Why was the jotedar a powerful figure in many areas of rural Bengal?

When zamindars were in crisis in the eighteenth century, a group of rich peasants consolidated its position in the villages of Bengal. This class of rich peasants came to be known as jotedars. They had a control over vast areas of land. Sometimes they had even a control on many thousand acres of land. They even controlled local trade and moneylending. They exercised immense power over the poor cultivators of the region. They had even become more powerful than the zamindars. The following reasons were responsible for their strong position :

(i) They lived in villages. So they had a lot of influence on many villagers.

(ii) They opposed the efforts of the zamindars to increase the jama of the village.

(iii) They mobilised ryots to deliberately delay payments of revenue to the zamindars.

(iv) They controlled the local trade and moneylending.

(v) They had a control over several areas of land. They even purchased land when the estates of the zamindars were being auctioned for failure to make payment of the revenue.