The Long Timeline

Earliest stone tools in South Asia (Siwalik region)

Upper Palaeolithic art at Bhimbetka begins

Neolithic farming community at Mehrgarh

Neolithic cultures spread in Kashmir and the mid-Ganga valley

Harappa and Mohenjo-daro excavated

Mature Harappan urban phase begins

Harappan seals appear in Mesopotamia

De-urbanisation of the Mature Harappan cities begins

Late Harappan cultures disperse eastwards

Composition of the Rig Veda begins

Iron tools appear; movement into the Ganga plains

Kuru-Panchala kingdoms flourish in the doab

Principal Upanishads composed

Sixteen Mahajanapadas emerge in northern India

Mahajanapadas and Ganga towns emerge

Bimbisara begins the Haryanka expansion of Magadha

Ajatashatru annexes the Vrijji confederacy

Mahapadma Nanda founds the Nanda dynasty

Alexander fights Porus on the Hydaspes

Chandragupta Maurya overthrows the Nandas

Birth of Gautama Buddha at Lumbini

Birth of Mahavira at Kundagrama

First Buddhist Council at Rajagriha

Third Council at Pataliputra under Ashoka

Fourth Council under Kanishka; Hinayana–Mahayana split

Chandragupta Maurya takes Pataliputra

Treaty with Seleucus; Megasthenes comes to Pataliputra

Accession of Ashoka

Kalinga war; Ashoka embraces Dhamma

Death of Ashoka; fragmentation begins

Brihadratha assassinated; Mauryan dynasty ends

Shunga dynasty founded by Pushyamitra

Traditional date, accession of Kanishka / Saka era begins

Peak of Indo-Roman trade; Periplus of the Erythraean Sea written

Rudradaman I, the great Shaka ruler, repairs the Sudarshana lake (Junagadh inscription)

Satavahana power at its height under Gautamiputra's successors

Chandragupta I founds the Gupta imperial line

Samudragupta's conquests recorded in the Allahabad prashasti

Fa-Hien's travels in India

Skandagupta repels the Huna invasion

Gupta empire dissolves

Harshavardhana ascends the throne

Pulakeshin II defeats Harsha on the Narmada

Hiuen Tsang in India; stays at Kannauj and Nalanda

Narasimhavarman I captures Vatapi

Rashtrakutas replace the Badami Chalukyas in the Deccan

Rashtrakutas under Dantidurga displace the Chalukyas

Dharmapala installs his nominee at Kannauj

Rajaraja I begins Chola imperial expansion

Rajendra I's naval expedition against Srivijaya

Kandariya Mahadeva temple, Khajuraho, completed

Arab conquest of Sind by Muhammad bin Qasim

Mahmud sacks Somnath

First Battle of Tarain — Ghori defeated

Second Battle of Tarain — Prithviraj III defeated

Delhi Sultanate established under Aibak

Aibak founds the Mamluk (Slave) dynasty

Jalaluddin founds the Khilji dynasty

Alauddin takes Chittor; Mongol threat at its peak

Capital shifted to Daulatabad

Timur sacks Delhi

First Battle of Panipat; Lodi dynasty ends

Foundation of Vijayanagara

Foundation of the Bahmani sultanate

Accession of Krishnadevaraya

Domingo Paes visits Vijayanagara

Battle of Talikota; sack of Vijayanagara

Ramanuja systematises Vishishtadvaita

Kabir at Banaras

Guru Nanak; foundation of Sikhism

Tulsidas begins the Ramcharitmanas

Compilation of the Adi Granth

First Battle of Panipat — Mughal empire founded

Sher Shah Suri rules Delhi

Second Battle of Panipat; Akbar secures the throne

Din-i-Ilahi proclaimed

Taj Mahal built

Jizya reimposed by Aurangzeb

Death of Aurangzeb at Ahmadnagar

Afzal Khan killed at Pratapgad

Shivaji crowned Chhatrapati at Raigad

Death of Shivaji

Baji Rao I reaches the suburbs of Delhi

Third Battle of Panipat

End of the Peshwaship

Aurangzeb dies; succession wars begin

Farrukhsiyar's farman to the East India Company

Nizam-ul-Mulk founds the state of Hyderabad

Nadir Shah's sack of Delhi

Third Battle of Panipat

Battle of Buxar; Company becomes the paramount power-to-be

Vasco da Gama reaches Calicut

East India Company chartered

First English factory at Surat

Plassey: Company becomes a territorial power

Wandiwash ends French ambitions

Battle of Plassey

Battle of Buxar

Diwani of Bengal granted to the Company

Tipu Sultan dies; Mysore falls

Maratha power broken

Punjab annexed

Awadh annexed — the last straw before the revolt

Permanent Settlement of Bengal

Ryotwari introduced in Madras and Bombay

Macaulay's Minute on Education

First railway: Bombay to Thane

Naoroji publishes Poverty and Un-British Rule in India

Meerut sepoys rise; Delhi falls to the rebels

Rani Lakshmibai dies at Gwalior

Government of India Act ends Company rule

Queen's Proclamation at Allahabad

Brahmo Sabha founded

Sati abolished

Widow Remarriage Act

Arya Samaj founded; MAO College, Aligarh, founded

Vivekananda at the Parliament of Religions, Chicago

First session of the Indian National Congress

Partition of Bengal; Swadeshi movement

Muslim League founded at Dacca

Surat Split

Morley-Minto Reforms: separate electorates

Partition annulled; Delhi becomes capital

Lucknow Pact; Home Rule Leagues

Champaran satyagraha

Jallianwala Bagh massacre

Non-Cooperation-Khilafat movement

Simon Commission boycott

Lahore Congress: Purna Swaraj

Dandi March; Civil Disobedience begins

Poona Pact

Muzaffarpur bomb; Khudiram Bose hanged

Kakori train robbery

Central Assembly bomb

Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev executed

Netaji takes command of the INA; Azad Hind Government

INA trials at the Red Fort; RIN mutiny (Feb 1946)

Congress governments in the provinces

Lahore Resolution of the Muslim League

Quit India movement

Cabinet Mission; Direct Action Day

Independence and Partition

Assassination of Gandhi

India becomes a Republic