A Chronology of Indian History

(These dates have been compressed or approximated to give a perspective of Indian history in brief space.)

Stone Age relics indicate numerous prehistoric peoples in India, ancestors of Dravidians, the southern races.

2500 B.C.: In north, highest point of Indus civilization, rivaling Egypt and Mesopotamia in culture.

2400-1500: Mass invasions by Indo-Aryan peoples from north and west. Invaders did not penetrate Dravidians in south, but their religion, Hinduism, did.

1200-500: Vedic period, so called from the Vedas, scriptures of Hinduism written in archaic Sanskrit.

500-A.D. 800: Buddhist Period. Lifetime of Siddhartha Gautama, first Buddha, was 563-483. Emperor Asoka (Gupta dynasty) spread Buddhism in north around 250, but it never displaced Hinduism. Two religions coexisted until about A.D. 800, when Hinduism took over almost completely. Buddhism spread eastward to become religion of China.

522 B.C.: Darius I made Indus region a Persian satrapy. In 326 Alexander the Great invaded Punjab and Sind. Much early sea trade between India and the Mediterranean reflected in exchange of cultural influences.

600-200: Hindu culture: Sanskrit epic poems Mahabharata and Ramayana brought to final form; Buddhist culture: great art of Gandhara.

320 B.C.-A.D. 535: Unification of northern India under Gupta dynasty. Guptas had periods of eclipse to others and had to absorb invasions of Syrians, Scythians, and other tribes, while Andrhas were ruling south, but reached high cultural peak in Gupta Age (A.D. 320-480). Invading Huns from north destroyed Gupta power and were in turn absorbed by those they had conquered.

500-1000: Long period of continuous conflict among many principalities. Occasionally a strong ruler, like Harsha in north, or the Pallavas in south, would carve out an empire, only for it to be lost by weaker descendants.

1000-1500: Muslim period. Within a century after death of Mohammed in 632 his followers began raiding borders of India, but it was not until about 1200 that Delhi fell and a Muslim became Sultan of India. Timur of Samarkand invaded in 1398, Babur of Kabul in 1525, establishing Mogul empire, which produced, under “Great Moguls,”Akbar, Jahangir, Shah Jehan (built Taj Mahal, 1653) and Aurangzeb, a strong social system based on Islam and a high culture, remarkable for architecture. Hindu religion almost suppressed in north, but in south kingdom of Vijayanagar resisted Islam.

1498-1785: Period of European trade rivalries. Vasco da Gama landed in Malabar in 1498. For a century Portuguese dominated Oriental trade, establishing posts at Cochin and Goa. Dutch were next to develop trade with India, but were in turn pushed out by British.

1603: Sir John Mildenhall, emissary of Queen Elizabeth, secured trading rights for East India Company from Emperor Akbar. British took over at Madras in 1639, Bombay in 1661, Calcutta in 1690.

1674: Beginning with a post at Pondichéry, French became very strong in India, at one time almost driving British out. European factors intrigued with and exploited native rulers outside Mogul orbit. Robert Clive finally outmaneuvered French; battle of Plassey, 1757.

1785-1886: Period of British Empire. Gradual transition from private trading operations backed up by government forces to outright absorption into Empire. Warren Hastings, first Governor-general in 1785, defeated the Mahratta princes. Lord Cornwallis organized system for extracting revenue from India and set up courts based on British law. Successive Governors, by arms or intrigue, extended British power to borders of Afghanistan and into Burma. Following Sepoy Mutiny in 1857, East India Company was disestablished. Queen Victoria proclaimed Empress of India in 1877.

1886-1947: Period of struggle for independence. First National Congress, led by Surendranath Banerji, was beginning of overt nationalist movement among Indians.

1909: Indian Councils Act. British granted greater authority to native legislative councils, and an Indian was appointed to Viceroy’s council. In World War I 1,400,000 Indians volunteered for the British army.

1917-1935: Gandhi’s policy of civil disobedience made him leader of independence movement. Arrested in 1930. In 1935 British Parliament approved a new constitution.

1936-1947: Mohammed Ali Jinnah revived Muslim League to support Muslim claims against Hindu majority in National Congress.

1939—1945: World War II. Unrest in India. Gandhi, Nehru, and 60,000 others arrested. “Wavell Plan” a failure. Conservatives in England unwilling to yield.

1946: Socialist government reconciled England to giving India freedom. Cripps Mission. Nehru made Vicepresident to Viceroy. Muslims demanded separate state.

1947: British Parliament passed Independence Bill, establishing two states by partition: India and Pakistan.

1948: Gandhi assassinated by fanatical orthodox Hindu outraged by his concessions to Muslims.

1949: Indian Constituent Assembly approved new constitution, containing world’s most elaborate declaration on human rights, and established a federal republic.