw materials from places of
source of raw materials to the
ports, and transportation of
finished goods to the markets. In
addition to this, the railways and A steam engine
the telegraph helped the British to
transport forces from one place to
another speedily, which helped
them to suppress revolts and
unrest brewing in different parts A telegram
of the country.
Activity
Make a news letter highlighting machines and
techniques used in early industries in India with
photographs or pictures as example.