Please refer to The Age of Industrialisation Class 10 Social Science Important Questions with answers below. These solved questions for Chapter 4 The Age of Industrialisation in NCERT Book for Class 10 Social Science have been prepared based on the latest syllabus and examination guidelines issued by CBSE, NCERT, and KVS. Students should learn these solved problems properly as these will help them to get better marks in your class tests and examinations. You will also be able to understand how to write answers properly. Revise these questions and answers regularly. We have provided Notes for Class 10 Social Science for all chapters in your textbooks.

Important Questions Class 10 Social Science Chapter 4 The Age of Industrialisation

All The Age of Industrialisation Class 10 Social Science Important Questions provided below have been prepared by expert teachers of Standard 10 Social Science. Please learn them and let us know if you have any questions.

Question. Arrange the following in the correct sequence:
(i) James Hargreaves invented the Spinning Jenny
(ii) James Watt patented the Steam Engine.
(iii) Richard Arkwright created the First Cotton Mill.
(iv) Matthew Boulton manufactured the new model of Steam Engine. 
Options:
(A) (iv) – (i) – (iii) – (ii)
(B) (i) – (iii) – (ii) – (iv)
(C) (ii) – (iv) – (i) – (iii)
(D) (iii) – (ii) – (iv) – (i)
Answer : B

Question. Arrange the following in the correct sequence:
(i) J. N. Tata set up the First Iron and Steel Plant in Jamshedpur.
(ii) Dwarkanath Tagore set up six joint stock companies in Bengal.
(iii) Seth Hukumchand set up the First Jute Mill in Calcutta.
(iv) Music Publisher E. T. Paull produced a Music Book.
Options: R
(A) (iv) – (i) – (ii) – (iii)
(B) (i) – (iv) – (iii) – (ii)
(C) (ii) – (iv) – (i) – (iii)
(D) (iii) – (ii) – (iv) – (i)

Answer : C

Question. Which of the following was a European Managing Agency? 
(A) Tata Iron and Steel Company
(B) Elgin Mill
(C) Andrew Yule
(D) Birla Industries

Answer : C

Question. From which of the following trade did the Early Entrepreneur make a fortune? 
(A) Textile trade
(B) China trade
(C) Trade in tea
(D) Share market

Answer : B

7. Whom did the British Government appoint to supervise weavers, collect supplies and to examine the quality of cloth? 
(A) Jobber
(B) Sepoy
(C) Policeman
(D) Gomastha

Answer : D

Question. The person who got people from village, ensured them jobs, helped them settle in cities and provided them money in times of need was known as: 
(A) Stapler
(B) Fuller
(C) Gomastha
(D) Jobber

Answer : D

Question. Why were workers in England hostile to machines and new technology? 
(A) They did not know how to use these machines.
(B) They feared that they would lose their jobs and livelihood.
(C) The workers were too poor to buy new machines.
(D) They were scared of machines.

Answer : B

Question. Study the picture and answer the question that follows:
‘Dawn of the Century’ produced by E.T. Paull is what?
(A) A Music card
(B) A Music album
(C) A Music book
(D) A Music record

Answer : C

Question. Look at the picture of the famous Indian Entrepreneur and answer the question that follows:
This is a picture of whom?
(A) Dwarkanath Tagore
(B) Dinshaw Petit
(C) Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy
(D) Seth Hukumchand

Answer : A

Question. Study the below given information and identify the correct option in reference to it from among the given options:

The abundance of labour in the market affected the lives of workers. As news of possible jobs travelled to the countryside, hundreds tramped to the cities. The actual possibility of getting a job depended on existing networks of friendship and kin relations. If you had a relative or a friend in a factory, you were more likely to get a job quickly. But not everyone had social connections. Many job seekers had to wait weeks, spending nights under bridges or in night shelters. Some stayed in Night Refuges that were set up by private individuals; others went to the casual wards maintained by the Poor Law Authorities.
(A) Abundance of labour
(B) Life of the workers
(C) Job seekers
(D) Employment of workers

Answer : B

Question. Study the below given information and identify the correct option in reference to it from among the given options:
By the late nineteenth century, Manufacturers were printing calendars to popularise their products. Unlike newspapers and magazines, calendars were used even by people who could not read. They were hung in tea shops and in poor people’s homes just as much as in offices and middle-class apartments. And those who hung the calendars had to see the advertisements, day after day, through the year. In these calendars, once again, we see the figures of Gods being used to sell new products. Like the images of gods, figures of important personages, of Emperors and Nawabs, adorned advertisement and calendars. The message very often seemed to say: if you respect the royal figure, then respect this product; when the product was being used by Kings or produced under Royal command, its quality could not be questioned.
(A) Use of calendars UA
(B) Use of advertisements
(C) Use of images
(D) Market for goods

Answer : D

Question. Find the incorrect option from the following: 
(A) By the beginning of nineteenth century, manufacturers were printing calendars to popularise their products.
(B) Unlike newspapers and magazines, calendars were used even by people who could not read.
(C) They were hung in tea shops and in poor people’s homes just as much as in offices and middle-class apartments.
(D) And those who hung the calendars had to see the Advertisements, day after day, through the year.

Answer : A

Question. Find the incorrect option from the following: 
(A) In most Industrial regions workers came from the districts around.
(B) Peasants and Artisans who found no work in the village went to the Industrial Centres in search of work.
(C) Over 70 percent workers in the Bombay Cotton Industries in 1911 came from the neighbouring district of Ratnagiri. 
(D) While, the Mills of Kanpur got most of their textile hands from the villages within the district of Kanpur.

Answer : C

Assertion and Reason Based MCQs

Assertion (A) is followed by a statement of Reason (R). 
Mark the correct choice as:
(A) Both A and R are true and R is the correct explanation of A.
(B) Both A and R are true but R is NOT the correct explanation of A.
(C) A is true but R is false.
(D) A is false and R is true.

Question. Assertion (A): European Managing Agencies, which dominated industrial production in India, were interested in certain kinds of products.
Reason (R): They established tea and coffee plantations, acquiring land at cheap rates from the Colonial Government and they invested in mining, indigo and jute.
Answer : A

Question. Assertion (A): The most dynamic industries in Britain were clearly cotton and metals. 
Reason (R): By 1873, Britain was exporting Iron and Steel worth about £77 million, double the value of its Cotton Export.
Answer : B

Question. Assertion (A): The new emerging industries in England could not replace the Traditional Industries. 
Reason (R): Ordinary and small innovations were the basis of growth in many non-mechanised sectors.
Answer : B

Question. Assertion (A): There was a lot of opposition to the introduction of Spinning Jenny in the Cotton Industry. 
Reason (R): Invention of machines threatened the employment of many Women.
Answer : A

Question. Assertion (A): The Ports of Bombay and Calcutta declined.  
Reason (R): As European companies gradually gained power over Indian trade, local merchantsstart facing loss and exports from Surat and Hooghly ports fell.
Answer : D

Question. Assertion (A): Certain groups of weavers prospered even when being in competition with mill industries. 
Reason (R): Handicrafts people adopt new technology that decline production and pushing up costs excessively.
Answer : C

Case-based MCQs

I. Read the source given below and answer the questions that follows:

In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, merchants from the towns in Europe began moving to the Countryside, supplying money to peasants and artisans, persuading them to produce for an International Market. With the expansion of world trade and the acquisition of colonies in different parts of the world, the demand for goods began growing. But merchants could not expand production within towns. This was because here urban crafts and trade guilds were powerful. These were associations of producers that trained craftspeople, maintained control over production, regulated competition and prices, and restricted the entry of new people into the trade. Rulers granted different guilds the monopoly right to produce and trade in specific products. It was therefore, difficult for new merchants to set up business in towns. So they turned to the Countryside.

Answer the following MCQs by choosing the most appropriate option:

Question. Merchants from the towns in Europe began moving to the: 
(A) Countryside
(B) Cities
(C) Ports
(D) Foreign Countries

Answer : A

Question. The Merchants persuaded Peasants and Artisans to produce for:
(A) Local market
(B) State market
(C) International market
(D) National market

Answer : C

Question. With the expansion of World trade, the demand for goods began _______.
(A) slowing
(B) growing
(C) falling down
(D) increased

Answer : B

Question. Associations of _______ trained craftspeople, maintained control over production, regulated competition and prices and restricted the entry of new people into the trade. 
(A) Manufacturers
(B) Customers
(C) Producers
(D) Retailers

Answer : C

II. Read the source given below and answer the questions that follow:

Consider the case of the Steam Engine. James Watt improved the Steam Engine produced by Newcomen and patented the new engine in 1781. His Industrialist friend Matthew Boulton manufactured the new model. But for years he could find no buyers. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, there were no more than 321 steam engines all over England. Of these, 80 were in cotton industries, nine in wool industries and the rest in mining, canal works and iron works. Steam engines were not used in any of the other industries till much later in the century. So, even the most powerful new technology that enhanced the productivity of labour manifold was slow to be accepted by industrialists.

Answer the following MCQs by choosing the most appropriate option:

Question. Who invented or produced the First Steam Engine? 
(A) James Watt
(B) Isaac Newton
(C) Newcomen
(D) Albert Einstein

Answer : C

Question. Who manufactured the new model of Steam Engine? 
(A) Matthew Boulton
(B) Newcomen
(C) James Watt
(D) Isaac Newton

Answer : A

Question. How many Steam Engines were there at the beginning of the nineteenth century all over the England? 
(A) 521
(B) 221
(C) 421
(D) 321

Answer : D

Question. Out of 321 Steam Engines, how many were used in Cotton Industries? 
(A) 90
(B) 80
(C) 70
(D) 60

Answer : B

III. Read the source given below and answer the questions that follow:

A range of products could be produced only with hand labour. Machines were oriented to produce uniforms, standardised goods with intricate designs and specific shapes. In midnineteenth century Britain, for instance, 500 varieties of hammers were produced along with 45 kinds of axes. These required human skill and not Mechanical Technology. In Victorian Britain, the upper classes – the Aristocrats and the Bourgeoisie – preferred things produced by hand. Handmade products came to symbolise refinement and class. They were better finished, individually produced and carefully designed. Machine made goods were for export to the Colonies. In countries with labour shortage, industrialists were keen on using mechanical power so that the need for human labour can be minimised. This was the case in nineteenth-century America. Britain, however, had no problem hiring human hands.

Answer the following MCQs by choosing the most appropriate option:

Question. _______ were Standardised products, which were produced for a mass market. 
(A) Cotton
(B) Uniforms
(C) Wool
(D) Tools

Answer : B

Question. _______ varieties of hammers and _______ kinds of axes were produced in Britain in mid-nineteenth century. 
(A) 500, 45
(B) 500, 55
(C) 300, 145
(D) 400, 45

Answer : A

Question. In Victorian Britain, the Aristocrats and bourgeoisie belonged to the _______. 
(A) Priest classes
(B) Lower classes
(C) Upper classes
(D) Middle classes

Answer : C

Question. _____ products symbolised refinement and class. 
(A) Machine made
(B) Hand made
(C) Man made
(D) None of the above

Answer : B

Question. Read the source given below and answer the questions that follow:

The European companies gradually gained power – first securing a variety of concessions from local courts, then the monopoly rights to trade. This resulted in a decline of the old ports of Surat and Hooghly through which local merchants had operated. Exports from these ports fell dramatically, the credit that had financed the earlier trade began drying up and the local bankers slowly went bankrupt. In the last years of the seventeenth century, the gross value of trade that passed through Surat had been ` 16 million. By the 1740s, it had slumped to ` 3 million.

Answer the following MCQs by choosing the most appropriate option:

Question. Who secured concessions from Local Courts? 
(A) The American companies
(B) The European companies
(C) The Asian companies
(D) The African companies

Answer : B

Question. Hooghly and _______ were the old Ports. 
(A) Surat
(B) Punjab
(C) Central Asia
(D) Persia

Answer : A

Question. _______ slowly went bankrupt. 
(A) Exporters
(B) Dealers
(C) Bankers
(D) Customers

Answer : C

Question. The gross value of trade that passed through Surat had been _______. 
(A) ` 18 million
(B) ` 17 million
(C) ` 19 million
(D) ` 16 million

Answer : D

Very Short Answer Type Questions

Question. Define the term ‘Carding’. 
Answer : Carding is the process by which fibres are disentangled and cleaned for subsequent processing.

Question. Name the two Industrialists of Bombay who built Huge Industrial Empires During Nineteenth Century. 
Answer : Dinshaw Petit and Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata.

Question. Why did the Merchants from towns in Europe began to move to Countryside in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries?
Answer : Merchants began to move to the Countryside in 17th & 18th century because:
(i) Merchants could not expand production within towns.
(ii) The trade guilds restricted the entry of new people into the trade in towns. 

Question. From which trade did the early entrepreneurs make a fortune?
Answer : China Trade.

Question. What was Spinning Jenny?
Answer : A machine which speeded up the spinning process and reduced the labour demands.

Question. Which Indian port lost its importance during Colonial Rule?
Answer : Surat.

Question. Which Indian Ports had trade links with Southeast Asian countries?
Answer : Masulipatnam, Hooghly and Surat.

Question. What does Industrial Revolution refer to?
Answer : Mass production by factories.

Question. Why the Indian weavers were deprived of good cotton ?
Answer : As American Civil War broke out, the cotton supplies to England from America declined. Thus, superior quality of cotton from India was exported to England, leaving the weavers in India helpless.

Question. Why the aristocrats in Victorian England demanded handmade products ?
Answer : Handmade products portrayed class, royalty, high tastes and refinement. They were unique in their own designs and carefully designed and finished, so they attracted the upper elites of the society more.

Question. What was the problem faced by Indian weavers in the 1860s ?
Answer : The Indian weavers could not get sufficient amount of good quality of cotton.

Question. How was the relationship between the Gomasthas and the weavers ?
Answer : The Gomasthas were paid agents of the English East India Company who were outsiders and not from the villages. They were arrogant and often marched into the villages with sepoys to beat up the weavers and craftsmen if they were late in supplying products.

Short Answer Type Questions

Question. Why did the Elite of Britain prefer Hand-made goods in the mid-nineteenth century? Explain.
Answer : During this period, the upper classes – the Aristocrats and the Bourgeoisie –
preferred things produced by hand because:
(i) They symbolised refinement and class. (ii) They were better finished.
(iii) They were individually produced and carefully designed.

Question. Why did Merchants moved to the Countryside Europe during the Seventeenth and Eighteenth centuries? Explain. 
Answer : Merchants moved to the countryside Europe because:
(i) Expansion of world trade and the acquisition of colonies.
(ii) Powerful urban craft and trade guilds did not allow expansion of production in towns.
(iii) Producers regulated production, competition, prices.
(iv) Rulers also granted different guilds the monopoly right to produce and trade in specific products. 
(v) It was therefore difficult for new Merchants to set up business in towns. So, they turned to the countryside.

Question. Name the sea routes that connected India with Asian countries. 
Answer : (i) A vibrant sea trade operated through the main pre-colonial ports.
(ii) Surat on the Gujarat coast connected India to the Gulf and Red sea Ports.
(iii) Masulipatnam on the Coromandel Coast and Hooghly in Bengal had trade links with the South east Asian ports. 

Question. “In the Eighteenth century Europe, the Peasants and Artisans in the Countryside readily agreed to work for the Merchants.” Explain any three reasons. 
OR
In the 17th century, merchants from towns in Europe began employing peasants and artisans within the villages. Explain.
Answer : (i) Cottagers and villagers were looking for new alternatives of income. 
(ii) Tiny plots of land with the villagers could not provide work for all members of the family.
(iii) Advances offered by the merchants made the villagers readily agree to produce goods for them.
(iv) By working for the merchants, they could continue to remain in the villages and do cultivation also.
(v) It was possible to have full use of family labour force.

Question. Why did the Export of Indian textile decline at the beginning of the nineteenth century? Explain any three reasons.
Answer : The Export of Indian textile declined at the beginning of the nineteenth century because:
(i) Indian Weavers could not compete with cheap machine-made British goods. As raw cotton began to be exported to Britain, the prices in the domestic market shot up.
(ii) Manchester-made goods started flooding Indian market.
(iii) High import duties on Indian Cotton Textile was imposed in England.
(iv) Exports of British goods to India increased. The Manchester goods flooded Indian Markets.
(v) The machine-made goods were cheaper and weavers could not compete with them.
(vi) By 1850 the exports of woven cloth drastically declined. (Any three)

Question. Describe any three major problems faced by Indian Cotton Weavers in Nineteenth century.
OR
Explain new problem faced by the weavers in 1850s.
OR
Explain any three problems faced by Indian weavers in 1850s.
OR
What problems were faced by the Indian cotton weavers in the 19th century? Describe.
OR
State any three problems faced by cotton weavers of India.
Answer : Major problems faced by the Indian cotton weavers were:
(i) Their export market collapsed.
(ii) The local market shrunk.
(iii) Increase in price of raw cotton.
(iv) Shortage of cotton.
(v) Difficulty of weavers to compete with the imported machine that made cheaper cotton products.
(vi) Factories in India also began producing on large scale cheaper machine made goods with which our weavers could not compete. (Any three points to be describe

Question. Describe the role of ‘Jobbers’ in the beginning of twentieth century in India.
OR
Who was a Jobber? Mention any two functions of a Jobber.
Answer : Role of Jobbers: Industrialists usually employed jobbers to get new recruits. They became persons with some authority and power. They were old and trusted workers. They got people from their villages. They ensured them jobs. They helped them to settle in the city. They also provided them money in times of crisis.

Question. How was Foreign trade from India conducted before the age of Machine Industries? Explain.
Answer : (i) Before the age of Machine Industries, silk and cotton goods from India dominated the international market in textiles. Coarser cotton was produced in many countries, but the finer varieties often came from India. Armenian and Persian merchants took the goods from Punjab to Afghanistan, Eastern Persia and Central Asia.
(ii) Bales of fine textiles were carried on camel back via the north west frontier, through mountain passes and across deserts.
(iii) A vibrant sea trade operated through the main pre-colonial ports. Surat on the Gujarat coast connected India to the Gulf and Red Sea Ports; Masulipatnam on the Coromandel Coast and Hooghly in Bengal had trade links with Southeast Asian Ports.

Question. Describe any three conditions that were favourable for the continuing growth of Industries in the 18th century India.
Answer : Three conditions that were favourable for the continuing growth of industries in 18th century India are:
(i) India abounds in coal and iron ore deposits: India had huge reserves of coal and iron ore deposits making it possible to set up the Industries.
(ii) Number of perennial rivers: This made easy for foreign companies to reach India.
(iii) Abundant raw-materials: Abundant availability of raw materials allowed large scale production.
(iv) Vast network of Roads and Railways: Transport facilities helped in reaching to different parts of the country.
(v) Big market.
(vi) Demand in several Arabian and Asian countries.

Question. Explain any three causes which led to the decline of Indian cotton textiles in the early nineteenth century.
Answer : (i) The British Cotton manufacture began to expand.
(ii) British manufacturers pressurised the government to restrict cotton imports.
(iii) Manufacturers began to search the Overseas Markets for selling their cloth.
(iv) Indian textiles faced stiff competition in other international markets.
(v) There was a decline in the share of the textile.
(vi) Tariffs were imposed on cloth imports into Britain.

Question. ‘Industrialisation gave birth to Imperialism’. Justify the statement with three arguments.
Answer : (i) Imperialism was the ill-begotten child of Industrialisation.
(ii) Industrialisation chiefly needed two things. One of them being the constant supply of raw materials and the other is that the finished goods be sold at the same speed.
(iii) The industrialised countries had introduced heavy import duties as protective tariffs to check the import from other countries.
(iv) Faced with the problem of finding new markets for their products, the producer nations chose such countries where industrialisation had not yet reached.
(v) Hence, a race for bringing those areas under their effective occupation or effective influence started among the various industrialised nations.
(vi) As a consequence, Britain, France, Germany and Japan, etc., set up their colonies in Asia, Africa and South America, etc.

Question. What were the roles of trade guilds ?
Answer : The roles of trade guilds are enumerated as follows :
(i) Trained craftmen, maintain control over production and regulate prices.
(ii) Enjoyed monopoly rights to produce and trade certain products.
(iii) Had the right to restrict entry of outsiders.

Question. Correct the following statement and rewrite.
The number of labourers employed in the transport industry doubled in the 1839 which again tripled in the next 30 years.
Answer : The number of labourers employed in the transport industry doubled in the 1840s which again doubled in the next 30 years.

Question. Explain the features of pre-colonial trade scenario in India.
Answer : The features of pre-colonial trade scenario in India are enumerated as follows :
(i) Silk and cotton goods from India dominated the international market in textiles.
(ii) Armenian and Persian merchants took the goods from Punjab to Afghanistan, Eastern Persia and Central Asia. Bales of fine textiles were carried on came back via the northwest frontier, through mountain passes and across deserts.
(iii) A vibrant sea trade operated through the main precolonial ports. Surat on the Gujarat coast connected India to the Gulf and Red Sea ports; Masulipatam on the Coromandel coast and Hoogly in Bengal had trade links with Southeast Asian ports.

Question. What was the impact of colonisation of India on the Indian traders ?
Answer : As colonial control over Indian trade tightened, the space within which Indian merchants could function became increasingly limited. They were barred from trading with Europe in manufactured goods, and had to export mostly raw materials and food grains, raw cotton, opium, wheat and indigo required by the British. They were also gradually edged out of the shipping business. The points are enumerated as follows:
(i) The European companies gradually gained power — first securing a variety of concessions from local courts, then the monopoly rights to trade.
(ii) It resulted in a decline of the old ports of Surat and Hoogly through which local merchants had operated. Exports from these ports fell dramatically.
(iii) The credit that had financed the earlier trade began drying up and the local bankers slowly became bankrupt.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question. What role did the Indian merchants play in the growth of industries before 1750?
Answer : (i) The British in India began exporting opium to China and took tea from China to England. Many Indians became junior players in this trade, providing finance, procuring supplies, and shipping consignments. Having earned through trade, some of these businessmen had visions of developing industrial enterprises in India.
(ii) In Bengal, Dwarkanath Tagore made his fortune in the China trade before he turned to industrial investment, setting up six joint-stock companies in the 1830s and 1840s.
(iii) In Bombay, Parsis like Dinshaw Petit and Jamsetjee Nusserwanjee Tata who built huge industrial empires in India accumulated their initial wealth partly from exports to China and partly from raw cotton shipments to England. Sonic merchants from Madras traded with Burma while other had links with the Middle East and East Africa.
(iv) There were yet other commercial groups, but they were not directly involved in external trade. They operated within India, carrying goods from one place to another, banking money, transferring funds between cities, and financing traders.

Question. “Series of changes affected the pattern of industrialization in India by the early twentieth century.“ Analyze the statement.
Answer : As the Swadeshi Movement gathered momentum, nationalists mobilised people to boycott foreign cloth. Industrial groups organised themselves to protect their collective interests, pressurising the government to increase tariff protection and grant other concessions. From 1906, moreover, the export of Indian yarn to China declined since produce from Chinese and Japanese mills flooded the Chinese market. So industrialists in India began shifting from yarn to cloth production. Cotton goods production in India doubled between 1900 and 1912. Yet, till the First World War, industrial growth was slow. The war created a dramatically new situation. With British mills busy with war production to meet the needs of the army, Manchester imports into India declined. Suddenly, Indian mills had a vast home market to supply. As the war prolonged, Indian factories were called upon to supply war needs: jute bags, cloth for army uniforms, tents and leather boots, horse and mule saddles and a host of other items. New factories were set up and old ones ran in multiple shifts. Many new workers were employed and everyone was made to work longer hours. Over the war years, industrial production boomed.

Question. ”India became a supplier of raw materials instead of finished products.” Discuss the statement.
Answer : The points are enumerated as follows :
(i) The industries in England required large amount of raw materials. The resources were sent from India. This affected the availability of resources within the country.
(ii) Finer quality of cotton, and silk were exported to England and the artisans were left with poorer quality. The products made by the Indian artisans and weavers were very poor in quality. (iii) As the standard of the quality of products decreased, Indian aristocrats and elites started purchasing more of machine made goods, which were imported from England.
(iv) This led to the decline of weaving and other indigenous industries of India. Thus, the phase of deindustrialisation started.
(v) There was a dearth of resources availables in the country due to incessant exports. This put a heavy pressure on the artisans. They had to buy resources at extremely high rates which most of the craftsmen could not afford. Thus, they had to stop producing the products and look for other alternatives.