• 2800 BC Indus Valley Civilization begins in the northwestern region of India
• 2600 BC Mohenjo-daro and Harappa phase of the Indus Valley Civilization begins, in Punjab and Sindh. Other cities like Lothal, Mehrgarh also emerged during this period.
• 1600 BC India is invaded by the Aryans from the west
• 1400 BC The Vedas, the Hindu scripture, was written
• 600 BC The Upanishads written
• 599 BC Mahavira, 24th Tirthankar of Jainism is born
• 563 BC Gautam Buddha, founder of Buddhism is born in Lumbini
• 527 BC Nirvana of Mahavira
• 492 BC Bimbisara dies and is succeeded by Ajatashatru in Magadha Empire
• 483 BC Death of Gautama Buddha in Kushinagar
• 326 BC Alexander the Great moved into India, King Porus who ruled parts of the Punjab, fought Alexander at the Battle of the Hydaspes River.
• 321 BC Chandragupta Maurya established Mauryan dynasty defeating Dhana Nanda
• 305 BC Chandragupta Maurya defeats Seleucus Nicator of the Seleucid Empire.
• 300 BC Chola dynasty establishes his kingdom over southern India with capital in Thanjavur
• 269 BC Ashoka the Great, grandson of Chandragupta Maurya, becomes the emperor of India
• 261 BC Kalinga War takes place between Magadha Empire and the kingdom of Kalinga.
• 232 BC Death of King Ashoka
• 185 BC The Mauryan Empire, collapsed after its emperor Brihadrata was assassinated by his general Pusyamitra Sunga who then established the Sunga dynasty
• 50 AD Establishment of the Kushan empire by Kujula Kadphises, first Buddhist stupa is constructed at Sanchi
• 300 The Pallava dynasty is established in Kanchi
• 320 The Gupta dynasty founded by Maharaja Sri Gupta, reunited northern India initiating the "golden Age" of India
• 335 King Samudragupta ascends the Gupta throne and expands the empire.
• 380 Chandragupta II, Samudragupta's son becomes the Gupta Emperor.
• 450 Invasions by the Huna.
• 606 Harshavardhana crowned Monarch.
• 712 First Muslim, Md. Bin Qasim defeats Raja Dahir
• 1021 Mahmud Ghazni defeats Tarnochalpal and annexes Punjab
• 1206 Qutb ub-din Aybak establishes the Delhi Sultanate
• 1221 Genghis Khan invades Punjab
• 1236 Razia Sultana, only lady ruler of Delhi
• 1290 Jalal ud-Din Firuz establishes the Khilji sultanate at Delhi
• 1298 Marco Polo visits India
• 1336 Vijayanagara Empire established by Harihara I and his brother Bukka Raya I
• 1398 Timur conquered India resulting in the decline of the Delhi Sultanate
• 1469 Birth of Guru Nanak Dev
• 1497 Vasco de Gama's first voyage from Europe to India and back (to 1499)
• 1526 Babur established the Mughal Empire
• 1555 Mughal king Humayun comes to fight Sher Shah and regains India
• 1556 Humayun dies, and is succeeded by Akbar
• 1600 Queen Elizabeth I granted a charter to the East India Company established trading posts in Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras
• 1605 Akbar dies, and is succeeded by his son Jehangir.
• 1612 British arrives India
• 1632 Taj Mahal construction initiated by Mughal ruler Shah Jahan
• 1653 Shah Jahan completes Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan dies, and is succeeded by his son Aurangzeb.
• 1675 Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Guru of Sikhs is executed in Delhi. Guru Gobind Singh becomes tenth Guru of Sikhs.
• 1680 Shivaji dies at Raigad, Sambhaji became 2nd Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire
• 1707 Death of Aurangzeb the Mughal emperor.
• 1757 In Battle of Plassey, Robert Clive, leads British forces which defeated the Mughal governor of Bengal Mir Jafar
• 1774 Warren Hastings appointed the first governor general of India by the East India Company
• 1775 First Anglo-Maratha War
• 1799 Death of Tipu Sultan
• 1853 Started Post Service
• 1853 First Railway established between Bombay and Thane
• 1857 Indian Mutiny Rebellion of 1857(10th May)
• 1857 Establishment of University of Mumbai, University of Madras and University of Calcutta in India
• 1858 The British government ruled India, Lord Dalhousie becomes the Governor-General of India
• 1862 Death of Bahadur Shah Zafar
• 1869 "Arya Samaj" Established
• 1876 Queen Victoria was given the title Empress of India by the British Parliament
• 1885 Burma became an Indian province
• 1885 The Indian National Congress was formed (28th December)
• 1905 The British government divided Bengal into separate Hindu and Muslim sections
• 1909 Morley-Minto Reforms
• 1914 World War 1
• 1915 Mahatma Gandhi returns back to India
• 1919 Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (13th April)
• 1920 Mahatma Gandhi became president of Indian National Congress, Non-cooperation movement Khilafat Movement
• 1927 Simon Commission
• 1929 Central Assembly Bombed by Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt.
• 1930 Purna Swaraj resolution in Lahore, Salt Satyagraha started
• 1931 Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev Martyred (23rd March)
• 1935 Government of India Act
• 1939 World War 2 began
• 1940 Muhammad Ali Jinnah demanded that a new country be formed from India for the Muslims, which would be called Pakistan
• 1942 Quit India Movement
• 1942 Indian National Army Established by Subhas Chandra Bose
• 1945 World War II ended when United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (August)
• 1946 Royal Indian Navy Mutiny
• 1946 The British government agreed to grant India independence
• 1947 British and Indian leaders agreed to divide the country into India and Pakistan
• 1947 India became independent (15th August)
• 1948 Mahatma Gandhi assassinated Nathuram Godse (30th January)
• 1950 Constitution of India came into effect and Jawaharlal Nehru became the Indian first prime minister (26th January)