A short history of India
Key moments in India's story, from the Harappan cities to the 21st century.
c. 3300–1300 BCE
The Harappan (Sindhu–Sarasvati) Civilisation builds planned cities with drains, granaries and dockyards: Dholavira, Lothal, Rakhigarhi, Kalibangan.
c. 1500–500 BCE
The Vedic age. The Vedas and the Upanishads are composed and passed down orally with extraordinary accuracy.
6th–5th century BCE
The Mahajanapadas. Gautama Buddha and Bhagwan Mahavira teach.
c. 321–185 BCE
The Maurya Empire. Chandragupta Maurya and Chanakya; Emperor Ashoka's edicts spread the message of dhamma.
c. 320–550 CE
The Gupta age: Aryabhata, Kalidasa and the rise of Nalanda as a great centre of learning.
c. 850–1279 CE
The Chola Empire: the Brihadisvara temple at Thanjavur (1010 CE) and naval expeditions to South-East Asia.
1336–1646
The Vijayanagara Empire, with its capital at Hampi.
1526 onwards
The Mughal Empire in the north.
1674
Coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Raigad. The Maratha power grows across India.
1757 onwards
After the Battle of Plassey, the East India Company's rule spreads.
1857
India's First War of Independence.
1915–1947
Mahatma Gandhi leads mass movements: Champaran (1917), Non-Cooperation (1920), the Dandi March (1930) and Quit India (1942). Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose leads the Azad Hind Fauj. Countless revolutionaries, including Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad and Rani Gaidinliu, give their lives for freedom.
15 August 1947
India becomes independent; the country is partitioned. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel leads the integration of over 560 princely states.
26 January 1950
The Constitution comes into force and India becomes a republic.
1951–52
The first general elections, with universal adult franchise.
1961
Goa, Daman and Diu are liberated from Portuguese rule (19 December).
1971
Victory in the 1971 war and the liberation of Bangladesh (16 December, Vijay Diwas).
1998
Operation Shakti nuclear tests at Pokhran (11 May, National Technology Day).
1999
Victory at Kargil (26 July, Kargil Vijay Diwas).
2014
The Mars Orbiter Mission reaches Mars on India's first attempt.
2019
Jammu & Kashmir is reorganised into the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.
2023
Chandrayaan-3 lands near the Moon's south pole (23 August). India hosts the G20 Leaders' Summit in New Delhi.
2025
The Maha Kumbh at Prayagraj (over 66 crore pilgrims, as reported by the Uttar Pradesh government). Shubhanshu Shukla becomes the first Indian astronaut on the International Space Station.
2026
Sarnath becomes India's 45th UNESCO World Heritage Site.