ABSTRACT
Developments of public administration in Bangladesh have been influenced by an amalgamation of factors, including foreign innovations within the context of a deep-rooted and rigid local sociopolitical culture. Provincial administration was mainly engaged in military activities and revenue collection. The foregoing discussion clearly reveals that the Mauryan administration was the first bureaucratic administration in its true sense, as it was hierarchical, merit-based, and salaried and was run by full-time employees, based on written documents, and divided into departments. The Mughal administration perhaps was the most centralized administration in the history of India. The unique contribution of the Mughal administration was the introduction of a unified grading structure called the mansabdari system. The British colonial administration founded the modern bureaucracy based on legal-rational principles in the country. Bangladesh public administration is a classic example of Fred Riggs’ polynormativism and high formalism in terms of administrative values.
