Industrialisation in Colonial India: Weavers, Factories and the Decline of Indian Textiles

Around 1811-12, cotton cloth made up about a third of India’s exports. By 1850-51, school texts say it had fallen to about 3 per cent. A land famous for fine cloth was being turned into a buyer of other people’s cloth.

In this lesson, we trace how India’s textile trade broke down under colonial rule. We meet the gomastha who watched over weavers. Then we see factories rise, who built them, and how small workshops still survived.

1How famous were Indian textiles before colonial rule?

Before machines, Indian silk and cotton cloth sold across the world. It was prized for its fine quality. Merchants carried it overland by camel and by sea from ports like Surat, Masulipatam and Hooghly.

Indian merchants and bankers ran this trade. They financed weavers, collected cloth and fixed export prices. Even English words carry the memory. Calico comes from Calicut. Chintz comes from the Hindi word chhint, meaning spotted or speckled. Muslin is commonly said to come from Mosul in Iraq.

Bengal made the finest muslin. The best of it came from Sonargaon, near Dhaka. When Dhaka became the Mughal capital of Bengal, the trade grew.

• Indian cotton and silk sold worldwide.
• Words: calico (Calicut), chintz (Hindi chhint).
• Finest muslin: Sonargaon, near Dhaka.

2What did the gomastha do?

After winning power in Bengal, the East India Company wanted control of weaving. It appointed paid agents called gomasthas. They signed bonds with weavers and collected cloth for the Company.

School texts say weavers took advances to buy raw material. In return, they had to sell only to the gomastha. Earlier supply merchants lived near weavers. Gomasthas were outsiders. They often arrived with armed men and punished delays.

Many weavers fled their villages. Some took up farm labour instead. They would not accept these terms.

• Gomastha: paid agent who signed bonds with weavers.
• Weavers lost the freedom to sell elsewhere.
• Many fled or left weaving.

3How did Manchester cloth hit Indian weavers?

Indian weavers were squeezed from two sides. Their export market shrank. At home, cheap Manchester cloth flooded in.

School texts give clear numbers. Cotton piece-goods were about 33 per cent of exports in 1811-12. By 1850-51, they were about 3 per cent. By the 1870s, cotton cloth made up more than half of India’s imports.

The American Civil War added another blow. With supplies from the American South cut off, Britain turned to India for raw cotton. Demand pushed up prices, and Indian weavers struggled to buy raw material.

• Exports: about 33% in 1811-12 to about 3% in 1850-51.
• By the 1870s, cloth was over half of imports.
• American Civil War raised raw cotton prices.

4Who built India’s first factories?

Modern mills began in 1854. On 7 July that year, the Bombay Spinning and Weaving Company opened at Tardeo. Cowasjee Nanabhoy Davar and his associates started it. There were ten mills in Bombay by 1865 and 47 by 1875.

Jute followed. The oldest jute mill, George Acland’s, opened at Rishra in 1855. Mills later rose in Kanpur, Ahmedabad and Madras too.

Many Indian industrialists first made money in the China trade. Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy sailed to China as a young man. He traded cotton and opium. Dwarkanath Tagore of Calcutta also built banks, insurance and shipping firms with British partners.

Tata came later. The Tata Iron and Steel Company was founded in 1907. Its Jamshedpur works made pig iron in 1911 and steel in 1912. European firms called managing agencies controlled much of Indian industry until the First World War.

• 7 July 1854: first Bombay mill. 1855: Rishra jute mill.
• Fortunes from the China trade: Jejeebhoy, Dwarkanath Tagore.
• Tata: company 1907, steel 1912.

5Where did the workers come from?

Factory work grew fast. School texts say the workforce rose from 584,000 in 1901 to over 2.4 million in 1946.

Most workers came from nearby districts. Bombay’s mills drew many from Ratnagiri. They often went home for harvests and festivals.

Mill owners used a jobber to hire. He was an old, trusted worker. He brought men from his own village. In return, new hands often owed him money and favours.

• Workers: 584,000 in 1901 to over 2.4 million in 1946.
• Many from nearby districts, like Ratnagiri.
• Jobber: hired from his village and gained power.

6Why did small workshops survive?

Factories stayed a small part of the picture. School texts say only about 5 per cent of industrial workers were in registered factories in 1911. It was about 10 per cent in 1931. The rest worked in small workshops and homes.

Handloom weaving even grew. Production nearly trebled between 1900 and 1940, say the texts. The fly shuttle helped. Fine weaves such as Banarasi and Baluchari saris held up, since wealthy buyers kept buying them. Coarse cloth suffered more in famines.

• Only about 5% of workers in factories in 1911.
• Handloom output nearly trebled, 1900-1940.
• Fine weaves survived best.

7How was a market for cloth created?

New goods needed buyers. Makers turned to advertising. School texts say Manchester labels carried the words MADE IN MANCHESTER, often with images of Indian gods, to win trust.

Calendars were popular. Even people who could not read could see them. They hung in shops and homes all year.

Indian makers used advertising to push a different message. The Swadeshi movement was formally launched on 7 August 1905 at the Town Hall in Calcutta. It urged people to rely on home-made goods. Buying Indian cloth became a sign of loyalty to the nation.

• Labels and calendars sold Manchester cloth.
• 7 August 1905: Swadeshi launched at Calcutta’s Town Hall.

8What are the exam traps?

• Textile decline began before factories. Gomastha control and Manchester imports came first.
• “Deindustrialisation” was not uniform. Coarse-cloth weavers suffered most. Fine-weave makers often survived.
• The first Bombay cotton mill was 1854. Tata steel came much later, in 1912.
• The gomastha was a paid Company agent. The jobber worked for mill owners.
• Many Indian industrialists made their first money in the China trade, not in land grants.