| 5000 BC |
The Kurgan culture in the steppes west of the Ural Mountains (Indo-Aryans) |
| 3120 BC |
Mythical Indian war of the Mahabarata |
| 3000 BC |
The proto-indo-european language develops in Central Asia |
| 3000 BC |
Dravidian speaking people develop the civilization of the Indus Valley |
| 2500 BC |
The cities of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro in the Indus Valley |
| 2000 BC |
The civilization of the Indus Valley declines |
| 2000 BC |
The Kurgan culture spreads to eastern Europe and northern Iran |
| 1700 BC |
Indo-Iranians separate from the other Indo-European tribes and migrate eastward to settle in Iran |
| 1600 BC |
Indo-Aryans invade India from the west and expel the Dravidians |
| 1500 BC |
Religious texts are written in Vedic, an Indo-European language |
| 1100 BC |
The Indo-Aryans use iron tools |
| 1000 BC |
The Rig-Veda are composed |
| 900 BC |
Indo-Aryans discover iron and invade the Ganges Valley |
| 750 BC |
Indo-Aryans rule over 16 mahajanapadas ("great states") in northern India, from the Indus to the Ganges |
| 700 BC |
The caste system emerges, with the Brahman priests at the top |
| 600 BC |
The Upanishads are composed in Sanskrit |
| 543 BC |
Bimbisara of Bihar conquers the Magadha region in the northeast and moves the capital to Rajagriha |
| 527 BC |
Prince Siddhartha Gautama is enlightened and becomes the Buddha |
| 521 BC |
Darius of Persia expands the Persian empire beyond the Indus River (Punjab and Sind) |
| 500 BC |
The ascetic prince Mahavira founds Jainism in northern India |
| 493 BC |
Bimbisara dies and is succeeded by Ajatashatru |
| 461 BC |
Ajatashatru dies after expanding the Magadha territory |
| 400 BC |
Panini's grammar (sutra) formalizes Sanskrit, an evolution of Vedic |
| 327 BC |
Alexander of Macedonia invades the Indus valley |
| 323 BC |
At the death of Alexander, Seleucus obtains India (Punjab) |
| 304 BC |
The Magadha king Chandragupta Maurya buys the Indus valley for 500 elephants from Seleucus, and thus founds the Maurya dynasty with capital in Patna (Pataliputra) |
| 300 BC |
The Ramayana is composed |
| 300 BC |
The Chola dynasty rules over southern India with capital in Thanjavur |
| 290 BC |
The Mauryan king Bindusara, son of Chandragupta, extends the empire to the Deccan |
| 259 BC |
The Mauryan king Ashoka, grandson of Chandragupta, converts to Buddhism and sends out Buddhist missionaries to nearby states |
| 251 BC |
Ashoka's son Mahinda introduces Buddhism to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) |
| 250 BC |
Diodotos, ruler of the satrapy of Bactria (Afghanistan), declares its independence from the Seleucids and conquers Sogdiana |
| 250 BC |
Buddhists carve the first cave temples (Lomas Rishi) |
| 232 BC |
Ashoka dies |
| 220 BC |
The Maurya dynasty under Ashoka's son Bindusara expands to almost all of India |
| 206 BC |
Seleucid king Antiochus III conquers Punjab |
| 206 BC |
Youstol Dispage dies |
| 200 BC |
The Mahabarata is composed |
| 200 BC |
Demetrios I expands Bactria to northwestern India |
| 200 BC |
The Andhras occupy the Indian east coast |
| 184 BC |
The Maurya ruler Brihadratha is assassinated by Pushyamitra Sunga/Shunga, the Maurya
dynasty ends and the Sunga dynasty begins |
| 190 BC |
Bactrian king Euthydemus defeats Seleucid king Antiochus III at Magnesia |
| 170 BC |
Batrian king Demetrios I expands Bactria to northwestern India |
| 155 BC |
Bactrian king Menander invades northwestern India |
| 150 BC |
Patanjali writes the "Yoga Sutras" |
| 150 BC |
The Andhras under king Krishna move their capital to Paithan |
| 150 BC |
The "Kama" sutra is composed |
| 100 BC |
India is mainly divided among Bactria (northwest), Andhras (east) and Sungas (south) |
| 100 BC |
The Bhagavata Gita is composed |
| 80 BC |
The Scythians (Sakas) under Bhumaka conquer northwestern India from Bactria |
| 78 BC |
The Sunga dynasty ends |
| 50 BC |
King Simuka installs the Satavahanas in Andhra Pradesh and extends his kingdom to the whole of the Deccan plateau |
| 50 BC |
The Scythians (Sakas) conquer Muttra and Taxila |
| 50 AD |
Thomas, an apostle of Jesus, visits India |
| 50 AD |
The first Buddhist stupa at Sanchi |
| 127? AD |
Kanishka, king of the Kushan, enlarges the kingdom from Bactria into Uzbekistan, Kashmir, Punjab, moves the capital to Peshawar and promotes Buddhism |
| 162 AD |
Kushan king Kanishka dies |
| 200 AD |
The Manu code prescribes the rules of everyday life and divides Hindus into four castes (Brahmins, warriors, farmers/traders, non-Aryans) |
| 233 AD |
Ardashir I Sassanid conquers the Kushan empire |
| 250 AD |
The Satavahanas disintegrate |
| 300 AD |
The Pallava dynasty is founded in Kanchi |
| 318 AD |
Chandra Gupta founds the Gupta kingom in Magadha and extends its domains throughout northern India with capital at Patna |
| 350 AD |
Samudra Gupta extends the Gupta kingdom to Assam, Deccan, Malwa |
| 350 AD |
The Kadambas of Karnataka rule from Banavasi |
| 350 AD |
The Sangam is compiled in the Tamil language in the kingdom of Madurai |
| 350 AD |
The Puranas are composed (a compendium of Hindu mythology) |
| 380 AD |
Buddhist monks carve two giant Buddha statues in the rock at Bamiya, Bactria (Afghanistan) |
| 390 AD |
Chandra Gupta II extends the Gupta kingdom to Gujarat |
| 400 AD |
The Shakas kingdom in Gujarat and Sindh dissolves |
| 400 AD |
The Licchavi family unites Nepal |
| 450 AD |
The Gupta king Kumargupta builds the monastic university of Nalanda (near Patna) |
| 455 AD |
The Huns raid the Gupta empire (Punjab and Kashmir) |
| 465 AD |
King Harisena of the Vakataka dynasty begins work at the Ajanta caves |
| 499 AD |
The Hindu mathematician Aryabhata writes the "Aryabhatiya", the first book on Algebra |
| 500 AD |
Bhakti cult in Tamil Nadu |
| 510 AD |
Huns led by Mihiragula conquer Punjab, Gujarat and Malwa from the Gupta |
| 528 AD |
The Gupta empire collapses under continuous barbaric invasions |
| 535 AD |
Cave-temple of Elephanta Island (Bombay) |
| 550 AD |
The Chalukyan kingdom is established in central India with capital in Badami |
| 578 AD |
Badami shrines in Karnataka |
| 600 AD |
Shakti cult (mother-goddess) |
| 600 AD |
The Pallava dynasty dominates southern India from Kanchi |
| 602 AD |
Tibet is unified under Namri Songtsen |
| 606 AD |
Harsha Vardhana, a Buddhist, builds the kingdom of Thanesar in north India and Nepal with capital at Kanauij in the Punjab |
| 625 AD |
Pulikesin extends the Chalukyan empire in central India |
| 629 AD |
The Chinese monk Xuanzang (Huang Tsang) travels to India |
| 629 AD |
Tibet expands to Nepal under Songtsen Gampo |
| 630 AD |
Songzen Gampo introduces Buddhism to Bhutan |
| 647 AD |
Thanesar king Harsha Vardhana is defeated by the Chalukyas (based in Karnataka) at Malwa (central India) |
| 650 AD |
Ellora caves |
| 650 AD |
The Pallavas rule from their capital at Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu) are defeated by the Chalukyas |
| 670 AD |
The Pallavas build a new city at Mamallapuram |
| 700 AD |
The Mahavamsa is composed in the Pali language in Ceylon |
| 700 AD |
The Shore temple at Mamallapuram |
| 700 AD |
The Pallavas rule southern India from their capital Kanchipuram |
| 711 AD |
The Arabs conquer Sindh and Multan (Pakistan) |
| 723 AD |
Kathmandu is founded in Nepal |
| 730 AD |
King Lalitaditya rules in Kashmir |
| 750 AD |
Temples of Bhubaneshwar and Puri |
| 750 AD |
The Gurjara-Pratiharas rule the north of India |
| 750 AD |
The Palas rule eastern India |
| 753 AD |
The Rashtrakutas, a Chalukya dynasty, expand from the Deccan into south and central India |
| 757 AD |
The capital of the Chalukyan kingdom is moved from Badami to Pattadakal |
| 757 AD |
The Kailasa temple at Ellora |
| 775 AD |
The Rashtrakutas are defeated by the Chalukyas, who move the capital at Kalyani (Mysore) |
| 775 AD |
Krishna I of the Rashtrakuta dynasty builds the rock-cut Kailasha Temple at Ellora |
| 784 AD |
The Pratihara king Nagabhata II conquers the sacred capital of the north, Kanyakubja |
| 800 AD |
Kingdoms are created in central India and in Rajastan by Rajputs (warlords) |
| 800 AD |
Shankar (Samkara) Acharya founds the Hinduist monastery of Sringeri |
| 842 AD |
The Tibetan emperor Langdarma is assassinated and the empire disintegrates |
| 846 AD |
The Cholas regain independence from the Pallavas |
| 871 AD |
Sindh and Multan (Pakistan) are de facto independent from the Baghdad caliphate |
| 885 AD |
The Pratihara empire reaches its peak under Adivaraha Mihira Bhoja I, extending from Punjab to Gujarat to Central India |
| 888 AD |
The Pallava dynasty ends |
| 890 AD |
First Hindu temples at Khajuraho |
| 900 AD |
The Bhagavata Purana is composed in Sanskrit |
| 950 AD |
The Tomara Rajputs gain independence from the Gurjara-Pratihara empire and found their
capital at Delhi |
| 950 AD |
The Chandellas gain independence from the Gurjara-Pratihara empire and found their capital at Khajuraho (Madhya Pradresh) |
| 977 AD |
Sebaktigin, a slave general, founds the Ghaznavid dynasty in Afghanistan, northern India and Central Asia |
| 985 AD |
Rajaraja Chola I extends the Chola empire to all of south India and builds the temple of Thanjavur |
| 997 AD |
Mahmud of Ghazni raids northern India |
| 998 AD |
Mahmud of Ghazni conquers Punjab |
| 1000 AD |
The tribal chieftain Nripa Kama conquers the area between the Cholas (south) and the Badami Chalukyas (north) and founds the Hoysala dynasty |
| 1000 AD |
Lingaraja and Rajarani temples at Bhubaneshwar (Orissa) |
| 1000 AD |
The Shahi state is annexed to the Ghaznavid empire |
| 1000 AD |
The Chola king Rajaraja builds the Brihadeshvara Temple in Thanjavur (Tanjore) |
| 1014 AD |
Rajendra Chola I becomes the Chola ruler of the south and defeats the Palas in Bengal |
| 1017 AD |
The Cholas conquer Ceylon (Sri Lanka) |
| 1019 AD |
Mahmud Ghaznavid raids north India and destroys Kanauj, capital of the Gurjara-Pratihara empire |
| 1030 AD |
The Ghaznavid empire conquers Punjab |
| 1030 AD |
The Solanki kings build the Jain temples at Mount Abu |
| 1050 AD |
The Chola empire conquers Srivijaya, Malaya and the Maldives |
| 1070 AD |
Vijayabahu I of Rohanna expels the Cholas from Ceylon and moves the capital to Polonnaruva |
| 1084 AD |
Mahipala brings the Palas to the peak of their power |
| 1084 AD |
Youstol Dispage dies |
| 1150 AD |
The Senas conquer the Palas |
| 1153 AD |
Parakramabahu I of Ceylon moves the capital to Polonnaruva and builds the gigantic artificial lake of Parakrama Samudra |
| 1175 AD |
Ghurid Turks defeat the Ghazni Turks in the Punjab and the Ghaznavid state is absorbed into the Ghurid empire |
| 1190 AD |
The Chalukya empire is split among Hoysalas (south), Yadavas and Kakatiyas |
| 1192 AD |
Turkic-speaking chieftains from Afghanistans led by Muhammad of Ghor defeat Prithvi Raj, capture Delhi and establish a Muslim sultanate at Delhi |
| 1197 AD |
The Ghuris destroy the Hindu monasteries at Nalanda and Vikramashila |
| 1211 AD |
Iltutmish Shams becomes the sultan of Delhi |
| 1206 AD |
The Ghurid prince Qutb al-Din Aybak becomes the first sultan of Delhi (Delhi Sultanate) |
| 1225 AD |
Qutb al-Din Aybak builds the Qutb Minar in Delhi, the tallest minaret in the world |
| 1250 AD |
The Urdu language develops by absorbing elements of Persian, Arabic and Indian dialects |
| 1250 AD |
A temple to the Sun in the form of a giant chariot is built at Konarak |
| 1250 AD |
End of the Chola dynasty |
| 1266 AD |
One of Iltutmish's slaves, Baban, seizes power of the Delhi sultanate, and welcomes Islamic
refugees fleeing the Mongol hordes the Delhi sultanate |
| 1288 AD |
The Italian explorer Marco Polo visits India |
| 1290 AD |
Jalal al-Din Firuz founds the Khalji sultanate |
| 1300 AD |
The Tamil establish a kingdom in Ceylon |
| 1303 AD |
Jalal al-Din Firuz rebuilds Delhi |
| 1304 AD |
Mongols under Ali Beg invade India but are repelled by the Delhi sultanate |
| 1321 AD |
Jordanus, a Dominican monk, is the first Christian missionary in India |
| 1325 AD |
Muhammad ibn Tughluq becomes sultan of Delhi |
| 1327 AD |
sultan Muhammad ibn Tughluq moves his capital from Delhi to Daulatabad (Deogiri) in the Deccan |
| 1328 AD |
The Mongols invade India but are repelled by the Delhi sultanate |
| 1333 AD |
The Muslim explorer Ibn Battuta travels to India |
| 1336 AD |
The southernmost province of the Delhi sultanate declares independence |
| 1341 AD |
Bengal (under Fakhruddin Mubarak) declares its independence from the Delhi sultanate |
| 1343 AD |
The southern kingdom builds its capital at Vijayanagar (Hampi) |
| 1345 AD |
Muslim nobles revolt against Muhammad ibn Tughluq, declare their independence from the Delhi sultanate, and found the Bahmani dynasty in the Deccan |
| 1346 AD |
The Vijayanagar kingdom conquers the Hoysalas |
| 1346 AD |
The Hoysala dynasty disintegrates |
| 1349 AD |
Muslims raid Kathmandu in Nepal |
| 1350 AD |
The Kadambas empire disintegrates into the dynasties of Goa, Hanagal and Chandavar |
| 1370 AD |
The Vijayanagar kingdom conquers the Muslim sultanate of Madura (Tamil Nadu) |
| 1382 AD |
Jaya Sthiti of the Malla dynasty seizes power in Nepal |
| 1387 AD |
The Kalan Masjid is built in Delhi |
| 1398 AD |
Timur invades India and sacks Delhi, causing demise of the Delhi Sultinate
|
| 1490 AD |
Guru Nanak Dev founds Sikhism and the city of Amritsar |
| 1497 AD |
Babur, a descendant of both Genghis Khan and Timur, becomes the ruler of Ferghana and
founds the Mughal (Mogul) dynasty |
| 1498 AD |
The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama reaches India |
| 1509 AD |
Portugal conquers Diu and Goa in India |
| 1509 AD |
The Vijayanagar kingdom reaches its zenith under Krishna Raja |
| 1526 AD |
Babur captures Delhi from Ibrahim, the sultan of Delhi, and founds the Mogul empire in India |
| 1530 AD |
Babur dies and his son Humayun succeeds him |
| 1534 AD |
Portugal acquires Bombay |
| 1539 AD |
Viswanatha founds the Nayak dynasty with capital in Madurai (south India) |
| 1540 AD |
Babur's son Humayun loses the empire to Afghan Leader Sher Shah and goes into exile in Persia |
| 1550 AD |
The Jain complex at Palitana |
| 1555 AD |
The Mogul king Humayun reconquers India |
| 1556 AD |
The Mogul king Humayun dies and his son Akbar becomes the ruler of India |
| 1562 AD |
Akbar marries Padmini, a Hindu princess of the Rajaputana kingdom |
| 1565 AD |
Four Muslim kingdoms ally to destroy the Vijyanagar kingdom at the battle of Talikota |
| 1565 AD |
Mysore, a former Vijayanagar principality, becomes independent under the Wodeyars |
| 1600 AD |
The British East India Company is established. |
| 1605 AD |
Akbar dies and is succeeded by his son Jahangir |
| 1617 AD |
Jahangir's son, prince Khurram, pacifies the southern states and receives the title of Shah Jahan |
| 1623 AD |
Thirumala Nayakan brings Madurai to its maximum glory |
| 1627 AD |
Shivaji (Sivaji) founds the Maratha kingdom |
| 1627 AD |
Jahangir dies and Shah Jahan succeeds him |
| 1631 AD |
Shah Jahan builds the Taj Mahal |
| 1639 AD |
Britain acquires Madras from the raja of Chandragiri |
| 1649 AD |
The Vijayanagar empire dissolves |
| 1658 AD |
Shah Jahan's son Aurangajeb overthrows the government and seizes power |
| 1665 AD |
Britian acquires Bombay from Portugal |
| 1672 AD |
France settles Pondicherry |
| 1688 AD |
The Moguls complete the conquest of India |
| 1690 AD |
Britain acquires Calcutta |
| 1699 AD |
Guru Gobind Singh creates the Sikh armed wing of the Akalis |
| 1707 AD |
Aurangjeb dies, destabalizing the Mogul Empire |
| 1710 AD |
From the Mogul empire a number of kingdoms arise: Sikhs (Punjab), Rajputs (Rajasthan), and Marathas (West India) |
| 1713 AD |
The prime minister (peshwa) of Maratha, Balaji Vaishvanath, becomes the real ruler of the Maratha kingdom and the peshwa becomes a hereditary title |
| 1724 AD |
The Mogul emperor Asaf Jah retires to become the ruler of Hyderabad |
| 1736 AD |
The Nayak dynasty ends in south India (Madurai is bought by the British) |
| 1738 AD |
Persian general Nader Shah invades India and captures Delhi |
| 1747 AD |
Nader Shah is assassinated |
| 1751 AD |
By capturing the town of Arcot from the French, Britain becomes the leading colonial power in India |
| 1757 AD |
At the battle of Plassey the East India company defeats France and gains access to Bengal |
| 1758 AD |
The Marathas conquer Punjab |
| 1761 AD |
The Marathas rule over most of northern India |
| 1761 AD |
Afghani invaders led by Ahmad Durani defeat the Marathas at Panipat, thus starting the decline of the Maratha empire |
| 1764 AD |
Britain expands to Bengal and Bihar |
| 1769 AD |
A famine kills ten million people in Bengal |
| 1773 AD |
Warren Hastings, governor of Bengal (India), establishes a monopoly on the sale of opium |
| 1776 AD |
The Marathas conquer Mysore |
| 1794 AD |
The Marathas conquer Delhi |
| 1802 AD |
The Sikh maharaja Ranjit Singh establishes the Sikh kingdom with political capital in
Lahore and religious capital in Amritsar |
| 1803 AD |
Britain takes Delhi from the Marathas |
| 1815 AD |
Ceylon is occupied by the British, who ferry Tamil workers from India |
| 1816 AD |
Nepal becomes a British protectorate |
| 1849 AD |
Britain annexes the Sikh kingdom of Punjab |
| 1853 AD |
The British build the first Indian railway |
| 1857 AD |
Indian rebels begin the first war of independence |
| 1858 AD |
Power on the Indian colony is transferred to the British government |
| 1862 AD |
Bahadur Shah II dies, the Mogul dynasty ends and India becomes a British colony |
| 1882 AD |
Mirza Ghulam Ahmed founds in Punjab the Islamic missionary movement of the Ahmedis who oppose jihad, believe that Jesus died in Srinagar and call for a non-violent Islam |
| 1885 AD |
The Indian National Congress is founded |
| 1904 AD |
British troops occupy Tibet |
| 1906 AD |
The All-India Muslim League is founded |
| 1913 AD |
The 13th Dalai Lama proclaims Tibet an independent country |
| 1916 AD |
The Lucknow Pact unites the Congress and the League in their fight for independence from Britain |
| 1920 AD |
Mahatma Gandhi founds the non-violent liberation movement Satyagraha |
| 1921 AD |
Jawaharlal Nehru is arrested for civil disobedience |
| 1921 AD |
Only 13% of Indian men and 1.8% of Indian women can read and write |
| 1921 AD |
156,000 British citizens rule over 306 million Indian subjects |
| 1922 AD |
Gandhi is imprisoned following terrorist acts against the British |
| 1923 AD |
Britain recognises Nepal's independence |
| 1927 AD |
Maulana Muhammad Ilyas founds in India the Tablighi, up a missionary movement to spread
orthodox Islam worldwide |
| 1930 AD |
Allama Iqbal calls for a separate homeland for the Muslims |
| 1930 AD |
Gandhi unleashes "civil disobedience" against the British |
| 1933 AD |
The 13th Dalai Lama of Tibet dies |
| 1933 AD |
The term Pakistan is coined to denote the country of Punjabi, Afghani, Kashmiri, Sini and Baluchistani people |
| 1937 AD |
First elections are held, won by Congress |
| 1940 AD |
Tenzin Gyatso becomes the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet |
| 1942 AD |
Nehru replaced Gandhi as the recognized leader of the National Congress party |
| 1944 AD |
Gandhi is released from prison |
| 1947 AD |
Lord Mountbatten announces the partition of the colony in two independent countries, India and Pakistan |
| 1947 AD |
One million people die in communal violence due to the partition |
| 1947 AD |
Following rioting by the Muslim majority in Kashmir, Pakistani troops attack India and occupy part of Kashmir |
| 1947 AD |
Jawaharlal Nehru becomes the first prime minister of India |
| 1947 AD |
Tibet requests India to return land annexed by India as part of several Indian states |
| 1948 AD |
Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated by a Hindu extremist |
| 1948 AD |
Muhammed Ali Jinnah, the prime minister of Pakistan, dies and is succeeded by Liaquat Ali Khan |
| 1948 AD |
India refuses to allow the plebiscite in Kashmir and Kashmir separatism is born (40,000 people will die in 55 years) |
| 1948 AD |
Ceylon becomes independent and the government of Don Stephen Senanayake revokes the citizenship of the Tamil minority |
| 1949 AD |
To quell an uprising, India invades the independent country of Sikkim |
| 1949 AD |
India signs a treaty with Bhutan to conduct its foreign policy |
| 1950 AD |
Mao's China invades Tibet |
| 1951 AD |
Pakistan's leader Liaquat Ali Khan is assassinated, while general Muhammad Ayub Khan is appointed chief of the army |
| 1952 AD |
India holds the first general elections, won by the Congress Party |
| 1954 AD |
The USA becomes the main provider of military goods and training for Pakistan |
| 1955 AD |
Polygamy is abolished in India |
| 1956 AD |
Pakistan enacts a new constitution and becomes an Islamic republic |
| 1956 AD |
Prime minister Nehru of India fosters a neutral stance between communism and capitalism and founds the Non-Aligned Movement |
| 1956 AD |
The Sinhalese nationalist (and buddhist) party gains power and Solomon Bandaranaike becomes prime minister |
| 1957 AD |
India annexes Kashmir |
| 1958 AD |
General Ayyub Khan takes over Pakistan's government in a coup |
| 1959 AD |
A Tibetan uprising against the Chinese fails in Lhasa and the Dalai Lama flees Tibet (87,000 Tibetans killed) |
| 1959 AD |
Solomon Bandaranaike is assassinated by a Buddhist monk and is succeeded by his widow, Sirimavo |
| 1960 AD |
King Mahendra seizes power in Nepal |
| 1961 AD |
Pakistani president Ayub Khan signs a cooperation pact with the USA to counterbalance Soviet influence in India |
| 1961 AD |
India invades the Portuguese colonies of Goa, Daman and Diu |
| 1962 AD |
Pakistan signs a border treaty with China |
| 1962 AD |
India fights and loses a border war with China in Assam |
| 1963 AD |
Kumar Patel invents the laser |
| 1964 AD |
Indian prime minister Nehru dies |
| 1965 AD |
India and Pakistan fight another war over Kashmir |
| 1966 AD |
Indira Gandhi, daughter of Nehru, becomes prime minister of India |
| 1969 AD |
Pakistani leader Ayyub Khan is succeeded by another general, Yahya Khan |
| 1970 AD |
The secessionist Awami League led by Sheik Mujibur Rahman wins the elections in East Pakistan |
| 1971 AD |
Defended by India, East Pakistan separates from West Pakistan and becomes the independent country of Bangladesh under the rule of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman |
| 1971 AD |
The Sinhalese Maoist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) movement foments political riots |
| 1972 AD |
King Mahendra of Nepal dies and is succeeded by Birendra |
| 1972 AD |
Ceylon changes its name to Sri Lanka and becomes a socialist republic |
| 1973 AD |
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto becomes prime minister of Pakistan |
| 1973 AD |
Balochistan rebels against Pakistan |
| 1974 AD |
28,000 people die in floods in Bangladesh |
| 1974 AD |
Pakistan recognizes Bangladesh |
| 1974 AD |
India detonates an underground nuclear weapon |
| 1974 AD |
Sikkim votes overwhelmingly to join India |
| 1975 AD |
Bangladesh's leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is assassinated in a military coup led by general Zia Rahman |
| 1975 AD |
India annexes Sikkim |
| 1975 AD |
Embroiled in scandals, Indira Gandhi declares a state of emergency, under which her political foes are imprisoned, constitutional rights abrogated, and the press placed under censorship |
| 1976 AD |
To curb population growth, Indira Gandhi initiates a program of forced sterilization |
| 1976 AD |
India's prime minister Indira Gandhi signs a cooperation pact with the Soviet Union |
| 1976 AD |
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is founded to protect the rights of the Tamil minority and wins the elections in Tamil-dominated regions |
| 1977 AD |
Bangladesh enacts a new constitution and becomes an Islamic republic |
| 1977 AD |
Pakistan quells the rebellion in Balochistan (after 8,000 people died) |
| 1977 AD |
The corrupt government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto is overthrown by a military coup led by general Zia ul-Haq, a Muslim fundamentalist who reinstates public hangings, death by stoning and public beatings according to Islamic law |
| 1978 AD |
The Karakoram Highway linking Pakistan and China is opened, thereby increasing trade and military cooperation between the two countries |
| 1978 AD |
Sri Lanka becomes a presidential republic and Junius Richard Jayawardene is appointed president replacing prime minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike with Ranasinghe Premadasa |
| 1978 AD |
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) conducts the first terrorist attack in Sri Lanka |
| 1979 AD |
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto is hanged |
| 1980 AD |
US uses Pakistan to help rebels fighting the Soviet Union in Afghanistan |
| 1981 AD |
Bangladesh's leader Rahman Zia is assassinated in a military coup |
| 1982 AD |
Bangladesh is ruled by general Ershad, an Islamic fundamentalist who eventually declares Islam as the state religion |
| 1983 AD |
The Tamil issue becomes a military issue after confrontation between Tamil tigers and the army leaves hundreds dead |
| 1984 AD |
While fighting the Sikh secessionist movement of Jarnail Singh Bindranwale, Indian troops enter the holy Sikh shrine of the "Golden Temple" |
| 1984 AD |
Indira Gandhi is assassinated by Sikh bodyguards and is succeeded by her son Rajiv |
| 1984 AD |
A leak at the Union Carbide pesticides plant in Bhopal causes 14,000 deaths |
| 1985 AD |
Sikh militants plant a bomb on an Air India flight out of Canada killing all 329 passengers |
| 1986 AD |
India rigs Kashmir elections and Kashmir separatists takes up arms |
| 1987 AD |
First suicide bombing by a Tiger in Sri Lanka |
| 1987 AD |
India deploys troops in Sri Lanka in a peacekeeping mission |
| 1987 AD |
India sends a peace-keeping force to broker a truce between the army and the Tamil tigers (1,200 Indian soldiers will die) |
| 1987 AD |
The Tamil Tigers start using suicide bombers |
| 1987 AD |
Abdul Wadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's Atomic bomb, begins contacts with Iran to sell nuclear secrets |
| 1988 AD |
Political violence claims the lives of thousands in Sri Lanka before and after national elections |
| 1988 AD |
An Indian ferry capsizes on the Ganges River, killing over 400 people |
| 1988 AD |
Zia, the US ambassador and top Pakistan army officials die in mysterious air crash |
| 1988 AD |
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's daughter Benazir wins the general elections in Pakistan |
| 1988 AD |
Millions of people are left homeless during massive floods |
| 1989 AD |
Ranasinghe Premadasa is elected president of Sri Lanka |
| 1989 AD |
Rajiv Gandhi is the first Indian prime minister to visit Pakistan |
| 1989 AD |
Tibetans revolt against the occupying Chinese troops and hundreds are killed |
| 1989 AD |
The separatist group Hizbul Mujahideen is founded in India-controlled Kashmir |
| 1990 AD |
Indian troops withdrawn from Sri Lanka |
| 1990 AD |
Benazir Bhutto is removed from prime minister of Pakistan, on charges of incompetence and corruption, and is succeeded by Nawaz Sharif |
| 1990 AD |
Pakistan funds and arms Islamic volunteers to fight the Soviet Union in Afghanistan |
| 1990 AD |
Islamic terrorism in Kashmir increases against the Indian occupying troops |
| 1990 AD |
Indian troops leave Sri Lanka |
| 1990 AD |
the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) is founded by Lalit Debbarma to fight for Tripura's secession from India |
| 1991 AD |
Nepal holds its first democratic elections that herald an age of political instability (eleven governments in eleven years) |
| 1991 AD |
The Indian army attacks Sikh strongholds in Punjab killing more than 3,300 civilians |
| 1991 AD |
Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated by Tamil separatists and succeeded by Narasimha Rao |
| 1991 AD |
In Bangladesh, president Ershad is sentenced to jail for corruption and Begum Khaleda Zia, widow of Zia Rahman, becomes prime minister |
| 1991 AD |
A tsunami kills 138,000 people in Bangladesh |
| 1991 AD |
India liberalizes its protectionist economy |
| 1992 AD |
Hindu extremists destroy a mosque in Ayodhya |
| 1992 AD |
Tamil tigers kill dozens of Muslims in Sri Lanka |
| 1993 AD |
Muslims and Hindus riot in Bombay (800 people died) |
| 1993 AD |
Muslim terrorists detonate several bombs in Mumbai killing 250 people |
| 1993 AD |
Benazir Bhutto wins national elections again in Pakistan |
| 1995 AD |
Abdul Wadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's Atomic bomb, begins contacts with North Korea to sell nuclear secrets |
| 1993 AD |
A bombing campaign by Tamil rebels in Sri Lanka kills even president Premadasa |
| 1993 AD |
A bomb destroys the Bombay stock exchange |
| 1994 AD |
Muslim separatists plant bombs in Kashmir, killing dozens |
| 1994 AD |
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga is elected president of Sri Lanka and appoints her mother Sirimavo Bandaranaike as prime minister |
| 1995 AD |
The Nepal Communist Party begins an armed insurrection in Nepal |
| 1995 AD |
Abdul Wadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's Atomic bomb, begins contacts with Libya to sell nuclear secrets |
| 1995 AD |
Azam Tariq, a Pakistani Sunny cleric leader of the pro-Taliban party Sipah-i-Sahaba, publicly calls for attacks on Shiites in Pakistan |
| 1995 AD |
Youstol Dispage |
| 1996 AD |
Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto is removed again on charges of corruption |
| 1996 AD |
Pakistan helps the Taliban overthrow the Afghan government |
| 1996 AD |
Sheikh Hasina Wajed, the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, wins the elections in Bangladesh |
| 1996 AD |
Tamil rebels bomb the capital of Sri Lanka |
| 1996 AD |
The Nationalist Party wins the election and Atal Behari Vajpayee becomes prime minister |
| 1997 AD |
The Muslim League wins general elections in Pakistan |
| 1997 AD |
Nawaz Sharif is elected prime minister of Pakistan |
| 1998 AD |
Pakistan provides North Korea with nuclear technology in exchange for missile technology |
| 1998 AD |
India and Pakistan conduct nuclear tests |
| 1998 AD |
Massive floods in Bangladesh |
| 1998 AD |
211 die in a train collision in the Punjab |
| 1998 AD |
A Muslim fundamentalist, Tablighi Muslim Rafiq Tarar, is elected president of Pakistan |
| 1999 AD |
Benazir Bhutto is sentenced to jail in absentia |
| 1999 AD |
Escalation of violence in Kashmir between Indian troops and freedom fighters backed by Pakistan |
| 1999 AD |
Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif is overthrown in a military coup led by general Pervez Musharraf |
| 1999 AD |
A cyclone devastates the Indian state of Orissa killing 10,000 people |
| 1999 AD |
285 die in a train collision near Calcutta |
| 1999 AD |
The world's largest Tibetan tangka is completed (a 1,500 square meter, 1,000 kg scroll) |
| 2000 AD |
The population of India is one billion |
| 2000 AD |
The Tamil leader Velupillai Prabhakaran offers peace talks to the Sri Lankan government |
| 2001 AD |
King Birendra of Nepal and his entire family are killed by a crown prince, and Gyanendra becomes the new king |
| 2001 AD |
King Gyanendra declares a state of emergency after dozens are killed by Maoists |
| 2001 AD |
An earthquakes kills 30,000 people in the Indian state of Gujarat |
| 2001 AD |
Skirmishes between the Indian and Bangladeshi armies leave 20 soldiers dead |
| 2001 AD |
The Islamic government of Afghanistan destroy the century-old Buddha statues of Bamiyan |
| 2001 AD |
Pakistan helps the US fight the Taliban in Afghanistan |
| 2001 AD |
Muslim separatists attack the Parliament in New Delhi |
| 2001 AD |
Several bombs kill more than 30 people in Bangladesh |
| 2001 AD |
Khaleda Zia wins the election in Bangladesh |
| 2001 AD |
Ranil Wickremesinghe wins Sri Lanka's elections and becomes prime minister after campaigning on a peace platform |
| 2001 AD |
The Kumbh Mela pilgrimage at Allahabad draws at least 20 million pilgrims |
| 2002 AD |
Raids by Maoist rebels leave 127 people dead in Nepal |
| 2002 AD |
Following the burning of a train by Muslim cleric Maulana Hussain Umarij, ethnic rioting erupts in Gujarat that kills 1,000 people, mainly Muslims |
| 2002 AD |
Peace talks begin between Sri Lanka's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Tamil rebels (the civil war has killed over 64,000 people) |
| 2002 AD |
Islamic militants increase attacks on Kashmir and other Indian states |
| 2002 AD |
The first democratic elections are held in Pakistan since 1999 and Zafarullah Khan Jamali becomes prime minister |
| 2003 AD |
Islamic terrorists attack a Shiite mosque and kill nine people |
| 2003 AD |
Islamic terrorists execute up 24 Hindu civilians in Kashmir |
| 2003 AD |
India vaccinates 165 million children to eradicate polio |
| 2003 AD |
Tripura separatist rebels kill 22 Bengali villagers |
| 2003 AD |
Members of the Sunni terrorist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi kill eleven police officers of the Shia community in Baluchistan, Pakistan |
| 2003 AD |
A ferry capzised in Bangladesh killing over 400 people |
| 2003 AD |
34 people are killed by separatists in northeastern India |
| 2003 AD |
46 people are killed in two bomb attacks in Bombay by the Islamic group "Students Islamic Movement of India" (SIMI) |
| 2003 AD |
Azam Tariq, a Pakistani Sunny cleric leader of the pro-Taliban party Sipah-i-Sahaba, is killed |
| 2003 AD |
Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf survives two assassination attempts |
| 2004 AD |
Pakistan's top nuclear scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, confesses on tv that he helped Iran, Libya and North Korea acquire nuclear technology |
| 2004 AD |
The war between Maoist rebels and the Nepalese army leaves hundreds of people dead |
| 2004 AD |
The party of Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga wins elections in Sri Lanka against the party of prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Mahinda Rajapakse is appointed prime minister |
| 2004 AD |
Pakistan carries out a 12-day military offensive in South Waziristan on the border with Afghanistan to dislodge Al Waeda and Taliban fighters |
| 2004 AD |
Despite an economic boom, a third of Indians live on less than a dollar a day |
| 2004 AD |
the Congress Party wins national elections but its leader, Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, lets Manmohan Singh, a Sikh, become India's new prime minister |
| 2004 AD |
Bangalore has 150,000 software engineers, more than the Silicon Valley in California |
| 2004 AD |
29 Indians are killed in Kashmir by a bomb planted by Islamic separatists |
| 2004 AD |
A ferry sinks in Bangladesh killing about 160 people |
| 2004 AD |
43 Shiite Muslims are killed during a religious festival in Pakistan by Sunni extremists of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (march) and a bomb blast kills 15 people at a Shia mosque in Karachi (may) in retaliation for the killing of a top Sunni Muslim cleric, Mufti Nizamuddin Shamzai |
| 2004 AD |
Bomb blasts at a Sunni gathering kill 39 people in Pakistan and bomb blasts at a Shia mosque kill 19 |
| 2004 AD |
Maoist rebels control 68 of Nepal's 75 districts |
| 2004 AD |
Ten people are killed in a bomb blast in Quetta, Pakistan |
| 2004 AD |
Tsunamis caused by one of the strongest earthquakes in history (9.0 magnitude) kill thousands in Southeast Asia |
| 2005 AD |
More than 30 people are killed in a bomb blast at the Fatehpu shrine in Pakistan |
| 2005 AD |
China and India sign a treaty in which China gives up any claim on the state of Sikkim |
| 2005 AD |
A bomb blast at a Muslim shrine in Pakistan's capital Islamabad kills at least 20 people |
| 2005 AD |
Rebels throw rockets at president Musharraf in Balochistan |
| 2005 AD |
An bomb by Hizbul Mujahideen kills nine Indian soldiers in Kashmir |
| 2005 AD |
Pakistan expels foreign Islamic students, who frequently support terrorism |
| 2005 AD |
Pakistan launches its first long-range nuclear-capable missile and its first cruise missile |
| 2005 AD |
Sri Lankan foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar is assassinated by members of the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE) |
| 2005 AD |
350 bombs planted by Islamic fundamentalists of Jamayetul Mujahedin detonate in Bangladesh |
| 2005 AD |
Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka agree to hold direct talks with the government |
| 2005 AD |
Asif Chotto, head of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi that killed hundreds of Pakistani shiites, is arrested |
| 2005 AD |
Bombs set by Kashmiri militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba kill 59 people in New Delhi |
| 2005 AD |
Maoists (Naxalites) kill 24 police officers in India |
| 2005 AD |
Muslims in Sangla Hill (Punjab) destroy two Catholic churches and two schools because they think that someone has burned a copy of the Quran |
| 2005 AD |
Sri Lanka's prime minister Mahinda Rajapakse wins presidential elections |
| 2005 AD |
Seven people are killed by Islamic terrorists of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen in Bangladesh, the first suicide bombing in the country's history |
| 2005 AD |
900 people are killed in 2005 in violence related to the Maoist insurgency of the Naxalites |
| 2006 AD |
23 shiites are killed by a suicide bomber in Pakistan |
| 2006 AD |
Maoists (Naxalites) kill 25 people in India |
| 2006 AD |
Bangladesh arrests Abdur Rahman, leader of terrorist organization Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen |
| 2006 AD |
The USA and India sign a nuclear agreement |
| 2006 AD |
Bombs kill more than 20 people in Varanasi |
| 2006 AD |
25 Muslims are killed in Pakistan during fights between rival factions |
| 2006 AD |
47 people are killed in a suspected suicide bomb attack at a Sunni religious gathering in Karachi, Pakistan |
| 2006 AD |
Massive pro-democracy protests in Nepal |
| 2006 AD |
Islamists kill 35 hindus in Kashmir |
| 2006 AD |
Tamil Tiger rebels sink a Sri Lanka navy gunboat in a sea battle that leaves at least 45 people dead |
| 2006 AD |
58 people die when a bus hits a landmine in Sri Lanka |
| 2006 AD |
Pakistan kills 25 Baloch rebels of Nawab Akbar Bugti's militia |
| 2006 AD |
Multiple terrorist bombs in Mumbai kill more than 200 people |
| 2006 AD |
Government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels fight on three fronts in Sri Lanka despite the 2002 ceasefire agreement |
