// File author: Swati Garg // Course: UWCSE 143 // Topic: Important dates in history of India // // For all the URLs below // The date of preparation: Oct 28, 2002 // How you prepared the file: Collated information from web pages // // Sources: // URL: http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefArticle.aspx?refid=761557562¶=154#p154 // Author: Philip Oldenburg, Ph.D. // Associate Director, Southern Asian Institute, Columbia University // Title (of the original source): MSN Learning & Research Plus: India // Date on the original source: Unknown // // URL: http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/mogul/timeline.htm // Author:Krishnanand Kamat, Jyotsna Kamat, Vikas Kamat and Hiryoung Kim Kamat. // Title (of the original source): Kamat's Potpourri: Chronology of Mogul Emperor // Date on the original source: Unknown // // URL: http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/freedom/timeline.htm // Author: Krishnanand Kamat, Jyotsna Kamat, Vikas Kamat and Hiryoung Kim Kamat. // Title (of the original source):Timeline of India's Freedom Struggle // Date on the original source: Unknown // // 100 Start of Sanskrit culture under the Kushan Empire, and later under the Gupta Empire. 450 End of Sanskrit culture which thrived under the Kushan Empire, and later under the Gupta Empire. Trade with the Middle East and the Roman Empire greatly enriched India. 510 Invading Huns destroyed Gupta power in India. 1200 Islamic invaders from Afghanistan overran much of northern India. They founded the Delhi Sultanate. 1398 The Mongol conqueror Tamerlane sacked Delhi. The Delhi Sultanate split into small warring kingdoms. 1483 Babur is born in Fergana 1498 The Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama arrived at India. Portugal soon dominated Indian Ocean trade. 1526 Babur, a central Asian Turk, founded the Mughal Empire. Art and architecture flourished, producing such monuments as Agra's Taj Mahal. 1530 Death of Babur and Humayun assumes power 1540 Afghan Leader Sher Shah defeats Humayun and seizes the empire 1555 Humayun re-conquers Delhi 1556 Humayun dies, young Akbar is enthroned 1562 Akbar, a free thinking Muslim, marries Padmini, a Hindu princess of powerful kingdom Rajaputana 1564 Akbar abolishes Jizya, a tax on non-Muslims 1600 The English East India Company was founded and quickly established trading posts in India. 1605 Death of Akbar and succession of son Jahangir 1617 Revolt in the Southern states of the empire breaks out. Jahangir sends son  Khurram to pacify them. Khurram received the title of Shah Jahan. 1627 Jahangir dies and Shah Jahan assumes the throne, crushing his rivals 1631 Shah Jahan's queen Mamtaz dies during childbirth; Shah Jahan commissions the building of her tomb, the Taj Mahal 1658 Shah Jahan's son Aurangajeb  executes his brothers, imprisons his father and ascends to the throne of Delhi. 1666 Death of Shah Jahan 1679 Jijya is re-imposed; Aurangjeb's accesses into Deccan 1707 Aurangjeb dies 1739 The Persian king Nadir Shah invaded India and plundered Delhi, critically weakening the Mughal Empire. 1748 Anglo-French War in India 1757 English East India Company forces under Robert Clive won control of Bengal at the Battle of Plassey. The company soon expanded its control over much of the Indian Peninsula. 1799 British defeat  Tippu Sultan 1805 Anglo-Maratha War 1846 Anglo-Sikh War- Sikhs Defeated 1857 First War of Independence started. British forces crushed the revolt, and the British government exiled the Mughal emperor and assumed direct control of India. 1862 Bahadur Shah II the last of the 17 succeeding Mogul rulers dies. India becomes a British Colony. 1885 The Indian National Congress was founded, marking the beginning of the Indian independence movement. 1915 Home Rule League is founded by Annie Besant 1919 British forces killed more than 400 Indians and wounded over 1200 in the Amritsar Massacre. 1919 Jalianwala Bagh Massacre, The Rowlat Act 1920 Mohandas Gandhi introduced nonviolent tactics that transformed the Indian independence movement into a popular campaign. 1921 Rise of Gandhi and his Civil Disobedience Movement 1922 Gandhi Suspends movement after the Chauri-Chura violence 1928 Murder of Lala Lajpat Rai and subsequent revolutionary activities 1930 The Dandi Salt March, The Simon Commission, First Round Table Conference 1931 Second Round Table Conference, Gandhi-Irvin Pact 1937 Provincial Autonomy Begins with Congress winning power in many states. WWII breaks out and  political deadlock in India 1942 The Quit India Movement, Rise of Subhas Chandra Bose 1946 INA men tried. Muslim League Adamant about Pakistan 1947 British India was divided into the independent states of India and Pakistan.British Leave India - Freedom at Midnight. Jawaharlal Nehru became India's first prime minister. War broke out between India and Pakistan over the territory of Jammu and Kashmir. 1948 Mohandas Gandhi was assassinated. 1949 India and Pakistan signed a cease-fire agreement that divided Jammu and Kashmir into two sectors, but the status of the region remained unresolved. Fighting broke out again in 1965 and 1971. 1974 India exploded an atomic bomb, and as the first South Asian nation to do so, altered the balance of power in South Asia. 1984 Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by members of her security guard. 1996 Elections swept the Congress Party, which had dominated India's government since independence, from power. The Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) captured the largest number of parliament seats. No party won a majority, however, BJP coalition was quickly replaced by a shaky left-center coalition involving the Congress Party. 1998 The BJP and its allies won a majority of seats in parliamentary elections and made Hindu nationalist leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee prime minister. Vajpayee's government conducted nuclear tests.