A Passage to India&nbsp;is a 1924 novel by English author&nbsp;E. M. Forster&nbsp;set against the backdrop of the&nbsp;British Raj&nbsp;and the&nbsp;Indian independence movement&nbsp;in the 1920s. It was selected as one of the 100 great works of 20th century English literature by the&nbsp;<i>Modern Library</i>&nbsp;and won the 1924&nbsp;James Tait Black Memorial Prize&nbsp;for fiction.&nbsp;<i>Time</i>&nbsp;magazine&nbsp;included the novel in its &quot;All Time 100 Novels&quot; list. The novel is based on Forster&#39;s experiences in India, deriving the title from&nbsp;Walt Whitman&#39;s 1870 poem &quot;Passage to India&quot; in&nbsp;<i>Leaves of Grass</i>.<br />The story revolves around four characters: Dr. Aziz, his British friend Mr. Cyril Fielding, Mrs. Moore, and Miss Adela Quested. During a trip to the fictitious&nbsp;Marabar Caves&nbsp;(modeled on the&nbsp;Barabar Caves&nbsp;of Bihar), Adela thinks she finds herself alone with Dr. Aziz in one of the caves (when in fact he is in an entirely different cave), and subsequently panics and flees; it is assumed that Dr. Aziz has attempted to assault her. Aziz&#39;s trial, and its run-up and aftermath, bring to a boil the common racial tensions and prejudices between Indians and the British during the colonial era.