Indian History Master Timeline: 3000 BCE to 1947 — 200+ Events

History chronology questions are guaranteed in every PSC paper. This master timeline gives you 200+ events in strict chronological order — memorize the dates and one-line descriptions.

Ancient India (3000 BCE – 600 CE)

Year/Period	Event
c. 3000 BCE	Beginning of Indus Valley (Harappan) Civilization
c. 2600-1900 BCE	Mature Harappan phase — Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Lothal, Dholavira, Kalibangan
c. 1900 BCE	Decline of Indus Valley Civilization
c. 1500 BCE	Composition of Rigveda begins (early Vedic period)
c. 1000 BCE	Later Vedic period begins; iron use in Gangetic plains
c. 600 BCE	Rise of Mahajanapadas (16 kingdoms); Second Urbanization
563 BCE	Birth of Gautama Buddha (Lumbini)
540 BCE	Birth of Mahavira (Vaishali)
527 BCE	Nirvana of Mahavira
483 BCE	Mahaparinirvana of Buddha
483 BCE	First Buddhist Council (Rajagriha, under Ajatashatru)
383 BCE	Second Buddhist Council (Vaishali)
362-321 BCE	Nanda Dynasty rules Magadha
327-325 BCE	Alexander’s invasion of India; Battle of Hydaspes (326 BCE) against Porus
321 BCE	Chandragupta Maurya founds Maurya Empire; defeats Nanda dynasty
305 BCE	Chandragupta defeats Seleucus Nicator; Megasthenes sent as ambassador
298 BCE	Bindusara succeeds Chandragupta
273-232 BCE	Ashoka’s reign; Kalinga War (261 BCE); embraces Buddhism
250 BCE	Third Buddhist Council (Pataliputra, under Ashoka)
185 BCE	Fall of Maurya Empire; Pushyamitra Shunga founds Shunga Dynasty
180 BCE	Indo-Greek rule in northwest India (Menander/Milinda)
78 CE	Kanishka ascends Kushan throne; starts Saka Era
78 CE	Fourth Buddhist Council (Kashmir, under Kanishka)
320 CE	Chandragupta I founds Gupta Empire — “Golden Age” begins
335-375 CE	Samudragupta’s reign (“Napoleon of India”)
375-415 CE	Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya); Fa-Hien visits India
476 CE	Birth of Aryabhata (mathematician-astronomer)
606-647 CE	Harshavardhan’s reign; Hiuen Tsang visits India

Early Medieval India (600-1200 CE)

Year/Period	Event
629-645 CE	Hiuen Tsang’s journey through India
712 CE	Arab invasion of Sindh by Muhammad bin Qasim
788-820 CE	Shankaracharya (Adi Shankara — born at Kalady, Kerala)
800-1200 CE	Chola Dynasty golden age in South India
985-1014 CE	Rajaraja Chola I — built Brihadeshwara Temple
1001 CE	Mahmud of Ghazni’s first major raid on India
1025 CE	Mahmud of Ghazni raids Somnath Temple
1191 CE	First Battle of Tarain — Prithviraj Chauhan defeats Muhammad Ghori
1192 CE	Second Battle of Tarain — Ghori defeats Prithviraj Chauhan

Delhi Sultanate (1206-1526)

Year/Period	Event
1206	Qutb-ud-din Aibak establishes Slave Dynasty (Delhi Sultanate begins)
1210	Iltutmish succeeds Aibak
1236	Razia Sultana — first and only woman ruler of Delhi Sultanate
1266	Balban becomes Sultan
1290	Khalji Dynasty founded by Jalal-ud-din Khalji
1296-1316	Alauddin Khalji’s reign; repels Mongol invasions; market reforms
1320	Tughlaq Dynasty founded by Ghiyasuddin Tughlaq
1325-1351	Muhammad bin Tughlaq — shifted capital to Daulatabad; token currency experiment
1336	Vijayanagara Empire founded by Harihara and Bukka
1347	Bahmani Kingdom established in Deccan
1351-1388	Firoz Shah Tughlaq — irrigation canals, Firoz Shah Kotla
1398	Timur (Tamerlane) invades Delhi
1414	Sayyid Dynasty begins
1451	Lodi Dynasty begins (Bahlol Lodi)
1469	Birth of Guru Nanak (founder of Sikhism)
1498	Vasco da Gama reaches Calicut (Kozhikode) via sea route
1509-1529	Krishnadevaraya of Vijayanagara — greatest ruler
1510	Portuguese capture Goa (Afonso de Albuquerque)
1526	First Battle of Panipat — Babur defeats Ibrahim Lodi; Mughal Empire begins

Mughal Empire (1526-1857)

Year/Period	Event
1526	Babur establishes Mughal Empire
1527	Battle of Khanwa — Babur defeats Rana Sanga
1530	Humayun succeeds Babur
1539	Battle of Chausa — Sher Shah Suri defeats Humayun
1540	Battle of Kannauj — Humayun loses; Sur Dynasty rules
1555	Humayun recaptures Delhi
1556	Second Battle of Panipat — Akbar (through Bairam Khan) defeats Hemu
1556-1605	Akbar’s reign; Din-i-Ilahi; Mansabdari system; abolishes Jaziya
1565	Battle of Talikota — Vijayanagara destroyed by Deccan Sultanates
1571	Akbar builds Fatehpur Sikri
1576	Battle of Haldighati — Akbar vs. Rana Pratap
1600	British East India Company chartered
1605-1627	Jahangir’s reign; Captain Hawkins and Sir Thomas Roe visit
1627-1658	Shah Jahan’s reign; builds Taj Mahal (1632-1653), Red Fort
1658-1707	Aurangzeb’s reign; Deccan campaigns; reimposed Jaziya
1674	Shivaji crowned Chhatrapati — Maratha Empire begins
1707	Death of Aurangzeb — beginning of Mughal decline
1739	Nadir Shah invades Delhi; takes Kohinoor diamond and Peacock Throne
1757	Battle of Plassey — Clive defeats Siraj-ud-Daulah
1761	Third Battle of Panipat — Afghans (Ahmad Shah Abdali) defeat Marathas
1764	Battle of Buxar — British defeat combined forces of Mughal Emperor, Nawab of Awadh, Nawab of Bengal

British India (1757-1947)

Year/Period	Event
1765	Clive gets Diwani rights of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa
1767-69	First Anglo-Mysore War
1772	Warren Hastings becomes first Governor-General of Bengal
1780-84	Second Anglo-Mysore War
1784	Pitt’s India Act — Board of Control established
1790-92	Third Anglo-Mysore War
1793	Permanent Settlement (Zamindari system) by Cornwallis in Bengal
1799	Fourth Anglo-Mysore War — Tipu Sultan killed at Seringapatam
1802	Treaty of Bassein — Peshwa accepts British suzerainty
1813	Charter Act — Company monopoly on trade ended (except China tea)
1817-18	Third Anglo-Maratha War — Maratha power ends
1828	Brahmo Samaj founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy
1829	Sati abolished by Lord William Bentinck
1835	English made medium of instruction (Macaulay’s Minute)
1848	Doctrine of Lapse by Lord Dalhousie
1853	First railway: Mumbai to Thane (April 16, 1853)
1853	First telegraph line: Kolkata to Agra
1855	Santhal Rebellion
1856	Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act
1857	First War of Independence (Sepoy Mutiny); Mangal Pandey fires first shot
1858	Government of India Act — Crown takes over from Company; Queen Victoria’s Proclamation
1859	Indigo Revolt in Bengal
1861	Indian Councils Act; Indian Civil Service opened
1867	Prarthana Samaj founded by Atmaram Pandurang
1872	First Census of India
1875	Arya Samaj founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswati
1875	Aligarh Muslim University movement by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan
1876-78	Great Famine; Famine Commission
1878	Vernacular Press Act by Lord Lytton
1882	Hunter Commission on education
1885	Indian National Congress founded (December 28, Bombay); A.O. Hume
1891	Age of Consent Act
1892	Indian Councils Act — limited elections
1893	Swami Vivekananda’s speech at Chicago Parliament of Religions
1905	Partition of Bengal by Lord Curzon; Swadeshi Movement begins
1906	Muslim League founded (Dhaka)
1907	Surat Split — Congress divides into Moderates and Extremists
1909	Morley-Minto Reforms (Indian Councils Act) — separate electorates for Muslims
1911	Partition of Bengal revoked; capital shifted from Calcutta to Delhi
1914-18	World War I
1916	Lucknow Pact (Congress-Muslim League); Home Rule Movement (Tilak and Annie Besant)
1917	Champaran Satyagraha (Gandhi’s first satyagraha in India)
1918	Kheda Satyagraha; Ahmedabad Mill Strike
1919	Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms; Rowlatt Act; Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (April 13)
1920	Non-Cooperation Movement launched; Khilafat Movement
1922	Chauri Chaura incident — Gandhi withdraws Non-Cooperation Movement
1923	Swaraj Party formed by C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru
1924-25	Vaikom Satyagraha (Kerala — temple entry movement)
1927	Simon Commission appointed (boycotted — “Simon Go Back”)
1928	Nehru Report; Lala Lajpat Rai dies after lathi charge
1929	Lahore Session — Purna Swaraj resolution (December 31)
1930	Salt March / Dandi March (March 12 - April 6); Civil Disobedience Movement
1930	First Round Table Conference (London)
1931	Gandhi-Irwin Pact; Second Round Table Conference
1932	Communal Award; Poona Pact (Gandhi-Ambedkar)
1935	Government of India Act — provincial autonomy, federal structure
1937	Provincial elections; Congress forms governments in 7 provinces
1939	Congress ministries resign over World War II issue
1940	Lahore Resolution (Pakistan Resolution) by Muslim League
1942	Quit India Movement (August 8); Cripps Mission fails
1943	Azad Hind Fauj (INA) formed by Subhas Chandra Bose
1943-44	Bengal Famine — estimated 3 million deaths
1945	Simla Conference; Wavell Plan
1946	Cabinet Mission Plan; Interim Government formed; Direct Action Day (August 16)
1946	Royal Indian Navy Mutiny (Mumbai)
1947	Mountbatten Plan (June 3); Indian Independence Act (July 18); Independence (August 15)

Key Battles — Quick Recall

Battle	Year	Winner	Significance
Hydaspes	326 BCE	Alexander	Last major battle of Alexander’s campaign
Kalinga	261 BCE	Ashoka	Led Ashoka to embrace Buddhism
First Tarain	1191	Prithviraj Chauhan	Rajput victory over Ghori
Second Tarain	1192	Muhammad Ghori	Led to Muslim rule in North India
First Panipat	1526	Babur	Mughal Empire established
Khanwa	1527	Babur	Rajput confederacy defeated
Second Panipat	1556	Akbar	Mughal supremacy confirmed
Haldighati	1576	Indecisive (Akbar tactical win)	Rana Pratap’s resistance
Plassey	1757	British (Clive)	British political control of Bengal begins
Buxar	1764	British	Most decisive — confirmed British supremacy
Third Panipat	1761	Ahmad Shah Abdali	Maratha power broken