Question

Describe any three major problems faced by the Indian cotton weavers in the nineteenth century.

Answer 1

Some of the problems faced by the Indian cotton weavers in the ${19}^{th}$century are as follows:

• With industrialization, British cotton manufacture began to expand,and industrialists pressurized the government to restrict cotton imports and protect local industries.Tariffs were imposed on the clothes import to Britain. Consequently, the inflow of fine Indian cotton began to decline. From the early nineteenth century, British manufacturers also began to seek overseas markets for their cloth. Excluded from the British markets by tariff barriers, Indian textiles now faced stiff competition in other international markets.

• If we look at the figures we see a steady decline in the share of cotton textiles: from some 30 per cent around 1800 to 15 per cent by 1815. By the 1870s this proportion had dropped to below 3 per cent.
• While exports of manufactures declined rapidly, export of raw materials increased equally fast. Between 1812 and 1871, the share of raw cotton exports rose from 5 per cent to 35 per cent. As a result British manufactured products overflowed in the Indian markets. Earlier manufactured clothes were imported from India to Britain.