single volume abridgement of the completed series. ANAND CHANDAVARKAR Washington, DC DAVID HARDIMAN, The Coming of the Devi: Adivasi Assertion in Western India, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1987, pp. xii + 248, Rs. 140. The Coming of the Devi is a study of a popular movement centred on a goddess which arose amongst the Adivasis of south Gujarat in the 1920s. David Hardiman, a member of the Subaltern Studies group, aims to show the Adivasis as subjects of their own history, not as backward ’tribals’ who are objects of a history forged by ’superior’ others. In this aim, his book succeeds admirably and throughout a carefully researched and clearly written text, the Adivasis remain in the centre of the stage. This probably owes quite a lot to Hardiman’s research method, for in addition to archival work, he also spent considerable time visiting villages where the goddess cult had flourished and interviewing elderly Adivasis about their recollec- tions. After the introduction. Hardiman traces the complicated story of the origin and transformation of the Devi, trom a traditional smallpox goddess to a force for social reform, and then describes her cult, which was plainly continuous with alreadv existing religious beliefs and practices. Manv Adivasis took the view that the Devi was just another divine bemg to be propitiated, but many others saw her as calling them to a new way of life. Why this was so is a question investigated by looking at the social, political and economic context of the Adivasis in south Gujarat. First, their rela tionship with the state, and the relatively egalitarian social structure and culture of the Adivasis are discussed. We then learn, in a convincing analysis, about their connection with two important categories of out- siders, the shahukars or moneylenders and traders, and the Parsi liquor dealers. The shahukars, mainly high-caste Vaniyas resident in towns, had long existed in the region. Very many Adivasis were completely dependent upon the shahukars for loans to see them through the year and were perrnanently indebted. Nonetheless, the Adivasis did not generally see the shahukars as naked exploiters, but rather as benevolent elders on whom they could always rely. Attitudes to the Parsi liquor dealers, on the other hand, were very different, at least by the end of the nineteenth century. Adivasis were considerable consumers of alcoholic drink, toddy and dis- tilled liquor. They manufactured much of it themselves, but there were also numerous Parsi dealers in their villages. After 1860, following the land settlement and the imposition of land tax, Parsis began to acquire single volume abridgement of the completed series. ANAND CHANDAVARKAR Washington, DC DAVID HARDIMAN, The Coming of the Devi: Adivasi Assertion in Western India, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1987, pp. xii + 248, Rs. 140. The Coming of the Devi is a study of a popular movement centred on a goddess which arose amongst the Adivasis of south Gujarat in the