The Indian weavers whose craftmanship had made Indian textiles famous all over the world suffered during the British rule. They forced the Indian weavers to sell their goods below market price and hired them to work at low wages. The Company exported cotton from India. So the weavers had to buy it at higher prices.
(i) The Company appointed paid workers called gomasthas to supervise the weavers and collect supplies.
(ii) Unlike earlier times when the merchants lived in the villages, these gomasthas had no personal links with the weavers.
(iii) They acted arrogantly and punished weavers for delay in supplies. Because of this, often there were clashes between the weavers and gomasthas.
(iv) The Company often gave advance or loan to the weaver at the time of placing order. This bound the weaver to the Company.
(v) The weavers had to sell the goods to the Company at a dictated price.
(vi) The weavers were prohibited from contacting other traders or selling their goods to others.
(vii) The prices they received from the Company were exceedingly low - it drove the weavers to poverty.
