CHRONOLOGY1746 The French admiral, La Bourdonnais, captures Madras
1751 Robert Clive captures and defends Arcot
1757 Battle of Plassey, Clive defeats the nawab of Bengal and installs
Mir Jafar
1760 Battle of Wandiwash, British troops defeat the French
1761 Battle of Panipat, the Afghan ruler, Ahmad Shah Durrani,
defeats the Marathas who withdraw to the South
1764 Battle of Baxar, the joint forces of the Great Mughal and of the
nawabs of Bengal and Oudh are defeated by the British and their
Indian troops
1765 Clive returns to India as governor of Bengal and accepts the
grant of civil authority (Diwani) of Bengal from the Great
Mughal on behalf of the East India Company
1769 Haider Ali, who had usurped the throne of Mysore in 1761,
conquers large parts of Southern India
1770 Bengal famine, one-third of the population dies
1773 Regulation Act, Warren Hastings becomes governor general
1782 Haider Ali dies; his son Tipu Sultan continues the fight against
the British power in India; Hastings concludes the peace treaty
of Salbei with the Marathas so as to concentrate on the South
1784 Second Regulation Act, stronger position of the governor
general, establishment of the Board of Control in London
1785 Impeachment of Warren Hastings; his successor, Lord
Cornwallis, defeats Tipu Sultan and annexes a major part of his
territory
1793 Permanent Settlement (Land Revenue) of Bengal
1799 Final defeat and death of Tipu Sultan
1803 The nawab of Oudh cedes the southern and western districts of
his territories to the British
1818 Final British victory over the Marathas
1843–8 Consolidation of British territorial rule in India; conquest of
Sind and of the Panjab
1857 Mutiny of the Indian soldiers of the army of the East India
Company and revolt of the landlords of Oudh and of some
Indian princes
1858 East India Company dissolved, India under the Crown
1861 Establishment of the Imperial Legislative Council (Indian
members nominated by the viceroy)
1877 Queen Victoria assumes the title Empress of India
1880 British defeat in the Afghan war influences British elections,
Gladstone sends Liberal viceroy, Lord Ripon, to India, Indian
nationalists hope for Liberal support
1885 First Indian National Congress meets in Bombay
1892 Reform of Legislative Councils; more Indian members
1905 Partition of Bengal, national agitation, boycott of British goods
(Swadeshi campaign)
1906 Foundation of the Muslim League
1907 Split of the National Congress (‘Moderates’/’Extremists’)
1908 Bal Gangadhar Tilak sentenced to six years’ imprisonment
1909 Morley-Minto reform, separate electorates for Muslims
1916 Lakhnau Pact between National Congress and Muslim League
(Tilak-Jinnah)
1917 Montagu declaration on ‘responsible government’