A passage to India is widely considered as E.M. Forster's masterpiece and one of the finest English novels of the twentieth century. Published in 1924, it portrays a picture of society in India under the British Raj, of the clash between East and West, and of the prejudices and misunderstandings that foredoomed goodwill. The scene is the city of Chandrapore on the banks of the Ganges. The background characters consist mainly of the Bitish officials and their wives, and the local intelligentsia. The main characters are: Aziz, a Muslim Indian doctor; Godbole, a Hindu professor; Fielding, the headmaster of the Govt. college; Ronald Heaslop, another British official; and two visitors from Britain, Mrs. Moore and Adela Quested.

The novel has psychological, political and religious dimensions, and it is the last of these that is the most important. The Christianity, or sceptical liberalism, of the more enlightened of the British is shown to be adequate for normal relationships and practical affairs, but have become too shallow for the interpretation of deeper human experience. Aziz's Muslim faith is stronger, but it is more an aesthetic and cultural tradition that a binding spiritual faith. Godbole's Hinduism, on the other hand, is profound and intelligent, though it is no guide to the daily conduct of affairs.