Indian History

Indian History At a Glance

B.C. 2500-1500 Indus Valley Civilisation. 540 Birth of Mahavir—Founder of Jainism. 563  Birth of Gautam Buddha—Founder of Buddhism. 483  Buddha attains Nirvana. 468 Mahavir attains Nirvana.   327-325 Alexander's invasion of India. 322 Chandragupta Maurya's accession to the throne of Magadha. 305 Defeat of Seleucus at the hands of Chandragupta Maurya. 273-232 Ashoka's regime 261 Conquest of Kalinga. 58 Beginning of Vikram Era. A.D. 78 Beginning of Saka Era. 120 Accession of Kanishka. 320 Beginning of Gupta Dynasty. 405 Chinese pilgrim Fa-hien visited India. 606-647 Harsha Vardhan's regime. 629 Chinese pilgrim Hieun Tsang visited India. 712 Mohammad-bin-Qasim's invasion of Sindh. 1001 Mahmud Gazhni's first attack on India. 1025 Mahmud Gazhni destroyed Somnath Temple. 1191 First Battle of Tarain. 1192 Second Battle of Tarain. 1206 Foundation of first Muslim Dynasty in India by Qutub-ud-din Aibak. 1221 First Mongol invasion of India by Changez Khan 1236 Accession of Razia Sultan to the throne of Delhi. 1398 Taimur Lang invaded India. 1469 Birth of Guru Nanak—Founder of Sikhism. 1498 Discovery of sea-route of India by Vasco-de-Gama, Portuguese sailor. 1526 First Battle of Panipat, Ibrahim Lodi defeated by Babar, foundation of Mughal rule in India. 1556 Second Battle of Panipat, Hemu defeated by Akbar and latter's accession to the throne. 1576 Battle of Haldighati, Rana Pratap was defeated by Akbar.     1600 Establishment of East India Company. 1605 Death of Akbar. 1612 First English factory at Surat. 1627 Birth of Shivaji—Founder of Maratha Power. 1648 Taj Mahal completed at Agra. 1666 Shivaji's visit to the Mughal Court at Agra, his imprisonment and dramatic escape. 1680 Death of Shivaji. 1707 Death of Aurangzeb. 1739 Nadir Shah of Persia invaded India. 1757 Battle of Plassey. 1761 Third Battle of Panipat. 1764 Battle of Buxar. 1773 Regulating Act. 1774 Birth of Raja Ram Mohan Roy. 1784 Pitt's India Bill. 1793 Permanent settlement of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa. 1833 Macaulay recommended English as the medium of instruction in India. 1839 Death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. 1853 First railway line opened in India from Bombay to Thana. 1857 First Battle of Indian Independence. 1858 End of East India Company's rule; administration of India transferred to the British Crown. 1861 Indian Councils Act; Rabindranath Tagore born. 1863 Birth of Swami Vivekanand. 1869 Birth of Mahatma Gandhi. 1885 Indian National Congress founded by A.O. Hume.                  1889 Birth of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru. 1905 First Partition of Bengal. 1906 All India Muslim League founded. 1909 Morely-Minto Reforms Bills passed. 1911 Partition of Bengal revoked; India's Capital transferred from Calcutta to Delhi. 1919 Government of India Act Passed; Jallianwala Bagh massacre at Amritsar. 1920 Bal Gangadhar Tilak died; Non-Co-operation Movement started by Mahatma Gandhi-Khilafat Movement started by Ali Brothers. 1922 Chauri Chaura outrage in U.P. 1927 Visit of Simon Commission. 1928 Death of Lala Lajpat Rai. 1929 Under the Presidentship of Pt. Nehru at Lahore session of Congress, a resolution for complete independence passed. 1930 Mahatma Gandhi takes up Dandi March; First Round Table Conference in London. 1931 Gandhi-Irwin Pact; Second Round Table Conference. 1932 Communal Award announced; Gandhiji declares fast unto death against the award. 1935 Government of India Act passed. 1937 Provincial Autonomy. 1941 Death of Rabindranath Tagore; escape of Subhash Chandra Bose from India. 1942 Quit India Movement. 1943 Bengal famine; Indian National Army formed at Singapore by Subhash Chandra Bose. 1945 Trial of I.N.A. at Red Fort; Shimla Conference. 1946 Visit of Cabinet Mission to India; Formation of Interim Government at the Centre. 1947 India attains independence; Partition of India & creation of Pakistan.

Indian History : After Independence

1948 Mahatma Gandhi assassinated. 1949 Indian Constitution adopted. 1950 India goes Republic; Death of Sardar Patel. 1951 First Five-Year Plan launched. 1952 Independent India's First General Elections to the Lok Sabha. 1953 Conquest of Mt. Everest by Ten Zing and Edmund Hillary. 1956 States Reorganisation Act. 1957 Second General Elections to the Lok Sabha. 1961 Goa, Daman and Diu liberated from the possession of Portuguese. 1962 China's attack on India; Third General Election. 1964 Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru died; Lal Bahadur Shastri took over as the new Prime Minister. 1965 Indo-Pak War; Ceasefire. 1966 Tashkent Pact; Death of Lal Bahadur Shastri; Mrs. Indira Gandhi took over as the new P.M.; Punjab divided; Formation of Haryana State. 1967 Fourth General Elections. 1968 Emergency lifted. 1969 Death of President Zakir Husain, V. V. Giri elected as new President; Split in Congress; Nationalisation of 14 Banks. 1970 Fourth Lok Sabha dissolved; First atomic power station launched at Tarapur. 1971 General Elections; Statehood to Himachal Pradesh; Indo-Pak War, Birth of Bangladesh. 1972 New States of Meghalaya, Tripura and Manipur; Assam state reorganised; Shimla Agreement; Death of C. Rajgopalachari. 1973 Nationalisation of Coal Mines; Mysore state renamed Karnataka. 1974 Nuclear explosion by India making her the sixth nuclear power in the World; Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed took over as the fifth President; Sikkim granted associate statehood to India. 1975 Sikkim becomes the 22nd state of India; India enters space age with the launching of Aryabhatta; Dr. Radhakrishnan dies; First Internal Emergency in independent India. 1976 Diplomatic relations with China & Pakistan restored; Lok Sabha extended for another year; 42nd Constitution Amendement Bill passed. 1977 Lok Sabha Elections; President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed died; Combination of four opposition parties named as Janata Party gets absolute majority; Mr. Morarji Desai became P. M.; Emergency lifted; N. Sanjiva Reddy elected President. 1979 India's Second satellite Bhaskara goes into orbit; Resignation of Mr. Morarji Desai as P. M.; Mr. Charan Singh sworn in as the new P.M.; Lok Sabha dissolved and mid-term poll announced; Death of  Loknayak Jay Prakash Narayan. 1980 General Elections to the Lok Sabha; Mrs. Gandhi returns to Power; Formation of Bharatiya Janata Party; Six more commercial banks nationalised, Launching of first satellite into orbit, Sanjay Gandhi died in air crash. 1981 India's first geostationary experimental communication satellite, APPLE, launched, Bhaskara II launched. 1982 46th Amendement Bill passed by Lok Sabha, Agreement for Supply of Mirage 2000. 1984 Rakesh Sharma is became India's first spaceman, Phu Dorjee becomes the first Indian to scale Mt. Everest without oxygen; Bachendri Pal becomes the first Indian woman to scale Mt. Everest; Operation Bluestar in Punjab to flush out extremists and terrorists from the Golden Temple and from Gurudwaras; Mrs. Indira Gandhi assassinated by her own security guards, Rajiv Gandhi takes over as the new P.M., More than 2,000 persons die due to the gas leakages in the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal, Eighth General Elections and Congress (I) gets massive majority. 1985 Lok Sabha passes Anti-defection Bill.                                     1986 India's first test tube baby `Indira' is born at Bombay. 1987 Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh declared 23rd and 24th state of India,. Mr. R. Venkataraman sworn in as 8th President of India. 1988 Six opposition parties and Jan Morcha launch National Front. A new opposition party, the Janata Dal is launched Bangalore with V.P. Singh as its Chairman. 1989 The Supreme Court of India settles compensation for the Bhopal Gas tragedy victims at 470 million dollars. For the first time in the history of Parliament 73 M.Ps. resigned enmass. 1990 Upper age limit for the Civil Services Examination enhanced. The Union Government decided to implement the Mandal Commission report. 27 percent jobs to be reserved for Backward Classes. 1991 India allows U.S. military planes to refuel in country. Rajiv Gandhi assassinated at Sriperumbdur, 45 km. from Chennai. 1992 Woman commission constituted, Narsimha Rao wins confidence vote, Agreement on Tin Bigha, Babri Masjid demolished, Communal riots envelope the country. 1993 Russian President Boris Yeltsin visits India, Bodoland problem solved, Human Rights Commission set up. 1994 India successfully launches ASLV-D4. Surat declared pleague hit. First heart transplantation in the country. 1995 SAARC Summit in New Delhi. Punjab C.M. Beant Singh assassinated. 1996 India-Bangladesh sign Ganga Water Pact. 1997 U.F. Govt. led by H.D. Deve Gowda resigns. India celebrates 50th year of its independence. Lok Sabha dissolved. 1998 Death sentence for 26 persons in Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. 1999 Operation Vijay makes a headway in Kargil.                           2000 India US Joint working group on counter terrorism. TRAI ordinance promulgated. 2001 Summit in Agra with Pakistan, GSLV placed a satellite in a Geosynchronous Transfer orbit, Launching of PSLV-C3, Attack on the Parliament house, Missile Nag successfully test fired, Year of Census; collect data of one billion plus population. 2002 POTA passed in joint session. Missile man Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam elected as 12th President of India, India's first full-fledged meterological satellite METSET was successfully launched from Sriharikota. 2003 India and Pakistan exchange lists of nuclear installations, Canada, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand and EU Countries, Iranian President Moh. Khatami was the Chief Guest at India's 54th Republic Day Celebration, Brahmos, the supersonic, antiship cruise missile successfully test fired. RESOURCESAT-I sucessfully launched, India-Thailand signed five agreement. Bodo, Santhali, Maithili & Dogri languages included in the 8th Schedule. 2004 Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee attended the 12th SAARC Summit in Islamabad. President of Brazil was the Chief guest at India's 55th Republic day. The Election Commission announces Lok Sabha election. NDA loses Lok Sabha elections. President appoints Dr. Man Mohan Singh new Prime Minister of India. Major Rajyvardhan Singh wins silver medel in olympic double trap event. India's first educational satellite EDUSAT launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. Vilas Rao Deshmukh sworn in C.M. of Maharashtra. 2005 The Union Cabinet approves the National Rural Health Mission, Noted film-maker, The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, launches the National Legal Literacy Mission, in New Delhi, Punit Arora takes over as the first woman Vice-Admiral in the Navy, The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, launches the National Knowledge Commission, Justice Y.K. Sabharwal is sworn in Chief Justice of India, Uma Bharati is expelled from the BJP for `indiscipline', Raj Thackeray quits the Shiv Sena, Lal Krishna Advani resigns as BJP president. 2006 India-Pakistan exchange lists of nuclear facilities, 93rd congress held in Hyderabad, Lahore-Amritsar Bus Service begins, President or APJ Abdul Kalam assent the constitution amendment bill providing reservation for the socially and educationally backward classes. VAT implemented in 27 states. Domestic Violence Act, 2005 comes into effect. Ban on child labour under the provisions of child labour Act, 1986. Sachar Committee submitted report on Muslims. Prithvi Interceptor Missile tested successfully. India-US Nuke deal approved by the US Congress. 2007 INSAT-4B is successfully launched by Ariane-5 launcher from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guyana. Sara Jane selected new Miss India-world, 2007. PSLV-C8 Launched Italian Satellite in space. Mayawati sworn in as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Ms. Pratibha Devisingh Patil was sworn in as the first woman President of India. Mohammad Hamid Ansari was sworn in as the Vice-President of India. Ace Shooter Manavjit Singh Sandhu has been awarded the prestigious Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award, 2006. Lt. Gen. Deepak Kapoor has been appointed as the chief of Army Staff. President rule in Karnataka.