1. What kinds of cloth had a large market in Europe?

Explanation:

Europe had a sizable market for fabrics made of cotton and silk. The most well-liked textiles by far were those from India because of their superior workmanship and high level of quality. Indian textiles came in a variety of styles that were offered in Western markets, including chintz, cossaes or khassa, bandanna, and jamdani. Indian embroidered cotton textiles were renowned in England for their fine textures, exquisite floral prints, and low cost.


2. What is jamdani?

Explanation:

Amdani is an excellent muslin that has decorative patterns woven into it while it is being made, usually in white and grey. As in the fabric in the image, cotton and gold-coloured thread were frequently combined. The city of Dacca in Bangladesh and Allahabad in the region known as the United Provinces were the two most significant hubs for jamdani weaving.


3. What is a bandanna?

Explanation:

Bandannas are headbands or neck scarves with vivid prints and colours. The name "bandhani" originally applied to an array of colourful cloth made using a technique of binding and dying. Bandhna is the Hindi word for "tying."


4. Who are the Agaria?

Explanation:

They belonged to a group of iron smelters in Central India. The dry regions of India were devastated by a succession of famines in the latter part of the nineteenth century. Numerous Agarias never again laboured in their furnaces. In Central India, a number of the Agaria ferrous furnaces ceased operations. To find employment and survive, those Agarias enjoyed to leave their towns and move to new locations. Through the late nineteenth century, the art of iron smelting was in a state of decay. The quantity of iron produced decreased, and furnaces went out of use in the majority of villages.


5. Fill in the blanks.

(a) The word chintz comes from the word _________.

(b) Tipu’s sword was made of_________ steel.

(c) India’s textile exports declined in the _________ century.

Explanation:

  1. The word chintz comes from the word chhint.

Reason - The term comes from the Hindi word ch, which means "spotted," "variegated," "speckled," or "sprayed" and is romanized as "The term has additionally been employed as the 19th century to describe the type of floral decoration that originated on these calico textiles but later appeared more broadly, for instance on chintzware ceramics and wallpaper. Chintz patterns are drawn from the Mughal-inspired Indian designs themselves. It has a simple white background in floral and animal prints.


  1. Tipu’s sword was made of wootz steel.

Reason - The steel used in Tippu Sultan's blade, Wootz, was produced in southern India. A process used to create Wootz Steel was popular in mediaeval India. A clay receptacle was used to hold the porous iron after it had been prepared, hammered while still hot to release the slag, broken up, and sealed with wood chips. The clay container was then heated until the iron pieces absorbed the carbon dioxide from the wood chips and melted. The resulting steel had a uniform carbon content of 1–1.6% and was able to be melted and formed into ingots for subsequent use in creating items, such as the renowned Damascus blades of the middle Ages.


  1. India’s textile exports declined in the nineteenth century.

Reason - The sale of silk and cotton from India fell precipitously in the latter part of the 19th century. Let's take a closer look at a few of the many causes of this occurrence. The 19th-century export industry collapsed as a result of the British imposing significant import taxes on cotton textiles.


6. How do the names of different textiles tell us about their histories?

Explanation:

The titles of the various textiles, such as "muslin," "chintz," "calico," and "bandanna," all have a backstory.

a. The fabric was given its name, Muslin, by European traders who observed five different kinds of cotton textiles being carried by Arab traders in Nineveh. After that, they gave the term "muslin" to all knitted fabrics.

b. Chintz - This term comes from the Hindi word "Chhint," which refers to a tiny piece of fabric with floral patterns.

c. Calicut - In pursuit of spices, the Portuguese arrived in Calicut first. Calico, on the other hand, was the name of the cotton fabric they brought from Calicut to Spain.

d. The word "bandanna" is taken to the Hindi word "bandhna." It is a shawl created for the top of the head or collar that has prints on it.


7. Why did the wool and silk producers in England protest against the import of Indian textiles in the early eighteenth century?

Explanation:

In the beginning of the eighteenth century, English silk and wool producers railed toward the importation of Indian textiles because they felt unable to keep up with them due to Indian textiles' renown in the European marketplaces, due to both their patterns and their prices. Indian textiles were to be banned so that English makers of wool and silk could expand there. After that, the whirling jenny was also made available in European marketplaces.


8. How did the development of cotton industries in Britain affect textile producers in India?

Explanation:

There were several difficulties for Indian cloth manufacturers:

a. In both England and India, they had to contend with English cotton industries.

b. As British cotton production increased, Indian cloth manufacturers shrank.

c. Because the British industries monopolised the market, thousands of Indian cloth manufacturers lost their jobs.


9. Why did the Indian iron smelting industry decline in the nineteenth century?

Explanation:

The steel smelting industry declined in the eighteenth century for the causes listed below:

a. Due to the strict forest regulations that were imposed on them, Indian smelters were unable to obtain charcoal. The iron smelting procedure requires charcoal, and the industry would not be able to survive without it. Their movement was prohibited in the protected forests by the forest regulations.

b. The forest officials demanded high taxes from iron smelters.

c. The English began bringing iron via England to India after the 1950s. This made Indian iron smelters less inclined to work in the field.

d. Many famines destroyed the arid regions for iron smelters in the late eighteenth century.


10. What problems did the Indian textile industry face in the early years of its development?

Explanation:

The issues that the Indian textile business is currently facing are listed below.

a. Competition - They had to contend with established, sizable British businesses.

b. Export - Because of the exorbitant export costs, it was difficult for these individuals to export to England. 

c. Failure was the result of English cotton fabrics driving Indian textiles out of their original markets in America, Africa, and Europe

d. No Buyers – Bengal weavers were the hardest affected when Europeans stopped patronising and purchasing from them.


11. What helped TISCO expand steel production during the First World War?

Explanation:

The causes for TISCO's expansion are as follows:

a. The manufacture of ammunition during World War I required a significant quantity of iron and steel, which Britain had to supply.

b. In order to furnish iron and steel, Indian markets tapped TISCO for rail work.

c. TISCO produced carriage wheels and munitions for World War I.

d. In 1919, the British administration began purchasing 90% of the steel produced by TISCO.