BCE
c. 50,000 Stone Age cultures arise
c. 30,000 Bhimbetka cave paintings are made
c. 6500 Agriculture begins
c. 4000-3000 *Indo-European breaks up into separate
languages
c. 3000 Pastoral nomad societies emerge
c. 2500 Urban societies merge along the Indus
River
c. 2200-2000 Harappa is at its height
c. 2100-2000 Light-spoked chariots are invented
c. 2000-1500 The Indus Valley civilization declines
c. 1900 The Sarasvati River dries up
c. 1700-1500 Horses arrive in Northwest India
c. 1700-1500 Nomads in the Punjab compose the
Rig Veda; horses arrive in Northwest India
c. 1350 Hittite inscriptions speak about horses
and gods
c. 1200-900 The Vedic people compose the Yajur
Veda, Sama Veda, and Atharva Veda
c. 1100-1000 Vedic texts mention the Doab, the
area between the Ganges and Yamuna rivers
c. 1000 The city of Kaushambi in Vatsa is founded
c. 950 The Mahabharata battle is said to have taken place
c. 900 The city of Kashi (Varanasi, Benares) is founded
c. 900 The Vedic people move down into the Ganges Valley
c. 800-600 The Brahmanas are composed
c. 600-500 Aranyakas are composed
c. 500 Shrauta Sutras are composed
c. 500 Pataliputra is founded; Vedic peoples gradually move southward
c. 500-400 Early Upanishads are composed
c. 483 or 410 Siddhartha Gautama, the
Buddha, dies
c. 468 Vardhamana Mahavira, the Jina, founder of Jainism, dies
c. 400-100 Later Upanishads are composed
c. 400-100 Writing is used in the Ganges Valley
c. 327-325 Alexander the Great invades Northwest South Asia
c. 324 Chandragupta founds the Mauryan dynasty
c. 300 Grihya Sutras are composed
c. 300-100 Dharma-Sutras are composed
c. 300 Greeks and Ashoka mention Pandyas, Cholas, and Cheras
c. 265-232 Ashoka reigns
c. 250 The Third Buddhist Council takes place at Pataliputra
c. 185 The Mauryan dynasty ends
c. 185 Pushyamitra founds the Shunga dynasty
73 The Shunga dynasty ends
c. 166 BCE-78 CE Greeks, Scythians, Bactrians, and Parthians enter India
c. 300 BCE-300 CE The Mahabharata is composed
c. 200 BCE-200 CE The Ramayana is composed
CE
c. 78-140 Kanishka reigns and encourages Buddhism
c. 100 Cankam (“assembly”) poetry is composed
c. 100 “Manu” composes his Dharma-shastra
c. 150 The monuments of Bharhut and Sanchi are built
c. 150 Rudradaman publishes the first Sanskrit inscription, at Junagadh
c. 200 Kautilya composes the Artha-shastra
c. 300 Vatsyayana Mallanaga composes the Kama-sutra
320-550 The Gupta dynasty reigns from Pataliputra
350-750 The early Puranas are composed
c. 375 The Pallava dynasty is founded
c. 400-477 Kalidasa writes Sanskrit plays and long poems
405-411 Faxian visits India
c. 450 The Harivamsha is composed
455-467 The Huns attack North India
c. 460-477 The Vakataka dynasty completes the
caves at Ajanta
c. 500-900 Nayanmar Shaiva Tamil poets live
550-575 Kalachuris create the cave of Shiva at Elephanta
c. 550-880 Chalukya dynasty thrives
c. 600-930 Alvar Vaishnava Tamil poets live
606-647 Harsha reigns at Kanauj
630-644 Xuan Zang (Hsuan Tsang) visits India
650-800 Early Tantras are composed
c. 650 Arabs reach the Indus
711-715 Arabs invade Northwest India
750-1500 Medieval Puranas are composed
765-773 Raja Krishna I creates the Kailasa temple to Shiva at Ellora
c. 788-820 Shankara, nondualist philosopher, lives in Kerala
c. 800 Manikkavacakar composes the Tiruvacakam
c. 880-1200 The Chola Empire dominates
South India
900 and 1150 The Chandellas build the temples at Khajuraho
c. 975-1025 Abhinavagupta, Shaiva philosopher, lives in Kashmir
1001 Mahmud of Ghazni (979-1030) raids North India
1021 Ghaznavid (Turkish) Muslim capital
established at Lahore
c. 1056-1137 Ramanuja, qualified Dualist philosopher, lives in Tamil country
1192-1206 Muhammad of Ghor establishes Ghorid capital at Delhi
c. 1200 Jayadeva lives in Bengal
1210-1526 The Delhi Sultanate is in power
1325-1351 Muhammad bin Tughluq reigns
c. 1200 Early orders of Sufis arise in North India
c. 1200 Virashaivas, including Basava, live in South India
1238-1258 Narasimhadeva I builds the temple of Konarak
c. 1238-1317 Madhva, dualist philosopher, lives in Karnataka
c. 1300 Shri Vaishnavas split into Cats and Monkeys
c. 1336-1565 Vijayanagar Empire is in its prime
c. 1398-1448 Kabir lives
1399 Timur, ruler of Central Asia, destroys Delhi
1469-1539 Guru Nanak founds Sikhism in the Punjab
1486-1533 Chaitanya lives
1498-1597 Mirabai lives
1526 Babur founds the Mughal Empire
1530-1556 Humayun reigns
1532-1623 Tulsidas lives
1556-1605 Akbar reigns
1600 (December 31) Queen Elizabeth I charters the
British East India Company
1605-1627 Jahangir reigns
1608-1649 Tukaram lives
1622-1673 Kshetrayya lives
1627-1658 Shah Jahan reigns
1658-1707 Aurangzeb reigns
1713-1719 Farrukhsiyar reigns
1750-1755 The Bengal Famine causes ten million deaths
1756 The Black Hole of Calcutta causes dozens of deaths
1757 The British East India Company defeats the Muslim rulers in Bengal
1757 First wave of British Raj begins
1765 Robert Clive becomes chancellor of Bengal
1772-1833 Rammohun Roy lives; 1828 founds Brahmo Samaj
1782-1853 Sir Charles James Napier lives
1813 Second wave of British Raj begins
1824-1883 Dayananda Sarasvati; 1875, founds Arya Samaj
1857-1858 The Rebellion, formerly known as the Mutiny, takes place
1857 Third wave of the British Raj begins
1858 The British viceroy officially replaces Mughal
rule (and the East India Company)
1863-1902 Swami Vivekananda lives
1865-1936 Rudyard Kipling lives
1869-1948 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi,
known as Mahatma Gandhi, lives
1861-1941 Rabindranath Tagore lives
1875 Helena Blavatsky founds the Theosophical Society
1893 Vivekananda attends the World’s Parliament
of Religions in Chicago
1897 Vivekananda founds the Vedanta movement in America
1896-1977 A. C. Bhaktivedanta, Swami Prabhupada (founder of ISKCON), lives
1918-2008 Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (founder of Transcendental Meditation) lives
1919 Amritsar massacre takes place
1931-1990 Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (Osho) lives
1947 Independence; Partition
1970- Hindus in Europe, United States, and
Canada start building temples