Discuss the impact of industrial revolution in India

Discuss the impact of industrial revolution in India.

  • The Industrial Revolution in England affected the textile industries in India in many ways. These were
    • Indian textiles now had to face stiff competition from English textiles in the European and American markets.
    • Heavy duties were imposed on imported Indian textiles in Britain.
    • The machine-made cheap textiles of Britain successfully captured the African markets.
    • By the 1830s, cheap machine-made goods from Britain flooded the Indian markets. As these were cheaper than the Indian textiles, the Indian textile industries suffered.
  • All the above reasons led to the decline in Indian textiles and many weavers from Bengal were thrown out of their employment.
  • Many weavers and spinners who lost their livelihood became agricultural labourers, some migrated to cities in search of work and some migrated to Africa and South America to work on plantations.