Question

Who were the Gomasthas?

Answer 1

Hint: They may be referred to as ‘a paid manager of the private trader’s concerns’, who had claimed ‘hardly any share in the profit and loss of his employer’s business’.

Complete answer-
Gomasthas were described as an Indian agent of the side of British East India Company who were employed in the colonies of the company in order to sign bonds, generally compellingly, through the local weavers as well as artisans for deliverance of goods to the Company. The East India Company had appointed gomasthas in order to supervise weavers who were present in India to create a more direct control over the weavers, free of the existing traders as well as brokers in the cloth trade. The Gomasthas in general were the paid servants who had supervised the weavers, collected supplies and also examined the cloth’s quality.
The gomasthas had fixed the prices of the goods. The goods were exported from the Company to Europe. Earlier supply merchants very frequently lived within the weaving village, as well as had a very close relationship along with the weavers, looking after their needs and helping them at the times of crisis. The new gomasthas were referred to as outsiders who had no long-term social link along with the village. They acted arrogantly and rudely marched into villages along with sepoys and peons, and also punished weavers for delays. Hence, The weavers had no space to bargain and sell to different buyers; the price they got from the Company was miserably low and the loans they had accepted tied them along with the Company.

Note-
Basically, the Gomasthas were the real link between the East India Company and the weavers. The company used to arrange loans to the weavers to purchase raw material for weaving the cloth.