Question

The east India company appointed gomasthas to supervise weavers in India. Explain.

Answer 1

Hint: Gomasthas were trade or revenue agents appointed by the British to supervise weavers, collect supplies from them and examine the equality of products being produced by them.

Complete answer:
The reasons for appointing gomasthas were:-
a. Before the 1760s, British cotton industries had not expanded and Indian fine textiles were in great demand in Europe.
b. the East India company wanted to expand their exports from India but they had competition from French, Dutch and Portuguese merchants, this lead to competition as weavers and merchants could bargain and try selling their produce to the best buy according to them.
To solve these problems, the British hired gomasthas, who would eliminate the requirement of the middlemen.
the duties of gomasthas were:-
a. They were appointed to check the quality of cloth and also to collect their supplies.
b. they could penalise the weavers in case of a delay and they weavers were not allowed to sell to anybody other than the East India company.
an added benefit of hiring gomasthas was that they were outsiders and had no attachment with the village where they were posted.

Note: The goods produced by weavers were exported to Europe. Gomasthas were also required to collect raw material and examine the quality of the cloth.