You are here
- In 1854, the first cotton mill in Bombay was set up and went into production two years later.
- Four mills were at work with 94,000 spindles and 2,150 looms till 1862.
- The jute mills also came up in Benga l around the same time.
- First Jute mill was set up in 1855 and another one seven years later.
- Elgin Mill was started in Kanpur in the 1860s followed by a Cotton mill which was later set up in Ahemdabad.
- By 1874, the first spinning and weaving mill of madras began production.
4.1 The Early Entrepreneurs
- From the late 18th century, the British in India began exporting opium to China and took tea from China to England.
- Businessmen who were involved in this trade had visions of developing enterprises in India.
DWAKARNATH TAGORE
- In Bengal, Dwakarnath Tagore made his fortune in the China trade before he turned to industrial investment, s etting up six joint-stock companies in the 1830s and 1840s.
- Dwakarnath Tagore believed that India would develop through westernization and industrialization.
- Parsis like Jamsetjee Nusserwanjee Tata and Dinshaw Petit who built huge industrial empires in India , accumulated their initial wealth partly from exports to China, and partly from raw cotton shipments to England.
- Seth Hukumchand , a Marwari businessman who set up the first Indian Jute mill in Calcutta in 1917 , also traded with China.
- But the colonial power over Indian trade tightened , they were barred from trading with Europe in manufactured goods, and had to export mostly raw materials and food grains.
- Three of the biggest European Managing Agencies were Bird Heiglers& Co., Andrew Yule, and Jardine Skinner & Co . These agencies mobilized capital, set up joint-stock companies, and managed them.
4.2 Where Did the Workers Come From?
- With the expansion of factories , the demand for workers increased .
- Getting jobs was always difficult , even when mills multiplied and the demand for workers increased .
- The numbers seeking work were always more than the jobs available.
A HEAD JOBBER
- Industrialists usually employed a jobber to get recruits . The jobber was an old and trusted worker.
- Jobber got people from his village , ensured them jobs , helped them settle in the city, and provided them money in times of crisis .
- The jobber became a person with some authority and power . He began demanding money and gifts for his favour and controlling the lives of workers.
