Iron Smelters and Factory Owners

Introduction

This topic navigates the iron and steel industries’ establishment during British rule due to the advent of The East India Company. The rapid growth of industrialization in Europe was the turning point in the settlement of colonies during British governance. 

The Britishers saw an opportunity in the Indian market for selling the final industrial goods from the factories of Britain. Over time the finished British goods started flooding the Indian market. 

This had a direct impact on India’s traditional textile and crafts industry and the Indian artisans experienced the worst hit. 

 Expansion of Railways

Development of transport and communication

Before British rule, the mode of transportation in India was substantially backward. The introduction of railways though being a selfish motive on the part of the Britishers had for better or worse transformed Indian society. 

The Indian society was self-sufficient on its own before the advent of proper communication channels, but it was due to the advent of The East India Company that we finally had access to railway routes that simplified the purpose of transport and communication.

Mode of transport before the introduction of railways:

•       Bullock carts
•       Horses and donkeys
•       Hand-pulled carts

India was a primitive agricultural economy that relied on primary sources such as agriculture, fishing, crafting, etc., to earn their livelihood. The Indian society was dependent on self-reliable sources to make ends meet, which was before the British colonists’ advent.

After the Battle of Plassey, the British East India Company felt the need for the expansion of railways. The railways were introduced in India in the year 1853, and there were several factors and reasons responsible for the development of the railways, such as:

•       Access to the market: The construction of the railways paved the way for better access to the Indian markets. The extraction and exporting of raw materials were also simplified
•     Control over territory: With the expansion of the railways, it became a lot easier for the Britishers to have control over the Indian territory. Major cities and ports of India were connected through railway channels
•   Governance: With the expansion of the communication channels, it became a necessity for the British colonisers to establish administrative laws. Connecting the provincial cities and capitals posed itself as an opportunity for expanding control over the country
•     Capitalism: The establishment of the railway communication channels presented itself as a long-term opportunity for extracting revenue and high profits. Hence, there was a capitalist mindset of the Britishers for the construction of the railways

 Iron and steel factories

The establishment of TISCO

India had an abundant source of iron ore deposits which were yet to be discovered and channelized in the proper direction. In 1904, Dorabji Tata, the eldest son of Jamsetji Tata and Charles Weld, discovered deposits of iron ore in the Chhattisgarh region.Jamsetji Tata had decided to set up the first iron and steel industry in India by spending a huge amount of his fortune. This process required the search for the finest quality of iron ore found later by the local tribes.

The following process led to the construction of TISCO (the first iron and steel plant) in India:

•       The local Agaria tribe from Chattisgarh had found an abundant iron ore source, which Charles Weld and Dorabji Tata later discovered
•       When the tribals were asked for the source of the iron ore, they pointed towards the Rajhara hills (in present-day Jharkhand). The Rajhara hills were the source of one of the finest quality iron ore in the world
•       It was soon realised later that the region was not suitable for constructing an iron and steel plant due to a shortage of water supply. But, the Agarias had pointed out the source of the iron ore, which later was used to supply raw materials for the Bhilai steel plant
•       Later on, in the following years, the industrial town of Jamshedpur was settled along the banks of river Subarnarekha, and this town served as the ideal location for the establishment of the first iron and steel plant, i.e. Tata Iron and Steel Company (TISCO), in 1912
•       TISCO presented the opportunity to produce some of the finest quality of steel which, before its construction, India had been importing from Britain

By the time the first world war had broken out, the supply of steel from Britain had gradually dropped. Hence, the establishment of TISCO was essential for the development of self-reliable sources of steel in India.

Over the due course of time, TISCO established itself as the largest producer of iron and steel in colonial India.

 Wootz steel

The infamous sword of Tipu Sultan

The story of the infamous sword of Tipu Sultan, which is now one of the most prized collections in the museum of England, was built with a rare quality of high carbon steel known as wootz.Tipu Sultan ruled over Mysore from 1782 to 1799, and as the legend goes, the brave warrior died fighting with his sword in hand. This was what first drew the attention of the Britishers to the infamous sword of Tipu Sultan.The wootz steel came into the limelight since the steel production process fascinated the British metallurgists. It was Francis Buchanan who left a detailed account of the welding of wootz steel in his journals.

Wootz steel – formation and details:

•       According to the journals of Francis Buchanan, the wootz steel was produced in hundreds of furnaces in Mysore
•       Before the smelting process, iron was added with charcoal and placed in small earthen clay pots
•       These clay pots were then placed in hot furnaces with controlled temperatures to produce steel ingots. The wootz steel was used to make swords in India and parts of west and central Asia
•       The wootz steel is known as ukku in Kannada, hukku in Telugu and Tamil, and urukku in Malayalam
•       Michael Faraday, the discoverer of electricity and electromagnetism, studied the formation of wootz steel for almost four years, from 1818-1822

 Francis Buchanan

Francis Buchanan-Hamilton, also commonly known as Buchanan, was one of the three surveyors of colonial India who gave his valuable contributions to better understand the terrestrial factors, agriculture, and zoology of Southern India.He discovered ‘laterite’, which he called ‘iron clay’ or ‘indurated clay’; he remarked that this soft red clay was ideal for construction purposes.He navigated the region of Mysore in the year 1800 (which was a year after the death of Tipu Sultan) and wrote several accounts on the formation and the crafting of the wootz.

Conclusion

The British East India Company was responsible for some of the major developments in the Indian subcontinent, though these developments were self-oriented.The construction of the railway network, the establishment of the iron and steel industries were major steps towards the industrialisation of the Indian economy, which, before these changes, were highly primitive.The construction of the cotton mills and the decline of the Indian textiles are relevant topics related to the industrialisation of the Indian economy to be considered from an examination point of view.