The thesis examines the question of the processes through which regional contrasts in rural development have operated in the State of Tamil Nadu, South India. It falls into three main parts. In the first two Chapters general theoretical and empirical questions relating to regional problems of rural development are discussed, and the analytical approach adopted in the thesis is introduced. In Chapters Three, Four and Five relevant features of the physical, social and economic environment are examined with reference to their bearing on macro-level patterns of rural development in Tamil Nadu, focussing on the period since India's Independence in 1947. In Chapters Six, Seven and Eight the analytical focus shifts to the study of village level patterns of change with respect to a limited number of agricultural and consumer variables. A sample of villages selected on a stratified random basis from the whole State serves as the data base for an empirical testing of hypotheses relating the spatial processes of change to accessibility. Concepts of accessibility are discussed, several definitions are proposed and the significance of alternative forms of accessibility for the spatial process of development are examined.