The agrarian system and relations governing agricultural production are influenced by larger changes in the political system. This paper analyses such changes by looking at the impact wide-ranging political shifts have on a microcosm of society. Agrarian relations in Cooch Behar district in north West Bengal were largely feudalistic in pre-independent India. However, with successive implementation of land reforms, and the growing commercialisation of agriculture, a class of agricultural labour emerged. With the introduction of a three-tiered governance system, this group has since emerged as an important political class.
