Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

Born in Cologne in 1927, Ruth Prawer Jhabvalais the daughter of a German-Polish Jewish family which had to escape from the Nazi Regime in 1939 and moved to Britain. There she went to school and University where she graduated with an MA in English literature. As she married Cyrus Jhabvala, an Indian architect, in 1951 they left Britain, moved to New Dehli and have 3 children together. From that time on she began to write down her experiences in India from which the still best known is Heat and dust, which won the Booker Prize and was filmed in 1983.

Later she and her husband moved to New York, were she distanced
again from Indian literature and focused on German-Jewish background and immigrants in the US.

Important to say about her character is, that everywhere she went, she was always an outsider and had a feeling of otherness which definitely influenced her work.

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India

Before the real Republic of India was founded….

• Stone Age 70,000–3300 BCE
• Mehrgarh Culture • 7000–3300 BCE
• Indus Valley Civilization 3300–1700 BCE
• Late Harappan Culture 1700–1300 BCE
• Vedic period 1500–500 BCE
• Iron Age 1200–300 BCE
• Maha Janapadas • 700–300 BCE
• Magadha Empire • 545 BCE - 550
• Maurya Empire • 321–184 BCE
• Middle Kingdoms 250 BCE–1279 CE
• Chola Empire • 250 BCE–1070 CE
• Satavahana • 230 BCE–220 CE
• Kushan Empire • 60–240 CE
• Gupta Empire • 280–550 CE
• Pala Empire • 750–1174 CE
• Chalukya Dynasty • 543–753 CE
• Rashtrakuta • 753–982 CE
• Western Chalukya Empire • 973–1189 CE
• Hoysala Empire 1040–1346
• Kakatiya Empire 1083–1323
• Islamic Sultanates 1206–1596
• Delhi Sultanate • 1206–1526
• Deccan Sultanates • 1490–1596
• Ahom Kingdom 1228–1826
• Vijayanagara Empire 1336–1646
• Mughal Empire 1526–1858
• Maratha Empire 1674–1818
• Sikh Confederacy 1716–1799
• Sikh Empire 1801–1849

Finally, the Republic of India was founded on August 15, 1947 when India became independent from the British Commonwealth.

Earlier, in 1858 the Pre-Independet Republic of India fell under the leadership of the British and Queen Victoria, who from that point on was not anymore only British queen, but also Empress of India in the so called time of the British Raj.The governement was instituted in 1858, when the rule of the British East India Company was transferred to Queen Victoria, and lasted until 1947, when the British Indian Empire was splitted up into the Union of India (later the Republic of India) and the Dominion of Pakistan (later the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the People’s Republic of Bangladesh).

After this overtaking by the British followed several Independence movements by the Indias, who in 1947 finally reached independence.