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Indian English Literature (IEL) refers to that body of work by writers from India, who pen strictly in the English language and whose native or co-native language could be one of the numerous regional and indigenous languages of India. Indian English Literature is also intimately linked with the works of associates of the Indian diaspora, who was born in Indian but presently resides elsewhere.
The history of Indian Writing in English dates to the British Raj in India. Toru Dutt was the first Indian poet to write in English. Poets like Henry Louis Vivian Deorzio and Sarojini Naidu highlighted patriotic sentiments in their poems. Rabindranath Tagore became the first Asian to be bestowed with Nobel Prize in the year 1913 for his magnum opus Gitanjali; a book of devotional lyrics. Tagore wrote in Bengali and himself translated the book in English. The trio- Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao and R. K. Narayan took the baton of Indian Writing in English much forward. The entry of this trio in literary scenery in India escalated the genre to great heights.