Chronography of the Indian subcontinent

(Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan)

Page last modified 25 March 2023

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Mumbai urban growth maps

See also Sri Lanka

See also Myanmar

India 1946 with proposed Muslim State (and modern boundaries as actually drawn)

Bangladesh from 1 January 1973 � see Appendix 1

Bhutan� - see Appendix 2

Maldives � see Appendix 3

Nepal � see Appendix 4

Bangladesh, India, Pakistan

15 June 2020, Tensions along the ill-defined and disputed Himalayan border between India and China escalated. India accused China of annexing the Galwan Valley, some 60 square miles. China accused India of building military roads into disputed areas and of attempting to control more of Kashmir, including an area ceded by Pakistan to China that India claims. Some 20 soldiers died, mainly through falling into icy gorges.

14 February 2019, Pakistani terrorists suicide-bombed Indian security forces in Kashmir, killing 45. Tensions briefly rose between the two countries, with Indian jets striking Pakistan and one being shot down. The pilot was later returned to India as tensions eased.

5 January 2016, Violent riots broke out in Kaliachak, West Bengal, India, after political activist Kamlesh Tiwari allegedly insulted the Muslim prophet Muhammad.

16 December 2014, Taliban gunmen scaled the wall of an army-run school in Peshawar, Pakistan, and began shooting indiscriminately. 141 schoolchildren were killed before the army regained control; many more had been injured. This was in revenge for Army attacks on the Taliban.

16 February 2013, A bomb exploded at a marketplace in Quetta, Pakistan, killing over 80 people.

5 September 2011, India and Bangladesh signed a pact to end their 40-year border dispute.

26 November 2008, Pakistani Islamic terrorists struck at several targets in Mumbai, India, taking visitors at the Taj Mahal luxury hotel hostage.� Indian forces stormed the terrorists in the hotel. 183 people were killed and over 300 injured.

2007, India and Pakistan signed an agreement to prevent accidental nuclear war.

27 December 2007, The moderate Pakistani politician, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated whilst participating in an opposition rally against the hard-line ruler, President Pervez Musharraf.

21 July 2007, Pratibha Patel was elected India�s first female President.

11 July 2006, Bombs exploded in Mumbai railway station, India. 200 were killed. Pakistani Islamic militants were suspected.

6 February 2006, Two fishermen who had landed on North Sentinel Island were murdered by the inhabitants, the Sentinelese, who are one of the world�s last �Stone Age� tribes. They fiercely resist any visitors with a hail of arrows, although the Indian authorities said they would try and clandestinely recover the bodies at a later date.

13 May 2004, In Indian elections, the traditional-Socialist Congress Party gained unexpected victory over the Hindu-Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The majority of poorer Indians had failed to benefit from the economic modernisation programmes of the BJP. Manmohan Singh became Prime Minister.

16 March 2004, The Pakistan Army began an offensive against Afghan Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in the NW border area of Pakistan. When the offensive ended on 30 March 2004, some 150 militants had been killed, but many had escaped through tunnels back to the Afghan border.

2 May 2003, India and Pakistan resumed diplomatic relations.

12 December 2002, In Indian State elections, the Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) consolidated its political control of Gujarat.

8 May 2002, In Karachi a suicide car bomber blew himself up next to a bus, killing 14 people � 11 of them were French naval engineers working for the Pakistan navy.

27 February 2002, Muslims attacked a train in Gujarat, western India, carrying Hindi activists. Conflict between Hindus and Muslims had bene growing since the terrorist attack of 13 December 2001 on the Indian parliament.

13 December 2001, Terrorists attacked the Indian Parliament, killing 14 people.� This brought India and Pakistan to the brink of war.

8 October 2001. Anti-American riots in several Pakistani cities. Banks, a shopping mall, and cinemas showing American films, were burnt down. Pakistan was a vital access point for USA forces seeking to enter Afghanistan. Raids continue over the next few days, with anti-American protests in Pakistan and Indonesia.

20 June 2001, Pervez Musharraf was appointed President of Palistan.

24 January 2001, The greatest gathering of people ever recorded took place at Allahabad, India, where 20 million people gathered for the Maha Kumbh Mela.

2000, India�s population now exceeded one billion.

12 October 1999, General Pervez Musharraf (born 1943) took control of Pakistan in a military coup. Nawaz Sherif was deposed.

10 August 1999, A Pakistani plane intruding into Indian airspace was shot down.

11 July 1999, India recaptured the town of Kargil from Pakistan, after two months of conflict.

26 May 1999, Indian air force planes attacked Pakistani intruders in Kashmir, sparking the Kargil War.

23 January 1999, In India, radical Hindus killed US Christian missionaries Graham Stewart Baines and his two sons. The act was blamed on the militant group bajrang Dal, who opposed the conversion of Hindus to Christianity or Islam.

India, Pakistan, nuclear missile tests

14 April 1999, Following the Indian test, Pakistan also carried out a successful test of its ballistic missile.

11 April 1999, India carried out a successful test of a ballistic missile.

30 May 1998, Pakistan conducted further nuclear tests.

28 May 1998, Pakistan test-exploded five nuclear devices in retaliation for India�s nuclear tests earlier in the month.� The US, Japan, and other nations imposed sanctions on Pakistan.

13 May 1998, The US and Japan imposed economic sanctions on India because of its nuclear test.

11 May 1998, India conducted a nuclear test in the Rajasthan Desert, its first such test since 1974.� Pakistan, which already had nuclear weapons, was angered.

28 November 1997, In India the Congress Party withdrew from the coalition, which then collapsed.

5 September 1997, Mother Teresa died in Kolkata (Calcutta), India, aged 87.

14 July 1997, In India KR Narayanan was elected President. He was the first President to come from the �untouchable� caste.

20 April 1997, In India the minority 13-Party United Front Government led by HD Deve Gowda fell when the Congress party withdrew support. A new United Front government was formed with Congress party backing under former Foreign Minister Kumar Gujral.

1995, In India, the Punjab Chief Minister was assassinated by Sikh extremists.

17 February 1997, The Pakistan Muslim league won general elections. Nawaz Sharif became prime Minister.

5 November 1996, The Pakistan President dismissed Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto after she and her Government were accused of corruption and mismanagement.

20 October 1993, Pakistan elected Benazir Bhutto (1953-2007) as Prime Minister.

12 March 1993, 257 people were killing in a bombing in Mumbai, India.

7 December 1992. Religious riots swept India after Hindu fanatics destroyed the Babri Masjid mosque. 1,200 people died in these riots.

6 December 1992. Riots followed a Hindu attack on the Ayodha Mosque, India. This mosque was built by the first Moghul Emperor Babur in the early 16th century; Hindus contended that it was built on top of a Hindu temple marking the birthplace of the Hindu god, Rama. India appeared to be abandoning its secular legacy in favour of a militant Hinduism.

18 November 1992, In Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto was put under house arrest after police broke up a political demonstration.

21 May 1991. Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated. Police blamed Tamil Tigers.

Sangshad. BNP leader Khaleda Zia, widow of President Zia, became President of Bangladesh on 19 March 1991.

31 October 1990. In India, Hindu fundamentalists again attempted to storm the mosque at Ayodhya. Hindus wanted to demolish the mosque, claiming it stood on the site of the birthplace of one of their gods, Lord Rama. Over 8 days, 170 died in India in clashes over this mosque.

19 January 1990. Free love guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh died of a heart attack at his commune in Poona, India. Aged 58, he owned nearly 100 Rolls Royces, and was banned from nearly 20 countries; including the US where his commune in Oregon was closed down.

6 August 1990, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, President of Pakistan, removed the Government of Benazir Bhutto, charging her with corruption. Islamists, the landed aristocracy and other political opponents wanted her gone, and Benazir�s supporters allged that the charges were purely politically motivated.

2 December 1989, VP Singh, leader of the Janata Dat Party, replaced Rajiv Gandhi as Prime Minister of India, although Rajiv�s Congress Party remained the largest single party.

1 October 1989. Pakistan rejoined the Commonwealth after 17 years.

14 February 1989. Union Carbide agreed to pay US$ 470 million to the Indian Government in compensation for the 1984 Bhopal disaster.

31 December 1988, In the Pakistani capital Islamabad, the Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and his Pakistani counterpart Benazir Bhutto signed the first agreement between the two countries for 16 years.

8 December 1988, The new Pakistani Prime Minister, Benazir Bhutto, released 1,000 political prisoners.

30 November 1988. Benazir Bhutto became the first woman Prime Minister of Pakistan; the first female leader of an Islamic country. These were the first democratic elections in Pakistan for 11 years. Her father, Zufilqar Ali Bhutto, was leader of Pakistan from 1971 until he was deposed in a military coup headed by General Zia in 1977; Zufilqar was hanged in 1979. Benazir inherited the leadership of the People�s Party and was an ongoing annoyance to the military regime until Zia died in 1987 in a plane crash.

17 August 1988, General Zia ul Haq of Pakistan died when his aircraft crashed shortly after taking off from a military demonstration of US tanks at Bahawalpur for Islamabad. The US ambassador to Pakistan was on board. A bomb or missile attack was suspected.

14 August 1986. In Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto was jailed by General Zia.

10 April 1986, Benazir Bhutto returned to Pakistan.

19 May 1988, In India, Sikh rebels occupying the Golden Temple in Amritsar surrendered.

4 January 1988, Indian Kami Bheel, who possessed the world�s longest moustache at 7ft 10 inches from tip to tip, was found decapitated.

12 May 1987, Rajiv Gandhi imposed direct Federal rule from New Delhi on the mainly Sikh province of Punjab, removing its provincial autonomy. The Sikhs in Punjab had wanted their own country, separate from India as Pakistan was, at Independence in 1947, but this did not happen. They have been agitating for independence ever since. Under Indira Gandhi�s rule (1966-84), which was nominally democratic but veered towards autocracy, especially in times of crisis, the Punjab was even subdivided by creating the new Province of Haryana, to weaken Punjab identity, and attacked the Sikhs at the Golden temple, Amritsar (see 6 June 1984). The Direct Rule was in revenge for the assassination of his mother, Indira Gandhi on 31 October 1984. The immediate cause of Rajiv Gandhi�s move was the assassination of Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, a Sikh politician who had collaborated closely with both Indira and Rajiv, by militant Sikh separatists. Sikh Separatism in the Punjab remains a major issue in Indian politics.

9 May 1986, Tenzing Norgay, or Tensing, the first joint conqueror of Everest, died.

22 January 1986, In India, three Sikhs were sentenced to death for the murder of Indira Gandhi.

30 December 1985, In Pakistan, General Zia ended martial law.

31 December 1984, Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister of India.

19 December 1984. Rajiv Ghandhi won the Indian elections by a large majority.

3 December 1984. The Union Carbide disaster at Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh State, India. 410 died immediately as 30 tons of poison gas (methyl isocyanate) leaked; the final toll was 4,000 dead and 20,000 seriously injured; 150,000 required hospital treatment.

3 November 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was cremated.

1 November 1984, Rajiv Gandhi, son of Indira, was sworn in as Indian Prime Minister

31 October 1984 �Mrs Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India, 67, was shot dead by a Sikh member of her bodyguard, whilst in New Delhi. Beant Singh, one of the attackers, was then shot dead by other loyal bodyguards. She was succeeded by her son, Rajiv Gandhi. Indira Gandhi was cremated on 3 November 1984. The assassination was in revenge for Indian troops storming the Golden Temple of Amritsar.

29 June 1984, Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi dismissed the Governor and the Police Chief of Punjab.

6 June 1984. Indian troops stormed the Sikh Golden Temple in Amritsar. 712 Sikhs and 90 soldiers were killed.

Ethnic violence in India

5 April 1984, India imposed detention without trial in Pinjab.

3 April 1984, India declared Punjab a �dangerously disturbed area�.

6 October 1983, The Indian Government took over direct control of Punjab Province in response to growing unrest there.

22 February 1983, Hindus killed 3,000 Muslims in Assam, India.

22 June 1980, 1,000 died in ethnic violence in Tripura, India.

13 April 1984, India captured most of the Siachen glacier on its disputed Kashmir frontier with Pakistan.

6 January 1980. In India, Indira Ghandhi was re-elected as Prime Minister.

10 December 1979, Mother Teresa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work helping the destitute in India. Born in Albania in 1910, she joined a convent at age 18 and taught in the convent�s Calcutta premises. In 1946 she began working the streets of Calcutta to relieve poverty.

15 July 1979, Moraji Desai resigned as Indian Prime Minister. On 28 July 1979 Charan Singh became Indian Prime Minister.

10 February 1979, General Zia, ruler of Pakistan, introduced Islamic Shia law.

7 November 1978, Indira Gandhi was re-elected to the Indian Parliament.

3 January 1978. Ex-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was expelled from her Congress Party.

22 March 1977, Indira Gandhi resigned as President of India after an election defeat.

16 April 1976. India, to curb population growth, raised the minimum age for marriage to 21 for men and 18 for women.

30 June 1975, In India, Indira Gandhi imposed press censorship, to suppress dissent.

11 June 1975, The High Court in India ruled that Indira Gandhi had used unfair practices to win the election and must stand down. She refused to go.

16 May 1975, India annexed Sikkim.

16 April 1975, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Indian statesman, died aged 86.

6 March 1975, Large demonstrations in New Delhi against Indira Gandhi.

18 May 1974, India announced that it had successfully underground-tested an atom bomb.

19 March 1974, Food riots in Bihar, India.

20 October 1973, The Dalai Lama first visited Britain.

8 April 1973. Indian troops annexed Sikkim in the Himalayas.

13 March 1972, The Congress Party, led by Indira Gandhi, won Indian elections

President Bhutto of Pakistan, 1972-78

10 January 1984, General Zia of Pakistan freed Benazir Bhutto, daughter of former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who had been executed in 1979.

4 April 1979. There were demonstrations in Pakistan as ex-Prime Minister Ali Bhutto was hanged.� He was accused of conspiring to murder a political opponent.� See 18 March 1978.

6 February 1979. Pakistan�s Supreme Court ruled that the former Prime Minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, should be hanged for conspiring to murder an opponent. He was hanged in Rawalpindi on 4 April 1979, despite pleas from world leaders.

16 September 1978. Zia ul Haq became Head of State in Pakistan, succeeding President Chaudry.

18 March 1978. Former Pakistani PM, Zufilkar Ali Bhutto, was sentenced to death for ordering the murder of a political opponent in 1974, see 5 July 1977 and 4 April 1979.

3 September 1977, In Pakistan, Bhutto was arrested on charges of conspiring to murder Ahmad Kasuri in 1974.

5 July 1977. In Pakistan, President Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the first democratically elected President of Pakistan, was overthrown, and then arrested, in a military coup by Zia, after rioting following accusations of vote rigging by Bhutto.� Bhutto was later arrested and charged with treason, see 18 March 1978.

11 March 1977, Widespread violent protests in Pakistan, amid claims that Mrs Bhutto�s election victory was fraudulent.

7 March 1977. Bhutto won the Pakistani general elections. However opposition to her had been so widespread that vote-rigging was suspected, and the Pakistani Army stepped in, led by Zia Ul Haq.

11 November 1974, In Pakistan, Ahmad Kasuri, an outspoken critic of President Zufilkar al Bhutto, was assassinated by members of Bhutto�s security forces.

22 July 1976, Relations between India and Pakistan improved. This day the first through train ran from Delhi to Lahore.

14 August 1975, In a military coup in Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rhaman was overthrown; he and his family were murdered. General Zia ur Rahman now headed a military Government which ruled until 1981.

1974, Pakistan formally recognised Bangladesh

1973, Prime Minister Bhutto of Pakistan initiated �Islamic Socialism�.

7 November 1973, Pakistan formally left SEATO.

11 December 1972, India and Pakistan agreed on a� truce line in Jammu and Kashmir.

2 July 1972, India and Pakistan agreed to renounce the use of force in settling disputes.

11 May 1972, Pakistan was facing severe financial difficulties. It had lost the revenue from jute in former east Pakistan., and the Treasury was empty. This day the Pakistani Rupee was devalued from 4.7 to the US$ to 11.

18 April 1972. Pakistan became a member of the Commonwealth again. See 30 January 1972.

2 January 1972, In Pakistan, the Bhutto Government took control (but not ownership) of 10 key industries. This was a move aimed at the so-called �22 Families� who were said to control 80% of the banking and 66% of industrial assets, However stricter measures were dropped for fear of causing economic instability.

Secession of East Pakistan, 1958 � 72

25 August 1972, China vetoed the admission of Bangladesh to the UN.

17 April 1972, Bangladesh formally seceded from Pakistan.� See 26 March 1971.

4 April 1972, The USA formally recognised Bangladesh. The US had delayed this move because of its support for Pakistan, which emerged from the war with a badly damaged economy, low national morale, and its army on the point of collapse.

19 March 1972. Bangladesh signed a treaty of friendship with India.

30 January 1972. Pakistan, under Zulfiqar Bhutto, withdrew from the Commonwealth, after Britain, Australia, and New Zealand recognised the independence of Bangladesh. See 18 April 1972.

12 January 1972, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was sworn in as Prime Minister of Bangladesh.

10 January 1972, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returned to a heroes welcome in Dacca, Bangladesh.

22 December 1971, Mujibur Rahman was released from prison in West Pakistan, to become President of Bangladesh.

20 December 1971. In Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto became President in place of Yahya Khan.

18 December 1971, Bangladesh formally came into existence after East Pakistan surrendered in the war with India.

16 December 1971. All eastern Pakistani troops surrendered to India.

9 December 1971, Indian planes bombed an orphanage in Dacca, East Pakistan, killing 300 children.

8 December 1971. Indian troops advanced to within 30 miles of Dacca, East Pakistan.

6 December 1971. India recognised Bangladesh as an independent republic.�

3 December 1971. India was on a war footing with fighting on its western border with Pakistan. Yahya Khan knew he could not defend secessionist East Pakistan against India; India and Pakistan were hostile, and it was in India�s interests to see Bangladesh secede from Pakistan. Yahya Khan therefore tried to seize the initiative by attacking India from West Pakistan, hoping that a favourable outcome for Pakistan would force India to accept Pakistan�s terms in the East. On this day Pakistan launched air strikes into India. India responded decisively, completely overrunning East Pakistan� The Pakistani offensive in the West petered out.

31 May 1971, India requested international aid to cope with the millions of refugees from the war in East Pakistan.

India� now involved. Major influx of refugees to India, which supports secessionists against Pakistan

26 March 1971 The Pakistan Army easily overcame East Pakistani resistance by end-April. Assisted by Islamic fundamentalist groups, the Army then massacred all those deemed in favour of independence,� including Awami league members, Hindus (about 10% of the population), also students and intellectuals, including teachers, lecturers and doctors. Between one and three million people weer massacred; a further ten million fled to India. Many more died in the makeshift refugee camps. Bangladesh could only attain independence win Indian intervention,which did occur later in 1971.

25 March 1971, Yahya Khan, leader of Pakistan, announced a �restore law and order� campaign in East Pakistan (see 23 March 1971). Members of the Awami League were arrested.

23 March 1971. Bangladesh (meaning �The Bengal Nation�), formerly East Pakistan, proclaimed its independence under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. This started a civil war on 26 March 1971 between Pakistan and East Pakistan, or Bangladesh, in which India intervened on to help Bangladesh become independent. India helped defeat Pakistan on 17 December 1971. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was reported killed on 28 March 1970 and 7,000 people killed in the uprising against the government in West Pakistan.� See 17 April 1972. West Pakistani troops killed anyone deemed �Bengali�, even teenage boys, as well as any Hindus they came across; rape was also widespread. The USA had been a close ally of Pakistan, to counter the Soviet-India axis, and was now embarrassed to see its arms being used to massacre Bengalis. In rural areas of East Pakistan Awami supporters used local knowledge to outflank Pakistani troops, forcing them back into the cities; the troops and their supporters were massacred as brutally as the Bengalis had been. Meanwhile India faced a major refugee crisis as ten million Bengalis fled into the country.

East Pakistan officially declares UDI as Bangladesh

Following aid deficiencies (11/1970), unrest and sentiment for independence now grows in East Pakistan

7 March 1971, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, political leader of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), delivered his famous speech in the Racecourse Field in Dhaka, calling on the masses to be prepared to fight for national independence.

1 March 1971, A General Strike began in East Pakistan after the Pakistani President Yahya Khan postponed summoning the new National Assembly.

7 December 1970, In the Pakistani elections, the Awami League (inevitably) won 160 of the 162 seats reserved for Eastern candidates (see 23 September 1969). In the west of the country, Benazhir Bhutto did well, gaining 81 of the remaining 138 seats, but this still left the Awami League as clear election winner. Bhutto, backed by Yahya Khan, immediately announced that he would not countenance implementation of the Awami �Six Point� plan. Rahman responded by proposing that he govern East Pakistan whilst Bhutto governed the West; a proposal tantamount to secession. Rejection of Rahman�s proposal precipitated widespread rioting across East Pakistan. In early March 1971 Yahya Khan announced an indefinite postponement of the convening of the newly-elected National Assembly and appointed General Tikka Khan as Military Governor of East Pakistan. Mujib responded by calling on his supporters to turn Pakistan�s Republic Day (23 March) into �Resistance Day�.

Pakistani aid to East Pakistan seen as grossly defieicnt following disastrous cyclone, 11/1970

13 November 1970. In Bangladesh (East Pakistan) a cyclone and tidal waves killed over 500,000 people. Yahya Khan�s response was seen by East Bengalis as grossly inadequate. Only one military transport plane and three small aircraft were mobilised by Khan, leaving Bengalis more dependent on aid from Britain. Western aid arrived faster than aid from West Pakistan.

25 March 1969, Amidst increasing separatist tension in East Pakistan, Ayub resigned, handing power to General Yahya Khan. Khan promised elections for 7 December 1970, and that 162 of the 300 seats in the National Assembly would be reserved for East Bengalis. Given the popularity of the Awami League in East Pakistan, this appeared to invite further problems of governance.

1/1968, A general strike in East Pakistan, encouraged by Rahman, Subsequently, Rahman was arested and opposition tension increased.

1966, Rahman launched his �Six Points� demands, which effectively meant almost complete autonomy for East Pakistan, except in the fields of foreign policy and defence. Even more alarmingly for Karachi, Rahman appeared to be demanding this devolution not just for the East but for �wherever [Pakistan] was divided ethnically or religiously�. This might have meant the breakup of West Pakistan, leaving the east as the largest singe unit.

7 June 1966, Demonstrations in East Pakistan, demanding greater autonomy.

1963, In East Pakistan, the Awami League chairman, Huseyn Suhrawady, died. This opened the way for the militant separatist, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, to become leader of the Aawami league. Rahman argued that economic growth due to the efforts of Easterners was benefitting West Pakistan alone/ It was true that Bengal was much poorer than West Pakistan and that foreign aid received by Karachi was spent mainly in West Pakistan. Rahman sturred up separatist sentiments in the East by continually referring to it as a �colony� of Karachi.

10/1958, East Pakistan was becoming more rebellious against the economic and political domination of (smaller) West Pakistan. In response to this unrest, the Governor-General of East Pakistan, Iskander Mirza, placed the half-country under military rule and appointed General Mohammed Ayub Khan as Prime Minister. Ayub Khan promptly exiled Mirza to London � effectively a military coup. Martial law in East Pakistan continued until 1962, during which time Ayub Khan replaced civilians in key government posts with senior military figures; the administration became highly centralised. Excluded from legitimate political participation, opposition parties became foci for discontent; the Awami League became the central locus for this discontent. Ayub Khan made efforts to placate Easterners, reserving half his Cabinet for them and making Dacca the �second capital� of Pakistan; these measures were seen as tokenism and only intensified separatist ambitions,

1969, The Swat region became fully incorporated into Pakistan. A valley kingdom in the Hindu Kush mountains, half the size of Wales, it remained an independent feudal state with its own monarch long after Pakistan was officially created in 1947.

17 September 1969, A week of violence between Hindus and Muslims broke out in Gujarat.

25 December 1968, 42 Dalits were burned alive in Kilavenmani village, Tamil Nadu, India, in retaliation for a campaign for higher wages by Dalit labourers.

11 September 1968, India announced plans to create Meghalaya� out of the southwestern hill country of the State of Assam. Meghalaya became the 20th state of India in 1972.

1967, The Mangla Dam on the Jhelum River was completed. This was the first part of a World Bank scheme to improve irrigation and agriculture in Pakistan.

8 July 1967, Fatima Jinnah, Pakistani politician, died.

(15)5/1967, In the village of Naxalbari, West Bengal, peasants rebelled against landowners. This was the start of the Maoist rebel Naxalite movement in eastern India.

12 March 1967. Mrs Gandhi re-elected Prime Minister of India.

1966, The planned city of Chandigarh was built. Designed by le Corbusier, it was to be the capital of Haryana and Punjab.

6 March 1966, Food riots in West Bengal, India, spreading to Kolkata and Delhi.

19 January 1966. Indira Gandhi (no relation to Mahatma Gandhi) became Prime Minister of India. She succeeded her father Jawaharlal Nehru. She had been leader of the National Congress Party since 1959.

1965-66 border war, India-Pakistan

4 January 1966, Under the Tashkent Agreement, the Indo-Pakistan War ended. Both sides withdrew from Kashmir.

22 September 1965. India and Pakistan halted fighting in Kashmir.

6 September 1965. India invaded West Pakistan. A three-pronged attack threatened the Pakistani city of Lahore. Pakistan parachuted troops in behind Indian lines. The conflict in Kashmir escalated.

1 September 1965. Pakistani troops crossed into Kashmir over the cease-fire line.

30 June 1965, India and Pakistan agreed a ceasefire.

9 April 1965. Border clashes between India and Pakistan.

2 January 1965, In Pakistani presidential elections, President Ayub Khan gained a clear majority over Miss Fatimah Jinnah.

30 December 1964. 500 were arrested in India on suspicion of spying for China.

27 May 1964 Indian statesman 'Pandit' Nehru died, aged 74, having been the first Prime Minister of India since independence in 1947. He was succeeded by Lal Shastri.

22 March 1964. Anti-Muslim violence broke out in India.

13 January 1964. In Calcutta, 200 died in Muslim-Hindu riots.

29 August 1963, Gulzarilal Nanda replaced Lal Bahadur Shastri as Indian Minister for Home Affairs.

1962 border war, India-China

27 December 1962, India and Pakistan reopened talks on Kashmir,

27 November 1962, Britain agreed to supply arms to India in case of further Chinese military action.

21 November 1962, Ceasefire in the India-China border dispute.

2 November 1962, The US pledged to send arms to India in its dispute with China.

20 October 1962, Chinese troops attacked Indian border positions.

8 September 1962. China-India border dispute escalated. China crossed the 14,000 ft high Tangla Ridge and attacked Indian border posts on 20 October 1962. On 28 October 1962 the USA pledged to send arms to India.

19 December 1961. India annexed Goa from the Portuguese, after 400 years of Portuguese rule.

1960, The State of Bombay was divided into the States of Gujarat and Maharashtra.

12 June 1960, Sikhs in New Delhi demanded autonomy..

14 February 1960, Muhammad Ayub Khan was elected President of Pakistan.

1959, The first newsprint mill was established in the Sundarbans region of East Pakistan (Bangladesh) to exploit the forest resources there.

29 December 1959, Durgapur steel works, West Bengal, officially opened.

23 December 1959, The Earl of Halifax, politician and Viceroy of India, 1926-31, died.

1950s unrest in Pakistan, and move towards Islam

7 October 1958, Following unrest in Pakistan, President Iskander Mirza proclaimed martial law and suspended the Constitution.

23 March 1956, Pakistan became an independent Islamic republic within the Commonwealth

29 February 1956. Pakistan was declared an Islamic Republic.

14 October 1955, Baluchistan formally became part of West Pakistan

23 September 1955, Pakistan joined the Baghdad pact.

27 March 1955, Pakistan declared a State of Emergency.

2 November 1953, Pakistan announced it was to adopt Sharia law.

8 January 1953, Riots in Karachi, Pakistan, followed by unrest in other cities, due to adverse economic conditions.

16 October 1951, Liaquat Ali Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan, was assassinated by an Afghan fanatic; civil disorder ensued.

Kashmir conflict 1947-57 see also 1965 above

26 January 1957, Kashmir joined India, under �special status� agreements, providing for example that non-Kashmiri Indians could not buy property there. Pakistan protested.

17 November 1956, Kashmir voted to become part of India.

3 July 1951, India lodged a complaint with the UN Security Council over Pakistani violations of the ceasefire in Kashmir.

30 December 1947. The Kashmir problem went before the UN.

26 October 1947. Kashmir joined India despite Pakistani protests.

22 October 1947, Pakistan sent troops into Kashmir, seizing Muzaffarabad and Uri, then advancing towards the Kashmiri capital, Srinagar.

13 May 1957, India�s second election since independence continued the administration of Nehru�s Congress Party; however in the southern State of Kerala a Communist administration was elected.

31 March 1957, India continued its modernisation programme under Nehru with the introduction of a decimal currency. Nine days earlier the country had adopted a standard calendar.

1956. India passed the States Reorganisation Act. State boundaries were to be redrawn according to ethno-linguistic lines, with some divided, and new States carved out.

1955, King Tribhuvan of Nepal died (reigned from 1951). He was succeeded by his son, King Mahendra.

15 August 1955. India attempted to take over Goa.

Himalayan expeditions

9 October 2005, China�s Bureau of Surveying and Mapping announced that Mount Everest was 29,017.16 feet (8,844.43 metres) high, 12.14 ft (3.7m) lower than previously thought.

8 July 1978, Two German mountaineers, Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeller, made the first ascent of Everest without oxygen.

24 September 1975. The south-west face of Everest was climbed for the first time by Douglas Haston and Doug Scott.

9 June 1957, Broad Peak, Himalayas, the world�s 12th-highest mountain, was first ascended by an Austrian expedition comprising Fritz Wintersteller, Marcus Schmuck, Kurt Deimberger and Hermann Buhl.

25 May 1955, A British expedition, led by Charles Evans, became the first to climb Kangchenjunga, the third highest peak in the Himalayas.

31 July 1954, K2, or Godwin Austen Mountain, in the Himalayas, was climbed for the first time.

31 December 1953, A British expedition arrived in India to search for the abominable snowman.

3 July 1953, Nanga Parbat Mountain, Himalayas, was first climbed by a German expedition.

29 May 1953. The New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary, and the Sherpa, Tensing, became the first two climbers to ascend to the 29,028 foot summit of Mount Everest. They spent 15 minutes at the summit, taking photographs and eating mint cake before leaving the Union Jack, the Nepalese Flag, and the United Nations Flag at the summit. The news reached London on Coronation Day, 2 June 1953.

Sir Hillary headed the New Zealand Antarctic Expedition and reached the South Pole in 1957. In the 60s he set up a hospital for Sherpa tribesmen in Nepal. In 1974 his wife and daughter were killed in a plane crash. He remarried in 1989 and his son climbed Everest in 1990.

10 July 1954, US President Eisenhower signed Public Law 480, the Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, better known as PL-480. This facilitated the export of grain to US-aligned governments that were facing threats from Leftist agencies, either internal rebels or intimidation from a Soviet-aligned State next door. PL-480 could be used to keep recalcitrant allies, those possibly sliding towards Communism, in line. For example in 1965 US President Johnson shifted the renewal of PL-480 food aid to India from an annual to a� monthly basis, threatening India with withdrawal of food aid as India�s President Shastri expressed disapproval of US bombing in Vietnam. However if Shastri abandoned Nehru�s ideas of land distribution to Indian peasants then India would receive US agricultural technology, enhancing food yields.

21 June 1953, Benazir Bhutto, Prime Minister of Pakistan, was born in Karachi.

8 December 1951, Jawaharlal Nehru, first Prime Minister of India, began his first 5-year Plan. Energy and Agricultire were to be prioritised in this Plan. Each successive Plan would target the sectors of the Indian economy that most needed improving. This tactic helped India�s economy advance rapidly.

3 June 1951, In India, the Socialist Party organised a large protest against the government�s food and housing policies.

3 June 1950, The Himalayan Peak of Annapurna was first climbed, by Herzog and Lachenal, members of a French expedition.

8 April 1950, India and Pakistan signed the Delhi Pact, each nation committing itself to protecting the rights of minorities within their borders.

26 January 1950, India became a democratic republic within the Commonwealth.

1949, The New Awami League demended more autonomy for East Bengal.

15 November 1949, In India, Nathuram Godse was hanged for the murder of Gandhi.

7 March 1949, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Indian politician, was born.

1 January 1949. India and Pakistan agreed a truce in the war over Kashmir.

4 November 1948, The new Indian Constitution was formally introduced to the Constituent Assembly.

13 September 1948, Nehru sent Indian troops to occupy the State of Hyderabad, whose ruler, the Nizam, had declined to join India. An appeal by the Nizam to the United Nations was in vain. The Nizam was allowed to keep his palaces and other private property.

11 September 1948, Death of Muhammed Ali Jinnah, first Governor-General of Pakistan.

28 February 1948. Last British troops left India.

12 February 1948, The ashes of Mahatma Gandhi were placed in the �holy waters� of the River Ganges at Allahabad.

30 January 1948. The Indian leader Mahatma (= �Great Soul) or Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was assassinated by a Hindu fanatic. Gandhi had been at a prayer meeting when he was shot by Nathuram Godse, a fanatic who totally rejected Gandhi's message of goodwill, peace, and love.� Some extremist Hindus saw that India could never become a Hindu-dominated state whilst Gandhi was still alive; Gandhi had preached tolerance between Hindus and Moslems.. Nathuram Godse was hanged on 15 November 1949. A previous attempt on Gandhi�s life had been made on 20 January 1948.

13 January 1948, Mahatma Gandhi began a six-day fast, in order to promote harmony between Muslims and Hindus.

2 January 1948, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru threatened to invade Pakistan to stop Muslim attacks in Kashmir.

1947, Indian Independence from Britain; religious, ethnic, conflicts ensued

23 December 1947, Some 600,000 people had now died in India since independence in riots.

28 September 1947, Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister of Bangladesh from 2009, was born in Tungipara, East Pakistan

24 September 1947. 1,200 Muslims fleeing India for Pakistan on a train were massacred by Sikhs at Amritsar in the Punjab.

15 August 1947. India became independent; the Union Jack was run down for the last time in New Delhi. Pandit Nehru was the first Indian Prime Minister.� Ali Khan became first PM of the newly created Pakistan.� See 4 June 1947 for more details.

14 August 1947, Pakistan became independent from Britain.

16 July 1947, The House of Lords passed a bill with unprecedented speed when the Indian independence bill was rushed through three readings and a report stage all in the same day. The bill now only required Royal Assent to become law.

11 July 1947, Jinnah was appointed Governor-General of the future Pakistan.

15 June 1947, In India the Congress Party agreed British plans for partition.

4 June 1947. The last British viceroy to India, Lord Mountbatten, announced that plans for Indian independence from Britain would be speeded up and completed in just 70 days, not the 12 months previously envisaged (see 20 February 1947). Britain was deep in economic crisis and wanted to shed Empire as fast as possible. As a result of this haste, the subcontinent was hacked crudely into three states, and following this a million people were massacred and one of the greatest forced migrations in history began as Muslims fled India and Hindus fled East and West. Pakistan. This was the start of the Kashmir problem. The Maharajah of Kashmir was faced with a choice of joining Pakistan, effectively ending his own rule, or of joining India with his mainly Muslim population. On Independence Day, 15 August 1947, Kashmir had still not decided who to join. In October 1947 Afghan tribesmen, backed by Pakistan, began invading Kashmir from Pakistan and in response India sent tens of thousands of troops to repel them, one day after the Maharajah had decided to join India. Had Britain not pulled out of India in such haste, more orderly arrangements for Kashmir could have been set up whilst Britain was still in a position to enforce them.

29 May 1947. The Indian Parliament banned 'untouchables'.

23 May 1947, Britain agreed to the partition of India.� Muslims wanted a separate state (Pakistan), fearing they would be subsumed in a Hindi India.

23 March 1947, Lord Wavell resigned as Viceroy of India. He was succeeded by Lord Mountbatten, who announced, after consultation with local leaders, that the Muslim-dominated areas must become a separate State.

20 February 1947, Lord Louis Mountbatten was appointed the last Viceroy of India, the same day the British government announced that the British would leave India by June 1948. See 4 June 1947. Mountbatten was to supervise the peaceful transition to independence of India, despite major difference between Hindus and Muslims. Winston Churchill opposed Indian independence.

9 December 1946, In India the Constituent Assembly met to discuss independence; but it was boycotted by the Muslim League.

2 September 1946, An interim government for the Dominion of India was inaugurated to make the transition from British colonial rule to independence.

Sectarian clashes in India pre-independence, 1929-46

19 August 1946, Violence in Calcutta between Hindus and Moslems, thousands were killed.

25 February 1946, After a week of rioting in British-controlled India, 228 had died and 1,047 had been injured.

12 February 1946, Britain proclaimed martial law in Calcutta (Kolkata) to suppress rioting in which 14 had died and 170 injured.

1941, In what is now Pakistan, the Jaamat e Islami Party (Islamic Group) was founded by the Leninist writer Maulana Abu Ala Maududi (died 9/1979).

23 March 1940. At the Moslem League conference in India, the Moslems there called for their own separate state within India.

17 May 1932, British troops suppressed four days of Hindu-Muslim race rioting in Mumbai by firing on the crowds. A total of 88 people died in the riots.

16 May 1932. Clashes between Hindus and Muslims in Mumbai.

5 May 1930. In India, Gandhi was arrested. Civil disturbances continued. A young Punjabi terrorist, Bhagat Singh, had been executed for shooting a British police officer. The Sikh majority in Punjab protested and called for demonstrations and strikes as a sign of mourning for Bhagat Singh. In Cawnpore the shopkeepers were mainly Muslim and refused to close their shops. Angry mobs of Sikhs attacked and burnt any shops they found open, massacring the shopkeepers and their families. Muslims fought back and violence continued in Cawnpore for several days. It was in Cawnpore that, eighty years earlier, hundreds of British civilians had been murdered in the Indian Mutiny. Gandhi tried to intervene to restore peace but was assaulted by the crowd. The British forcibly restored order with many troops and police but discontent remained.

7 February 1929, Hindu-Muslim riots in Bengal.

Gandhi�s campaign for independence 1930-46

16 August 1946, Major riots against the British salt tax began in Calcutta, inspired by Gandhi�s campaign of disobedience.� The riots lasted till 20 August 1946.

24 June 1946, The Indian Congress rejected the proposed British independence plan.

21 February 1946, Indian naval mutiny at Bombay.

19 September 1945. Clement Attlee, UK Prime Minister, promised India will have independence.

1 March 1943. Gandhi broke his fast after 12 days.

9 August 1942. With Gandhi about to launch a major civil disobedience campaign to force the British out of India, the British arrested the whole Congress leadership, including Nehru.

8 August 1942, Mahatma Gandhi made his famous speech, before a crowd of some 100,000, demanding and end to British rule in India.

24 October 1934. Gandhi left the Congress Party.

7 April 1934. Gandhi suspended his campaign of civil disobedience.

23 August 1933. Gandhi was released from Poona jail after his hunger strike over the government�s attitude to Untouchables nearly killed him.

4 July 1933. Gandhi was jailed for a year for anti-British activity.

5 February 1932, Mahatma Gandhi's spinning wheel, along with some other items, were seized by the government for non-payment of taxes.

4 January 1932. Gandhi was arrested in India as the Congress party was outlawed.

4 November 1931, Indian campaigner Mahatma Gandhi, in London for the Round Table Conference on Dominion Status for India, had tea with King George V at Buckingham Palace.

29 August 1931, The Indian nationalist leader Mohandas Gandhi came to London, to attend the second Round Table Conference at St James Palace.

5 March 1931, Gandhi halted his civil disobedience campaign and agreed to participate in the Round Table Conference.

3 March 1931. The Viceroy of India agreed to withdraw the salt tax.

16 February 1931, The Indian Viceroy received Gandhi.

10 February 1931, New Delhi was officially inaugurated.

1 February 1931. Gandhi continued his campaign of civil disobedience.

6 April 1930. Mahatma Gandhi reached the Indian coast after a 300 mile walk from his ashram near Ahmedabad, taking 25 days. Thousands followed him, and prepared to defy the British salt tax. To India�s millions of nationalists, the salt tax of 1 rupee per 82 pounds is an effective poll tax, burdening the poorest, and a symbol of foreign oppression. At 5.30 in the morning, Gandhi walked down to the sea and picked up a piece of crystallised sea salt, so effectively breaking the salt laws.� His followers did� likewise. They had wanted to work the mudflats, covered with salt after each high tide, but the police forestalled them by stirring the salt into the mud.

8 March 1930. Mahatma Gandhi started a civil disobedience campaign in India.

20 August 1944, Rajiv Gandhi, younger son of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was born.

5/1942, The British Government sent a special envoy, Sir Stafford Cripps, to India. In an effort to win over the Nationalists, he promised India Dominion status after the War, that is, self-government but continued membership of the Commonwealth. There would also be an election for an indigenous assembly to draft an Indian Constitution � the Cripps Proposal. However this spurred nationalist leaders such as Gandhi and Nehru to step up their efforts for total independence.

15 January 1942. Gandhi named Nehru as his successor.

8 February 1936, Jawaharlal Nehru was elected President of the India National Congress.

6 July 1935, The Dalai Lama was born.

11 February 1935, The UK Government passed the 1935 Government of India Act, giving the colony of India more autonomy; Britain retained control of external affairs and defence.

10/1932, The Indian Air Force was founded.

26 January 1931. Winston Churchill resigned from Baldwin�s shadow cabinet after disagreements over the policy of conciliation with Indian Nationalism; Churchill opposed any hint of independence for India. In India, Mahatma Gandhi was released from prison, for talks with the government.

12 November 1930. The British colony of India demanded Dominion status.

16 April 1930, Rioting in India; police fired on the crowds.

3 February 1930, The first ever �untouchables� were elected to local councils in India.

26 January 1930, A mock "Independence Day" was observed in India on the opening day of a civil disobedience campaign. British police were out in full force as rioting was expected, but apart from one incident in which Communist mill workers disrupted a gathering in Mumbai the day was peaceful.

2 January 1930, The All-India National Congress called for �complete independence�.

22 December 1929. The All-India National Congress demanded Indian independence.

7 December 1929, Agha Khan III was married at a private ceremony in Aix les Bains, France, to a former candy store clerk and dressmaker. He was founder and first President of the all-India Muslim League.

28 September 1929, In India, marriage of girls aged under 14 was banned by the Sarda Act.

5 May 1929. In Bombay a curfew was imposed to quell Hindu-Moslem fighting.

17 November 1928, Lala Rajpat Raj, Indian politician, died.

1 September 1926, Adbur Rahman Biswas, President of Bangladesh, was born.

2 April 1926. In India, riots broke out between Hindus and Moslems. On 4 April 1926 martial law was declared in Calcutta.

24 March 1925, Quazi Nuruzzaman, Bangladeshi guerrilla commander, was born (died 2011)

18 September 1924. Mohandas Gandhi, serving 6 years in prison for sedition, began a 21-day hunger strike, to try and dissuade Hindus and Moslems from rioting.

11 July 1924. Hindus and Muslims rioted in Delhi.

8 June 1924. George Mallory, on his third attempt to conquer Everest, was seen for the last time at a point 800 feet from the summit.

12 June 1922, The Mallory expedition succeeded in getting within 3,200 feet of the summit of Everest.

18 March 1922. Gandhi was jailed for 6 years for civil disobedience.

11 March 1922, Ghandi was arrested at Ahmedabad.

25 December 1921, Gandhi organised a successful mass boycott of the Prince of Wales as he arrived in Calcutta.

10 October 1921, Ghandi set fire to a large pile of foreign-made clothing in Mumbai.

28 July 1921, The All-India Congress Party voted to boycott a visit to India by the Prince of Wales, and also urged a boycott of imported cloth.

2 February 1921, The new Indian Assembly met, amidst rioting.

3 January 1921, India's first parliament met.

10 September 1920, The Indian National Congress voted to adopt Mahatma Gandhi�s policy of non-co-operation with Britain�s colonial administration.

1 August 1920, Gandhi began his campaign of resistance to British rule in India.

Further unrest in Brittish colonial India; Amritsar Massacre

13 April 1919. The British fired on and massacred Indian Nationalist rioters in Amritsar, Punjab. A British officer, General Dyer, panicked and ordered his troops to fire at point-blank range into a large crowd. 380 of Gandhi�s followers were killed and over 1200 injured. This massacre turned even moderate Indians against the British. The army had been called in by the police after several days of rioting against new security laws, in which some Europeans had been killed. Following the rioting and massacre, martial law was proclaimed in Amritsar and the infamous �crawling order� was imposed, requiring Indians to crawl when passing the site of the attack on Mrs Sherwood. Meanwhile General Dyer was relieved of his command and sent home on sick leave. A further affront to the Indians was how upper class opinion in Britain rallied behind General Dyer.

10 April 1919, Rioting by Sikhs began at Amritsar, see 13 April 1919. A hartal had been proclaimed whoich passed off peacefully but the British then arrested and deported two nationalist leaders. This provoked the rioting, during which five Europeans were killed, two banks burned down and an English missionary, Mrs Sherwood, was attacked and left for dead. In fact she was taken in and cared for by an Indian family.

3/1919, Faced with mounting unrest against British rule, the Indian Government passed the Rowlatt Bills. These gave provinvial Governors the right to detain without trial and provided for trial without jury in political cases. The Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi urged peaceful resistance such as the hartal, effertively a one-day general strike and day of fasting.

9 January 1919, Major mill strike began in Mumbai, with 100,000 workers out on strike.

10 September 1918, Muslim riots in Calcutta (Kolkata), India.

19 March 1915, The Defence of India Act was passed, giving the colonial government in British India powers to enforce criminal law, to curb nationalist and revolutionary activities in the country during and after World War I.

19 November 1917. Indira Gandhi born in Allahabad.� India�s first woman Prime Minister, she was the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru.

12 January 1917, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, founder of the Transcendental Meditation Movement,� was born in India (some sources say 12 January 1918).

8 June 1915, Kayyar Kinhanna Rai, Indian poet, known for his poems and activism work for an independent India, was born in Kayyar, India (died 2015).

20 January 1915, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, President of Pakistan, was born (died 27 October 2006)

13 March 1914, Saroj Dutta, Indian Communist Leader, active in the Naxalite movement in India, was born (died 1971).

6 November 1913, Mahatma Gandhi, leader of the Indian Passive Resistance Mobement, was arrested.

12 December 1911, King George V was crowned Emperor of India, and founded the city of New Delhi, as new capital to replace Calcutta.

11 November 1911. The British King and Queen left Britain for the sea voyage to India. On 12 December 1911 there was a splendid ceremony at the Delhi Durbar, at which it was announced that henceforth Delhi would be the capital of India in place of Calcutta.

27 August 1910. Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who dedicated her life to the relief of the poor in India, was born in Skopje (Yugoslavia), of Albanian parents.

10 June 1910, Sir Charles Hardinge, British Under Secretary for Foreign Affairs, was appointed as the Viceroy of India, succeeding the Earl of Minto.

Increasing unrest in British colonial India

23 December 1912, Lord Hardinge, Governor-General of India, was seriously injured in a bomb explosion.

11 January 1911, 18 killed in riots in Bombay, India.

13 November 1909, Two bombs were thrown at the Viceroy of India, The Earl of Minto.

1 July 1909, Indian terrorist assassinated Anglo-Indian Sir Curzon Wylie.

5 January 1909. Hindus and Moslems rioted in Calcutta.

24 March 1908, John Colvin, Governor of the North-West Provinces of India, died.

12 February 1908, Sir Richard Stracey, British colonial administrator of India, died (born 24 July 1817 in Somerset)

26 December 1907, The first session of the Indian National Congress was halted after clashes between moderates and extremists.

19 December 1907, Sir John Strachey, British colonial administrator in India, died (born 5 June 1823 in London)

4 October 1907, Riots in India were blamed on a visit by UK MP Kier Hardie to the colony

6 June 1907. The British Government said it would never leave India.

14 May 1907, Muhammad Ayub Khan, President of Pakistan, was born (died 1974).

2 May 1907, Rioting in Rawalpindi and East Bengal, India.

30 December 1906, In India the Muslim League was founded, to call for separate Muslim areas and counter the Pan-Indian ideals of the Indian National Congress. The separate Muslim electoral areas were delivered under the Indian Councils Act of 1909. Ultimately this paved the way for the Partition of India in 1947.

20 July 1903, The UK Government announced it was to send large numbers of troops to India.

9 January 1903, In India a great durbar (reception) marking the coronation of King Edward VII ended (began 1 January 1903). 16,000 prisoners in India were released to mark the occasion.

1 January 1903, King George VII was proclaimed Emperor of India.

15 March 1902, Sir Richard Temple, British colonial administrator in India, died in Hampstead (born 8 March 1826)

1901, Dabadhai Naoroji published his book, Poverty and Un-British Rule in India, arguing that high taxation and exploitation of resources was damaging the Indian economy. This work inspired Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru.

1 October 1901, Partap Singh Kairon, India politician and Chief Minister of the Punjab from 1956 to 1964, was born (assassinated 1965).

13 September 1901, Sir Sheshadri Aiyar, Indian statesman, died (born 1845). He did much to develop Mysore State.

24 July 1899, Sir Arthur Cotton, irrigation engineer in India, died (born 15 May 1803).

2 March 1898, Saiyid Ahmed, Indian educationalist, died at Aligarh (born 1817).

British India; issues with the North-West Frontier area

10 November 1901. The North-West Frontier province was incorporated into India.

12 February 1901, Britain extended direct rule from India into the tribal areas of Peshawar, Khyber and Waziristan, scene of much inter-ethnic fighting. Britain was concerned that unrest in these areas, on India�s northern frontier, would allow Russia to invade from the north through Afghanistan.

11 October 1897, Mohmand tribesmen surrendered to a British punitive attack in Northwest Frontier Province, resultant on earlier raids on British frontier positions.

27 September 1897, British punitive operations began in the Northwest Frontier area, against Mohmand tribesmen who had harassed British forces, inspired by preaching from the Amir of Afghanistan.

21 September 1897, British forces attacked by Mohmand tribesmen at Nawagai. The attackers were repulsed and reinforcements under General Elles arrived.

14 September 1897, A British punitive expedition into the North West Frontier region of India, against local tribes who had been harassing British forces since the Amir of Afghanistan began rousing anti-Christian sentiments in the region, came under attack and was halted at Nawagai. The commander, Major-General Blood, dug in and awaited reinforcements.

8 August 1897, Mohmand tribal attack on Shabdakar, British India, inspired by preaching by the Afghan Mullah.

31 July 1897, Swati tribal attack on British-India frontier posts, inspired by preaching by an Afghan Mullah

3 April 1895, A 16,000 strong British army defeated some 12,000 Chitral tribesmen in the Malakand Pass, NorthWest Frontire region.

12 November 1893, The Durand Agreement, defining the border between Afghanistan and India, was signed. This line bisected Pathan lands.

1 October 1887. The British in India annexed Baluchistan, an area strategic to the North-West Frontier.

British military strategy on the Indian North-West Frontier was to maintain an administrative zone where the military protected the civilian, farming, population, a �forward zone� where garrisons were purely for military operations, and forward of that, a �tribal zone� where just the main roads were protected. This zone system had been in use for many centuries.

10 June 1897, Pathan attack on Indian forces escorting a British frontier officer in the Tochi valley. Anti-Christian sentiment amongst Muslims in the area had been building, inspired by Turkish success against Greece and preaching by the Amir of Afghanistan, but the |British were unaware of this.

24 October 1896, Sir Albert Abdullah David Sassoon, Indian philanthropist, died in Brighton (born 25 July 1818 in Baghdad)

13 June 1896, Sir James Browne, British engineer in India, died (born 1839).

29 February 1896, Ranchhodji Morarji Desai, Indian Prime Minister who was imprisoned with Gandhi, was born.

9 January 1896, Sir Dinkar Rao, Indian statesman, died (born 20 December 1819)

19 July 1894, Khwaja Nazimuddin, Prime Minister of Pakistan from 16 October 1951, was born in Dhaka, Bengal.

22 October 1893, Dhuleep Singh, Maharajah of Lahore, died (born 2/1837).

1892, The first indigenous Indians sat on the legislative council.

29 January 1892, Sir Robert Groves Sandeman, British colonial administrator in India, died (born 25 February 1835)

4 April 1891, Sir T Madhava Rao, Indian statesman, died (born 1828 in Madras)

14 November 1889, Pandit Nehru, first Prime Minister of India, was born in Allahabad.

5 September 1888, Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishanan, Indian statesman, was born.

8 July 1887, Sir Ashley Eden, Britsh administrator of India, died (born 13 November 1831).

16 February 1887, Queen Victoria�s Jubilee was marked in India by the freeing of 25,000 prisoners.

2 February 1887, Rajkumari Amrit Kaur, Indian politician and social worker, a Punjabi Sikh noblewoman who served as secretary to Mahatma Gandhi for 16 years, was born in the Karpathala Palace, Lucknow.

1885, The Indian National Congress was founded.

3 December 1884, Rajendra Prasad, Indian statesman, was born.

24 July 1884, Kristo Das Pal, Indian statesman, died (born 1839 in Calcutta).

4 December 1883, The International Exhibition at Calcutta opened, the first exhibition to be held in India.

30 December 1879, Sri Ramana Maharshi, Hindu Yogi, was born.

27 June 1879, John Lawrence, colonial Governor-General of India, died (born 24 March 1811).

1 May 1876, Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India.

8 February 1872, Lord Mayo, British Viceroy to India, was murdered by nationalists.

25 January 1871, Sir Proby Cautley, British engineer of canals in India, died (born 1802).

2 October 1869, Mahatma Gandhi, Indian nationalist leader, was born in Porbandar, Gujarat.

23 December 1868, Sir Herbert Edwardes, British soldier in India, died (born 12 November 1819.

7 November 1862, Bahadur Shah II, last titular Mogul Emperor of India, died.

17 June 1862, Charles Canning, British Governor-General of India during the mutiny of 1857, died (born 14 December 1812).

20 November 1859, Mountstuart Elphinstone, Indian statesman, died (born 1779).

1 November 1858. Queen Victoria was proclaimed ruler of India. The East India Company, formed in 1600 to exploit trade with the East, but accused of imperial abuse from the early 1700s, was abolished and administration of India was transferred to the British crown. Misconduct by the East India Company had been partially curbed by the Regulating Act (1773) and Pitt�s India Act (1784). The Indian Mutiny broke the Company�s power, British influence being totally regained with the conquest of Lucknow in March 1858.

2 August 1858, The Government of India transferred the East India Company to the British Government.

Indian Mutiny, 1856-59

18 April 1859, Tantia Topi, Indian rebel leader during the Indian Mutiny, was executed by the Briitsh.

10 February 1859, Thursday (-31,498) Ib the Ibdian Mutiny, General Horsford defeated the Begum of Oude and Nana Sahib.

11 March 1858, William Hodson, British cavalry leader, was killed during the attack on Begum Kotee, Lucknow.

24 November 1857, Sir Henry Havelock, British soldier, died in India.

25 September 1857. The British lifted the siege of Lucknow, ending the Indian Mutiny.

23 September 1857, John Nicholson, administrator im British India, died (born 11 December 1822).

20 September 1857. The British recaptured Delhi from Indian mutineers.

4 July 1857, Sir Henry Lawrence, British colonial administrator in India, died (born 28 June 1806).

2 July 1857, The siege of Lucknow began.

30 May 1857, Anti-British mutiny at Oudh, india.

4 June 1857, In the Indian Mutiny, the British garrison of Kanpur (Cawnpore) in Uttar Pradesh, niorthern India,� came under siege by Indian rebels against British rule. After a three-week siege the British, under Sir Hugh Wheeler, were promised safe passage to Allahabad, on thatched barges. However as they departed the barges were fired upon, and set ablaze. The survivors were transferred to a house called the Bibighar, where they were massacred on 15 July 1857 by Indian rebels. 197 died.

10 May 1857. The outbreak of the Indian (Sepoy) Mutiny in Meerat. On 6 May 1857, 85 men of the 90-strong 3^rd Cavalry Regiment in Meerut had refused to bite off the greased and of the new cartridges for Lee Enfield rifles, which they claimed contained both pig and cow fat, so offending both Muslims and Hindus. The British had 24 hours warning of the mutiny but refused to take the threat seriously. The Indian mutineers seized Delhi on 11 May 1857.

13 February 1856, The Annexation of Awadh (Oudh) by the British East India Company. The loss of rights by hereditary landowners caused resentment which contributed to the Indian Mutiny.

24 September 1856, Henry Hardinge, British colonial Governor-General of India, died (born 30 March 1785)

10 February 1856, Sir William Henry Sleeman, British colonial administrator in India, died (born 8 August 1788 in Stratton, Cornwall)

1850, Sikkim, a region in the far north of India, became a British dependency, paving the way for British penetration into Tibet.

30 August 1850, Kashinath Trimbak Telang, Indian Judge and scholar, was born in Mumbai (died 1 September 1893 in Mumbai)

Sikh Wars, 1845-49

29 March 1849, Britain annexed the Sikh province of Punjab.

21 February 1849. Sikh forces were decisively defeated by the British at the Battle of Gujerat. This concluded the Second Sikh War; Britain annexed Punjab.

13 January 1849, British forces defeated the Sikh armies at Jallianwalla

4 January 1849, British forces captured the city of Multan, India.

18 June 1848, A Sikh force was defeated by the British at Kinyeri.

28 June 1846, Defeat of Ranjit Singh by British forces at Aliwal, during the First Sikh War.

28 January 1846, Battle of Aliwal, First Anglo-Sikh War. General Sir Harry Smith leading a joint Anglo-Indian force defeated the Sikhs.

21 December 1845, The Battle of Ferozeshah began.

11 December 1845, In India, a Sikh attack on British-held territory in Hindiustan led to the First Sikh War.

5 September 1846, Charles Metcalfe, British colonial administrator of India, died (born 30 January 1785).

13 September 1845, Sir Henry Cotton, British administrator in India, was born.

29 December 1843, The Battle of Maharaipur.

24 March 1843, Battle of Hyderabad, British conquest of Sind. The British under Sir Charles Napier defeated the Baluchis under Shir Mohammed.

17 February 1843, The Muslim Emirs of Sind refused to cede their independence to the East India Company. The British provoked an Anglo-Sind conflict, so that Charles Napier could destroy the 30,000 strong Baluch Army. In March 1843 Napier defeated the Emirs of Sind, and sent a one-word telegram to London �Peccavi�, meaning �I have sinned�.

7 April 1842, British forces defeated Akbar Khan at Jalabad.

4 December 1841, James Skinner, British military adventurer in India, died in Hansi (born 1778 in India)

27 June 1839, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Indian ruler, died (born 2 November 1780)

28 September 1837, Akbar Shah II, last Mughal Emperor of India, died.

24 July 1837, The Indian Post Office was established.

18 February 1836, Ramakrishna, Indian mystic was born in Kamarpukur, India (died 1886).

1835, The British in India ceased using Persian as the official language, replacing it with English.

25 February 1835, Sir Robert Groves Sandeman, British colonial administrator in India, was born (died 29 January 1892)

6 May 1834, Sikh troops from the Punjab under Ranjit Singh took Peshawar.

27 September 1833, Mohan Roy Ram, Indian religious reformer, died (born May 1774)

30 May 1833, Sir John Malcolm, British diplomat to India, died (born 2 May 1769).

28 January 1832, Sir Tiruvarur Aiyar, Indian High Court Judge (Madras), was born (died 1895).

18 November 1831, An uprising in Bengal against tyrannical Hindu rule was suppressed. Its leader, the Muslim Titu Mir, was killed by government forces.

13 November 1831, Sir Ashley Eden, Britsh administrator of India, was born (died 8 July 1887).

21 June 1830, Benoit de Boigne, first of the French military adventurers in India, died (born in Chambery, Savoy 8 March 1751).

17 June 1830, Lord William Bentinck, Governor-General of India, died in Paris).

4 December 1829, The practice of suttee, immolation of widows, was made illegal in British-controlled India.

28 November 1826, Francis Hastings, British colonial Governor of India, died (born 9 December 1754)

8 March 1826, Sir Richard Temple, British colonial administrator in India, was born (died 15 March 1902 in Hampstead)

4 September 1825, Naoroji Dadabhai, Indian statesman, was born.

11 December 1822, John Nicholson, administrator im British India, was born (died 23 September 1857).

20 December 1819, Sir Dinkar Rao, Indian statesman, was born (died 9 January 1896)

12 November 1819, Sir Herbert Edwardes, British soldier in India, was born (died 23 December 1868).

22 August 1818, Warren Hastings, British administrator and first Governor-General of British India, died in Worcestershire aged 85.

25 July 1818, Sir Albert Abdullah David Sassoon, Indian philanthropist, was born in Baghdad (died 24 October 1896 in Brighton)

24 July 1817, Sir Richard Stracey, British colonial administrator of India, was born in Somerset (died 12 February 1908)

28 January 1817, Madhowdas Vurjeevandas, Indian philanthropist, was born (died 12 January 1896)

2 March 1816, Ghurkas signed a peace treaty with the British, following their heavy defeat in the Kathmandu Valley; this ended their year-long war.

14 December 1812, Charles Canning, British Governor-General of India during the mutiny of 1857, was born (died 17 June 1862).

11 January 1812, John Jacob, Indian administrator, was born (died 1858)

24 March 1811, John Lawrence, colonial Governor-General of India, was born (died 27 June 1879).

29 May 1807, John Russell Colvin, Governor of the north-west provinces of India, was born in Kolkata (died 24 March 1908).

28 June 1806, Sir Henry Lawrence, British colonial administrator in India, was born (died 4 July 1857)

21 August 1805, Gowrishankar Vodeyshankar, Indian Government Minister, was born (died December 1892)

15 May 1803, Sir Arthur Cotton, irrigation engineer in India, was born (died 24 July 1899).

31 December 1802, By the Treaty of Bassein, the Peshwa of Poona, India, effectively surrendered his authority to the British East India Company. He agreed not to make treaties without consulting the British and to accept the �protection� of a large British force.

23 October 1802, At Poona, India, the Maharaja (Prince) Jaswant Rao Holkar of Indore defeated both Baji Rao, Peshwa of Poona, head of the Maratha Confedreacy, and pro British, and also Madhoji Rao Sindhia of Gwalior, a powerful leader in central India.

22 August 1802, George Thomas, British military adventurer in I ndia, died.

23 April 1795, Warren Hastings was acquitted of high treason.

13 February 1788, The corruption trial of Warren Hastings, former British Governor-General of India, began in London.

30 March 1785, Henry Hardinge, British colonial Governor-General of India, was born (died 24 September 1856).

30 January 1785, Charles Metcalfe, British colonial administrator of India, was born (died 5 September 1846).

British conquest of India 1778-1803

28 November 1803, The British army, led by Major John Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, won a great victory over the Indians at Argaum, Madhya Pradesh.

1 November 1803, The British won the Battle of Laswari, against the Marathas of India.

23 September 1803, The British won the Battle of Assay, India, defeating the Marathas in the Second Maratha War.

14 September 1803, British General Lake captured Delhi, India.

20 February 1803, The British captured the town of Kandy, Ceylon (Sri Lanka).

4 May 1799, The British conquered Seringapatam, capital of Mysore in southern India.

1 September 1798, Britain signed a formal alliance with the Nizam (ruler) of Hyderabad. Indoa. This was in fact a step towards reducing this State to a British dependency within India.

7 November 1797, Richard Colley, Marquis of Wellesley, was appointed Briitsh Governor General of India.

16 March 1792, Tippu Sahib, Indian Sultan who was resisting the advance of the British East India Company into Mysore, surrendered. Tippu had studied British military tactics and so was able to resist General Charles Cornwallis for longer than other Indian rulers.

4 July 1790, Britain formed an alliance with the Nizam (ruler) of Hyderabad against Mysore.

29 December 1789, Tippu Sultan of Mysore attacked the territories of the Rajah of Travancore.

11 March 1784, Britain signed a peace treaty with Tippu Sultan of Mysore, ending the Second Mysore War.

20 June 1783, The English under Admiral Sir Edward Hughes and the French under Pierre Andre de Suffren fought a fiurece but inconclusive naval battle off Cuddalore, India. This was the last of five similar engagements, as Britain and France fought for land control of India.

9 April 1783, Tippu, Sultan of Mysore, forced Britain to surrender the town of Bednore.

7 December 1782, Tippu Sahib succeeded his father Hyder Ali as Sultan of Mysore, India.

17 May 1782, The Treaty of Salbai ended the First Maratha War, with small gains for Britain.

13 November 1781, British forces captured the Dutch settlement at Negapattam, near Madras, India.

1 July 1781, In India, British troops defeated Hyder Ali at Porto Novo. This established British hegemony over southern India.

10 September 1780, Hyder Ali, Sultan of Mysore, conquered most of the Carnatic (modern Karnatka) in southern India, with French support.

18 October 1778, The city of Pondicherry surrendered to the British.

End of the British East India Company 1774-1813

1 July 1813, The East India Company lost its monopoly of trade with India.

13 August 1784, The East India Act put the Company under a board of control to manage its revenue and administration.

3 April 1784, The British Parliament passed the India Act, to make the British East India Company more accountable.

11 May 1777, George Pigot, English colonial Governor of Madras, India, died (born 4 March 1719)

22 November 1774, Robert Clive, English soldier and Governor of India, died from an overdose of opium, shortly after being vindicated of improper behaviour regarding the East India Company.

14 September 1774, Lord William Bentinck, Governor-General of India, was born (died in Paris 17 June 1830).

13 April 1772, Warren Hastings was appointed Governor of Bengal.

2 May 1769, Sir John Malcolm, British diplomat to India, was born (died 30 May 1833).

12 August 1765, Robert Clive received revenue authority over Bengal from the Mogul emperor. The disintegration of the Mogul Empire created opportunities for the British, the French, and also Indian princes. See 12 August 1756.

23 October 1764, The British won the Battle of Buxar, Bengal. Major Munro defeated a confederation of Indian pirates, giving the East India Company control of Bengal and Bihar.

3 May 1764, The British won the Battle of Patna, Bengal.

10 November 1763, Joseph Dupleix, French colonial governor of India, died (born 1 January 1697).

27 May 1761, Sir Thomas Munro, British colonial Governor of India, was born (died 6 July 1827).

1760-70, Afghan invasion of India, repulsed, but allowed the British to gain hegemony

10 February 1770, Maratha troops from the Deccan drove the Afghan invaders out of Delhi and installed Shah Alam, the exiled Mughal Emperor, as a pliant ruler.

15 January 1761, In India, the British captured Pondicherry.

14 January 1761, At the Battle of Panipat, north of Delhi, the Afghans under Ahmad Shah Durrani defeated the Marathas Indians. Although Durrani weakened Mughal power he was unable to fill the resultant power vacuum, thereby opening the way for British dominance of India.

9 January 1760, Battle of Barai Ghat, Afghan-Maratha War. The Afghan Army under Ahmad Shah Durrani defeated the Marathas under Dattaji Sindhia, who died in the battle.

23 June 1757. The Battle of Plassey took place in Bengal. The British victory of Robert Clive over the Nawab of Bengal laid the foundations for the British Empire in India.

23 March 1757, The British won the Battle of Chandernagore, Bengal.

7 February 1757, The Treaty of Alinagar was concluded by Clive of Plassey, following his recapture of Calcutta from the Nawab of Bengal, Siraj al Daula. Under this Treaty, Calcutta was returned to the East India Company, who gained the right to fortify the city and to print money. Calcutta became a bridgehead from which the East India Company extended its control across Bengal.

1756-57, Black Hole of Calcutta

2 January 1757, Clive of India captured Calcutta after it had been seized by the Nawab of Bengal. The Nawab had imprisoned 146 British in the infamous Black Hole of Calcutta, see 20 June 1756. This brought Bengal, with all its wealth, under British control.

20 June 1756, Night of the Black Hole of Calcutta. See 2 January 1757, and 12 August 1765. A total of 147 people were confined in what came to be known as the Black Hole of Calcutta. The remaining European defenders of Calcutta in the Seven Years War in India were shut away in a local lock up for petty offenders, following the capture of Calcutta by the Nawab Siraj Ul Dawlah of Bengal. The Black Hole was a room 18 feet long by 14 foot 10 inches wide, with only two small windows. According to the British leader John Z Holwell, only 23 of the 147 imprisoned survived, but this figure may be inaccurate. Instead of the suspected slaughter, the Nawab may have been guilty of negligence.

9 December 1754, Francis Hastings, British colonial Governor of India, was born (died 28 November 1826).

10 June 1747, Nadir Shah was assassinated by a bodyguard.

7 February 1736, Rene-Marie Madec, French adventurer in India, was born.

6 December 1732, Warren Hastings, British ambassador and first Governor-General of India, was born in Churchill, Oxfordshire.

13 June 1732, Sir Elijah Impey, Chief Justice of Bengal, was born (died 1809).

28 April 1728, Thomas Pitt, East India Company merchant, died in Swallowfield near Reading, Berkshire (born 5 July 1653 in Blandford, Dorset)

18 November 1727, The Indian city of Jaipur was founded.

17 April 1720, Bairao succeeded his father as Peshwa (Prime Minister) of the Maratha Empire.

1746-59, Britain and France competed for control of India; Britain won.

22 January 1760, Battle of Wandiwash, Seven Years War. In a decisive conflict in southern India, the British under Sir Eyre Coote defeated the French under the Comte de Lally.

8 April 1759, Robert Clive, Governor of the British East India Company�s possessions in Bengal, seized Masilupatam and drove the French out of the Deccan area.

2 August 1758, Battle of Carrical, India, Seven Years War. The British under Admiral Pocock defeated the French under Comte D�Ache, but made few gains.

5 November 1751, British forces defeated the French in the battle for control of southern India at Arcot.

8 October 1751, John Shore 1st Baron Teignmouth, British colonial Governor General of India, was born (died 14 February 1834)

31 August 1751, Robert Clive (Clive of India) achieved his first military success there when he defeated French Governor-General Joseph, Marquis de Dupleix, and took the town of Arcot, Karnatka, in southern India.

25 July 1746, The French won a major naval victory at Negapatam, allowing them to capture Madras.

4 March 1719, George Pigot, English colonial Governor of Madras, India, was born (died 11 May 1777)

1739, Persian invasion, weakens India

20 March 1739, Persian ruler Nadir Shah sacked the Indian city of Delhi. The collapse of the Moghul Empire created a large power vacuum in India. The Afghans invaded from the north-west, Marathas invaded from the west, and local warlords carved out small independent states, perpetually fighting each other. In the middle of this chaos, Britain was able to take over.

24 February 1739, Battle of Karnal, Mughal Civil Wars. Persian forces under Nader Shah defeated the Mughals under Emperor Muhammad Shah.

Death of Aurangzeb. Decline and chaos in India, paved the way for British colonisation.

7 October 1708, Sikh Guru Gobind Singh was assassinated.

29 September 1708, The British East India Company and the New East India Company merged.

12 June 1707, Battle of Jajau, Mughal Civil War. Bloody battle between Bahadur Shah and his brother Azam Shah, who was defeated.

20 February 1707, The Mogul Emperor Aurangzeb died aged 88, his empire crumbling around him. He seized the throne at Agra from his father Shah Jehan 49 years earlier, killing two of his brothers and jailing the third to secure his succession. He moved the capital to Delhi, and enjoyed stable rule until his third son backed a rebellion by the Rajputs, Hindu warriors of Rajasthan. His military ventures bankrupted his kingdom, causing his subjects starvation through excessive taxation, and he caused resentment by destroying hundreds of Hindu temples. On his death, provincial Governors quickly declared independence amidst wars of succession and foreign invasions.

13 April 1699, In India, Guru Gobind Singh created the Khalsa, a Sikh military order.

1 January 1697, Joseph Dupleix, French colonial governor of India, was born (died 10 November 1763).

24 August 1690, The port of Calcutta was founded by Job Charnock of the English East India Company. He obtained a grant for the land on which the city stands this year from Aurangzeb.

4 March 1680, Shivaji, founder of the Maratha Empire in India, died (born 1630)

18 April 1669. Aurangzeb, the Moghul Emperor of India, ordered that all recently constructed Hindu temples should be demolished.

Reign of Aurangzeb

1668, First French visitors to India.

22 January 1666, Shah Jahan died, aged 74, in the fort where his son Aurangzeb had imprisoned him with his harem for the previous eight years. He had ruled India from 1628 to 1658, until illness forced his abdication. Shah Jahan had built the Taj Mahal as a mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz-i-Mahal and he was buried beside her. Aurangzeb had fought and killed his brothers to attain the throne, as Shah Jahan had done in 1628.

26 December 1666, 10^th Sikh Guru Gobind Singh was born (died 1708).

1658, Mogul Emperor Aurangzeb acceded to the throne.

29 May 1658, Battle of Samugarh, Mughal Civil War. A decisive battle in the power striuggle for the Mughal throne. Aurangzeb and Murad Baksh, 3^rd and 4^th sons of Shah jehan, defeated the ledest son, Dara Shikoh. This paved the way for Aurnagzeb to become Emperor.

24 February 1658, Conflict between the four sons of Shah Jehan, Moghul Emperor of India, over the succession. The Shah�s second son, Shuja, set himself up as Governor of Bengal was was defeated by the son of Dara Shikoh, the eldest son of Jehan. Aurangzeb, third son of Jehan, later executed his nephew, Sulayman Shikoh.

1653, The Taj Mahal was completed (construction began 1632).

5 July 1653, Thomas Pitt, East India Company merchant, was born I n Blandford, Dorset (died 28 April 1726 in Swallowfield near Reading, Berkshire)

3 November 1618, Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb born (died 1707).

24 June 1632, At Hooghly (founded by Portuguese traders, 1537) the Portuguese had secured a monopoly on salt trading and also enforced a high duty on the tobacco trade; they refused to share any of this income with the indigenous Moguls. They also seized Muslim and Hindu children, to sell as slaves. Shah Jehan (1592-1666)� therefore, in 1631, resolved to destroy Hooghly, and this day began a 3-month siege of the port, with a 150,000 man army. Hooghly was defended by 300 Portuguese soldiers and some 700 Indian Christians. After it fell, some 400 surviving defenders were taken captive to Agra, and in 1635 those who refused to convert to Islam were executed.

14 February 1628, Coronation of Mughal Emperor Shah Jehan in Agra.

Death of Jahangir

28 October 1627, Jahangir, ruler of the Moghul Empire, died.

10 January 1615, Sir Thomas Roe, Britain�s first Ambassador to India, presented his credentials at Agra.

15 October 1605, Akbar I (The Great), Jalal ud Din Muhammad Akbar, died. He was Mughal Emperor of India, 1556-1605 (born 1542). Succeeeding his father, Humayun, he took over from the Regent in 1560. He gained control of the whole of India north of the Vindhaya Mountains. He established a uniform system of weights and measures, encouraged the arts and sciences, and was tolerant to non-Muslims. He was succeeded by his son, Jahangir.

31 December 1600. Queen Elizabeth I granted a charter of incorporation to the East India Company. This charter gave George Clifford, the Earl of Cumberland, and 215 knights, aldermen, and merchants the right to trade in the East Indies (i.e. all countries beyond the Cape of Good Hope) for 15 years. The members of the Company paid a total of �72,000 to finance a large scale trading expedition and planned to send five ships to Java and Sumatra, to break the Dutch monopoly on the spice trade. Unauthorised interlopers were liable to confiscation of ships and cargo.� See 20 March 1602.

1594, Lisbon closed its spice market to Dutch and English traders; at this time Portugal was in personal union with Spain, both being ruled by Philip II, and England was helping the Dutch to gain independecnce from Spain. This forced traders from those countries to get their spices directly from India, and the creation of the Dutch East India Company followed.

3 March 1575, In India, Mughal Emperor Akbar defeated the forces of Da�ud Khan, Afghan ruler of Bengal and conquetred the territory.

1572, Moghul forces conquered Gujerat region.

5 November 1556, Jalal-ud-Din, Moghul Emperor Akbar, defeated a Hindu army at the Second Battle of Panipat in the Punjab. He regained the Hindustani Empire.

14 February 1556, Akbar was enthroned as Mughal Emperor.

27 January 1556, The Moghul Emperor Humayun died after falling from his library roof in Delhi. He was succeeded by his 14-year old son, Jalal-ud-Din, who returned from exile.

6 May 1542, Francis Xavier arrived at the Portuguese colony of Goa, India, to begin his work of converting the indigenous inhabitants to Christianity.

7 September 1539, Guru Angad Dev became the second Guru of the Sikhs.

1537, Portuguese traders founded the port of Hooghly, on the Bay of Bengal. See 24 June 1632.

26 December 1530, Death of Babur, founder of the Mughal Empire (born 1483).

1529, End of reign of Rana Sanga, King of Mewar (acceded 1509). He increa=sed Rajput power, defeating the Lodi Sultans, also the Muslim Kings of Malwa and Gujerat.

16 March 1527, The Battle of Khanwa. Babur continued his conquest of northern India.

See also Afghanistan

27 April 1526, Babur occupied Delhi.

21 April 1526, The First battle of Panipat.� Babur became first Moghul (Mughal) Emperor of India.� He invaded the Punjab (1525), also captured Delhi (April 1526) and overran northern India, beginning the Moghul Empire, which lasted until 1857. End of the Sultanate of Delhi, founded 1200.

Start of Mogul Empire

Start of Portugese colonisation in India

24 December 1524. Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama, who discovered the sea route from Europe to the East, died on his second voyage after landing in Cochin, on the Malabar coast of India. See 22 November 1497.

10 December 1510, The Portuguese seized Goa.

1 March 1510, Francesco de Almeida, first Portuguese viceroy to India, died.

3 February 1509, Portugal defeated the Ottoman fleet at the Battle of Diu, Indian Ocean. Portugal was moving to dominate the spice trade, which had been lucrative for the Sultan of Gujarat, Mahmud Begada. Begada was supported by other beneficiaries of the established trade; Egypt, the Ottoman Empire and Venice. However the Portuguese ships, built to withstand the rigours of a long voyage, were superior, and Portugal�s victory gave them control of the Indian spice trade for a century.

20 May 1498. Vasco da Gama arrived at Calicut, southern India, after discovering a route via the tip of southern Africa. , proving the feasibility of a sea route from Portugal to India and the Spice Islands. This meant Europe could buy spices independent from Venetian and Muslim middlemen.

1519, Guru Nanak Dev built the first Sikh Temnple, in Kartapur, Punjab.

20 August 1507, Guru Nanak Dev became the first guru and leader of the Sikh religion.

20 October 1469, Guru Nanak Dev, Sikh leader, was born.

13 October 1240, Death of Sultan Razia of Delhi. She had been nominated by her father Shams ud Din Iltutmish as his successor, because he was impressed by her leadership qualities. However on his death his eldest son Firuz seized power. As his father had anticipated, he was an incapable ruler, spending his life on luxuries. His mother, Shah Turkan, was now the real power behind the throne and tried to have Razia assassinated. However Razia, with popular support, overthrew and executed her brother Firuz in autumn 1236 and took power. This was a period of instability in the region, with external threats from the Mongols and infighting within between various factions, However Razia was militarily talented and successfully led the army in putting down various insurrections.� Then, during a military venture by her against Malik Illtuniah of Bhatinda, there was a coup at home against her. The Delhi nobility dethroned her in favour of one of her younger brothers. Firuz went on to marry Iltuniah and they marched together against Delhi. However they were defeated at the walls of Delhi, her army deserted, and she died, probably assassinated, this day.

13 January 1399, Delhi was captured and sacked by Tamerlane.

18 April 1336, Following a Hindu rebellion against Muslim rule, Harihara I was crowned King of the Vijayanagar Empire in southern India.

Tughlaq Dynasty

1388, Death of Firuz Shah Tughlaq (born 1305), the third Tughlaq ruler of the Kingdom of Delhi since 1351. His reign brought peace and stability, and he developed agriculture and irrigation; some of his canal works survive to the present day. He also promoted building works, and constructed a new capital, Firuzabad, which today forms part of Delhi.

1346, Shah Mirza founded a Muslim Dynasty in Kashmir that endured for 243 years. He replaced the extortionate taxation of the Hindu Kings with a one sixth tax on land.

1325, Death of Ghiyyas Ud-din Tughlaq, ruler of Delhi, murdered by his son after a 5-year reign. His son now ruled until 1351 as Mohammed Tughlaq.

1320, The Muslim Tughlaq Dynasty was established by Turkish Shah Ghiyas ud din Tughlaq. He defeated the Mongols before his death in 1325. He led a rebellion that overthrew the former Khalji Dynasty (began 1290) and moved the capital from Delhi 4 miles east to the new city of Tughlaqabad. The Tughlaq Dynasty endured until 1413.

14 April 1320, Mubarak of Delhi was murdered by his favourite, Khosraw, who succeeded him but was then himself murdered by Ghazi Malik (Ghiyas ud Din Tughluq) who in turn succeded him.

Khalji Dynasty

1316, Death of Ala al Din Khalji, second ruler of the Khalji dynasty (acceded 1296). He subdued the Rajput and Gujerat princes, conquering large regions of southern India.

19 July 1295, Ala ud Din was proclaimed Sultan of Delhi, after murdering his uncle Feroz Shah I.

13 June 1290, Kaikubad, King of India, was killed. He was succeeded by Jalal ud Din Feroz, founder of the Khalji Dynasty. He overthrew the former Balban Dynasty (founded 1266).

1279, Rajendra III, last Chola King, died, The Chola Kingdom was overrun by neighbouring kingdoms.

18 February 1266, Thursday (-248,071) Mahmud, Sultan of Delhi, died. Sultan Balban, former slave and chamberlain to Sultan Mahmud in Delhi, now became ruler, founding a new dynasty. he reigned for 21 years, suppressed highway robbers and curbed the powers of the Indian nobility.

1252, The Ahom Kingdom was founded in Assam.

22 December 1241, The Mongols took Lahore, northern India.

1236, Sultan Altamsh of Delhi died after a 25-year reign during which he had extended Moslem rule across northern India, including Bengal and Sind. He was succeeded by his daughter Rayiza, who ruled until 1240 when she was assassinated by Hindus.

15 March 1206, Persian Sultan Mohammed of Ghor, who had created a Moslem empire within India, was assassinated and Delhi was now governed by his former Viceroy, Kuth ud din Aibak. Aibak was killed in 1210 but the dynasty he founded endured until 1266.

1192, Rajput King Prithviraj III was defeated by Muslim forces. End of the Rajput era (began ca. 800).

1187, The Punjab was invaded by Mohammed of Ghor.

1175, India was invaded by Persia, under Muizzadin Mohammed of Ghor.

1044, Death of King Rajendra I of the Chola Dynasty. He ruled over southern India from 1014 and extended his Tamil kingdom into Sri Lanka.

21 April 1030, Mahmud, Emir of Ghazni, died.

1021, Lahore fell to invading Turkish/Persian armies.

1014, Rajendra I became King of the Cholas.

27 November 1001, Mahmud of Ghazni (now, Afghanistan) defated Jaipal of the Punjab at Peshawar and occupied the Punjab. Jaipal committed suicide.

985, Chola King Rajaraja I conqured Kerala, southern India.

973, King Tala II overthrew the Rashtrakuta Dynasty,re-founding the Chalukya Dynasty.

815, Death of King Govinda III (783-815).

773, Death of Rashtrakuta King Krishna I (ca. 756-773).,

711, Muslim armies conquered Sind.

642, Death of Chalukya King Pulakesin II (608-642). He died in battle with his Pallava rivals on the east coast. The Chalukya Kingdom now split into east and west; the west came under Rashtrakuta rule.

606, Shashanka became the first recorded independent King of Bengal.

606, King Harsha (ca.590-647) acceded to the throne of Thanesar and Kannauj.He began expanding his rule across northern India.

535, The Gupta Empire collapsed.

480, Narasimhagupta Baladitya succeeded his father Skandagupta as ruler of the Gupta Empire.

413, Kumara Gupta succeeded his father Chandragupta as ruler of the Gupta Empire.

376, Chandragupta II became King of India.

320, Chandraguota I, founder of the Gupta Empire, acceded.

185, Vasudeva became Kushan Emperor.

99, An ambassador from India arrived in Rome.

23 BCE,The Buddhist canon was put in writing for the first time, in Sri Lanka.

128 BCE, Start of the Satavahana Dynasty in India.

184 BCE, Start of the Sunga Dynasty in India. The Mauryan Dynasty had crumbled in 185 BCE.

232 BCE,The Mauryan Empire began to crumble after Ashoka�s death. Taxila was the first region to secede.

268 BCE, Start of the reign of King Asoka of India (died 232 BCE). He is called the �Buddhist Constantine� because he orgamised Buddhism as the State religion. Asoka himself converted to Buddhism in around 260 BCE, and convened the 3^rd great Buddhist Council at Patna in 244 BCE.

319 BCE, Chandragupta Maurya reconquered northern India from the Macedonians under Alexander the Great and founded the Mauryan Dynasty.

326 BCE, Alexander the Great reached the Indus River.

370 BCE, Start of the Nanda Dynasty in India.

415 BCE, The reign of Chandragupta II over much of northern India (375 � 415) ended.

480 BCE, Death of Siddhartha (Gautama Buddha), founder of Buddhism (born 563 BCE).

500 BCE, The Aryan language, Sanskrit, became established across India.

529 BCE, Birth of Buddhism. Siddhartha (Gautama Buddha), found enlightenment during a long period of penance in sackcloth at Buddh Gaya, near Benares.

540 BCE, Mahavira, founder of the Jain religion,was born.

7 April 563 BCE, Buddha was born, in the forest of Lumbini, NE India. He was the son of Suddhodana, King of the Shakya tribe. At birth Buddha was named Prince Gautama Siddhartha. His father had been forewarned that his son would forsake material possessions, and so tried to surround his son with every luxury available.

600 BCE, Aryan Kingdoms doiminated much of northern India.

800 BCE, Urban centres developed in the Ganges Valley

817 BCE, Traditional date of birth of early Jain teacher, Parshvanatha.

1500 BCE, Aryan invasion of India. Indus civilisation destroyed.

1750 BCE, Decline of the Indus Valley cities of Mohenjo Daro and Harappa, after two millennia of unregulated irrigation had caused soil salinization and decline in food production.

2600 BCE, Peak of Indus Valley civilisation.

4500 BCE, Estimated date of start of sedentary agriculture, in the Ganges floodplain.

India was named by the Greeks and Persians, after the great Indus or Sindhu River (which today lies mainly in Pakistan).

Appendix 1 � Bangladesh from 1 January 1973

24 April 2013, A large garment factory in Rana Plaza in the outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, collapsed, killing 1,129 people.

24 November 2012, A fire at a clothing factory in Bangladesh killed 112 people.

5 September 2011, India and Bangladesh signed a pact to end their 40-year border dispute.

2 December 1997, The Bangladesh Government signed� a peace accord with the indigenous peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (see 1973). However this agreememnt nwas rather one-sided, as it did not include the withdrawal of Bengali settlers, or the Bangladeshi military, or investigate human rights abuses in the area from 1973 onwards. However it did cover the return of 50,000 refugees from Tripura, and a Hill Council under the Tribal Affairs Ministry was inaugurated.

26 February 1991, In Bangladeshi general elections, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party won 139 of 300 seats in the Jatiyo

1987, In Bangladesh, Ershad announced a State of Emergency as strikes and demonstrations paralysed the country.

10 November 1986, President Ershad announced an end to martial law in Bangladesh

24 March 1982, Military coup in Bangladesh. Ershad took power.

30 May 1981, President Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh (born 1936) was assassinated. Abdus Sattar took power.

19 February 1979, In Bangladesh, Zia ur Rahman�s Bangladesh Nationalist Party won the elections.

1976, In Bangladesh, trades unions were banned.

15 August 1975. In a military coup in Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rhaman was overthrown; he and his family were murdered.

28 November 1974, A severe cyclone hit Bangladesh, after the worst floods in 20 years hit in June 1974, drowning 1.300 and driving 27 million from their homes. In these floods, 0.9 million tons of rice was destroyed, also much jute, a major export earner, was lost. The jute crop was 6.2 million bales in 1973 but just 4 million in 1974.The country had also been severely impacted by the oil price rise. Oil imports consumed 20% of foreign earnings in 1973, but 50% in 1974.

22 February 1974. Pakistan recognised Bangladesh.

1973, Bangladesh, having newly achieved secession from Pakistan, now faced its own insurgency issue from the indigenous, mainly Buddhist, tribes of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, on the borders with India and Myanmar. These tribes established the Shanti Bahini (=Peace Force), to counter doiscrimminatioin and neglect theuy had faced from successive centralised Governments. In the 1960s some 10% of the land (40% of the arable land) of these peoples had been flooded by the Kaptai Hydroelectric Dam, leading many to flee to India, where they still face ddiscrimmination. Then in the 197os Bangladesh began settling Bengali Muslims in ythe Chittagoing Hill Tracts, away from the crowded Delta area. See 2 December 1997.

For events of Bangladesh from 31 December 1972 and earlier, relating to the secession from Pakistan, see India Region

Appendix 2 � Bhutan

24 March 2008, Bhutan held its first-ever general elections.

1999, Bhutan inaugurated its first TV service.

1998, The King of Bhutan reformed the monarchy, making it more constitutional.

2 June 1974, In Bhutan, King Jigme Singye Wangchuk was installed as the 4th hereditary ruler, the Druk Gyalpo, or Dragon King.

1972, Bhutan introduced a Gross National Happiness Index, intended to reflect people�s wellbeing more than GDP does. King Jigme Wangchuk began a process of modernisation.

1971, Nepal joined the United Nations.

1949, India was given influence over Bhutanese foreign affairs.

1907, The Bhutanese monarchy was esatablished, with Ugyen Wangchuk as hereditary ruler.

1864, Bhutan lost territory to Bengal and Assam in a British border war with India.

1731, Tibet imposed control over Bhutan.

1616, Bhutan was unified by Prince Abbot Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal.

Appendix 3 � Maldives

2005, The Maldives Parliament voted uninamimously to permit multi-party politics.

2003, Amnesty International accused the Maldives of torture and political repression. Anti-government riots in Male. Gayyoom was re-elected for a 6^th 5-year term.

2002, The Maldives Government took legal action against the USA for failing to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, after the Maldives� vulnerability to rising sea levels became apparent.

2000, Amnesty International claimed that opposition candidates in the 1999 Maldives election were tortured.

1998, Gayyoom was elected for a 5^th 5-year term.

1988, An anti-Government coup was thwarted.

1985, The increasing tourist industry was fuelling economic growth in the Maldives.

1978, Gayyoom became President, after Nasir retired.

1976, Britain closed its airbase on the Maldivian island of Gan, a move which seriously affected the national economy. The Soviets offered to lease the airbase but were rebuffed.

1968, The Maldives Sultanate was abolished. Ibrahim Nasir was elected first Prewsident of the new Republic.

27 July 1965, The Maldives Islands became independent, having been a British Protectorate since 1887.

1932, In a new democratic constitution, the Maldives Sultanate became an elected position.

1887, Britain declared a Protectorate over the Maldives. This formalised British control which had esisted since 1796, when Britain took over Sri Lanka.

1773, The Portuguese were ejected by Bidu Mohammed Takurufana, who founded a new Maldivian dynasty.

1558, Portugal took control of the Maldives.#

1153, Accoreding to legend, Islam reached the Maldives when an Islamic preacher converted the Maldivian ruler.

Appendix 4 � Nepal

2007, Maoists were admitted to the Nepalese Parliament under the terms of a temporary constitution.

24 December 2007, Nepal announced that the country�s 240-year old monarchy was to be replaced by a Republic in 2008.

24 April 2006, King Gyanendra of Nepal restored Parliamentary Government, ending weeks of protests. Gyanendra had seized absolute power in 1/2005. Parliament now curbed the King�s powers and held peace talks with rebels.

2005, King Gyanendra dismissed the Prime Minister and assumed absolute powers.

3 March 2004, Rebels from the Maoist Communist Party of Nepal attacked the Royal Nepalese Army at Bhojpur.

2003, Rebels observed a ceasefire, but pulled out of peace talks with the Government.

14 December 2003, 70 people were killed in Nepal in attacks by Maoist Communist rebels.

16 February 2002, Maoist guerrillas killed 130 people in Nepal.

1 June 2001, Crown Prince Dipendra of Nepal killed his father, the King, and other members of the Royal family with an assault rifle, then shot himself.� He died on 4 June 2001.� King Gyanendra ascended the Nepalese throne.

1999, The Nepalese Communist Party (NCP) won elections. A Maoist insurgency continued in rural areas.

13 February 1996, A Maoist insurgency broke out in rural areas of Nepal; weak central government.

Start of Maoist civil insurgency

1994, Minority Communist Government in Nepal.

1991, The Nepalese Communist Party won elections. Girljad Prasad Koirala became Prime Minister.

15 May 1991, The Nepalese Prime Minister, Bhattarai, resigned.

19 April 1990. Victory for pro-democracy movement in Nepal.

1985, The Nepalese Communist Party began a campaign of civil disobedience, to force a return to multi-Party politics.

1980, The Panchayat System of devolved self-governance was confirmed by referendum.

31 January 1972, King Mahendra Bir Bikram Sha Deva of Nepal died after a 17 year reign during which he made efforts to reduce the isolation of his country. He was succeeded by Crown Prince Birendra.

1960, The Nepalese Constitution was suspended by King Mahendra, who took absolute political control.

1959, Nepal adopted a multi-Party Constitution.

18 February 1951, The King of Nepal proclaimed a constitutional monarchy. End of Rana rule (see 1816).

1923, Treaty with Britain recognised Nepali independence.

25 February 1877, Bahadur Jung, Prime Minister of Nepal, died aged 61.

1816, After a war with Britain (1814-16), Nepal came under a British quasi-Protectorate ruled by hereditary Ranas.

11/1814, Britain declared war on Nepalese Ghurkas. By early 1816 tye British, having done less aell at first as they despised the enemy and were unaccustomed to mountain warfare, were within 50 miles of the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu.

4/1814, Britain accused Nepalese Ghurkas of encroaching on the territory of the East India Company.

1768, King Prithwi Naryan Shah united Nepal into a single State, bringing together three valley kingdoms.

879, Nepal gained independence from Tibet.

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