Timeline of Indian history
From Free net encyclopedia
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.
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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
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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 and parts of North India, 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
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Vedic Era (1700-500 BC)
- 1700 BC: Vedic Civilization begins, where Vedic Sanskrit is spoken.
- 1500 BC: Rig Veda is composed
- 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
- 1000 BC: An early form of Tamil is spoken and written in South India, where an early form of the Brahmi script emerges
- 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
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Ancient India (500 BC - 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
- 184 BC: The Mauryan Empire, which shrunk considerably, collapsed after its emperor Brhadrata was assassinated by his Brahmin general Pusyamitra Sunga who then established the Sunga dynasty
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Medieval India (550-1526)
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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.
- 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.
- 1707 Aurangzeb dies, and his anti-Hindu edicts are repealed by his successor and 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.
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Company Era (1757-1857)
- 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.
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British India (1858-1947)
1869 - 1870 - 1874 - 1875 - 1877 - 1885 - 1889 - 1905 - 1906 - 1911 - 1919 - 1921 - 1922 - 1930 - 1931 - 1932 - 1934 - 1935 - 1936 - 1937 - 1938 - 1939 - 1940 - 1941 - 1942 - 1943 - 1944 - 1945 - 1946
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Republic of India (1947 - Present)
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