Timeline
• 2 million BP – Lower Palaeolithic
• 80,000 BP – Middle Palaeolithic
• 35,000 BP – Upper Palaeolithic
• 12,000 BP – Mesolithic
• 10,000 BP – Neolithic (early agriculturists and pastoralists)
• 6,000 BP – Chalcolithic (first use of copper)
• 2600 BCE – Harappan civilisation
• 1000 BCE – Early iron, megalithic burials
• c. 1500-1000 BCE – Early Vedic traditions
• c. 1000-500 BCE – Later Vedic traditions
• c. 6th century BCE – Early Upanishads; Jainism, Buddhism
• c. 600 BCE-400 CE – Early Historic
• c. 500 BCE – Ashtadhyayi of Panini, a work on Sanskrit grammar
• c. 500-200 BCE – Major Dharmasutras (in Sanskrit)
• c. 500-100 BCE – Early Buddhist texts including the Tripitaka1 (in Pali)
• c. 500 BCE-400 CE – Ramayana and Mahabharata (in Sanskrit)
• c. 3rd century BCE – First stupas; Earliest temples
• c. 200 BCE-200 CE – Manusmriti (in Sanskrit); composition and compilation of Tamil Sangam
literature
• c. 2nd century BCE onwards – Development of Mahayana Buddhism, Vaishnavism, Shaivism
and goddess cults
• c. 100 CE – Charaka and Sushruta Samhitas, works on medicine (in Sanskrit)
• c. 200 CE onwards – Compilation of the Puranas (in Sanskrit)
• c. 300 CE – Natyashastra of Bharata, a work on dramaturgy (in Sanskrit)
• c. 300-600 CE – Other Dharmashastras (in Sanskrit)
• c. 400-500 CE – Sanskrit plays including the works of Kalidasa; works on astronomy and
mathematics by Aryabhata and Varahamihira3 (in Sanskrit); compilation of Jaina works (in
Prakrit)
• c. 500-800 CE – Appar, Sambandar, Sundaramurti in Tamil Nadu
• c. 800-900 CE – Nammalvar, Manikkavachakar, Andal, Tondaradippodi in Tamil Nadu
• c. 1000-1100 CE – Al Hujwiri, Data Ganj Bakhsh in the Punjab; Ramanujacharya in Tamil Nadu
• 973-1048 CE – Muhammad ibn Ahmad Abu Raihan al-Biruni (from Uzbekistan)
• c. 1100-1200 CE – Basavanna in Karnataka
• c. 1200-1300 CE – Jnanadeva, Muktabai in Maharashtra; Khwaja Muinuddin Chishti in
Rajasthan; Bahauddin Zakariyya and Fariduddin Ganj-i Shakar in the Punjab; Qutbuddin
Bakhtiyar Kaki in Delhi;
• 1206 – Establishment of the Delhi Sultanate
• 1254-1323 CE – Marco Polo (from Italy)
• 1304-1377 CE – Ibn Battuta (from Morocco)
• c. 1300-1400 CE – Lal Ded in Kashmir; Lal Shahbaz Qalandar in Sind; Nizamuddin Auliya in
Delhi; Ramananda in Uttar Pradesh; Chokhamela in Maharashtra; Sharafuddin Yahya Maneri
in Bihar;6 Sultanates in Jaunpur, Kashmir, and Madura
• c. 1336 CE – Establishment of the Vijayanagara Empire
• c. 1347 CE – Establishment of the Bahmani kingdom
• 1413-1482 CE – Abd al-Razzaq Kamal al-Din ibn Ishaq al-Samarqandi (from Samarqand)
• c. 1400-1500 CE – Kabir, Raidas, Surdas in Uttar Pradesh; Baba Guru Nanak in the Punjab;
Vallabhacharya in Gujarat; Abdullah Shattari in Gwalior; Muhammad Shah Alam in Gujarat;
Mir Sayyid Muhammad Gesu7 Daraz in Gulbarga; Shankaradeva in Assam; Tukaram in
Maharashtra;8 Establishment of the Sultanates of Gujarat and Malwa
• c. 1435 CE – Establishment of the Gajapati kingdom of Orissa
• c. 1490 CE – Emergence of the Sultanates of Ahmadnagar, Bijapur, and Berar
• 1466-1472 CE – Afanasii Nikitich Nikitin (years spent in India) (from Russia)
• c. 1500-1600 CE – Sri Chaitanya in Bengal; Mirabai in Rajasthan; Shaikh Abdul Quddus
Gangohi; Malik Muhammad Jaisi, Tulsidas in Uttar Pradesh9
• 1510 CE – Conquest of Goa by the Portuguese
• 1518 CE – Duarte Barbosa (from Portugal) (visit to India); Collapse of the Bahmani kingdom,
emergence of the Sultanate of Golconda
• 1526 CE – Babur defeats Ibrahim Lodi, the Delhi Sultan, at Panipat, becomes the first Mughal
emperor; Establishment of the Mughal empire by Babur
• 1530-1540 CE – First phase of Humayun’s reign
• 1536-1600 CE – Antonio Monserrate (from Spain)
• 1540-1555 CE – Humayun defeated by Sher Shah, in exile at the Safavid court
• 1555-1556 CE – Humayun regains lost territories
• 1556-1605 CE – Reign of Akbar
• 1562 CE – Seydi Ali Reis (from Turkey) (year of death)
• 1600-1667 CE – Peter Mundy (from England)
• 1605-1689 CE – Jean-Baptiste Tavernier (from France)
• 1605-1627 CE – Reign of Jahangir
• 1620-1688 CE – François Bernier (from France)
• 1626-1631 CE – Mahmud Wali Balkhi (from Balkh) (years spent in India)
• 1628-1658 CE – Reign of Shah Jahan
• 1658-1707 CE – Reign of Aurangzeb
• c. 1600-1700 CE – Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi in Haryana; Miyan Mir in the Punjab
• 1739 CE – Nadir Shah invades India and sacks Delhi
• 1761 CE – Ahmad Shah Abdali defeats the Marathas in the third battle of Panipat
• 1765 CE – The diwani of Bengal transferred to the East India Company; English East India
Company acquires Diwani of Bengal
• 1773 CE – Regulating Act passed by the British Parliament to regulate the activities of the
East India Company
• 1784 CE – Founding of the Asiatic Society (Bengal)
• 1793 CE – Permanent Settlement in Bengal
• 1800 CE – Colin Mackenzie visits Vijayanagara
• 1800s – Santhals begin to come to the Rajmahal hills and settle there
• 1801 CE – Subsidiary Alliance introduced by Wellesley in Awadh
• 1810s – Colin Mackenzie collects over 8,000 inscriptions in Sanskrit and Dravidian languages
• 1814 CE – Founding of the Indian Museum, Calcutta
• 1818 CE – First revenue settlement in the Bombay Deccan
• 1820s – Agricultural prices begin to fall
• 1834 CE – Publication of Essay on the Architecture of the Hindus by Ram Raja; Cunningham
explores the stupa at Sarnath
• 1835-1842 CE – James Fergusson surveys major archaeological sites
• 1838 CE – Decipherment of Asokan Brahmi by James Prinsep
• 1840s-50s CE – A slow process of agrarian expansion in the Bombay Deccan
• 1851 CE – Establishment of the Government Museum, Madras
• 1854 CE – Alexander Cunningham publishes Bhilsa Topes
• 1855-56 CE – Santhal rebellion
• 1856 CE – Nawab Wajid Ali Shah deposed; Awadh annexed
• 1856-57 CE – Summary revenue settlements introduced in Awadh by the British
• 1857 CE –
o 10 May – Mutiny starts in Meerut
o 11-12 May – Delhi garrisons revolt; Bahadur Shah accepts nominal leadership
o 20-27 May – Sepoys mutiny in Aligarh, Etawah, Mainpuri, Etah
o 30 May – Rising in Lucknow
o May-June – Mutiny turns into a general revolt of the people
o 30 June – British suffer defeat in the Battle of Chinhat1
o July – Shah Mal killed in battle
o 25 September – British forces under Havelock and Outram enter the Residency in
Lucknow
• 1858 CE – June – Rani Jhansi killed in battle
• 1861 CE – Cotton boom begins
• 1875 CE – Ryots in Deccan villages rebel
• 1876 CE – J.F. Fleet begins documenting inscriptions at Hampi
• 1877 CE – Alexander Cunningham publishes a set of Asokan inscriptions
• 1878 CE – Rajendra Lala Mitra publishes Buddha Gaya: The Heritage of Sakya Muni
• 1880 CE – H.H. Cole appointed Curator of Ancient Monuments
• 1886 CE – First issue of Epigraphia Carnatica
• 1888 CE – First issue of Epigraphia Indica; Passing of the Treasure Trove Act
• 1902 CE – Conservation begins under John Marshall
• 1914 CE – John Marshall and Alfred Foucher publish The Monuments of Sanchi
• 1915 CE – Mahatma Gandhi returns from South Africa
• 1917 CE – Champaran movement
• 1918 CE – Peasant movements in Kheda (Gujarat), and workers’ movement in Ahmedabad
• 1919 CE –
o March-April – Rowlatt Satyagraha
o April – Jallianwala Bagh massacre
• 1920 CE – Non-cooperation and Khilafat Movements
• 1921 CE – Daya Ram Sahni begins excavations at Harappa
• 1922 CE – Excavations begin at Mohenjodaro
• 1923 CE – John Marshall publishes The Conservation Manual
• 1928 CE – Peasant movement in Bardoli
• 1929 CE – December – “Purna Swaraj” accepted as Congress goal at the Lahore Congress
• 1930 CE – March-April – Civil Disobedience Movement begins; Dandi March
• 1931 CE – March – Gandhi-Irwin Pact; December – Second Round Table Conference
• 1935 CE – Government of India Act
• 1939 CE – Congress ministries resign
• 1942 CE – Quit India Movement begins (August)
• 1945 CE – 26 July – Labour Government comes to power in Britain; December-January –
General Elections in India
• 1946 CE –
o 16 May – Cabinet Mission announces its constitutional scheme
o 16 June – Muslim League accepts Cabinet Mission’s constitutional scheme;2 Cabinet
Mission presents scheme for Interim Government
o 16 August – Muslim League announces Direct Action Day
o 2 September – Congress forms Interim Government
o 13 October – Muslim League joins Interim Government
o 3-6 December – Attlee meets Indian leaders; talks fail
o 9 December – Constituent Assembly begins sessions
• 1947 CE –
o 29 January – Muslim League demands dissolution of Constituent Assembly
o 16 July – Last meeting of Interim Government
o 11 August – Jinnah elected President of Constituent Assembly of Pakistan
o 14 August – Pakistan Independence
o 14-15 August – India Independence
• 1949 CE – December – Constitution signed
• 1955 CE – Nehru lays foundation stone of National Museum; S.R. Rao begins excavations at
Lothal
• 1960 CE – B.B. Lal and B.K. Thapar begin excavations at Kalibangan
• 1965-66 CE – D.C. Sircar publishes Indian Epigraphy and Indian Epigraphical Glossary
• 1973 CE – J.A.B. van Buitenen begins translation of the Mahabharata (incomplete)
• 1974 CE – M.R. Mughal begins explorations in Bahawalpur
• 1980 CE – German/Italian team explores Mohenjodaro
• 1986 CE – American team excavates Harappa; Hampi declared a World Heritage Site
• 1989 CE – Sanchi declared a World Heritage Site
• 1990 CE – R.S. Bisht begins excavations at Dholavira
• 1997 CE – Amrendra Nath starts excavations at Rakhigarhi
• 2013 CE – Vasant Shinde begins archaeogenetic research at Rakhigarhi
