Read the following source and answer the questions that follow:
'When Manchester industrialists began selling cloth in India, they put labels on the cloth bundles that not only identified the place of manufacture but also carried colourful images of Indian gods, goddesses, and historical rulers. By the late nineteenth century, manufacturers began printing and distributing calendars featuring such figures alongside their products.'
(i) Why did Manchester manufacturers include images of Indian gods, goddesses and historical figures on cloth labels and calendars? (1 mark)
(ii) How did calendars serve as a more effective advertising medium than newspapers or magazines in reaching Indian consumers? (1 mark)
(iii) How did Indian manufacturers adapt a similar advertising strategy in the early twentieth century to serve a nationalist purpose? Give one example. (1 mark)
(iv) What does the use of such advertisements reveal about the importance of the Indian market to British manufacturers? (1 mark)
Generated by claude-sonnet-4-6 · 2026-06-26 13:43 · grounding rag
Model Answer
(i) Manchester manufacturers used images of Indian gods, goddesses, and historical rulers to make foreign cloth appear familiar and acceptable to Indian buyers. Association with gods gave the product a sense of divine approval, helping overcome the hesitation of Indian consumers towards foreign goods.
(ii) Unlike newspapers and magazines, calendars were used even by people who could not read. They were hung in tea shops, poor homes, offices, and middle-class apartments, ensuring the advertisement was seen day after day, throughout the year, reaching a far wider audience.
(iii) Indian manufacturers used similar advertising strategies to promote the swadeshi message — urging buyers to purchase Indian-made goods for the sake of the nation. For example, the 1928 Gripe Water calendar by M.V. Dhurandhar used the image of baby Krishna to popularise an Indian baby product.
(iv) The elaborate effort to design culturally appealing labels and calendars shows that the Indian market was extremely important to British manufacturers. They invested significantly in understanding Indian sentiments and tailoring their advertisements accordingly to secure Indian consumer loyalty.
Source: Chapter 4 — The Age of Industrialisation, Section 3.3 / Market for Goods
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Explanation
- (i) Key phrase from passage: "make the manufacture from a foreign land appear somewhat familiar" + "divine approval." Both points strengthen the answer.
- (ii) The passage explicitly contrasts calendars with newspapers/magazines on the basis of literacy — mention this contrast directly.
- (iii) "Swadeshi" is the key term examiners expect. The Gripe Water calendar (1928, baby Krishna) is a directly cited example from the source.
- (iv) This is an inference question — draw from the fact that manufacturers went to great cultural lengths, proving India was a critical, valued market. Don't just restate facts; make the logical link.