324 BC The Mauryan Empire was established by Chandragupta
Maurya which included Afghanistan and parts of central Asia.
272 BC Ashoka, the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya, became
the emperor of India.
185 BC The Maurya Empire ended
50 AD The Kushans established an empire in northern India
320 - The Gupta Indian dynasty reunited northern India
initiating the "golden Age" of India
700s Muslim armies from Arabia invade India
1206 Qutb ub-din Aybak established the Delhi Sultanate
1398 Timur conquered India causing the decline of the Delhi
Sultanate
1498 Vasco da Gama, of Portugal, became the first European
explorer to reach India
1500 Christianity was introduced to India by the Europeans
Early 1500s Sikhism was founded by Nana
1526 Babur established the massive Mughal Empire
1600 Queen Elizabeth I, of the United Kingdom, granted a
charter to the East India Company established trading posts
in Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras
1628 Shah Jahan, the ruler of the Mughal Empire, built the
Taj Mahal
1658 The Strict Muslim, Aurangzeb, ruled India and tried to
force Hindus to convert to Islam
1757 The Battle of Plassey - Robert Clive, an agent of the
East India Company, led forces which defeated the Mughal
governor of Bengal
1774 Warren Hastings was appointed the first governor
general of India by the East India Company
1857 The Sepoy Rebellion
1858 The British government ruled India through an Indian
Viceroy- called the British Raj
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
1905 The British government divided Bengal into separate
Hindu and Muslim sections
1914 - 1918 First World War
13 April 1919 The Amritsar Massacre
1920 Mohandas K. Gandhi became the leader of the Indian
independence movement and the Indian National Congress
1935 The Government of India Act created a new constitution
3 September 1939 The United Kingdom declared war on Germany
beginning World War II
1940 Muhammad Ali Jinnah demanded that a new country be
formed from India for the Muslims, which would be called
Pakistan
1939 - 1945 WW11
August 1945 The United States dropped atomic bombs on
Hiroshima and Nagasaki
1945 World War II ended
1946 The British government agreed to grant India
independence if they could agree on a form of government
16 August 1946 Muslims held nation-wide demonstrations
calling for the establishment of Pakistan
1947 British and Indian leaders agreed to divide the country
into India and Pakistan
15 August 1947 India became independent
30 January 1948 Gandhi was assassinated
26 January 1950 A new Indian Constitution was ratified and
Jawaharlal Nehru became the Indian first prime minister
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