Who were gomasthas ? How did they become good partners of the British management system.
(a) Gomastha was a paid servant of the East India Company. After establishing their political power, the company could assert a monopoly right to trade. So it proceeded to develop a system of management and control that would eliminate competition, control costs and ensure regular supplies of cotton and silk goods. Various steps were taken by the Company to achieve its objects. These steps were as mentioned below : In order to eliminate the existing traders and brokers in the cloth trade, and establish a more direct control over the weaver, Gomastha was appointed to supervise weavers, collect supplies and examine the quality of cloth. It prevented company weavers from dealing with other buyers. Gomasthas became good partners of the British management system because the weavers who took loans from the Company had to handover the cloth they produced to gomasthas. They could not sell it to any other trader. (b) Soon, however, in many weaving villages there were clashes between weavers and gomasthas due to the reasons as mentioned below : Earlier supply merchants very often lived within the weaving villages. They used to help the weavers in times of crisis. Therefore there were good relations between them. The new gomasthas were outsiders. They had no social link with the village. Gomasthas acted arrogantly. They punished weavers for delay in supply. They often beat and flogged them. The weavers could not bargain for prices or sell to different buyers and the price paid by the Company was low.
