History

HISTORY TIMELINE

2500 -1500 BC - Mohenjo-daro and Harrapa flourished in the Indus Valley.
1500 BC - The first wave of Aryan immigration into India began
326 BC - Alexander the Great invaded India.
322-182 BC - Mauryan dynasty, the first historical dynasty in the history of India.
1498  - Vasco-da-Gama lands at  Calicut.
1510 - Portuguese capture Goa 
1526 - First battle of Panipat. Establishment of the Mughal Dynasty.
1526 - 1857 - Mughal rule in India.
1600 - East India Company constituted
1757 - Battle of Plassey 
1857 - First War of Independence 
1858 - India comes under direct rule of the British crown after failed Indian mutiny. 
1885 - Indian National Congress founded
1905 - First partition of Bengal
1906 - Formation of Muslim League
1919 - The massacre at Jalianwallabagh
1930 - Salt Satyagraha, First Round Table Conference 
1942-43 - Quit India movement.
1947 - India gains freedom, and Jawaharlal Nehru is sworn in as the first Prime Minister of independent India.
1947-48 - Hundreds of thousands die in widespread communal bloodshed after partition.
1948 - Mahatma Gandhi assassinated by Nathuram Godse.
1950 - India becomes a Republic. Dr Rajendra Prasad is the first President of India. 
1952 - First general elections; Congress government comes to power
1956 - The states are reorganized on a linguistic basis
1962 - War with China and India loses 
1964 - Death of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru
1965 - War with Pakistan; ceasefire declared
1966 - Tashkent Agreement reached. Shastri dies at Tashkent. Indira Gandhi becomes prime minister.
1971 - Third war with Pakistan 
1971 - Twenty-year treaty of friendship signed with Soviet Union.
1972 - Shimla agreement signed between India and Pakistan.
1974 - India's first atomic device exploded at Pokhran in Rajasthan. 
1975 - Indira Gandhi declared state of emergency.
1977 - Indira Gandhi's Congress Party loses general elections.  Janata Party comes to power 
1979 - Janata Party splits; Seventh general elections held
1980 - Indira Gandhi returns to power heading Congress party splinter group, Congress (Indira).  
1984 - Operation Blue Star. Indira Gandhi assassinated; son Rajiv Gandhi becomes Prime Minister
1987 - India deploys troops for peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict. Goa becomes the 25th state of India. 
1989 - Rajiv Gandhi's Congress defeated in ninth general elections; minority government led by Janata Dal's V.P Singh comes to power
1990 - Indian troops withdrawn from Sri Lanka.
1991 - V.P Singh's government falls . Rajiv Gandhi assassinated.  Congress government return to power with P.V. Narasimha Rao as Prime Minister
1992 - The dome of Babri Masjid in  Ayodhya demolished by hindu fanatics;  triggering widespread Hindu-Muslim violence.
1996 - Congress suffers worst ever electoral defeat as Hindu nationalist BJP emerges as largest single party. In May 16 AB Vajpayee is PM, until May 28; United Front Coalition forms government under Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda
1997 - Congress withdraws support to coalition government; I.K. Gujaral sworn in Prime Minister.
1998 - BJP forms coalition government under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
1999 - Vajpayee makes historic bus trip to Pakistan to meet Premier Nawaz Sharif and to sign bilateral Lahore peace declaration.
1999 - Intense fighting in Kargil 
2004 - Congress Party win in general elections. Dr. Manmohan Singh is sworn in as Prime Minister.