Abstract
This review examines the meanings and implications of the “village” in Bangladesh in its historical context and in relation to “rural” development.
First, the evolution of the concept of “village” and higher administrative units is traced by reviewing historical documents of British colonial officers, various surveys related to Permanent Settlement, Revenue Surveys, Cadastral Surveys and censuses. Second, some important village studies in the colonial period are reviewed in relation to the concept of rural development. The main features of the epoch-making V-AID and Comilla approach to rural development undertaken in the postwar period are summarized, then contemporary village and rural development studies are reviewed. It is noted that the huge accumulation of village and rural development studies conducted in Bengal and Bangladesh still leaves room for fresh studies that more clearly address the true meanings and implications of Bangladesh villages, beyond the concepts of elusiveness and power structure as described by notions of patron-client, the matabbor as a tout, water-lordism, etc. Deeper studies of rural-urban interaction and the broader regional networks of villagers that are commonly seen in Hindu India are just two examples of the expected area of Bangladesh village studies.
