History of India

Part-1

Historical Setting

Indian culture is an ancient and dynamic entity, spanning back to the very beginnings of human civilization. Beginning with a mysterious culture along the Indus River and in farming communities in the southern lands of India, the history of the sub-continent is one puncuated by constant integration with migrating peoples and with the diverse cultures that surround India. Placed in the center of Asia, Indian history is a crossroads of cultures from China to Europe, and the most significant Asian connection with the cultures of Africa.

Indian history, then, is more than just a set of unique developments in a definable process; it is:

in many ways  a microcosm of human history itself,

a diversity of cultures all impinging on a great people and being reforged into new, syncretic forms.

The Land and People

The most striking element of Indian geography is the natural barrier formed by the mountain ranges in the north of India. For India is a continental plate that is crashing into the Asian continental plate. As it does, both continental plates push up the earth where they meet into a forbidding range of mountains. The central mountain range, passing across in the shape of a sword near the northern edge of the Indian subcontinent, is the Great Himalayas. These northern mountains, which are less of a barrier in the west, have naturally isolated India from its neighbours.

   All along the southern edge of this great mountain wall are rich soils that are generously rained on; even though this region lies in the temperate zone, it is lush and subtropical. To the south are the extensive flood plains of the Indus River in the west and the Ganges in the east. With rich soil renewed every year by river flooding and with generous summer rains, these plains in the north are among the richest agricultural areas in the world. It was here that Indian civilization first arose, in the fertile flood plains adjoining the Indus River. This vast stretch of flood plain has been the home of the great Indian empires as well, the Mauryans and the Guptas.

   The southern portion of India is a large peninsula with a forbidding mountain range all along the western coast and a large flat plateau called the Deccan in the center of the sub-continent. The eastern coast is flat land and affords many opportunities for harbours; from this area Indian culture had the widest contacts with foreign peoples. The western portion, however, being walled from the sea and hard to reach by land, subsequently became the seat of the powerful empires of the south, such as the Muslim kingdoms.

India is one of the most culturally, linguistically, and ethnically diverse regions one can imagine. Four major peoples, distinguished by the languages they speak, make up the population of the region. The majority of the population are Indo-European speaking a variety of languages related to European languages such as Greek, German, or English. Precisely when these peoples arrived is subject to much debate, but they seem to have arrived somewhere between 2000 BC and 1600 BC, and they brought with them their own religion and social system. The bulk of Indian religion and almost all of its literature is Indo-European. Second to the Indo-Europeans, but more ancient in India than the later immigrants, are a people who speak languages from the Dravidian family of languages. While we cannot be certain, the Dravidians were probably the authors of the great Indus River civilizations contemporary with the Mesopotamian civilizations to the west. In addition, the peoples in the northern mountains speak languages related to Chinese, Tibetan, or Mongolian. Finally, the smallest group, but most likely the oldest inhabitants of India, speak languages from the Australoid family, which are the languages spoken by indigenous peoples scattered throughout southeast Asia and Australia. Australoids are still present throughout the mountainous forests of the Deccan, but their traditional way of life, which was still vital only forty years ago, is beginning to die out.

Each of these peoples speak a bewildering variety of languages; each region of India is dominated by a single language. Despite this variety of languages, Indian culture is remarkably fluid and the contacts between peoples frequent and productive. Very few cultures are so tied into the overall geography of their region; Hinduism requires frequent pilgrimages as part of one's spiritual perfection, so the intercourse between different peoples has been constant throughout Indian history.

In the north, the great mountain barrier. To the south, the great river plains of the Indus and the Ganges, and the large, high plateau of the Deccan.

This is the stage on which a complex history took place, and the first act began along the Indus River.

History Timeline

2700 BC              Harappa Civilisation

1000 BC              Aryans expand into the Ganga valley

 900 BC               Mahabharata War

 800 BC            Aryans expand into Bengal; Mahabharata  composed, first version of Ramayana

 550 BC               Composition of the Upanishads

 544 BC            Buddha’s Nirvana

 327 BC            Alexander’s Invasion

  324 BC              Chandragupta Maurya defeats Seleacus Nicator

 322 BC            Rise of the Mauryans; Chandragupta establishes first Indian Empire

 272 BC            Ashoka begins reign

 180 BC                Fall of the Mauryas ; Rise of the Sungas

 145 BC                Chola king Erata conquers Ceylon

   58 BC                Epoch of the Krita-Malava-Vikram Era

   30 BC                Rise of the Satvahana Dynasty in the Deccan

 40 AD                 Sakas in power in Indus Valley and Western India

 50 AD                The Kushans and Kanishkas

 78 AD                 Saka Era begins

320 AD            Chandragupta I establishes the Gupta dynasty

476 AD               Birth of astronomer Aryabhatta

711 AD            Invasion of Sind by Muhammad Bin Qasim - first  muslim  invasion

892 AD              Rise of the Eastern Chalukyas

 985 AD            The Chola Dynasty: Accession of Rajaraja, the Great

1001              Defeat of Jaipal by Sultan Mahumd

1026                 Mahmud Ghazni sacks Somnath Temple

1191              Prithviraj Chauhan routs Muhammad Ghori: the first battle of Tarain

1192              Ghori defeats Prithviraj Chauhan: the second battle of Tarain

1206                Qutbuddin establishes the Slave Dynasty

1221                Mongol invasion under Genghis Khan

1232                Foundation of the Qutub Minar

1288                Marco Polo visits India

1290                Jalaludin Firuz Khalji establishes the Khalji dynasty

1320                Ghiyasuddin Tughluk founds the Tughluk dynasty

1325                Accession of Muhammad-bin-Tughluk

1336                Foundation of Vijayanagar (Deccan)

1398                Timur invades India

1424                Rise of the Bahmani dynasty (Deccan)

1451               The Lodi dynasty established in Delhi

1489               Adil Shah dynasty at Bijapur

1490               Nizam Shahi dynasty at Ahmednagar

1498               First voyage of Vasco da gama

1510               Portuguese capture Goa

1518               Kutub Shahi dynasty at Golconda

1526            Establishment of the Mughul Dynasty; First Battle of Panipat: Babur defeats Lodis

1526-1530      Reign of Babur

1530               Humayun succeeds Babur

1538               Death of Guru Nanak

1539               Sher Shah Suri defeats Humayan and becomes Emperor of Delhi

1555            Humayun recovers the throne of Delhi

1556            Death of Humayun; Accession of Akbar

1564               Akbar abolishes poll tax on Hindus

1565               Battle of Talikota: Muslim rulers in Deccan defeats and destroys Vijaynagar Empire

1572              Akbar annexes Gujarat

1573              Surat surrenders to Akbar

1576            Battle of Haldighat: Akbar defeats Rana Pratap; Subjugation of Bengal

1577              Akbar troops invade Khandesh

1580           Accession of Ibrahim Adil Shah II in Bengal; Rebellion in Bihar and Bengal

1586             Annexation of Kashmir

1591             Mughul conquest of Sind

1592             Annexation of Orissa

1595             Siege of Ahmednagar; Annexation of Baluchistan

1597             Akbar completes his conquests

1600             Charter to the English East India Company

1605           Death of Akbar and Accession of Jahangir

1606             Rebellion of Khusrav; Execution of the Fifth Sikh Guru, Arjan

1609             The Dutch open a factory at Pulicat

1611             The English establish a factory at Masulipatnam

1612           The Mughul Governor of Bengal defeats the rebellious Afghans

1615            Submission of Mewar to the Mughuls; Arrival of Sir Thomas Roe in India

1616              The Dutch establish a factory at Surat

1622              Shah Abbas of Persia beseiges and takes Qandahar

1627              Death of Jahangir; Accession of Shah Jahan

1628           Shah Jahan proclaimed Emperor

1631              Death of Shah Jahan’s wife Mumtaz Mahal; The construction of Taj Mahal

1632           Grant of the “Golden Firman” o the English Company by the Sultan of Golkunda

1633           End of Ahmednagar Dynasty

1636           Aurangzeb appointed Viceroy of Deccan

1639         Foundation of Fort St. George at Madras by the English

 1658        Coronation of Aurangzeb

1661         Cession of Bombay to the English; Mughul capture of Cooch Bihar

1664         Shivaji sacks Surat and assumes royal title

1674           Shivaji assumes the title of Chhatrapati

1686           English war with the Mughuls; Fall of Bijapur

1690           Peace between the Mughuls and the English

1698           The new English company trading to the East Indies

1702           Amalgamation of English and the London East India Companies

1707         Death of Aurangzeb; Battle of Jajau

1720           Accession of Baji Rao Peshwa at Poona

1739           Nadir Shah conquers Delhi; The Marathas capture Salsette and Bassein

1740           Accession of Balaji Rao Peshwa; The Marathas invade Arcot

1742           Marathas invade Bengal

1751           Treaty of Alivadi with the Marathas

1756           Siraj-ud-daulah captures Calcutta

1757          Battle of Plassey: The British defeat Siraj-ud-daulah

1761         Third battle of Panipat: Ahmed Shah Abdali defeats the Marathas;

                 Accession of Madhava Rao Peshwa; Rise of Hyder Ali

1764          Battle of Buxar: The British defeat Mir Kasim

1765        The British get Diwani Rights in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa

1767-1769  First Mysore War: The British conclude a humiliating peace pact with Hyder Ali

1772          Death of Madhava Rao Peshwa; Warren Hastings appointed as Governor of Bengal

 1775-1782  The First Anglo-Maratha war

 1780-1784  Second Mysore War : The British defeat Hyder Ali

 1790-1792  Third Mysore War: between the British and Tipu

1793            Permanent Settlement of Bengal

1799          Fourth Mysore War: The British defeat Tipu; Death of Tipu; Partition of Mysore

1803-1805    The Second Anglo-Maratha war: The British defeat the Marathas at Assaye:

1814-1816    The Anglo-Gurkha war

1817-1819    The last Anglo-Maratha war: Marathas finally crushed by the British

 1829            Prohibition of Sati

1831          Raja of Mysore deposed and its administration taken over by East India Company

1838          Tripartite treaty between Shah Shuja, Ranjit Singh and the British

1845-1846  First Anglo-Sikh war

1848-1849    Second Anglo-Sikh war : British annex Punjab as Sikhs are defeated

 1853            Railway opened from Bombay to Thane; Telegraph line from Calcutta to Agra

1857         The Sepoy Mutiny

1858         British Crown takes over the Indian Government

 1877        Delhi Durbar: The Queen of England proclaimed Empress of India

1885         First meeting of the Indian National Congress;

1905         The First Partition of Bengal

1906         Formation of Muslim League; Congress declaration regarding Swaraj

1911         Delhi Durbar; Partition of Bengal modified to create the Presidency of Bengal

1912         The Imperial capital shifted from Calcutta to Delhi

1919         Rowlatt Act evokes protests; Jalianwalla Bagh massacre;

               The Montague-Chelmsford Reforms offer limited autonomy

1920        The Khilafat Movement started;

               Mahatma Gandhi leads the Congress; Non-co-operation Movement

1929          Lord Irwin promises Dominion Status for India; Nehru hoists the National Flag at Lahore

1930          Civil Disobedience movement continues; Salt Satyagraha: First Round Table Conference

1931          Second Round Table Conference; Irwin-Gandhi Pact; Census of India

1932          Suppression of the Congress movement; Third Round Table Conference;

1933          Publication of White Paper on Indian reforms

1935          Government of India Act

1937        Inauguration of Provincial Autonomy; Congress ministries formed in a

               majority of Indian provinces

1939        Political deadlock in India as Congress ministries resign

1942       Cripps Mission to India; Congress adopts Quit India Resolution;

              Subhash Chandra Bose forms Indian National Army

1944       Gandhi-Jinnah Talks break down on Pakistan issue

1946       Mutiny in Royal Indian Navy; Cabinet Mission’s plan announced; Muslim League

              decides to participate in the Interim Government; Interim Government formed;

              Constituent Assembly’s first meeting

3 June 1947  Announcement of Lord Mountbatten’s plan for partition of India

14 Aug 1947   Independence of Pakistan

15 Aug 1947   Independence of India

26 March 1971 East Pakistan declares Independence as BANGLADESH

16 December 1971   Pakistan Army Defeated  and an Independent Bangladesh declares victory

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(to be continued)