Swadeshi movement. The Swadeshi movement, led by Gandhiji, aimed to promote self-sufficiency by boycotting British goods and encouraging Indian-made products. India’s first cotton mill, the Bombay Spinning and Weaving Company, was established in Mumbai on July 7, 1854. The world’s first cotton mill, the Upper Priory Cotton Mill, was founded by Lewis Paul and John Wyatt in Birmingham, England, in 1741.