• General Knowledge Tutorial

GK - Indian History Time Line



The following table illustrates the major events and respective timelines of India −

Time Events
9000 BCE Period of early Neolithic culture
9000 BCE Bhimbetka rock shelters (found in Madhya Pradesh region); also evidenced some of the Stone Age rock paintings
7000 to 2500 BCE Mehergarh Culture (Neolithic Age)
3300 to 1700 BCE Phase of Indus Valley Civilization
1800 BCE Indo-Aryan migration
1500 to 1000 BCE Early Vedic Period
1300 BCE End of Cemetery H culture
1200 BCE Rigveda Period
1000 to 500 BCE Late Vedic period
1000 BCE Iron Age of India
877 BCE Birth of Parsvanatha (23rd Jain Tirthankara)
700 BCE Age of Upanishads
600 BCE Period of Sixteen Maha Janapadas
599 BCE Birth of Mahavira (24th Tirthankar of Jainism)
563 BCE Birth of Siddhārtha Gautama (Buddha)
558–491 BCE Bimbisara (also known as Srenika) founded Haryanka dynasty
527 BCE Nirvana of Mahavira
492–460 BCE Period of Ajatshatru (son of Bimbisara)
483 BCE Mahaparinirvana of Gautama Buddha
350 BCE Panini (a resident of Gandhara) had written Ashtadhyayi (Sanskrit Grammar book)
326 BCE Battle of the Hydaspes River between Porus and Alexander
321 BCE Chandragupta Maurya established Mauryan Empire in Magadha
305 BCE Chandragupta Maurya defeated Seleucus Nicator
300 BCE Chola dynasty (in south India)
297–273 BCE Period of Bindusara (son of Chandragupta Maurya)
268–232 BCE Period of the Great Ashoka (son of Bindusara)
265 BCE Kalinga War (between Ashoka and the kingdom of Kalinga)
260 BCE Ashoka inscribed the Edicts of Ashoka (written in Brahmi script)
251 BCE Mahinda (son of Ashoka) introduced Buddhism to Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
250 BCE The followers of Buddhists carved the first cave temples (namely Lomas Rishi)
232 BCE Ashoka died (Kunala, his son, succeeded)
184 BCE After the assassination of Brihadrata (by his general Pushyamitra shunga), Mauryan empire collapsed
184 BCE Establishement of the Shunga dynasty by Pushyamitra Shunga
78 BCE Beginning of Saka era
57 BCE Beginning of Vikram Era
Common Era (CE)
10 CE The Indo-Parthian kingdom established
240 CE Sri-Gupta established the Gupta Empire in Magadha (and its capital was in Pataliputra)
275 CE Pallava dynasty established
320 CE Chandragupta I became the king of Gupta empire
335 CE Samudragupta became the king of Gupta empire
380 CE Chandragupta II (son of Samudragupta) became the Gupta Emperor
405 CE Fahien, the Chinese traveler came India
450 CE Huna invasions
554 CE After the death of skandagupta, Gupta empire collapsed
606 CE Harshavardhana became the kind
629 CE Chinese monk Huang Tsang (Xuanzang) came to India
753 CE After defeating Chalukyas of Badami, Danti Durga established Rashtrakuta Kingdom
788 CE Birth of Adi Shankaracharya
1001 CE Invasion of Mahmud Ghazni
1025 CE Last invasion of Mahmud Ghazni that lead to destruction of temple of Somnath
1030 CE Death of Mahmud of Ghazni
1030 CE Alberuni came India
1191 CE First battle of Tarain between Mohammed Ghori and Prithviraj III (Ghauri was defeated)
1192 CE Second battle of Tarain between Mohammed Ghori and Prithviraj III (Prithviraj was defeated)
1154 CE Battle of Chandawar fought between Ghauri and Jaichand of Kannauj (Ghauri defeated Jayachandra and killed)
1192 CE Qutb al-Din Aybak constructed the Qutub Minar in Delhi
1206 CE Qutb-ud-din Aibak established ‘Slave Dynasty’ (which later came to known as Delhi Sultanate)
1210 CE While playing polo, Qutb-ud-din Aibak died
1221 CE Invasion of Changez Khan (Mongol invasion)
1240 CE Razia Sultan was killed by Turkish nobles
1336 CE Harihara I and his brother Bukka Raya I founded the Vijayanagara Empire
1398 CE Timur’s invasion
1483 CE Babur born
1498 CE The first voyage of Vasco de Gama from Europe to India
1526 CE The first Battle of Panipat in which Mughal ruler Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi
1530 CE Babur died and his son Humayun became the emperor
1539 CE Battle of Chausa fought between Mughal emperor Humayun and Sher Shah Suri (Humayun defeated)
1540 CE Battle of Kannauj fought between Humayun and Sher Shah Suri and Humayun. Humayun lost the Mughal empire and hence escaped from India
1545 CE Sher Shah Suri died and his son Islam Shah Suri succeeded
1554 CE Islam Shah Suri died
1555 CE Humayun recuperated the throne of Delhi
1556 CE Humayun died and Akbar (his 12-year-old son) succeeded
1556 CE Second Battle of Panipat fought between Hemu and Akbar's forces (Hemu was defeated and killed)
1576 CE Battle of Haldighati fought between Rana Pratap and Akbar (Akbar defeated Rana Pratap)
1600 CE East India company is formed (in England) resultantly received exclusive trading rights with India
1605 CE Akbar died and his son Jahangir succeeded
1628 CE Jehangir died and his son Shah Jahan succeeded
1627 CE Birth of Chatrapati Shivaji
1658 CE Aurangzeb became the Mughal emperor
1666 CE Shah Jahan died
1674 CE Shivaji defeated Mughal emperor’s troops and established Maratha empire
1680 CE Death of Shivaji
1707 CE Death of Aurangzeb
1739 CE Invasion of Nadir Shah
1756 CE Black Hole of Calcutta incident
1760 CE Battle at Wandewash (British troops defeated French)
1761 CE Third Battle of Panipat fought between Maratha and Afghans (led by Ahmad Shah); Marathas were defeated
1767 CE First Anglo-Mysore War (Haidar Ali of Mysore defeated the combined armies of the East India Company)
1772 CE Birth of Ram Mohan Roy
1773 CE Warren Hastings appointed as first Governor-General of India
1799 CE Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (Tipu Sultan died in the war)
1806 CE Vellore Mutiny
1814 Raja Ram Mohan Roy established "Atmiya Sabha"
1820 CE Birth of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar
1824 CE Birth of Dayananda Saraswati
1836 CE Birth of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa
1853 CE Started Postal Service in India
1853 CE First Rail run between Bombay and Thane
1855 CE Santhal rebellion
1856 CE Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act
1856 CE Birth of Bal Gangadhar Tilak
1857 CE Sepoy Mutiny
1861 CE Birth of Rabindranath Tagore
1863 CE Birth of Swami Vivekanand
1865 CE Birth of Lala Lajpat Rai
1869 CE Birth of Mahatma Gandhi
1873 CE Satyashodhak Samaj was established by Jyotirao Phule
1875 CE Arya Samaj was established
1877 CE First time Delhi Durbar organized
1885 CE Indian National Congress was founded
1899 CE V.D.Savarkar organized ‘Mithra Mela’
1902 CE Anushilan Samiti was organized
1905 CE Partition of Bengal
1906 CE Muslim League formed in Dacca
1907 CE Congress Session at Surat (Congress divided as Moderate and Extremists)
1908 CE Alipore bomb case
1909 CE Morley-Minto Reforms
1911 CE Cancellation of Partition of Bengal
1911 CE British government moved capital city from Calcutta to Delhi
1912 CE Delhi conspiracy case
1913 CE Formation of Gadar Party
1914 CE Hindu–German Conspiracy
1916 CE Lucknow Pact
1917 CE Champaran and Kheda Satyagraha
1919 CE Jallianwala Bagh massacre
1919 CE Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms
1919 CE Rowlatt Act
1920 CE Non-cooperation movement (Khilafat Movement)
1922 CE Chauri Chaura incident
1924 CE Formation of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association
1925 CE Kakori conspiracy
1927 CE Simon Commission
1928 CE Bardoli Satyagraha
1929 CE Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt bombed on Central Assembly
1929 CE Resolution of Purna Swaraj
1930 CE Salt Satyagraha (Dandi March)
1930 CE First Round Table Conferences
1931 CE Gandhi–Irwin Pact
1931 CE Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev martyred
1931 CE Second Round Table Conferences
1932 CE Poona Pact
1932 CE Communal Award
1932 CE Third Round Table Conferences
1935 CE Government of India Act 1935
1937 CE Indian provincial elections
1939 CE Subhas Chandra Bose established ‘All India Forward Bloc’
1940 CE Lahore Resolution
1940 CE August offer (1940)
1942 CE Cripps’ Mission
1942 CE Quit India Movement
1942 CE Subhas Chandra Bose established Indian National Army
1944 CE Subhas Chandra Bose named Mahatma Gandhi as the ‘Father of the Nation’
1945 CE Wavell Plan (Simla Conference)
1946 CE Royal Indian Navy Mutiny
1946 CE Cabinet Mission
1946 CE Great Calcutta Killings
1947 CE Indian Independence Act 1947
1947 CE Partition of India and Pakistan (both became independent nations)
1948 CE Mahatma Gandhi assassinated by Nathuram Godse
1948 CE India-Pakistan war
1950 CE Indian became Republic (of India)
1951 CE Congress Party won first general election
1962 CE India won Diu, Daman, and Goa from Portuguese
1964 CE Death of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru
1965 CE Second Pakistan-India war
1966 CE Indira Gandhi (daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru) becomes prime minister
1971 CE Third Pakistan-India war
1974 CE India exploded first nuclear device (in underground test)
1975 CE Indira Gandhi declared state of emergency
1975 CE Birth control introduced
1977 CE Janata Party came into power (Congress party lost the election)
1979 CE Janta Party split
1980 CE Congress again came into power
1984 CE Operation Blue Star (Anti-Sikh Riots 1984)
1984 CE Indira Gandhi was assassinated
1988 CE SEBI (Security and Exchange Board of India) was established by The Government of India
1991 CE Rajiv Gandhi assassinated
1991 CE Economic reform program (liberalization)
1992 CE Babri Mosque in Ayodhya is demolished
1992 CE 1992 Odisha liquor deaths incident
1996 CE Amarnath Yatra tragedy
1998 CE BJP forms coalition government under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
2000 CE US President Bill Clinton’s India visit
2001 CE Massive earthquakes in Gujarat
2001 CE Suicide squad attacked parliament in New Delhi
2002 CE Godhra (Gujarat) incident
2003 CE Bomb blasts in Mumbai
2004 CE Tsunami incident
2005 CE Earthquake in Kashmir
2007 CE India's first commercial space rocket is launched (carried Italian satellite)
2008 CE Series of bomb explosions in Ahmedabad (Gujarat)
2008 CE Attack on two hotels namely the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower and the Oberoi Trident (Mumbai)
2009 CE India and Russia signed Uranium deal worth of $700 million
2012 CE Ajmal Kasab the sole surviving gunman of 2008 Mumbai attacks was hanged
2013 CE Mars Orbiter Mission, is successfully launched into the Orbit of Mars by ISRO (the Indian Space Research Organization)
2014 CE Congress was routed in the general elections and Narendra Modi (BJP) elected as the Prime Minister
2016 CE Terror Attacks on Pathankot Air Base
2016 CE India becomes member of Missile Technology Control Regime
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