''The Hill of Devi'' is an account by

E. M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly ''A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stori ...

of two visits to India in 1912–1913 and 1921, during which he worked as the private secretary to

Tukojirao III Tukojirao III (1 January 1888 – 21 December 1937) was the ruling Maharaja of the Maratha princely state of Dewas from 1900 to 1937. He succeeded to the ''gadi'' of Dewas following the death of his uncle, Raja Krishnajirao II. His tutor and ...

, the

Maharaja Mahārāja (; also spelled Maharajah, Maharaj) is a Sanskrit title for a "great ruler", "great king" or " high king". A few ruled states informally called empires, including ruler raja Sri Gupta, founder of the ancient Indian Gupta Empire, an ...

of the state of

Dewas Senior Dewas Senior was established by Tukoji Rao I Puar during the Maratha conquest of Central India. It was a 15 Gun Salute Maratha princely state. On 12 December 1818 it became a British protectorate. History The original state was founded in ...

. The book was first published in 1953 and is dedicated to Forster's friend, the

Indian Civil Service The Indian Civil Service (ICS), officially known as the Imperial Civil Service, was the higher civil service of the British Empire in India during British rule in the period between 1858 and 1947. Its members ruled over more than 300 million ...

administrator

Malcolm Lyall Darling Sir Malcolm Lyall Darling (10 December 1880 – 1 January 1969) was a member of the Indian Civil Service (ICS) who was appointed Assistant Commissioner of the Punjab, British India, in 1904. Having held numerous other posts, he became Financia ...

with whom he had been a contemporary at

King's College, Cambridge King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, the college lies beside the River Cam and faces out onto King's Parade in the centre of the city ...

as a student. Forster derived inspiration for the book from the famous hill-top temple of the Hindu Mother Goddess "

Devi Devī (; Sanskrit: देवी) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The conce ...

". The story is based in pre-independence India in a nondescript kingdom in the central part of the country, Dewas. The book offers an insight into the life of Indian royalty as it skilfully revolves around the internal feud between two scions of the ruling family of Dewas. The 1924 novel ''

A Passage to India ''A Passage to India'' is a 1924 novel by English author E. M. Forster set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s. It was selected as one of the 100 great works of 20th century English litera ...

'' could be read along with this book. The hill is immediately north of the old town in Dewas, at 22.97 degrees north, 76.06 degrees east.

References

External links

* Child's, Peter (2001)
E. M. Forster: ''The Hill of Devi''
The Literary Encyclopedia.
Plot synopsis
1953 non-fiction books Books about British India Books by E. M. Forster British travel books English non-fiction books American travel books {{india-book-stub

References

Further reading

External links