How did the development of cotton industries in Britain affect textile producers in India?
Solution
Effects of the development of cotton industries in Britain on the textile producers in India:
(i) Competition − Indian textiles had to compete with British textiles in European and American markets.
(ii) High duties − Exporting textiles to England became increasingly difficult due to the very high duties imposed on Indian textiles imported into Britain.
(iii) Capture of foreign markets − By the beginning of the nineteenth century, English-made cotton textiles ousted Indian textiles from their traditional markets, thereby throwing thousands of Indian weavers out of employment. The English and European companies stopped buying Indian textiles and their agents no longer gave out advances to weavers to secure supplies.
(iv) Capture of the Indian market − By the 1830s, British cotton cloth flooded Indian markets. By the 1880s, two-third of all cotton clothes worn by Indians were made of cloth produced in Britain. This greatly affected both the weavers and the spinners.
Thus, Indian textiles declined in the nineteenth century, and thousands of Indian weavers and spinners lost their livelihood.
