Contents: 1. Colonial rule: The Changing Rural Landscape. 2. Evolution of Agratisn Thinking. 3. Debating the Peasant. 4. The Ploughmen's Poet. 5. Changing Images of the Rural World and the Political Programme. 6. Conclusion.

Since the 1830s Bengal witnessed a vast outpouring of creative writing. Their authors came from diverse social background. This book brings forward hitherto unexplored aspects of literati perception of peasants and agriculture in colonial Bengal.