This research paper of mine was first published in Radical Politics in South Asia (Cambridge, The MIT Press, 1973) edited by P. R. Brass and M. F. Franda. The book was very favorably reviewed in several professional journals of the USA and UK. Because of the high cost of the book Radical Politics in South Asia, it was extremely difficult to make the book available for our students. I, therefore, decided to reprint my article in Bangladesh. It was published by Bangladesh Book International Limited, Dhaka (now defunct) in 1975. Since the publication of this article as a monograph there had been a great demand of this book among the students, teachers and researchers all over South Asia. As a teacher teaching political development and social change I still find that there is a market for this book among the concerned students and scholars at home and abroad.