Historical Timeline

• In the conventional narrative, Indian history begins with the birth of the Indus Valley Civilization (3000 – 1500 BC), followed by the arrival of the Aryans (2000 BC).

• Hinduism is generally dated to around the beginning of the Christian era although some elements are clearly drawn from the Indus Valley civilization.

• In the 4^th century BC, large parts of India were united under the emperor Ashoka. Ashoka who converted to Buddhism, and it is in his reign that Buddhism first spread to other parts of Asia.

• Islam first came to India in the 8^th century AD and by the 11^th century AD had firmly established itself in India as a political force – the North Indian dynasties were succeeded by the Mughal Empire under which India once again experienced a large measure of political unity.

• The European presence in India dates to the 16^th century.

• It is in the very early part of the 18^th century that the Mughal Empire began to disintegrate, paving the way for regional states.

• England emerges victorious in the battle for supremacy in India , with the subsequent proclaiming of Queen Victoria as Empress of India on January 1, 1877.

• By the early part of the 20^th century a nationalist movement emerged; and, by 1919-1920, Mohandas Karamchand (Mahatma) Gandhi was considered the leader of this effort. Successive campaigns had the effect of driving the British out of India in 1947, but not before they partitioned the country, carving out the Muslim-majority state of Pakistan from Hindu-majority India.

• Pakistan, following the 1947 partitioning of the sub-continent, was given two land masses, one east and one west. The two “wings” were separated by more than one thousand miles. The eastern wing of Pakistan later became Bangladesh in a 1971 war for independence.

• This division of the sub-continent – inhabited by 360 million people in 1947 – led to ethnic cleansing in certain regions. This resulted in the deaths of a half million to 1 million people, and the displacement of some 12 million.

• The first prime minister of independent India was Jawaharlal Nehru, who held office from 1947 until his death in 1964.

• Apart from a short period of two years from 1975-77, when an internal emergency was imposed by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and constitutional liberties were suspended, India has been a parliamentary democracy.

Sources for this timeline include:

http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/mainhist.html

http://www.orgs.ttu.edu/saofbangladesh/history.htm

http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/india/1877empressvictoria.html