Via Boing Boing:
"It all began in 19th century Bengal. The first example of modern Indian SF was probably a Bengali story, Shukra Bhraman or ‘Travels to Venus’, by Jagananda Roy in 1879. Or, depending on your perspective, much before that. “Science Fiction has been a part of Indian literature since the Puranas and the Mahabharata,” says MH Srinarahari, General Secretary of the Indian Association for Science Fiction Studies (IASFS). “There was the palace of wax made by the Kauravas and Ram faced Mrigmarichika, which was nothing but an illusion.”
Having just reread Alan Moore's "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" (in conjunction with the fabulous panel by panel annotations "Heroes and Monsters", I was particularly interested in the following comment:
"Srinarahari points out that unlike Western alien invasion stories, Indian writers never let extra-terrestrials take over planet earth."
Alan Moore has stated his interest in reflecting the social values and literary memes of Victorian England. One of those themes (explored heavily in LXG vol 2 with the HG Wells storyline and referenced regularly in the character of Mina Murray) is "invasion literature:"
"A historical literary genre most notable between 1871 and the First World War (1914). The genre first became recognizable starting in Britain in 1871 with The Battle of Dorking, a fictional account of an invasion of England by Germany. This short story was so popular it started a literary craze for tales that aroused imaginations and anxieties about hypothetical invasions by foreign powers, and by 1914 the genre had amassed a corpus of over 400 books, many best-sellers, and a world-wide audience. The genre was influential in Britain in shaping politics, national policies and popular perceptions in the years leading up to the First World War, and remains a part of popular culture to this day."