Interactive timeline · 3300 BCE to 2026
5,000 years in 140 moments. Scroll, slide through time or tap the map.
Drains, docks and dice: city life 5,000 years ago
Farming villages along the Indus and its tributaries start trading, building walls and making pottery on a big scale. This early Harappan phase lays the groundwork for one of the world's first urban civilisations.
Did you know? At its peak the Indus Civilisation covered more land than ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia combined.
Mature Harappan cities rise with grid-like streets, baked-brick houses and covered drains. Mohenjo-daro, one of the world's earliest big cities, even had the Great Bath, a waterproofed public tank.
Did you know? The famous 'Dancing Girl' bronze from Mohenjo-daro is just 10.5 cm tall.
About 150 km from Delhi, Rakhigarhi in Haryana grew into one of the largest Indus Valley settlements ever found. Excavations keep turning up streets, drains, bead workshops and burials.
Did you know? People lived at Rakhigarhi from the pre-Harappan phase right through the mature Harappan era.
On an island in the salt desert of Kutch, Dholavira's people cut huge reservoirs and channels to store scarce monsoon water. The city also left a row of large Indus signs, often called the world's oldest signboard.
Did you know? Dholavira was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2021.
Builders at Lothal in Gujarat create a large brick basin that many archaeologists see as one of the world's earliest dockyards. Indus beads and seals travelled as far as Mesopotamia.
Over a few centuries the big cities empty out as people move to smaller villages further east. Shifting rivers and a weakening monsoon are the leading explanations; there was no single dramatic collapse.
Did you know? Despite a century of attempts, nobody has deciphered the Indus script yet.
Hymns, horses and the big questions of life
A Rigveda hymn tells how King Sudas of the Bharata tribe beat a coalition of ten tribes on the banks of the Parushni, today's Ravi. It is one of the oldest battles recorded in Indian literature.
Did you know? The hymns suggest Sudas won by breaching a dyke on the river, drowning many of his enemies.
Poet-priests compose over 1,000 hymns in Vedic Sanskrit to gods like Agni and Indra. Passed down orally with amazing precision, the Rigveda is one of the oldest religious texts still in use.
Did you know? The Rigveda's river hymn names Punjab's rivers, including the Shutudri (Sutlej) and Parushni (Ravi).
Tribes settle down into the Kuru kingdom across today's Haryana, Delhi and western Uttar Pradesh during the Iron Age. Its rulers organise Vedic rituals and help collect the hymns into standard texts.
Did you know? Kurukshetra literally means 'the field of the Kurus'.
Thinkers in the Ganga plains move beyond ritual to ask: what is the self, and what is ultimate reality? Upanishadic ideas like atman and brahman still shape Hindu philosophy.
Did you know? India's national motto, 'Satyameva Jayate' (Truth alone triumphs), comes from the Mundaka Upanishad.
Mohenjo-daro: a planned city with drains
Sixteen kingdoms, two great teachers, one Alexander
North India becomes a patchwork of sixteen big kingdoms and republics, from Gandhara in the northwest to Anga in the east. Cities, coins and trade roads boom in this 'second urbanisation'.
Did you know? Some Mahajanapadas, like the Vajji league around Vaishali, were run by assemblies of clan leaders rather than kings.
Born a prince near Vaishali, Vardhamana gives up palace life and becomes Mahavira, the 'great hero' of Jainism. He teaches ahimsa (non-violence), truth and non-attachment.
After years as a wandering ascetic, Siddhartha Gautama meditates under a pipal tree at Bodh Gaya and attains enlightenment. He gives his first sermon at Sarnath and spends decades teaching the Middle Way.
Did you know? The Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya, built where he sat, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
In Gandhara, the grammarian Panini packs the whole of Sanskrit into the Ashtadhyayi, a set of nearly 4,000 short rules. Its logic is so tight that modern linguists and computer scientists still study it.
The Nanda kings build a centralised state across the Ganga plains, famous for its huge army and even bigger treasury. Greek writers later said the size of the Nanda army helped convince Alexander's tired troops to turn back.
Did you know? Ancient sources say the Nandas' legendary wealth came from a new tax and coin system.
Alexander of Macedon crosses the Hydaspes (Jhelum) during a night storm and defeats King Porus and his war elephants. Impressed, he lets Porus keep ruling his kingdom; soon after, Alexander's exhausted army refuses to march beyond the Beas.
Did you know? It was possibly the costliest battle of Alexander's entire campaign.
India's first mega-empire, from Chanakya to Ashoka
With the strategist Chanakya (Kautilya) at his side, young Chandragupta overthrows the Nandas and founds the Maurya Empire. It grows into the first empire to unite most of the subcontinent.
Did you know? Chanakya is traditionally credited with the Arthashastra, an ancient guide to statecraft, spying and economics.
Alexander's general Seleucus crosses the Indus to win back India's northwest and fails. In the peace deal Chandragupta gains lands in today's Afghanistan and Balochistan, Seleucus gets 500 elephants, and the Greek envoy Megasthenes moves to Pataliputra.
Did you know? Megasthenes' book 'Indica' is lost, but quotes from it survive in later Greek and Roman writers.
According to Jain tradition, Chandragupta abdicates, travels south with the monk Bhadrabahu and ends his life by ritual fasting at Shravanabelagola in Karnataka. His son Bindusara takes over the empire.
Did you know? Shravanabelagola's 17-metre Gommateshwara statue was carved from a single granite block over a thousand years ago.
Emperor Ashoka conquers Kalinga, on the Odisha coast, in one of ancient India's bloodiest wars. His own edict counts 100,000 killed and 150,000 deported, and the horror turns him towards Buddhism and rule by dhamma.
Did you know? The battle is traditionally placed near Dhauli hill, close to Bhubaneswar, where an Ashokan rock edict still stands.
Ashoka puts up polished stone pillars and edicts across his empire, spreading his message of dhamma. The four lions on his pillar at Sarnath later become independent India's national emblem.
Did you know? The wheel on the same lion capital inspired the 24-spoke Ashoka Chakra on India's flag.
General Pushyamitra Shunga kills Brihadratha, the last Maurya emperor, and founds the Shunga dynasty. The great empire breaks up, and the subcontinent returns to many competing kingdoms.
Zero, Nalanda, Ajanta and Chola fleets
In the far south, the Chera, Chola and Pandya kingdoms flourish, and poets write thousands of Tamil verses on love (akam) and war (puram). Tradition links them to poetic academies called Sangams at Madurai.
Did you know? The surviving Sangam collection holds 2,381 Tamil poems by 473 poets.
Kanishka rules a Kushan empire stretching from Central Asia into the Ganga plains, right on the Silk Road. Under the Kushans, sculptors in Gandhara and Mathura create some of the earliest images of the Buddha in human form.
Did you know? Kushan coins mix Indian, Greek and Iranian gods, from the Buddha and Shiva to the Greek sun god Helios.
Chandragupta I founds the Gupta dynasty, and his successors Samudragupta and Chandragupta II rule much of north India. Art, Sanskrit literature, maths and astronomy flourish so much that the era is often called a golden age.
Did you know? Delhi's famous rust-resistant Iron Pillar, now at the Qutb complex, was made under Chandragupta II.
Under the Guptas, Nalanda grows into a huge Buddhist monastery-university, drawing students from as far away as China, Korea and Central Asia. It thrives for around 700 years until it is sacked around 1200 CE.
Did you know? A modern Nalanda University was founded nearby in 2010 as its successor.
Artists carve and paint a second wave of Buddhist caves at Ajanta, joining older ones from the 2nd century BCE. Their murals are some of the finest surviving paintings of the ancient world.
Did you know? The 30 caves were forgotten for centuries until a British officer stumbled on them while hunting a tiger in 1819.
Working near Pataliputra, Aryabhata writes the Aryabhatiya, saying he is just 23. He gives a value of pi accurate to four decimal places and explains that the Earth rotates on its axis.
Did you know? India named its first satellite, launched in 1975, after him.
Harshavardhana, king of Thanesar in today's Haryana, becomes emperor in 606 and rules much of north India from his capital at Kannauj. The Chinese monk Xuanzang visits his court and records it in a famous travel diary.
Did you know? Harsha was also a playwright; three Sanskrit plays, including Ratnavali and Nagananda, are credited to him.
In Bhillamala, today's Bhinmal in Rajasthan, Brahmagupta writes the Brahmasphutasiddhanta, the first known text to treat zero as a number with its own rules. Via Arab scholars, Indian numerals and zero went on to conquer the world.
Did you know? Europeans later called these Indian digits 'Arabic numerals', because they learned them from Arab mathematicians.
The Pallava kings of Kanchipuram turn the busy port of Mamallapuram into an open-air gallery of rock-cut shrines and giant reliefs. The granite Shore Temple, facing the Bay of Bengal, is among South India's oldest structural stone temples.
Raja Raja Chola I completes the Brihadisvara Temple, a granite giant with one of the tallest temple towers of its time. The Cholas are now the strongest power in the south, with a navy that reaches Sri Lanka and the Maldives.
Did you know? The temple's builder called it Rajarajesvaram; locals simply call it Periya Kovil, the 'Big Temple'.
Rajendra Chola I, fresh from a northern campaign to the Ganga, sends his fleet across the Bay of Bengal to raid the Srivijaya kingdom in Sumatra and Malaya. Few Indian rulers ever projected power so far overseas.
Did you know? He took the title Gangaikonda Cholan, 'the Chola who conquered the Ganges', and named his new capital after it.
Tarain, sultans, Hampi and the Bhakti beat
Near today's Taraori in Haryana, Prithviraj Chauhan and a Rajput confederacy rout the invading army of Muhammad of Ghor. The wounded Ghurid ruler escapes to Ghazni to regroup.
Did you know? Prithviraj's story became legend through the poem Prithviraj Raso, written long after his death.
Muhammad of Ghor returns with a fast, disciplined cavalry army and defeats Prithviraj on the same battlefield. The victory opens north India to Ghurid rule and leads to the Delhi Sultanate.
Did you know? Tarain is modern Taraori in Karnal district, about 110 km north of Delhi.
Qutb-ud-din Aibak begins a towering minaret and victory tower in Delhi, and his successor Iltutmish adds more storeys. Built mostly between 1199 and 1220, it is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Did you know? Climb fans, note: the minar has 399 steps inside.
After Muhammad of Ghor is assassinated, his general Qutb-ud-din Aibak sets up independent rule from Lahore. Five dynasties will rule the Delhi Sultanate for 320 years, until Babur arrives in 1526.
Did you know? Aibak died in 1210 after falling from his horse while playing chaugan, an early form of polo, in Lahore.
Sultan Iltutmish picks his daughter Razia as heir, and she takes the throne in 1236. She leads armies and holds open court, but rebellious nobles depose her in 1240.
Did you know? She was the first female Muslim ruler of the subcontinent and the only one in Delhi's history.
King Narasimhadeva I of the Eastern Ganga dynasty builds a colossal temple to Surya, designed as a stone chariot with carved wheels and horses. It is a high point of Kalinga architecture.
Did you know? A Konark chariot wheel appears on the back of India's ten-rupee note.
Sultan Muhammad bin Tughlaq orders much of Delhi's elite to shift around 1,000 km south to Daulatabad, then reverses the move a few years later. His copper 'token currency' also flopped when people started forging coins at home.
Did you know? History remembers him with nicknames like 'the Eccentric Prince' and 'the Mad Sultan'.
Brothers Harihara and Bukka of the Sangama dynasty found the Vijayanagara Empire on the Tungabhadra river. Its capital grows into one of the largest and richest cities of the medieval world.
Did you know? Hampi's famous stone chariot at the Vittala temple appears on India's fifty-rupee note.
The weaver-poet Kabir of Varanasi writes sharp, simple dohas that mock hypocrisy and celebrate a God found within. He is part of a wave of Bhakti and Sufi saints singing in people's own languages.
Did you know? Kabir's verses are included in the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh scripture.
Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism, is born in Talwandi, now Nankana Sahib near Lahore. He travels far and wide teaching Ik Onkar (one God), equality and honest work, and later settles at Kartarpur on the Ravi.
Did you know? Guru Nanak lived at Kartarpur for his last 18 years; the town is now just across the border in Pakistan.
Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama reaches Kerala's Malabar coast after sailing around Africa, the first European sea voyage to India. The new route to the spice trade soon pulls in the Portuguese, Dutch, French and British.
Cannons at Panipat to marble at Agra
Babur, a Central Asian prince descended from Timur and Genghis Khan, defeats Sultan Ibrahim Lodi at Panipat. His field guns and matchlocks help a smaller army win, founding the Mughal Empire.
Did you know? It was one of the first battles in the subcontinent fought with gunpowder firearms and cannons.
Afghan ruler Sher Shah Suri crushes Humayun near Kannauj, forcing the Mughal into 15 years of exile. In just five years Sher Shah revamps the old road from Bengal to the northwest, later called the Grand Trunk Road, and issues a silver coin called the rupiya.
Did you know? The modern rupee traces its name and standard back to Sher Shah's silver rupiya.
Fourteen-year-old Akbar's regent Bairam Khan faces Hemu, the general who had just taken Delhi and crowned himself king. Hemu is winning until an arrow strikes him in the eye; his army breaks, and the Mughals are back for good.
Did you know? Hemu had crowned himself Vikramaditya at Delhi's Purana Qila only weeks earlier.
At his new red-sandstone capital, Akbar builds the Ibadat Khana, a hall where Muslim, Hindu, Jain, Zoroastrian and Christian scholars debate. His policy of 'sulh-i kul' (peace with all) shapes Mughal rule for decades.
Did you know? Fatehpur Sikri's Buland Darwaza is often described as one of the highest gateways in the world.
Maharana Pratap of Mewar takes on Akbar's army, led by Raja Man Singh of Amber, in a narrow Aravalli pass. The Mughals win the day, but Pratap escapes and keeps resisting from the hills for the rest of his life.
Did you know? Pratap's horse Chetak, wounded at Haldighati, is a folk hero with a memorial near the battlefield.
Guru Arjan compiles hymns of the Sikh Gurus and saints such as Kabir, Ravidas and Farid into the Adi Granth and installs it at the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar. The shrine, with doors on all four sides, welcomes people of every background.
Did you know? Today the Golden Temple's langar serves over 100,000 free vegetarian meals every day.
The fifth Sikh Guru is arrested, tortured and executed in Lahore on Emperor Jahangir's orders. Sikhs remember him as the first Sikh martyr, and his son Guru Hargobind begins to arm the community.
Did you know? Guru Arjan is also credited with founding the towns of Tarn Taran and Kartarpur near Jalandhar.
Eight years after Queen Elizabeth I chartered the East India Company, its ships dock at Surat, the Mughals' busiest port. After beating the Portuguese off Swally in 1612, the English open their first permanent trading post there.
Did you know? In 1615 King James I sent Sir Thomas Roe as his ambassador to Emperor Jahangir.
Heartbroken after his wife Mumtaz Mahal dies in childbirth, Shah Jahan commissions a white-marble tomb on the Yamuna in Agra. Thousands of artisans work for about two decades to finish the complex.
Did you know? Shah Jahan himself was later buried in the Taj, right beside Mumtaz.
Put under house arrest after a tense meeting with Aurangzeb in Agra, Shivaji slips away with his young son Sambhaji. Popular tradition says they hid in big baskets of sweets sent out as gifts.
Aurangzeb dies in the Deccan after 49 years on the throne and decades of draining wars. The empire is at its largest, but succession fights and rising Maratha, Sikh and regional powers soon tear it apart.
Did you know? He was buried in a simple open-air grave at Khuldabad, near Aurangabad.
Chhatrapati, Khalsa and the Lion of Punjab
After years of lightning campaigns against the Bijapur Sultanate and the Mughals, Shivaji is formally crowned Chhatrapati at Raigad fort. His hill forts, navy and sharp administration lay the foundation of Maratha power.
Did you know? Raigad is one of 12 Maratha forts declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2025.
The ninth Sikh Guru is beheaded in Delhi's Chandni Chowk on Aurangzeb's orders. Sikh tradition honours him as 'Hind di Chadar', the shield of India, for giving his life for freedom of faith, including that of Kashmiri Pandits who sought his help.
Did you know? Gurdwara Sis Ganj Sahib in Chandni Chowk marks the spot of his martyrdom.
On Vaisakhi at Anandpur Sahib, Guru Gobind Singh asks who will offer their head for the faith; five volunteers step forward and become the Panj Pyare. They are the first members of the Khalsa, with the Five Ks and the names Singh and Kaur.
Did you know? Sikh tradition says the Panj Pyare came from as far apart as Lahore, Hastinapur, Dwarka, Puri and Bidar.
After the siege of Anandpur, Guru Gobind Singh's elder sons fall fighting at Chamkaur. His two youngest, Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh, still small boys, are executed at Sirhind on governor Wazir Khan's orders after refusing to give up their faith.
Did you know? India now observes 26 December as Veer Bal Diwas (Day of Brave Children) in their honour.
Sent north by Guru Gobind Singh, Banda Singh Bahadur rallies Sikh peasants and defeats Wazir Khan's army at Chappar Chiri, then takes Sirhind. He strikes coins in the Gurus' name and hands land to the farmers who till it.
Did you know? The 100-metre Fateh Burj at Chappar Chiri, near Mohali, is India's tallest victory tower.
Persian ruler Nadir Shah crushes the Mughal army at Karnal in about three hours, then occupies and sacks Delhi. He rides home with the Peacock Throne and the Koh-i-Noor diamond, a blow the Mughals never recover from.
Did you know? On top of the looting, Delhi's people were hit with a fine of 20 million rupees.
The Maratha army led by Sadashivrao Bhau clashes with Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Abdali in one of the 18th century's largest battles. The Marathas suffer a crushing defeat with enormous losses, leaving a power vacuum the British would later exploit.
Did you know? Panipat, about 97 km north of Delhi, saw three history-changing battles in just 235 years.
Sikh forces led by Baghel Singh and Jassa Singh Ahluwalia storm into Delhi and reach the Red Fort, where Ahluwalia is briefly seated on the Mughal throne. A deal approved by Emperor Shah Alam II lets Baghel Singh stay on with a garrison, collect taxes and build gurdwaras at sites linked to the Sikh Gurus.
Did you know? Delhi's Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, Rakab Ganj and Sis Ganj trace their origins to shrines built under Baghel Singh.
Having taken Lahore in 1799, the 20-year-old Ranjit Singh is proclaimed Maharaja in 1801. The 'Lion of Punjab' unites the Sikh misls into an empire stretching from the Khyber Pass to Ladakh, with a modern, European-trained army.
Did you know? He covered the Harmandir Sahib in gilded copper, which is why the world calls it the Golden Temple.
After Ranjit Singh's death in 1839, the Sikh Empire falls into infighting and war with the East India Company breaks out in 1845. After hard battles at Mudki and Ferozeshah, the Khalsa army is defeated at Sobraon on the Sutlej, and Punjab loses territory including Kashmir.
Did you know? General Sham Singh Attariwala died fighting at Sobraon and is remembered as a hero in Punjab.
The second Anglo-Sikh war brings fierce fighting at Chillianwala and a final defeat at Gujrat, and the Company annexes Punjab. Ten-year-old Maharaja Duleep Singh is deposed and the Koh-i-Noor is handed over to Queen Victoria.
When a trading company ran a subcontinent
Robert Clive's East India Company force defeats Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah of Bengal, largely because the nawab's commander Mir Jafar switches sides. The Company becomes the real power in Bengal, India's richest province.
Did you know? Clive had about 3,000 soldiers; the nawab's army numbered around 50,000, with cannons and war elephants.
The Company beats the combined armies of Mughal emperor Shah Alam II, the Nawab of Awadh and Mir Qasim of Bengal. Soon after, it wins the diwani: the right to collect taxes across Bengal, Bihar and Odisha.
Failed harvests hit Bengal and Bihar, affecting about 30 million people, yet the East India Company keeps collecting land revenue. Officials at the time estimated a third of the population died; modern historians' estimates range from about 1 million to 10 million.
Tipu Sultan, the 'Tiger of Mysore', dies defending his island fortress when Company troops and their allies storm it. With Mysore beaten, the British become the dominant power in the south.
Did you know? Tipu's iron-cased rockets impressed the British so much that they studied them to build their own Congreve rockets.
After years of campaigning by reformer Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Governor-General William Bentinck bans sati, the burning of widows on their husbands' funeral pyres. It is an early landmark of the social reform movement.
Fourteen carriages carrying about 400 guests steam 34 km from Bori Bunder in Bombay to Thane, pulled by locomotives named Sahib, Sultan and Sindh. Railways soon criss-cross India, carrying people, goods and ideas.
Did you know? It ran on 5 ft 6 in broad gauge, still the standard for most of India's main lines.
Satyagraha, Inquilab Zindabad and a midnight tryst
Sepoys in Meerut, angered by rumours that new rifle cartridges were greased with cow and pig fat, rise up and march to Delhi. They proclaim the elderly Bahadur Shah Zafar their emperor, and revolt spreads across north and central India.
Did you know? Weeks earlier, sepoy Mangal Pandey had attacked British officers at Barrackpore, near Calcutta.
Rani Lakshmibai of Jhansi becomes one of the revolt's fiercest leaders. After breaking out of besieged Jhansi she joins rebels at Gwalior and dies in battle there; by year's end the Crown has replaced Company rule.
Seventy-two delegates meet in Bombay to found the Indian National Congress. It starts as a polite club of petitioners and grows into the main vehicle of the freedom movement.
Did you know? It was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge anywhere in Britain's non-European empire.
Dadasaheb Phalke releases Raja Harishchandra, India's first full-length feature film, at Bombay's Coronation Cinema. It's silent, with title cards, and the queen is played by a man, Anna Salunke.
Did you know? India's highest film honour, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, is named after him.
Rabindranath Tagore becomes the first Indian and first non-European to win a Nobel Prize, honoured in literature for Gitanjali. The poet also wrote the songs that became the national anthems of India and Bangladesh.
Did you know? His Nobel medal was stolen from Visva-Bharati in Santiniketan in 2004 and has never been recovered.
The ship Komagata Maru carries 376 passengers, most of them Sikhs from Punjab, to Vancouver, but Canada's discriminatory laws keep almost all of them out. Back in India, police fire on the returning passengers at Budge Budge near Calcutta, killing about 20.
Did you know? Its passengers called the ship 'Guru Nanak Jahaz'. Canada's prime minister formally apologised in Parliament in 2016.
Indigo farmers in Bihar's Champaran, forced by British planters to grow the dye crop for almost nothing, ask Gandhi for help. His non-violent campaign wins them relief and turns him into a national figure.
Did you know? Rajendra Prasad, later India's first President, joined Gandhi in Champaran as a volunteer lawyer.
On Baisakhi, a large crowd gathers in a walled garden in Amritsar to protest the Rowlatt Act and the arrest of local leaders. Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer blocks the exit and orders troops to fire; official figures say 379 died, Indian estimates were far higher.
Did you know? In 1940 Udham Singh of Sunam shot Michael O'Dwyer, Punjab's governor at the time of the massacre, in London.
Gandhi calls on Indians to boycott British goods, schools, courts and titles, and millions join in. He calls the movement off in 1922 after a crowd burns a police station at Chauri Chaura, killing 22 policemen.
Did you know? Khadi, hand-spun cloth, became the uniform of the freedom movement during these boycotts.
India's hockey team wins its first Olympic gold in Amsterdam, and Dhyan Chand tops the scoring with 14 goals in five matches. One newspaper gushed: 'This is not a game of hockey, but magic.'
Did you know? India's National Sports Day, 29 August, is Dhyan Chand's birthday.
At its Lahore session, the Congress drops the demand for dominion status and calls for Purna Swaraj, complete independence. At midnight on New Year's Eve, Jawaharlal Nehru raises the tricolour on the banks of the Ravi.
Did you know? The declaration was proclaimed on 26 January 1930, which is why the Constitution began on 26 January 1950.
Gandhi and 78 followers walk for 24 days from Sabarmati Ashram to the sea at Dandi to make salt, breaking the British salt law. The simple act sparks civil disobedience across India, and tens of thousands are jailed.
Did you know? TIME magazine named Gandhi its Man of the Year for 1930.
Ardeshir Irani's Alam Ara becomes India's first sound film, packing in songs and drawing huge crowds in Bombay. The talkies make music the heart of Indian cinema.
Did you know? No print of Alam Ara is known to survive, so India's first talkie is now a lost film.
In 1929 Bhagat Singh and B.K. Dutt set off largely symbolic bombs in Delhi's Central Legislative Assembly and courted arrest, shouting 'Inquilab Zindabad'. Convicted over the 1928 killing of police officer John Saunders, Bhagat Singh, 23, is hanged in Lahore with Rajguru and Sukhdev.
Did you know? Their bodies were cremated at Hussainiwala on the Sutlej, near Ferozepur, where the National Martyrs Memorial now stands.
With World War II raging, Gandhi launches the Quit India Movement in Bombay with the call 'Do or Die'. Almost the entire Congress leadership is jailed within hours, but students, workers and underground activists keep the revolt alive.
Did you know? The Mumbai ground where Gandhi spoke is now called August Kranti Maidan.
Wartime disruption, soaring rice prices and poor British wartime policies turn food shortages into catastrophe in Bengal. Estimates of the dead range from 0.8 million to 3.8 million.
Subhas Chandra Bose leads the Indian National Army, made up largely of former British Indian Army prisoners of war, alongside Japan, and declares the Azad Hind government. In December 1943 Japan hands the Andaman Islands to Azad Hind's nominal control and Netaji visits Port Blair, while his cry 'Give me blood, I will give you freedom' electrifies Indians.
Did you know? The INA had an all-women unit, the Rani of Jhansi Regiment, led by Captain Lakshmi Sahgal.
British India is divided into India and Pakistan, with new borders cutting through Punjab and Bengal. Somewhere between 12 and 20 million people are uprooted, and hundreds of thousands, perhaps up to two million, die in communal violence.
Did you know? The Radcliffe Line border was announced on 17 August, two days after Independence.
A new republic finds its feet, and its fight
Towards midnight on 14 August, Jawaharlal Nehru tells the Constituent Assembly that 'India will awake to life and freedom'. The next day India is independent, with Nehru as its first Prime Minister.
Did you know? Gandhi skipped the celebrations; he was in Calcutta, working to calm communal riots.
Weeks after independence, tribal militias launched from Pakistan invade Jammu and Kashmir; Maharaja Hari Singh accedes to India and Indian troops are flown into Srinagar. The war ends with a UN-brokered ceasefire on 1 January 1949, leaving Kashmir divided.
Did you know? Major Somnath Sharma, killed defending Srinagar's airfield, was the first recipient of the Param Vir Chakra.
On his way to an evening prayer meeting at Birla House in Delhi, Gandhi, 78, is shot dead by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist. Nehru tells a grieving nation, 'The light has gone out of our lives.'
Did you know? 30 January is observed every year as Martyrs' Day (Shaheed Diwas).
Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and his aide V.P. Menon persuade, pressure and sometimes force more than 500 princely states to join India. Hyderabad joins after a military operation in September 1948.
Did you know? His 182-metre Statue of Unity in Gujarat, opened in 2018, is the world's tallest statue.
The Constitution of India, drafted by a committee chaired by Dr B.R. Ambedkar, comes into force, and India becomes a sovereign democratic republic. Every adult citizen, rich or poor, man or woman, gets the vote.
Did you know? It is the longest written national constitution in the world.
Independent India holds its first general election under full universal adult franchise, stretching from October 1951 to February 1952. Voters elect 489 members to the first Lok Sabha, and Nehru's Congress wins a big majority.
Did you know? Snowbound Himachal voted months early; schoolteacher Shyam Saran Negi of Kalpa was hailed as independent India's first voter.
China attacks across the disputed Himalayan border in Ladakh and the North-East Frontier Agency. India suffers a painful defeat before China declares a ceasefire a month later, a shock that leads to a major overhaul of India's defences.
Did you know? At Rezang La, Major Shaitan Singh's C Company, 13 Kumaon, held out to almost the last man; he won the Param Vir Chakra.
After Pakistan's failed Operation Gibraltar in Kashmir, full-scale war spreads to Punjab. At Asal Uttar near Khem Karan, Indian troops destroy and capture dozens of Pakistani Patton tanks; a UN ceasefire ends the war after 17 days.
Did you know? So many tanks were left behind that the area was nicknamed 'Patton Nagar'.
After the Punjabi Suba movement, Parliament splits Punjab: most Hindi-speaking areas become the new state of Haryana and some hill areas go to Himachal Pradesh. Chandigarh becomes a union territory and the shared capital of both states.
Did you know? Chandigarh was planned by architect Le Corbusier; his Capitol Complex there is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
High-yielding wheat and rice, irrigation and fertilisers, championed by scientist M.S. Swaminathan and taken up by farmers in Punjab and Haryana, send harvests soaring. India goes from relying on food aid to feeding itself.
Did you know? Norman Borlaug, whose high-yield wheat India adopted, won the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize.
Pakistan's brutal crackdown in East Pakistan drives about 10 million refugees into India. In a 13-day war, Indian forces and Bangladeshi freedom fighters win, and Pakistan's army in the east surrenders in Dhaka on 16 December, now Vijay Diwas.
Did you know? Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora, head of Eastern Command, accepted the surrender of about 93,000 Pakistani personnel.
In the Rajasthan desert, India secretly sets off an underground nuclear device, officially called a 'peaceful nuclear explosion'. India becomes the first country outside the five permanent UN Security Council members to carry out a nuclear test.
Did you know? The test led directly to the creation of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, which controls global nuclear trade.
Built by ISRO and launched on a Soviet rocket, Aryabhata becomes India's first satellite. India's space journey had begun just 12 years earlier with small sounding rockets at Thumba in Kerala.
Did you know? The satellite appeared on the back of India's old two-rupee note.
Weeks after the Allahabad High Court voids her election, PM Indira Gandhi has a national Emergency declared, suspending civil liberties, censoring the press and jailing opposition leaders. It lasts 21 months; in 1977 voters elect the Janata Party, India's first non-Congress government.
Did you know? Some newspapers protested censorship by printing blank spaces where editorials should have been.
Ramesh Sippy's Sholay, starring Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan as Veeru and Jai and Amjad Khan as the terrifying Gabbar Singh, opens to lukewarm reviews. Then word of mouth turns it into a phenomenon that ran at Mumbai's Minerva theatre for five years.
Did you know? The rocky village of 'Ramgarh' was filmed at Ramanagara, near Bengaluru.
Written off as 66-1 outsiders, Kapil Dev's India defend just 183 at Lord's and bowl out two-time champions West Indies for 140. The 43-run win turns cricket into India's national obsession.
Did you know? Kapil Dev's running catch to dismiss Viv Richards turned the final; the story became the 2021 film '83'.
Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma flies aboard Soyuz T-11 to a Soviet space station, becoming the first Indian in space. Asked by PM Indira Gandhi how India looks from up there, he replies, 'Saare Jahan Se Achha'.
Did you know? Born in Patiala, he flew under the Soviet Interkosmos programme.
Amid militancy in Punjab, the Army is sent into the Golden Temple complex to remove Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and armed militants. Many soldiers, militants and pilgrims are killed and the Akal Takht is badly damaged, leaving a deep wound for Sikhs.
PM Indira Gandhi is shot dead at her Delhi home by two of her Sikh bodyguards. In the days that follow, mobs kill thousands of Sikhs, about 2,800 in Delhi alone by government count, and other estimates are far higher.
Did you know? Government figures put the toll at 3,350 nationwide; other estimates range from 8,000 to 17,000.
Toxic methyl isocyanate gas leaks from the Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal on a winter night. More than 500,000 people are exposed and thousands die, making it the world's worst industrial disaster.
Reforms, rockets, UPI and World Cup parades
With foreign reserves barely enough for three weeks of imports, PM P.V. Narasimha Rao and Finance Minister Manmohan Singh dismantle the 'Licence Raj', cut tariffs and welcome foreign investment. The reforms kick off decades of fast growth.
Did you know? To avoid default, the RBI had to airlift 47 tonnes of gold to the Bank of England as collateral.
A large crowd of Hindu activists tears down the 16th-century Babri Masjid, at a site many Hindus revere as Ram's birthplace. Communal riots follow in several cities, killing about 2,000 people.
Did you know? In 2019 the Supreme Court gave the site for a Ram temple, consecrated in January 2024, and 5 acres elsewhere for a mosque.
Under PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, India conducts five nuclear tests in the Rajasthan desert, prepared in secret by a team that included A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. India declares itself a nuclear weapons state; Pakistan tests weeks later.
Did you know? 11 May is celebrated as National Technology Day.
Pakistani soldiers and militants secretly occupy high peaks on India's side of the Line of Control in Kargil. Indian troops fight up steep, freezing slopes to retake Tololing and Tiger Hill; 26 July is now Kargil Vijay Diwas.
Did you know? Captain Vikram Batra's 'Yeh Dil Maange More!' became a battle cry; he won the Param Vir Chakra posthumously.
A massive undersea earthquake off Sumatra sends giant waves into Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. More than 10,000 people die in India, with Nagapattinam among the worst-hit places.
In the 10 m air rifle final in Beijing, Abhinav Bindra saves his best for last, a 10.8 on his final shot, to win gold. It is India's first individual Olympic gold medal.
Did you know? He is one of only two Indians with an individual Olympic gold; Neeraj Chopra is the other.
India's first Moon mission blasts off on a PSLV from Sriharikota. Its instruments, including NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper, help confirm the presence of water molecules on the lunar surface.
Did you know? Its impact probe carried the Indian flag to the Moon's surface on 14 November 2008, Children's Day.
Ten Lashkar-e-Taiba gunmen arrive by sea and attack Mumbai's main railway terminus, two luxury hotels, a cafe and a Jewish centre. The siege lasts about four days and kills 166 people.
Chasing 275 against Sri Lanka at the Wankhede, captain MS Dhoni finishes the game with a towering six. India become the first team to win a World Cup final on home soil, and Sachin Tendulkar finally gets his trophy.
Did you know? Teammates carried Sachin around the ground; Virat Kohli said he had carried the nation's burden for 21 years.
India's Mars Orbiter Mission slips into orbit around Mars on the country's very first attempt, making India the first Asian nation to reach the Red Planet. Its budget was famously smaller than that of the Hollywood space film 'Gravity'.
Did you know? Mangalyaan was featured on the back of the 2,000-rupee note introduced in 2016.
The National Payments Corporation of India launches the Unified Payments Interface, letting anyone send money instantly from a phone. From chaiwalas to malls, UPI now handles billions of payments every month.
Did you know? By 2025, UPI was processing more than 250 billion transactions a year.
In a surprise TV address at 8 pm, PM Narendra Modi announces that 500 and 1,000-rupee notes, about 86% of cash in circulation, will stop being legal tender at midnight. Weeks of bank queues follow, and digital payments get a big push.
Did you know? The RBI later reported that about 99% of the banned notes came back into the banks.
At a special midnight session in Parliament's Central Hall, India launches the Goods and Services Tax, replacing a tangle of central and state taxes. It is the country's biggest tax reform since independence.
Did you know? From 22 September 2025, 'GST 2.0' cut most goods down to two main rates: 5% and 18%.
Parliament ends the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir and splits the state into two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. The Supreme Court upheld the decision in December 2023.
Ahead of Guru Nanak's 550th birth anniversary, India and Pakistan open a visa-free corridor to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, where the Guru spent his final years. India suspended the service in May 2025 amid tensions with Pakistan.
Did you know? The gurdwara is just 4.7 km from the border; before the corridor, devotees could only gaze at it from a viewing platform in India.
PM Modi announces a 21-day nationwide lockdown for 1.38 billion people, one of the strictest anywhere. Millions of migrant workers walk home, the 2021 Delta wave is devastating, and India then runs one of the world's biggest vaccination drives.
Farmers, many from Punjab and Haryana, camp on Delhi's borders through winter, summer and COVID to protest three new farm laws. In November 2021 the government repeals the laws, and the farmers head home in December.
Did you know? Protest camps ran community langars that fed protesters, locals and passers-by alike.
In Tokyo, Neeraj Chopra throws 87.58 m to win javelin gold, India's first-ever Olympic gold in athletics. The Army man from a Haryana village becomes a superstar overnight.
Did you know? He added an Olympic silver at Paris 2024.
Composer M.M. Keeravani and lyricist Chandrabose win Best Original Song for 'Naatu Naatu' from S.S. Rajamouli's RRR, the first Oscar for a song from an Indian film. That same night, 'The Elephant Whisperers' wins Best Documentary Short.
Did you know? The song was filmed in front of Ukraine's presidential palace in Kyiv in 2021.
PM Modi inaugurates the triangular new Parliament House, built next to the 1927 original as part of the Central Vista project. Its Lok Sabha chamber can seat 888 members.
Did you know? The Lok Sabha chamber is themed on the peacock, the Rajya Sabha on the lotus.
The Vikram lander touches down near the lunar south pole, making India the first country to land there and only the fourth to soft-land on the Moon. The Pragyan rover then rolls out and confirms sulphur in the lunar soil.
Did you know? The landing spot is named Shiv Shakti point, and 23 August is now National Space Day.
Ten days after the Moon landing, ISRO launches Aditya-L1, India's first space observatory dedicated to the Sun. In January 2024 it settles into orbit around Lagrange point L1, about 1.5 million km from Earth.
India hosts world leaders at the new Bharat Mandapam in Delhi's Pragati Maidan. The summit agrees a joint declaration and welcomes the African Union as a permanent member of the G20.
Did you know? Bharat Mandapam had opened only weeks earlier, in July 2023, on the site of the old Hall of Nations.
In Barbados, India beat South Africa by seven runs, sealed by Suryakumar Yadav's stunning boundary catch. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli retire from T20 internationals, and huge crowds pack Mumbai's Marine Drive for the victory parade.
Did you know? It was India's first ICC trophy since the 2013 Champions Trophy.
Chennai's D. Gukesh beats China's Ding Liren in Singapore to become the youngest undisputed world chess champion in history. He is only the second Indian world champion after Viswanathan Anand.
Pilgrims pour into Prayagraj for 45 days of holy dips where the Ganga and Yamuna meet. Official data put the number of people who bathed at over 660 million, the world's largest gathering, though a crowd crush on 29 January killed at least 30.
Two weeks after terrorists kill 26 people, mostly tourists, near Pahalgam in Kashmir, India launches missile strikes on what it calls terror infrastructure in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Four days of drone, missile and artillery fire follow before both sides agree to a ceasefire on 10 May.
Did you know? After the Pahalgam attack India also suspended its part in the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty.
IAF Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla flies as pilot of the Axiom-4 mission and becomes the first Indian aboard the International Space Station, and only the second Indian in space after Rakesh Sharma. He spends about 18 days on the station running Indian experiments, from sprouting seeds to tardigrades.
Did you know? Rakesh Sharma, the first Indian in space, flew on a Soviet Soyuz in 1984.
Harmanpreet Kaur's team beats South Africa by 52 runs in Navi Mumbai to win India's first Women's Cricket World Cup, after losing finals in 2005 and 2017. Shafali Verma's 87 earns her player of the match.
Did you know? Captain Harmanpreet Kaur is from Moga, Punjab.
Suryakumar Yadav's India beat New Zealand by 96 runs in the final in Ahmedabad to keep the trophy. India become the first team to defend the T20 World Cup and the first to win it three times.
Did you know? India also won the very first T20 World Cup, in South Africa in 2007.
History of India in 140 moments across 12 eras, each written in our own words and checked against the page linked under it. Dates marked “c.” are approximate, and where historians disagree the date says so. Pins sit at the place a moment happened; a few national moments sit at Delhi, and wins abroad at the person’s hometown. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.
