INTRODUCTION

The Indian partition fiction narrates human experiences. The main theme of
the partition novel is to describe the worst passion in the human heart. The whole
partition literature tells a tragic story of the millions of the people of the both sides
of the border who had been born and brought up there. Several generations of their
ancestors had been born and brought up on the soil, and now they were suddenly
excelled only because they worshipped one God and not other. That is why it can
be said that with all other reasons the communalism is one major aspect of the
partition of India. There was the communal hatred between Hindus / Sikhs and
Muslims. This hatred completed the mission of demands of blood and human lives.
The death danced in the form of sectarian violence for a long time on the eve of the
partition.

PROSE: The scholars and researchers give the credit of the first published
prose composition in English by an Indian to Cavelly Venkata Boriah's 'Account of
the Jains' published in Asiatic researches or History and Antiquities, the Art,
sciences and literature of Asia, Vol. IX (London, 1809). Mr. Cavelly Venkata
Boriah was an assistant to Gol. Colin Mackenzie who was the first Surveyor
General of India. 'Account of the Jains' is an essay which remains of historical
importance as probably the first considerable attempt by an Indian to write in
English.

Raja Rammohan Roy's essay on 'A defense of Hindu Theism' (1817) may be
regarded as the first original publication of significance in the history of Indian
English literature.

Hurish Chunder Mukerji also paid his contribution for richness of Indian
English prose by editing 'The Hindoo partriot; Rajendra Lal Mitra's Antiquities of
Orissa' (1875-1880), 'Buddha Gaya' (1878) are also notable prose works in Indian
English literature. Dadabhai Nooroji’s 'Poverty of India', Mahadeo Govind
Ranade's 'Rise of the Maratha Power', J.N. Tata's 'Shells from the Sands of
Bombay; K.N. Kelkar's ‘Pleasures and Privileges of the Pen’, Bankim Chandra
Chatterjee's essays and Letters on Hinduism' Ramesh Chunder Dutt's 'A History of
civilization in Ancient India', brought one kind of glory and richness to Indian
English prose writing.

Rabindranath Tagore's prose works like 'Sadhana’, ‘Nationalism', 'The

Religion of Man', 'Crisis in civilization', and Swami Vivekananda's speeches, Sir
Aurobindo's 'Essays on the Gita', 'The life Divine' all gave world level prestige to
Indian English prose writing.

After Independence prose writings of Nirad C.Chaudhari including prose

books like 'Defense of India of Nationalization of Indian Army', 'The
Autobiography of an Unknown Indian', 'A Passage to England', 'The Intellectual in
India' etc made Indian English prose world class.

POETRY: The most of the scholars and researchers are agreed about the
name of Henry Louis Vivian Derozio (1809-31) as the first Indian English poet.
No doubt his father was Indo-Portuguese and mother an English. But he educated
in Calcutta, he spent his childhood in India. He worked as lecturer in Hindu
college, Calcutta. He published two volumes of poetry : 'Poems' (1827), and 'The
Fakeer of Jungheera : A Metrical tale and other poems’ (1827).A high-cast widow
and other Indian Subjects are the theme of his poems. The burning nationalistic
zeal in his poetry is the sound proof of his Indian blood and Indian identity. The
titles like 'To India My Native Land', 'The Harp of India', and 'To the pupils of
Hindu College' etc show his Indianans. Indian myth and legend, imagery and
diction like 'Gunga's' roll (Song of the Indian Girl) : 'Chandra's beams' (The
Eclipse) etc help us to stamp Derozio as an Indian English poet who is truly a son
of the soil.

.Toru Dutt (1856-77) who was the third Son of the great poet Govin
Chunder Dutt. Because of the poetic work of Toru Dutt the Indian English poetry
really graduated. Her two collections of poems: 'A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields'
(1876), and 'Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan' (1882) are most
prominent. Toru Dutt is the first Indian English poet to make an extensive use of
Indian myth and legend. Her diction is naturally of the Victorian romantic school
and true to the Ballad Motif.

Tagore is the great name of great Indian English poet who won the Noble
Prize for his greatest poetic work 'Gitanjali' (1912). His other poetic creations
'Fruit-Gathering' (1916), 'Stray Birds' (1921), 'Lover's Gift and crossing' (1918),
'The fugitive’ (1921)', Fireflies' (1928), 'Poems' (1942).After independence the
great Indian English poets like Nissim Ezekiel, Dom Moraes, P. Lal, Adil
Jussawalla, A.K. Mehrotra, Pritish Nandy, K.N. Daruwalla, Shiv K. Kumar,
Jayanta Mahapatra, Arun Kolatkar, Kamala Das etc fixed the place of Indian
English poetry in world literature by their great creations.

DRAMA: Indian English drama dates from 1831, when Krishna Mohan
Banerji wrote 'The perscuted Dramatic scenes illustrative of the present state of
Hindu society in Calcutta.' Then Michael Madhsudan Dutt translated three of his
own Bengali plays into English : 'Ratnavali' (1858), 'Sermista' (1859), 'It this called
Civilization?', (1817). Not only this but he also published one more his own
English drama: 'Nation builders', (1922).

Sir Aurobindo also published his own plays in English 'The witch of ilni : A
Dream of the Woodlands' (1891), 'Achab and Esar', 'The House of Brut', 'The Birth
of Sin', and many other famous plays.
 Rabindranath Tagore's great plays in English 'Chitra' (1913), 'The cycle of
spring' (1917), 'Red Oleander', 'Visva Bharati Quarterly' carried the Indian English
drama on a glorious hight.Harindranath Chattopadhya's 'Abu Hassan' (1918), 'The
Window’,’ The Parrot’ 'The Coffin', 'The Evening Lamp', 'Sidhartha : Man of
Peace' and Sarath Kumar Ghose's 'The Prince of Destiny' (1910), Kedarnath Das
Gupta's 'Calif for a Day' (1916), 'Bharata' (1918), Dan Gopal Mukherji’s 'Layla-
Majnu' (1916), etc are the famous and literary highted dramas in Indian English
literature.In Bombay in those days the Indian dramatists like C.S. Nazir brought
one English drama on stage : 'The first Parsi Baronet' (1866), and D.M. Wadia also
brought one more Indian English drama on Indian stage : The Indian Heroine,
(1877). It was based on the events of 1857. P.P. Meherjee also brought his drama
on stage 'Dolly parsen', (1918).

After independence the National School of drama was established in Delhi.

National Drama Festival was started in Delhi by the Sangeet Natak Akademi in
1954. It helped to enourage the number of playwrites in the earlier period. Manjeri
Isvaran, G.V. Desani, Lakhan Deb and Pritish Nandy came forward to glorify the
drama. Isvaran's “Yama and Yami’’, (1948), earned the name and fame, P.A
Krishnaswami's The Flute of Krishna, (1950) dramatized the legend. M.
Krishnamurti's The cloth of Gold’, (1951), S. Raman's 'Karna' (1970), P.A
Vasudev's The sunflower, (1972) Nissim Ezekiel's Three Plays' includes Nalini, A
comedy, Marriage Poem: Tragi- comedy and sleepwakers : An Indo- American
force brought richness to Indian English drama.

BIOGRAPHY/AUTOBIOGRAPHY:CavellyVenkanta Ramaswami's
Biographical sketches of the Dekkan Poets (1829) is the first work of literary
biography in Indian English literature, Autobiography of lutufulah is also one of
the prominent book in the catalogue of Indian English autobigraphy.
 Autobiographies like D.K. Karve's Looking Back',(1936), N.C. Banerji's 'At
The Cross-Road's (1950), Dhan Gopal Makerji's 'Caste and out caste,' (1923), etc
earned their fixed place in the world litrature.

After independence in Indian English literature the writing of

autobiographies has been continued by the pen of great literary persons like Nirad
C. Chaudhari's 'The Autobiography of an unknown Indian', (1951), R.K. Narayan's
'My Days', (1975), Kamla Das's 'My story', (1976), Savitri Devi Nanda's 'A City
of two Gateway's (1950), etc made Indian English literature rich M.K.Gandhi's
'The Story of My Experiments With Truth,' (1927), Nehru's An Autobiography,'
(1936) etc are also notable autobiographies in Indian English literature.

TRAVEL BOOKS AND SHORT STORY:The travels of a Hindoo to

various parts of Bengal and Upper India’,(1869) is the earliest traval book of
Bolanath chandra. In Indian English literature it is the beginning. R.C. Dutt's
'Three Years in Europe' (1895) is one mile stone as traval book in Indian English
literaturte the writings of P.C.Mazoomdar like “Sketches of a Tour Round the
World”(1884),Bhagvat Sing jee's 'Journal of a Visit to England in 1883,' (1886),.

A.S.P.Ayyar's An Indian in Western Europe' (1929), Lal Mohan's Travel in

Punjab', (1934), K.P.S. Menon's 'Delhi-Chunking : A Traval Dairy,' (1947), Ved
Mehta's 'Walking the Indian Streets' (1963),etc brought one kind of literary
richness to Indian English literature.

BRIEF HISTORY OF INDIAN ENGLISH NOVEL: Indian English Fiction

writing begins by the pen of Lal Behari Dev, Bankim Chandra, Toru Dutt,
Krupabai Sathianadhan and others. The nest generation is of A.S.P.Ayyar,
K.S.Venkataramani and Dhan Gopal Mukheriji. They were eager to find a wide
interest in history, politics and romance. The independence movement brought the
regional intellectuals together and the English langugage alone provided an easy
common mediun of communication. There was thus a sudden support in Indian
writing novels in English. It was also a time of social reform. Mahatma Gandhi had
propagated certain ethical ideas in new fashion. R.K.Narayan, Raja Rao and Mulk
Raj Anand gained a wide public reading. Mulk Raj Anand wrote a series of the
novels of thirties and forties. His creative fire was too rich..

The women novelist Nayantara Sahgal brings a strong autobiographical

novel 'A Time to be Happy (1958) which takes place on the eve of India's
independence. Her second novel 'This Time of Morning' (1965) is a portrayal of
India's socio-political life after independence. 'Storm in Chandigarh' (1969) is the
third novel of Mrs. Sehgal. In this novel she gives equal importance to politics and
personal life. 'The Day in Shadow' (1972) is her last novel in which her heroine
Simrit is in conflicting emotions and finally meet to divorce.

Anita Desai is another notable woman novelist in Indian English fiction

writing. ‘Cry the Peacock’ (1963) is her novel of the tragedy of Maya who is
caught in her own despair. Her Next novel is ' Voices in the City' (1965) which
contains the story of the victims in the Calcutta city. .