English replaced the Persian language of India in the year 1835, tracing some spark of its commencement as an official language with EIC setting forth its foot in the Indian land. The English language established a foundation with the granting of the East India Company charter in 1600 by Queen Elizabeth in 1600 and the subsequent establishment of ports in coastal cities such as Surat, Bombay, Madras and Calcutta. Trade was the objective of the British EIC till 1757 but the overwhelming victories in the two battles, Battle of Buxar (1757) and Battle of Plassey (1764) gave them courage to rule the Indian people. By 1800 there was no real challenge left to the British domination of India from either the other European powers in the region- the Dutch the French and the Portuguese nor except from the Marathas from the native states. But this was not easy without a common medium or a vehicle language which could help the native Indians and the foreign Britishers to have exchange of thoughts, besides it was also needed to carry out the affairs of the company in the Indian land.
During the British Raj English language penetration increased throughout India. This was driven in part by the gradually increasing hiring of Indians in the civil services. At the time of India's independence in 1947, English was the only functional lingua franca in the country. Lord Macaulay played a great role in introducing Western and English concepts into educational institutions in India. He supported the replacement of Persian by English as the official language, the celebrated language of the Mughals. Schools and Institutions began to set up in in India in the mid-1800 modelled on the University of London.
The traces of the Indian English Literature began to be seen from the early 1800s with the introduction of English as a language into the complex and hierarchical language system of India proving to be the most enduring aspect of the Britishers domination. The Travels Of Dean Mahomet(1794), the first book ever written and published by an Indian in English. The seeds of Indian Literature in English were sown by prominent figures like Raja Rao, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Mulk Raj Anand and many more. Early Indian writers used English unadulterated by Indian words to convey an experience which was essentially Indian. Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (1838–1894) wrote Rajmohan's Wife and published it in 1864; it is the first Indian novel written in English. Modern English Indian Writers include Salman Rushdie who has introduced the concept of "Chutnification Of English", Nayantara Sehgal, Anita Desai and many more. Among the renaissance writers are Rabindranath Tagore and Raja Ram Mohan Roy. Raja Ram Mohan Roy a towering figure from the Anglicist group who mastered the language through the constant habit of reading the English newspaper, of which the Continental politics chiefly interested him. He had endeavours to commence his literary career as a poet but in failing to do so he turned to writing prose.
The view of the English language among many years have changed over time. Earlier it used to be associated with Colonialism.
Gandhi wrote in Hind Swaraj,
"To give millions the knowledge of English is to enslave them"