CHRONOLOGY OF INDIAN HISTORY
25001500300100 B.C.E.
300 C.E.
400800120015001757–
19001947Indus Valley Civilization
(ca. 2500–1500 B.C.E.)
Vedic Age
(ca. 1500–450 B.C.E.)Mauryan Dynasty
(323–185 B.C.E.)SatavahanaGupta
(4th–6th century C.E.)Pala
(8th–12th century)Sultanate
(1210–1526)Mughal
(1526–1827British
(late 18th c.–1947)
Independenceurbanization & city planning; worship of “Proto-Shiva” and
goddess; wheat and cotton cultivation; trade with Sumer
1500–1000 Indo-European Aryans enter from Northwest
1200–900 Vedas composed by nomads in upper Punjab
1000–450 North Indian conquest and unification
950 Battle of Mahabharata said to have taken place
800–600 Brahmanas
500–300 Upanishads
563–483 Buddha
326 Alexander the Great invades India
324 First unification of north India under Chandragupta
Maurya; capital at Pataliputra (Patna)
265–232 Emperor Ashoka; adoption of Buddhism throughout
empire
300 B.C.E.–300 C.E. Mahabharata
200 B.C.E–200 C.E. Ramayana by Valmiki
185 B.C.E. Mauryan Dynasty ends
100 C.E. Dharmashastra by Manu
200 C.E. Arthashastra by Kautilya
300 C.E. Kama-sutra by Vatsyayana
“The Classical Age”-Establishment of temple worship
350–750 early Puranas
399–414 Faxian visits India
460–477 Ajanta Caves
643 King Harsha’s Great Feast (reigned 606–647)
630–645 Xuanzang visits India
900 and 1150 temples at Khajuraho
1001 Mahmud of Ghazni raids North India
1192–1192 Ghurids establish capital at Delhi
Gradual end of Buddhism in India
Establishment of the Delhi Sultanate
1200 Gita Govinda by Jayadeva
1325–1351 Muhammad bin Tughluq reigns
1200 early Sufi orders established
750–1500 later Puranas; many new Ramayanas in regional
vernaculars
1469–1539 Guru Nanak founds Sikhism
1526 Babur founds the Mughal Empire
1556–1605 Akbar
1574 Ramayana in Hindi by Tulsidas
1632–1653 Taj Mahal built
1757 British victory at Plassey
1757–1858 “John Company Raj”-rule by East India Company
1857 Anglo-Indian War (“Indian Mutiny”)
1858–1947 British Raj
1947 Republic of India
1947 Islamic Republic of Pakistan