ABSTRACT
Cloth investments suffered during the Carnatic and the Mysore wars. The losses and sufferings of the lower rungs were more; the weavers and their contractors suffered more than the bulky EIC exporters. The extreme poverty of the natives rendered the collection of goods, for shipment to England, very difficult and complicated. There were no large local merchants or manufacturers. India had not yet abandoned the domestic system in its industrial development. The fabrics were collected into local warehouses, called Kottahs, and each piece was marked with the weaver’s name. Then, they were transferred to large warehouses, which, with the offices and private quarters of the agents, formed a factory. Owing to the necessity of partial payment in advance, an efficient system of supervision was necessary to prevent the natives from selling the completed article to some person other than someone who had advanced money for the purchase of raw material. It was a common proceeding when the rivalry between the English and French Companies was at its height. There was always an Englishman at the head of each factory. He employed a native secretary, who was called a baniyan. The baniyan hired overseers or agents, called gomastahs, one for each village or station, who supplied goods to the factory. The gomastah was provided with peons, who were armed servants, and hircarars or messengers. This was the manpower arrangement in the Coromandel factories.
