EARLY
CIVILISATION
| c.
2500-1600 BC |
Civilisation
established in the Indus Valley with the cities of Harappa
Mohenjodaro. |
| c.
1500 BC |
Aryans
invade northern India. Hindu sacred texts of the Vedas are
written |
| c.
563 BC |
Birth
of Gautama Siddharatha (Buddha). |
| 521-486
BC |
The
Persian King, Darius, occupies Punjab and Sind. Buddhism and
Jainism develop. |
| 321-184
BC |
Northern
India is ruled by the Mauryan emperors; the most notable in
Ashoka(269-232 BC). |
| AD
319-606 |
Gupta
Empire is established in the north. Science, Literature and
arts flourish. |
| 550-1190 |
Chalukyas
and Rashtrakas rule central India from Karnataka. Pallavas
and Cholas rule the south and established trading links with
Indonesia. |
THE RAJPUT
PERIOD: 900-1200
| C.
850 |
Anangpal
builds Lal Kot, Delhi's first city. |
| 1000-1300 |
Hoysala
Empire rules the South. |
| 1192 |
Muhammed
of Ghor invades the north and makes Qtab-ud-Din Aibak
Delhi's first ruler. |
THE
DELHI SULTANATE
| 1206 |
Qtab-ud-Din
becomes sultan of Delhi. His dynasty is overthrown in 1296
by Feroz Shah, a Turk, who builds Delhi's second city east
of lal Kot |
| 1321 |
Ghias-ud-Din
Tughlaq is proclaimed sultan. He starts building Tughlaqabad,
the third city of Delhi |
| 1325 |
Muhammaed-bin
Tughlaq becomes sultan and builds Jahanpath, the fourth
city.In 1351 Feroz Shah Tughlq builds Ferozabad, the fifth
city. |
| 1414 |
Power
passes to the sayyids. |
| 1451 |
Buhlbal
Lodi, an Afgan Nobel, captures the throne and founds Lodhi
dynasty. |
| 14th-16th
centuries |
Islam
is established throughout the north. The south remains
independent under the Hindu Vijayanager dynasty. |
| 1498 |
Vasco
de Gama established Portuguese trading posts, followed by
the Dutch, French and English. |
THE
MUGHAL DYNASTY: 1526-1857
| 1526 |
Babur,
a warload from samarkand, defeats the Sultan of Delhi at the
Battle of Panipat, and proclaims himself the Mughal emperor. |
| 1540 |
Humayan
succeeds his father, Babur, and starts to build Purana Qila,
Delhi's sixth city. |
| 1556 |
Akbar
is enthroned, aged 13. He pushes the borders of the Mughal
empire three-quarters of the way across the sub-continent. |
| 1565 |
Akbar
starts to built the red Fort in his capital city, Agra .
Meanwhil, Muslim forces bring down the Vijayanager dynasty
in the south, which in turn is conquered by the Mughals. |
| 1569-74 |
Akbar
builds his "dream city" of Fatehpur Sirki, near
Agra, and moves his capital there, but the court returns to
Agra ten years later. Akbar then starts to build his tomb at
Sikandra. |
| 1600 |
Queen
Elizabeth I grants a trading charter to the British East
India Company, and in 16o8 English merchants set up a
trading base at Surat in Gujarat. |
| 1605 |
Akbar
is succeeded by his son, Jahangir. |
| 1627 |
Shan
Jahan, Akbar's grandson, becomes emperor. In 1632 he starts
to build the Taj Mahal in memory of his wife. In 1638 he
moves the capital from Agra to Delhi and lays the
foundations for Shahjahanbad, the seventh city. He begins
work on Lal Qila (the red fort) in 1639 |
| 1659-1707 |
Aurangzeb
becomes emperor by imprisoning his father, Shah Jahan, in
the Red For, Agra, and killing his brothers. Following his
death the Mughal empire declines. Calcutta begins to expand
as a trading post of East India Company |
| 1739 |
Nadir
Shah, a Persian king, invades Delhi and slaughters 30,000
residents of Shanjahanbad before returning to persia with
the Peacock Throne. |
| 1756-63 |
In
the Seven Years' War the British East india Company ousts
the French from Bengal. |
| 1857 |
India
Mutiny breaks out in Meerut, where sepoys are incited by a
rumour that a new issue of bullets is greased is with animal
fat from pigs, which are sacred to Hindus. |
THE
BRITISH RAJ: 1858-1947
| 1858 |
The
British crown impress direct rule and appoints a viceroy as
the sovereign's representative . |
| 1877 |
Queen
Victoria is proclaimed empress of India. |
| 1885 |
The
First political party, the India National Congress, is
founded. |
| 1911 |
George
V, King and Emperor, announces that the capital will be
transferred from Calcutta to Delhi. |
| 1915 |
Mohandas
Gandhi, Known as Mahatma ("great soul"), returns
from south Africa and starts to campaign for passive
resistance to British rule. |
| 1919 |
General
Dyer orders his Gurkha troops to open fire on a peaceful but
illegal anti-British protest meeting in Amritsar, killing
379 and wounding 1,200 people in the courtyard of
Jaliyanwala Bagh. |
| 1930 |
Gandhi's
"Quit India" drive gains momentum with his Dandi
Salt march from Ahmedabad to protest against taxes on
Indian-produced salt. |
| 1931 |
New
Delhi inaugurated as the capital of India. |
| 1935 |
Mohammed
Ali Jinnah, head of the muslim League.calls for a new Muslim
nation of Pakistan. |
INDEPENDENCE (1947 to present)
| 1947 |
India
gains independence from British at midnight on 15 August.
Jawaharlal Nehru become its first prime minister. |
| 1948 |
Mahatma
Gandhi is assassinated on 30 January by a Hindu fanatic |
| 1950 |
The
constitution of India comes into force. |
| 1964 |
Nehru
dies. in 1965, his successor, Lal Bahadur ,repulses
Pakistan's attacks on India in the Rann of Kutch and
Kashmir. |
PRECENDING
PAGES: mural of a royal hunt, jodhpur.
| Left |
The
son of the Nawab of Banda c. 1844 |
| Right |
Mahatma
Gandhi (1869-1948), leader of India's campaign for home rule
. |
| 1966 |
Indira
Gandhi, Nehru's daughter (no relation to Mahatma Gandhi)
becomes prime minister. |
| 1971 |
War
with east Pakistan leads to the creation of the new
independent nation of Bangladesh. |
| 1975-77 |
Indira
Gandhi imposes a State of Emergency, suspends civil
liberties and imprisons her political opponents. She is
defeated in the 1977 elections. |
| 1977-79 |
Janata
Party in power under Desai. |
| 1980 |
Indira
returns as prime minister. |
| 1984 |
Sikhs
demand independence for Punjab; 1,000 people die when the
Indian army storms the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the
holiest Sikh Shrine. Indira Gandhi is assassinated on
31 October. Her son, Rajiv Gandhi , becomes prime minister. |
| 1988 |
New
opposition Party, Janata Dal, established. |
| 1989 |
congress
(i) loses majority in general election; Janata Dal forms
minority government |
| 1990 |
Communal
and civil disturbances in Jammu and Kashmir and Assam. Religious
Violence in Punjab. |
| 1991 |
Rajiv
Gandhi is assassinated. Congress forms a minority government
led by Narasimha Rao. |
| 1992-93 |
Destruction
of Babri mosque in Ayodhya by Hindu militants provokes riots
nationwide. |
| 1996 |
Right-wing
Hindu nationalist Bharitya Janata Party(BJP) falls from
power after two weeks in office. A leftist coalition under
Deve Gowda,later succeeded by IK Gujral, Takes control. |
| 1998 |
Election
victory for BJP; their leader Atal Behari Vajpayee becomes
prime minister. |
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