Question

What do you understand about the term Girangaon?
A) Town of workers
B) Town of Factories
C) Town of Mills
D) Village of craftsmen

Answer 1

Hint: The Indian textile industry is one of the country's most important industries. It also became a major port for the shipping of raw cotton from India to England and China. Farmers began investing in this cotton crop since there was a high demand for it. India used to export cotton to Britain in the early 1800s, then re-import the cloth it produced.

Complete answer:
Bombay was known as the Manchester of the East at the time. During this time, Indian merchants saw a huge opportunity in the cotton industry and founded cotton mills.

Girangaon was the name of a neighbourhood in central Mumbai, India, that once contained around 130 textile mills, the majority of which were cotton mills. The mills of Girangaon played a vital role in Mumbai's wealth and growth in the late 1800s, as well as its metamorphosis into a major industrial metropolis.

Girangaon was 600 acres in size, not including the employees' quarters. The mill workers formed a community and nurtured a distinct culture that moulded Mumbai around the turn of the century.This textile sector thrived until the early 2000s, when most mills were closed because their owners deemed them unproductive and declared themselves unable to pay their employees' wages.

In 1856, the Bombay Spinning and Weaving Company opened its first cotton factory in Tardeo, Mumbai. The textile industry grew rapidly, with ten cotton mills operating in Mumbai by 1865, employing over 6,500 people. By 1900, 136 mills had been established as a result of a gradual growth.As mills fostered economic growth and employment, the textile industry was granted further government incentives in the form of long-term leases, some as long as 999 years.

Now let us look the different options:
A) Town of workers: Thus, Girangaon is not the town of workers and hence this option is incorrect one.
B) Town of Factories: The term Girangaon does not represent the town of factories. Thus,this is an incorrect option.
C) Town of Mills:Cowasji Nanabhai Davar established the first Indian cotton factory in Bombay, dubbed "The Bombay Spinning Mill."The Bombay Spinning and Weaving Mill, India's first textile mill, was established on February 22, 1854. Dadar, Paral, Bhaykhala, Shivdi, Prabhadevi, and Worli were among the first towns to establish mills. Girangaon, or mill town, was the name given to this area. Thus, this is the correct option.
D) Village of craftsmen: Since, we have already found that Girangaon represents the town of mills, this is an incorrect option.

Thus, the correct answer is C) Town of Mills. That is, t Girangaon represents the town of mills.

Note: The historic mills are being preserved as museums through conservation initiatives. At the United Mills in Lalbaug, such a museum was established. Cotton 54, Polyester 64, a famous play based on Neera Adarkar and Meena Menon's book One Hundred Years, One Hundred Voices, has been written. An Oral History of Girangaon Millworkers. In November 2008, an NGO called Pukar held a festival to honour Girangaon's culture and people. The Maharashtra government has designated seven mill structures as historic sites.