Timeline of Indian history
This is a timeline of Indian history. It includes the history of South Asia (Indian subcontinent), especially the history of the regions now known India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Mehrgarh Culture (7000-3300 BC)
- 7000 BC: Mehrgarh Culture (Period I) begins, which was one of the world's earliest Neolithic cultures
- 5500 BC: Period II of Mehrgarh begins
- 4800 BC: Period III of Mehrgarh begins
- 3500 BC: Period IV of Mehrgarh begins
- 3300 BC: Period IV of Mehrgarh ends
Indus Valley Civilization (3300-1700 BC)
- 3300 BC: Indus Valley Civilization (also known as Harappan civilization or Sindu-Sarasvati Civilization) began in Harappa (starting with the Ravi phase), and was one of the world's three earliest urban civilizations, contemporary to Sumer (in Mesopotamia/Iraq) and ancient Egypt. The civilization at this time used an early form of the Indus script (Harappan script) for its writing system.
- 2800 BC: Kot Diji phase of the Indus Valley Civilization begins
- 2600 BC: Mature Harappan phase of the Indus Valley Civilization begins. The cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-daro become large metropolises and the civilization expands to over 2,500 cities and settlements across the whole of Pakistan, much of northern India, and parts of Afghanistan and Iran, covering a region of around one million square miles, which was larger than the land area of its contemporaries Egypt and Mesopotamia combined, and also had superior urban planning and sewage systems. The civilization began using the mature Indus script for its writing system.
- 1900 BC: Late Harappan Phase of the Indus Valley Civilization begins
- 1700 BC: Indus Valley Civilization comes to an end but is continued by the Cemetery H culture
Vedic Era (1700-500 BC)
- 1700 BC: With the drying up of the Sarasvati River, the inhabitants of the Indus Valley migrate eastwards and southwards. The Vedic Civilization begins, where Vedic Sanskrit is spoken.
- 1300 BC: Cemetery H culture comes to an end
- 1000s BC: Kurukshetra War may have taken place between members of the Kuru dynasty. The ancient epic Mahabharata is later based on this war
- 600 BC: Sixteen Maha Janapadas ("Great Realms" or "Great Kingdoms") emerge. A number of these Maha Janapadas are semi-democratic republics.
- 563 BC: Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha), founder of Buddhism is born as a prince of the Shakya tribe, which ruled parts of Magadha, one of the Maha Janapadas
- 549 BC: Mahavira, founder of Jainism is born
- 538 BC: Cyrus the Great, founder of the Persian Achaemenid Empire conquers parts of Pakistan
- 500 BC: Panini standardizes the grammar and morphology of Sanskrit in the text Ashtadhyayi. Panini's standardized Sanskrit is known as Classical Sanskrit
- Vedic Civilization comes to an end after Vedic Sanskrit is standardized as Classical Sanskrit and the Vedic religion evolves into classical Hinduism
Ancient India (500 BCE - 550 CE)
- 333 BC: Persian rule in Pakistan ends after Darius III is defeated by Alexander the Great, who establishes the Macedonian Empire after inheriting the Persian Achaemenid Empire
- 326 BC: Ambhi (Omphis/Taxiles in Greek), king of Taxila (Takshashila in Sanskrit) surrenders to Alexander (Sikander in Hindustani)
- Purushottama (Porus in Greek) who ruled parts of the Punjab, fought Alexander at the Battle of the Hydaspes River
- 321 BC: Mauryan Empire is founded by Chandragupta Maurya (Sandrokottos in Greek) after he defeats the Magadhan Empire and Macedonian Seleucid Empire
- 305 BC: Chandragupta Maurya defeats Seleucus Nicator of the Seleucid Empire
- 304 BC: Seleucus gives up his territories in Pakistan and Afghanistan to Chandragupta in exchange for 500 elephants. Seleucus offers his daughter in marriage to Chandragupta to seal their friendship.
- 273 BC: Ashoka the Great (regarded as the greatest ancient Indian emperor), grandson of Chandragupta Maurya, ascends as emperor of the Mauryan Empire
- 266 BC: Ashoka conquers and unifies most of South Asia, along with parts of Afghanistan and Iran
- 265 BC: Kalinga War takes place between Ashoka and the kingdom of Kalinga.
- After conquering Kalinga, Ashoka regrets what he'd done, which led him to adopt Buddhism, which then became the official state religion of the Mauryan Empire
- 260s: Ashoka begins displaying religious tolerance, grants animal rights, builds hospitals for people and animals, treats his subjects as equals regardless of caste or creed, and promotes non-violence and republicanism
- Ashoka inscribes the Edicts of Ashoka, written down using the classical form of the Brahmi script
- 232 BC: Ashoka dies and is succeeded by Dasaratha
- 200-100 BC: Tholkappiyam standardizes the grammar and morphology of Tamil and the oldest existing grammar in the text. (dates vary between 200 BCE and 100 CE)
- 184 BC: The Mauryan Empire, which shrunk considerably, collapsed after its emperor Brihadrata was assassinated by his Brahmin general Pusyamitra Sunga who then established the Sunga dynasty
- 180 BC: Establishment of the Indo-Greek kingdom.
- 80 BC: Establishment of the Indo-Scythian kingdom.
- 65 BC: Pandyan king sends Ambassodars to Greek and Roman court.
- 10: Establishment of the Indo-Parthian kingdom.
- 68: Establishment of the Kushan empire by Kujula Kadphises.
Medieval India (550-1526 AD)
- 761: First muslim, Md. Bin Qasim defeats King Dahir
- 800: Shankaracharya
- 1000: Invasion of Mahmud of Ghazni
- 1030: Alberuni arrivies in India; Death of Mahmud of Ghazni
- 1191: First battle of Tarain between Md.Gauri and Prithvi Raj Chauhan-3 and Gauri defeated by Prithivi Raj Chauhan-3.
- 1192: Second battle of Tarain fought between Gauri and Prithivi Raj Chauhan-3 but Prithivi Raj Chauhan-3 defeated and captured near swarswati river and executed by gauri and his son became king of Ranthambhore.
- 1194: battle of chandawar ,this battle fought between gauri and jayachandra and gauri defeated jayachandra and killed .
- 637: Badami Chalukya power at its peak. Pulakesi II pushes north upto the Narmada and defeats Harshavardhana of Kanauj.
- 814: Nripatunga Amoghavarsha I becomes Rashtrakuta king. Period of Imperial Karnataka. Kannada literature flourishes.
- 1120: Kalyani Chalukya power at its peak. Vikramaditya VI ushers in Vikrama Chalukya era.
Mughal Era (1526-1757)
- 1526: Sultan Ibrahim Lodi, of the Delhi Sultanate, angers local nobles, who respond by inviting Babur, the Mughal ruler of Kabul, to invade Delhi and Agra. The local population, plus the possession of artillery, assists Babur in killing the Sultan (whose soldiers desert him) at the Battle of Panipat.
- 1527 Babur makes secret pact with Mewar general Silhadi that he will give Silhadi a kingdom, if Silhadi betrays Mewar King Rana Sanga in Battle of Khanwa, thus leading to the annexation of Mewar.
- 1530 Babur completes his Baburnama, reflecting on society, politics, economics, history, geography, nature, flora and fauna, which to this day is a standard textbook in 25 countries. Babur dies, and is succeeded by his son Humayun.
- 1556 Humayun converts from Sunni Islam to Shia Islam, to gain the alliance of the Shah of Persia. Humayun dies, and is succeeded by his son Akbar.
- 1572 Akbar annexes Gujarat.
- 1574 Akbar annexes Bengal.
- 1586 Akbar annexes Kashmir.
- 1600 East India company is formed in England. Gets exclusive trading rights with India.
- 1605 Akbar dies, and is succeeded by his son Jehangir.
- 1628 Jehangir announces "Chain of Justice" outside his palace that anyone can ring the bell and get a personal hearing with the emperor. Jehangir dies, and is succeeded by his son Shah Jahan.
- 1658 Shah Jahan completes Taj Mahal, Jamia Masjid, and Red Fort. Imperial treasuries drained by architectural and military overexpenditures. Shah Jahan dies, and is succeeded by his son Aurangzeb.
- 1674 Forces led by Shivaji defeat Aurangzeb's troops, and establishes Maratha Confederacy.
- 1680 Shivaji dies of fever at Raigad.
- 1707 Aurangzeb dies, and is succeeded by son Bahadur Shah I.
- 1757 The British East India Company's private army under Robert Clive annexes Bengal for the company in the Battle of Plassey. Edmund Burke has Robert Clive arrested for the act.
Company Era (1757-1857)
- 1766 First Anglo-Mysore War begins.
- 1769 First Anglo-Mysore War ends.
- 1780 Second Anglo-Mysore War begins.
- 1784 Second Anglo-Mysore War ends with the Treaty of Mangalore.
- 1789 Third Anglo-Mysore War begins.
- 1792 Third Anglo-Mysore War ends.
- 1798 Fourth Anglo-Mysore War begins.
- 1799 Fourth Anglo-Mysore War ends with the death of Tipu Sultan and the restoration of the Wodeyar dynasty.
- 1818
- 1822
- 1853
- 1857 First Indian Rebellion, also known as the Sepoy Mutiny to the British, and the First War of Indian Independence to Indians.
British India (1858-1947)
1861 - 1869 - 1870 - 1874 - 1875 - 1877 - 1885 - 1887 - 1889 - 1905 - 1906 - 1911 - 1919 - 1921 - 1922 - 1923 - 1924 - 1925 - 1925 - 1927 - 1928 1930 - 1931 - 1932 - 1934 - 1935 - 1936 - 1937 - 1938 - 1939 - 1940 - 1941 - 1942 - 1943 - 1944 - 1945 - 1946
Republic of India (1947 - Present)
Further reading
- Sengupta, P.C. "Ancient Indian Chronology". Calcutta: University of Calcutta Press. 1947.
External links
Categories
History of India | Years in India | Nation timelines