This paper examines the sharp rise in the number of agricultural labourers in North Bengal between 1961 and 1971. How far did this rise originate from changes in modes of production and social existence forms? Apart from the rise in the number of agricultural labourers, the importance of North Bengal as a case study stems from its overwhelmingly adhiar (share-cropper) based agricultural economy of the past. The field investigation, on which this paper is based, was carried out during the first half of 1976.