CHRONOLOGY1489–1505 Sikander Lodi; Agra new capital of the Delhi sultanate
1498 Vasco da Gama in Calicut
1509–29 Krishadeva Raya, zenith of the power of Vijayanagara
1510 The Portuguese conquer Goa
1526 Baber, the Great Mughal, defeats the sultan of Delhi
1542 Sher Shah conquers North India and introduces a new system of
revenue administration
1554 Humayun, the Great Mughal, defeats the successor of Sher Shah
and re-establishes Mughal rule
1556 Akbar succeeds Humayun
1565 Battle of Talikota: the Vijayanagar army defeated by the joint
forces of the successor states of the Bahmani sultanate
1574 Akbar conquers Gujarat
1586 Philip II, King of Spain and Portugal, concludes the pepper
contract with the German merchants Fugger and Welser
1600 Foundation of the East India Company in London
1602 Foundation of the Dutch East India Company
1605–27 Jahangir, the Great Mughal, and his wife Nur Jahan preside over
the flowering of Persian court culture in India
1615–18 Sir Thomas Roe, the first British ambassador, stays at the
Mughal court
1627–58 Shah Jahan, the Great Mughal, conquers large parts of the
northern Deccan, builds the Red Fort in Delhi and the Taj
Mahal in Agra
1636–44 Mughal Prince Aurangzeb rules the South as viceroy of the
Deccan
1646 Shivaji establishes his strongholds in the region of Pune,
Maharashtra
1655 Aurangzeb raids the sultanate of Golconda
1658–1707 The Mughal empire at its height under Aurangzeb, the Great
Mughal, who brings about its decline by exhausting its resources
1664 Inauguration of the French East India Company
1668–1706 François Martin, the founder of French power in India
1670 Shivaji raids Surat, the port of the Mughal empire
1680 Shivaji dies
1681 Aurangzeb establishes Aurangabad on the Deccan as new
Mughal capital
1686–7 Aurangzeb annexes the sultanates of Bijapur and Golconda
1707–19 Three weak Great Mughals who follow each other in quick
succession preside over the downfall of the Mughal empire
1714–20 Balaji Vishwanath, the first Peshwa (chief minister) of the
Maratha king, Shahu, establishes a new system of a centralised
collection of tribute
1724 Nizam-ul-Mulk Asaf Jah, viceroy of the Deccan and vezir of the
Mughal empire, leaves Delhi and establishes a quasi-independent
state at Hyderabad, other Mughal provinces (Bengal, Oudh)
follow suit
1720–40 Peshwa Baji Rao I extends Maratha rule to North India, raids
Delhi
1739 Nadir Shah, ruler of Persia, sacks Delhi and steals the Mughals’
peacock throne
1742–54 The French governor, Dupleix, exploits the feuds among Indian
rulers and builds up an Indian infantry in French service