num_pages: 192
description: Bangladesh is the last major nation-state to proclaim its identity. Here is a nation that changed its statehood twice in less than twenty-five years. The twists and turns of her recent history baffle the historians. This study explores the historical roots of this apparently enigmatic nation. Methodologically it breaks new ground in Bangladesh studies in two ways. First it makes explicit the underlying theories in the historical framework to explain the historical evolution of this hidden nation. Secondly it explores the micro foundations of social and political institutions in this region. Starting with an analysis of micro institutions at the grass-roots level this study examines the determinants of the structure of rural settlements in Bangladesh and suggests that the lack of corporateness of rural settlements contributed to political fragmentation instability and factionalism in this region. It puts forward the hypothesis that the weakness of institutions in rural areas of Bangladesh provided a congenial environment for conversion to Islam while rural institutions in much of South Asia arrested the spread of Islam .
language: English
title: Discovery of Bangladesh - Explorations into Dynamics of a Hidden Nation
publisher: The University Press Limited