2300-1750 BC: The Indus Valley Civilazation or the 'Harappan Culture' in Punjab, Sind and areas of Rajasthan and Kathiawar discovered in the 1920s, suggests a highly 'urbanized' civilization noted for its town-planning.
1500 BC: The arrival of the Indo-Aryans, a branch of the Indo-Europeans in the north-west. A pastoral, cattle-breeding people they settled in the Punjab and the Gangetic valley as far south as the Vindhyas. The Rig Veda, a collection of songs of prayers, hymns and ritual prescriptions, originates from this period.
600 BC: This period sees the rise of monarchies and republics in northern India. Various religious sects also arise with Buddhism and Jainism acquiring the status of major religions.
321 BC: The Mauryan empire, the first form of 'imperial' government in India takes root. Chanragupta Maurya establishes power and hegemony in central and north-west India.
273 BC: Ashoka, one of India's greatest monarchs, ascends the throne. After his successful conquest of Kalinga, he denounces war and embraces Buddhism. A variety of sources suggest a centralised, highly efficient administration and bureaucracy and flourishing trade and craft.
200 BC-200 AD: A series of Indo-Greek invasions take place. Indo-Greek King Menander conquers areas in Punjab and Mathura near Delhi. An intermingling of Greek and Indian cultures leads to the famous Gandhara School of Sculpture.
180 BC: Mauryan power declines. Its disintegration gives rise to a number of small kingdoms such as the Sunga dynasty in Magadha and central India and Kalinga under its ruler Kharavala.
1001: Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni begins his raids from the northern frontier. He attacks 70 times in a period of 17 years and paves the way for the rule of the Turks and Afghans in India. Muhammad Ghori also conducts vigorous campaigns of expansion into northern India towards the end of the 12th century.
1206: Muhammad Ghori is murdered and his gereral Qutub-ud-din Aibak assumes control of his Indian possessions. This lays the foundation of what is known as the Delhi Sultanate.
1211-86: Aibak's son-in-law Iltutmish rules. To him goes the credit of firmly establishing the Turkish rule. He completes the famous monument Qutab Minar.
1266: Balban ascends the throne and consolidates the power of the Delhi Sultanate.
1296-1316: Ala-ud-din Khilji rules. His reign marks the highest point of the Sultanate's political power in terms of extent of empire and authority of the Sultan. He lays the foundation of the second city of Delhi, Siri.
1320: Ghiyas-ud-din Tughlaq wrests power and establishes a new dynasty, the Tughlaqs. The third city of Delhi, Tughlaqabad, is raised by him.
1325-51: Muhammed-bin-Tughlaq reigns. An innovative ruler, he is regarded by his torians as a visionary whose fantastic ideas were out of tune with the times. He builds Jahanpanah, the fourth city, between Lal Kot and Siri.
1351: Firoz Shah Tughlaq, known for his benevolent measures, succeeds to the throne. He builds Firozabad, the fifth city, on the western banks of the Yamuna. After him the power and influence of the Sultanate start to decline.
1398: Timur, the dreaded Turk, attacks India and strikes the last blow to the Tughlaq dynasty. The Tughlaqs are succeeded by the Sayyids who only just manage to keep the Sultanate going.
1451-1596: The Lodis of Afghan descent rule. This period sees inter-tribal rivalries which finally lead to the eclipse of the dynasty.
1526: Babur, a descendant of Timur, in vades India. He lays the foundation of the Mughal rule in India.
1540: Babur dies and is succeeded by his son Humayun who establishes the foundation of the sixth city, Din Panah, at the site of Shergarh, Sher Shah's city.
1556: Akbar becomes the emperor and the Mughal dynasty soars to new heights. The greatest of the Mughal kings, he abolishes jazia, a religious tax and marries a Rajput princess, Jodha Bai, the sister of Raja Man Singh, in an effort to bring different religious groups together. Twenty-six years after assuming power, he begins construction of his famous capital, Fatehpur Sikri, and promulgates his religion, Din IIahi.
1600: The London East India Company is granted charter. Other colonial powers make inroads into India.
1605: The United East India Company of the Netherlands is formed and four years later the Dutch Company is established at Pulicat in Tamil Nadu. In 1613, Jehangir grants firman to the English East India Company and they begin trade with Bengal soon after.
1630: Shivaji, the greatest of the maratha rulers, who would later harass both the British and the declining Mughal empire, is born in Maharashtra.
1638: Shah Jahan, the fifth Mughal ruler, lays the foundation for Shahjahanabad, the seventh city, with the Red Fort at Delhi as its citadel.
1666: The greatest of the Mughal architects, Shah Jahan, who constructed the beautiful Taj Mahal at Agra and the Red Fort at Delhi dies. In 1707, with the death of his son Aurangzeb, the Mughal empire begins to disintegrate.
1739: Nadir Shah, a Persian ruler, invades Delhi and takes away the Mughal Peacock throne amidst much violence and killing.
1744: Frenchman Joseph Francois Dupleix is appointed governor of Pondicherry in the south. In east India, the English capture Chandernagore. With the battle of Arcot near Madras in 1751 the domination of the French is broken. In 1757: Robert Clive is appointed governor of Bengal.
1769-70: The great Bengal famine occurs. The estimates of dead vary from three to ten million.
1773: British rule in India gains ascendancy. The Permanent Settlement of land revenue, whereby a fixed amount is taken as tax from the peasants, is signed between the rulers of Bengal and the British.
1801: Karnataka becomes part of the British empire.
1839: Maharaja Ranjit Singh of Lahore known as 'Lion of Punjab' dies after founding a Sikh kingdom.
1853: Railway link from Bombay to Thane introduced in India for the first time and also for the first time Indians are allowed to sit for the Indian Civil Service in open competition with the British.
1857: Sepoy revolt at Meerut breaks out. It is the first experession of unrest by the supressed Indians which spreads all over north India.
1876: Queen Victoria is proclaimed Empress of India.
1885: The Indian National Congress is formed. A British civil servant, A.O. Hume, founds the party, W.C. Bonnerji, a Calcutta barrister, is appointed its first president. Several prominent Indians like Dadabhoy Naoroji attend the Bombay meeting.
1905: The British partition Bengal in an effort to break the national movement but are unsuccessful and cannot cope with the patriotic upsurge. Khudiram Bose, 18, gives vent to the growing anti-British feelings by throwing a bomb which kills two British women in Bengal in 1908. He is sentenced to death.
1911: King George V holds a coronation durbar at Delhi and proclaims the shifting of the capital from Calcutta to Delhi.
1930: The anti-British campaign gathers momentum in India. A salt march is held in Dandi, Gujarat, to break salt laws and many people are arrested. Gandhiji begins the Civil Disobedience Movement and is arrested. A round table conference is held in England to discuss India's Independence.
1940: M.A.Jinnah in a presidential address at the Lahore session of the All India Muslim League demands a separate home-land for Muslims and passes a resolution for creation of Pakistan.
1942: Quit India Resolution is passed by the Congress Working Committee. In Bangkok, Subhash Chandra Bose forms the Indian National Army and General Mohan Singh is appointed commander-in-chief.
1945: Interim government is formed in India but Jinnah reiterates his demand for a separate Muslim state and refuses to join the interim government.
1947: Partition of India results in a blood-bath. The Indian dominion is established at midnight August 15 and Jawaharlal Nehru is appointed first prime minister.
1948: 'The father of the nation,' Mahatma Gandhi, is shot dead at a prayer meeting by Nathu Ram Godse. The nation is plunged into gloom. Lord Louis Mountbatten, India's first governor-general, leaves for England and Dr C. Rajagopalachari is appointed in his place.
1950: India is proclaimed a Sovereign Democractic Republic on January 26. Dr. Rajendra Prasad becomes president of the Indian Republic.
1962: In October, China launches a massive attack on India in Ladakh and other north-eastern areas. On November 21, a ceasefire is announced. India suffers a humiliating defeat and she decides to strengthen her armed forces.
1964: Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, dies. Lal Bahadur Shastri is elected leader of the Congress Party and sworn in as the second prime minister.
1965: Indo-Pak conflict results when Pakistan invades Indian territory. The Soviet Union invites leaders from both sides for talks to resolve differences. Within hours of signing the agreement with the Pakistan President at Tashkent in 1966, Shastri dies on Soviet soil on 24th January, Indira Gandhi is sworn in as prime minister.
1971: Second Indo-Pak conflict in December ends in the surrender of Pakistani troops to the Indian army in Decca. Bangladesh is born and an agreement is signed with India for unified military command.
1975: After the Allahabad High Court set aside Indira Gandhi's electioneering practices, a state of Emergency is declared by her. Opposition leaders and dissident Congressmen are arrested. Later, the Supreme Court upholds Indira Gandhi's election.
1977: Indira Gandhi loses that March elections. Congress Party is routed. The opposition parties who unite under the banner of the Janata Party form the first non-Congress government with Morarji Desai as prime minister. The rift in the Janata Party in 1979 causes Morarji Desai to step down and Charan Singh becomes leader of the coalition government.
1980: Elections are held and Indira Gandhi and those who stayed loyal to her return with a thumping majority. Sanjay Gandhi, Indira Gandhi's younger son, is appointed secretary of the Congress but he dies in an airplane crash soon after in June.
1984: Demand for a separate Sikh state, Khalistan escalcates in Punjab. Army operation against militants at Golden Temple, Amritsar, on 3rd June. Among those killed is Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a granthi who spearheaded the movement for Khalistan. On 31st October Indira Gandhi, Indira Gandhi is assassinated by her Sikh bodyguards in the garden of her Sikh bodyguards in the garden of her house. Rajiv Gandhi, Indira Gandhi's elder son, assumes the post of prime minister. December, elections are held and Rajiv Gandhi sweeps the polls winning by a three-fourth majority. Out of 495 seats in the Lok Sabha, the Congress claims 401.
On 3rd Dec the Union Carbide tragedy occurs in Bhopal. Escaping gas from tanks in the plant takes a heavy toll of lives.
1986: 30th June. Peaceful accord after a 20 year insurgency in Mizoram.
1987: India and Sri Lanka sign a peace accord to end the communal conflict between the government and the Tamil separatist fighters in Sri Lanka.
1989 Nov: Elections are held and the Congress Party fails to gain majority. A coalition government is formed with VP Singh as prime minister.
1991 may: Rajiv Gandhi assassinated.
1991 June: P V Narasimha Rao sworn in as prime minister.
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