KEY YEARS IN THE HISTORY OF INDIA

2500-1500 B.C	:	Indus Valley civilization.
1500-200 B.C	:	Aryan civilization.
2000-1000 B.C	:	Composition of the Upanishads and the great Epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.
600-500 B.C	:	Mahavir and Buddha lay down the principles of Jainism and Buddhism.
326 B.C	:	Alexander, The Great invades India
320 B.C	:	Chandragupta Maurya finds the Mauryan Dynasty.
273 B.C	:	Asoka ascends the throne of Magadha.
261 B.C	:	The Great Kalinga War that transforms Asoka.
60 B.C	:	Rise of the Satavahana Dynasty.
1-100 A.D	:	Jews and Apostle St.Thomas arrive in the Malabar Coast.
78A.D	:	The Saka era begins.
120-144A.D	:	Rule of the Kushan king, Kaniskha.
320A.D	:	Chandragupta 1 finds the Gupta Dynasty
360 A.D	:	Samudragupta establishes a large Empire-the whole of northern India up to the Deccan.
375- 413A.D	:	Reign of Chandragupta 11,the golden age of Indian culture and literature.
405-11A.D	:	Fahien visits India.
1000 A.D	:	Founding of the Chola empire by Rajaraja Chola.
1026 A.D	:	Mahmud of Ghazni ransacks the Somnath temple.
1192 A.D	:	Muhammad Ghori defeats Prithiviraj. Paves way for Muslim rule.
1206 A.D	:	Qutb-ud-din Aibak establishes Slave Dynasty inDelhi.
1288 A.D	:	Marco polo visits India.
1290 A.D	:	Fall of the Slave Dynasty; Beginning of the Khilji Dynasty.
1483-1530 A.D	:	Reign of Mughal emperor Babur.
1498 AD	:	Vascodagama lands at Calicut.
1469-1538 A.D	:	Time of Guru Nanak,the founder of Sikkhism.
1510 A.D	:	Goa captured by Portuguese.
1526 A.D	:	First battle of Panipat.Babar defeats the Lodis and establishes Mughal rule.
1556 A.D	:	Accession of Akbar.
1600 A.D	:	East India Company formed.
1632-1653 A.D	:	Shah Jahan builds the Taj Mahal.
1664 A.D	:	Shivaji becomes king in Delhi.
1739 A.D	:	Nadir Shah invades Delhi.
1742 A.D	:	French rule consolidated in Pondicherry.
1757 A.D	:	Battle of Plassey.
1831 A.D	:	Ranjit Singh mobilizes the power of Sikhs.
1834-35 A.D	:	Lord William Bentick becomes the first Governor General of India.
1853 A.D	:	First Railway between Bombay and Thana.
1857 A.D	:	The Sepoy Mutiny.
1858 A.D	:	Government of India passes from East India Company to the British Crown.
1885 A.D	:	Indian National Congress born.
1906 A.D	:	Founding of the Muslim League.
1911 A.D	:	Capital of India shifted from Calcutta to Delhi.
1920 A.D	:	Non-cooperation movement begins.
1930 A.D	:	Mahatma Gandhi leads the Dandi march in Ahmedabad.
1931A.D	:	Inauguration of New Delhi.
1947 A.D	:	India gets freedom. Nehru is India's new Prime Minister.
1948 A.D	:	Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated in Delhi.
1950 A.D	:	India becomes a Republic.
1965 A.D	:	Hindi proclaimed the National language.
1966-1977 A.D	:	Indira Gandhi is India's Prime Minister.
1965-1971 A.D	:	Indo- Pakistan clashes.
1962 A.D	:	Indo-China war.
1966 A.D	:	Indira Gandhi comes to power.
1975 A.D	:	Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi.
1984 A.D	:	Indira Gandhi assassinated by her bodyguard. Rajiv Gandhi, Indira's son takes over.
1989 A.D	:	General elections, V.P. Singh becomes the Prime Minister.
1991 A.D	:	Rajiv Gandhi assassinated during election campaign, Narasimha Rao becomes the Prime minister.
1992 A.D	:	Babri Masjid brought down. Riots followed in the whole of North India.
1996 A.D	:	National Front comes to power.
1999 A.D	:	BJP wins the elections and are ruling the country till date.
2000 A.D	:	US President Bill Clinton makes groundbreaking visit to India to improve ties.
2001 A.D	:	Massive earthquakes hit western state of Gujarat, leaving at least 30,000 dead.
2002 A.D	:	Retired Scientist and architect of India's missile programme APJ Abdul Kalam elected president.
2003 A.D	:	India, Pakistan agree to resume direct air links and to allow overflights.
2004 A.D	:	Congress wrestles power from the BJP headed by Sonia Gandhi. Manmohan takes in the Prime Minsiters Seat. Former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao dies, aged 83.