Chronology of Important events in Modern Indian History

Advent of European

The Portuguese were the first to discover a direct sea route to India.

The arrival of the British and the establishment of "British East India Company" was the outcome of the Portuguese traders.

Time Range	Event	Remark
1498	Vasco Da Gama	Welcomed by Zemorin in Calicut (Kerala)
1500	First Portuguese Factory at "Calicut (कालीकट)"	by "Pedro Alvarez Cabrel"
1503	First Portuguese "Fortress" at "Cochin (Kerala)"	by Albuquerque", was not viceroy at that time
1505	First Portuguese Viceroy	was "Francisco de Almeida", known for "Blue Water Policy"
1508	Afonso de Albuquerque	was "real founder of the Portuguese Empire in India"
1510	Portuguese conquest of Goa	Albuquerque captured the city from the "Adil Shahis (Sultanate of Bijapur)"
1523	First European occupation of "Pondicherry"	by "Portuguese"
1537	factory in Hooghly (Bengal) was founded by the Portuguese	used as a base for "piracy"
Dec, 1600	English East India Company established	At that time, Akbar (1556-1605 ) was the emperor of India.
1602	"Dutch (Netherlands) East India Company" established to trade with India.	-
1605	First "Dutch" factory in "Masulipatnam" (Andhra Pradesh)	-
1608	"Captain William Hawkins" reached "Surat" with his ship "Hector".	to the court of "Jahangir (1605 - 1627)", requesting him to do business in India.
1611	First English factory (temporary)	Masulipatnam (Andhra Pradesh) - Jahangir Reign
1613	First English factory (permanent)	Surat (Gujarat)
1615	"Thomas Roe" came to the court of "Jahangir" as ambassador of James I.	Stayed there till Feb 1619.
1616	"Danes East India Company" was established	-
1620	First "Danes (Denmark)" factory at Tranquebar (TN)	-
1632	Golden Farman	issued to "English" from "Sultan of Golkonda"
1653	Second European occupation of "Pondicherry"	by "Dutch"
1661	British received Bombay as dowry	from Portuguese
1664	"French East India Company" was established.	on the recommendation of Colbert
1667	"French" came to India (last european) and established first factory in Surat	During the reign of Louis XIV
1688	English Governor John Child was expelled	by Aurangzeb (1658 - 1707)
1690	Kolkata was founded	by "Job Charnock"
1715	Farrukhsiyar's Farman - Magna Carta of the Company	Valuable privileges in "Gujarat, Bengal and Hyderabad".
1746	Battle of Madras	French occupied Madras from British under "Dupleix"
1757	Battle of Plassey	a decisive victory of the British over the "Nawab of Bengal (Siraj ud-Daulah)" under the leadership of Robert Clive
1759	Battle of Bedara - between English and Dutch	Dutch force was decisively defeated by the British forces
1760	Battle of Wandiwash	between "French and British" - British victory
1761	Third Battle of Panipat	between "Maratha Empire" and the King of Afghanistan, Ahmad Shah Abdali (Ahmad Shah Durrani)"
1764	Battle of Buxar	between "British" and combined armies of Mir Qasim, Nawab of Bengal, Nawab of Awadh, Shuja-ud-Daula and the Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam II
1793	"British" occupation of "Pondicherry"	handed over to "France" in "Treaty of Paris (1814)"
1793	Permanent Settlement	between the "East India Company (Lord Cornwallis)" and "Bengali landlords" to fix revenues to be raised from land

The Carnatic Wars

The Carnatic Wars were a series of military conflicts in the middle of the 18th century in India's coastal Carnatic region, a dependency of Hyderabad State, India.

Three Carnatic Wars were fought between 1746 and 1763.

Time Range	Event	Remark
1740-48	First Carnatic War (English-French)	Immediate cause was, capturing of French ships by the British. Battle of Madras (1746) It ended with signing of the "Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)"
1749-54	Second Carnatic War (English-French)	Inconclusive, Treaty of Pondicherry (1754)
1758-63	Third Carnatic War (English-French)	Battle of Wandiwash(1760) - victory of British over French forces. Ended with Treaty of Paris (1763)

Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1748)

The First Carnatic War ended in 1748 when the Treaty of Aix-La Chapelle was signed bringing the "Austrian War of Succession" to a conclusion.

Under the terms of this treaty, Madras was handed back to the English, and the French, in turn, got their territories in North America.

Bengal: Battle of Plassey

The Battle of Plassey (West Bengal) was a decisive victory of the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal (Siraj ud-Daulah) and his French allies on 23 June 1757, under the leadership of Robert Clive.

"Battle of Plassey" consolidated British supremacy over India.

Robert Clive is also called the "Heaven born general" and is considered as the founder of British Empire in India.

Bengal
Time Period	Event	Remark
1717-1727 AD	Murshid Quli Khan	Last governor of bengal to be appointed by Mughal Emperor.
1727-1739 AD	Shujauddin	-
1739-1740 AD	Sarfaraz Khan	-
1740-1756 AD	Alivardi Khan	Toppled the Nasiri dynasty of Nawabs and assumed power.
1756-1757 AD	Siraj ud-Daulah	Last independent Nawab of Bengal. Lost the Battle of Plassey (1757)
1757-1760 AD	Mir Jafar
1760-1764 AD	Mir Qasim	shifted his capital from "Murshidabad" to "Munger (Bihar)" Battle of Buxar (1764).

Battle of Wandiwash (1760)

The battle was part of the Third Carnatic War fought between the French and British colonial empires.

Having made substantial gains in Bengal and Hyderabad, the British, after collecting a large amount of revenue, were fully equipped to face the French in Wandiwash, whom they defeated.

The French, commanded by the Comte de Lally were attacked by British forces commanded by Sir Eyre Coote, and in the ensuing battle, the French were decisively defeated.

Mysore Kingdom

Mysore was founded and ruled for most part by the Hindu Wodeyar family, initially served as a vassal state of the Vijayanagara Empire.

"Raja Odeyar", secured Srirangapatna in 1610, which was the seat of the Vijaynagar Viceroy.

After the fall of the Vijayanagara Empire in 1565, the Kingdom of Mysore became independent and remained so until 1799.

Wadiyar Dynasty
Time Period	Event	Remark
1578-1617 AD	Raja Wadiyar	Exploited disintegration of Vijayanagara Empire in 1565. In 1610 changed the capital city from "Mysore" to "Srirangapatnam".
1638-1659 AD	Kanthirava Narasaraja I	-
1673-1704 AD	Chikka Devaraja	Divided the empire into 18 departments (called Chavadis) and also introduced a coherent system of taxation.
Mysore State
1761-1782 AD	Haider Ali	Established modern Mysore State.
1782-1799 AD	Tipu Sultan	Continued the 2nd Anglo-Mysore war, ceded half of his territory in 3 war and died in 4th war.
1799–1868 AD	Krishnaraja Wadiyar III	British shifted the capital back to the city of Mysore from Srirangapatnam.

Anglo-Mysore Wars

The Anglo-Mysore Wars were a series of wars fought between the Kingdom of Mysore on the one hand, and the British East (Madras Presidency), Maratha Empire and the Nizam of Hyderabad on the other.

Time Period	Event	Remark
1767-1769 AD	1st Anglo-Mysore War	Hyder Ali enjoy some measure of success against the British, almost capturing Madras. Treaty of Madras (1769)
1780-1784 AD	2nd Anglo-Mysore War	Sir Eyre Coote defeated Hyder Ali at the "Battle of Porto Novo" and Arni. Treaty of Mangalore (1784)
1790-1792 AD	3rd Anglo-Mysore War	Tipu Sultan ruled Mysore from Srirangapatnam (Capital), he was defeated and had to sign a humiliating Treaty of Seringapatam(1792). Tipu Sultan established embassies in Egypt, France and Turkey on modern lines.
1798-1799 AD	4th Anglo-Mysore War	Tipu Sultan died in 1799.

Maratha Empire (1674-1818)

The Maratha Empire or the Maratha Confederacy was a power that dominated a large portion of the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century.

The empire formally existed from 1674 with the coronation of Shivaji as the Chhatrapati and ended in 1818 with the defeat of Peshwa Bajirao II at the hands of the British East India Company.

Maratha Empire
Chhatrapati (Emperor)
Time Period	Event	Remark
1674-1680 AD	Shivaji	1st Chhatrapati of the Maratha Empire. Carved out an enclave from the declining Adilshahi sultanate of Bijapur.
1680-1689 AD	Sambhaji	In 1689, Sambhaji was captured, tortured and executed by the Mughals.
1689-1700 AD	Rajaram	Constant struggle against the Mughals.
1700-1707 AD	Tarabai	She proclaimed her infant son, Shivaji II as Rajaram's successor and herself as the regent.
1707-1749 AD	Shahu	After his death, the ministers (the Peshwas) and the generals carved out their own fiefdoms such as Bhonsle of Nagpur, Gaekwad of Baroda, Sindhia of Gwalior and Holkar of Indore.
Peshwa (Prime Minister)
1713-1720 AD	Balaji Vishwanath	Balaji Vishwanath was the first of a series of hereditary Peshwas who gained effective control of the Maratha Empire during the 18th century. He was called the Second Founder of the Maratha State.
1720-1740 AD	Baji Rao I	Most celebrated personality after Shivaji in the history of the Maratha Empire. He defeated Nizam-ul-Mulk (Hyderabad) at the "Battle of Palkhed (1728)".
1740-1761 AD	Balaji Baji Rao	Third Battle of Panipat (1761) - defeat of Marathas by Ahmad Shah Abdali.
1761-1818 AD	Later Marathas	The Peshwaship was abolished by the British in 1818

Anglo-Maratha Wars

The Anglo-Maratha Wars were three wars fought in the Indian sub-continent between the Maratha Empire and the British East India Company.

Time Period	Event	Remark
1775-1782 AD	1st Anglo-Maratha War	British were defeated, Warren Hastings was governor general.
1803-1805 AD	2nd Anglo-Maratha War	Marathas were defeated and accepted subsidiary alliance. Lord Wellesley was governor general.
1817-1819 AD	3rd Anglo-Maratha War	Marathas decisively defeated, Lord Hastings was governor general.

Treaty of Bassein (1802)

The Treaty of Bassein (Maharashtra) was a pact signed on 31 December 1802 between the British East India Company and Baji Rao II, the Maratha Peshwa of Poona in India after the Battle of Poona.

Subsidiary Alliance

The subsidiary alliance in India was planned by Lord Wellesley, but this term was introduced by French Governor Dupleix.

Subsidiary Alliance
1798	Hyderabad (First)
1799	Mysore
1799	Tanjore
1801	Awadh
1802	Peshwa (Marathas)
1803	Scindia (Marathas)
1803	Gaekwad (Marathas)

Anglo-Nepalese War (1814-1816)

The Anglo-Nepalese War (Gorkha War) was fought between the Gorkhali army of the Kingdom of Nepal and the British forces of the East India Company.

The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Sugauli (Bihar) in 1816 AD, which ceded some Nepalese controlled territory to the EIC.

The British war effort was led by the East India Company and supported by a coalition of native states; the Garhwal Kingdom, the Patiala State and the Kingdom of Sikkim against the Kingdom of Gorkha.

The Kingdom of Gorkha's war effort was led mostly by the Thapa Kaji.

It was faught during the regime of "Lord Hastings".

Treaty of Sugauli (1816)

The Treaty of Sugauli established the boundary line of Nepal, it was signed in 1816 between the East India Company and "Guru Gajaraj Mishra" following the Anglo-Nepalese War of 1814–16.

Punjab: Maharaja Ranjit Singh

After the death of Aurangzeb in 1707, the Mughal Empire fell apart and declined in its ability to tax or govern most of the Indian subcontinent.

The Sikhs had appointed their own zamindars, replacing the previous Muslim revenue collectors, which provided resources to feed and strengthen the warriors aligned with Sikh interests.

The Sikh misls were all under the control of the Khalsa fraternity of Sikh warriors, but they were not united and constantly warred with each other over revenue collection, disagreements, and local priorities.

Towards the end of 18th century, the five most powerful misls were those of Sukkarchakkia, Kanhayas, Nakkais, Ahluwalias and Bhangi Sikhs - Ranjit Singh belonged to the "Sukkarchakkia misl".

Maharaja Ranjit Singh annexed Multan(1818), Kashmir (1819) and Peshawar (1834).

Time Period	Event	Remark
1792-1839 AD	Maharaja Ranjit Singh	United the 12 Sikh misls and create the Sikh Empire. Expel the Afghans in his teenage years. Capital - Lahore Got "Koh-i-Noor diamond" from "Shah Suza (Grandson of Ahmed Shah Abdali)" and left it to "Jagannath Temple in Odisha".
June 1839- Oct 1839 AD	Kharak Singh	Kharak Singh (son of Ranjit Singh) was poisoned with white lead and mercury by his wazir Dhian Singh.
1839-1840 AD	Nau Nihal Singh	Died at the age of 19 on the day of his father Kharak Singh's funeral.
1840-1841 AD	Chand Kaur	Declared herself regent for the unborn child of her son Nau Nihal Singh. Murdered by her servants in 1842.
1841-1843 AD	Sher Singh	Son of Ranjit Singh. Assassinated by Ajit Singh Sandhawalia.
1843-1849 AD	Duleep Singh	Ranjit Singh's youngest son and last Maharaja of the Sikh Empire. He died in Paris on 23 Oct, 1893.
1845-1846 AD	1st Anglo-Sikh War	Defeat of the Sikh kingdom and cession of Jammu and Kashmir as a separate princely state under British suzerainty.
1848-1849 AD	2nd Anglo-Sikh War	Fall of the Sikh Empire, and the annexation of the Punjab.

The Doctrine of Lapse was an annexation policy followed widely by Lord Dalhousie when he was India's Governor-General from 1848 to 1856.

Doctrine of Lapse
Year	State
1848	Satara (first)
1849	Jaitpur and Sambalpur
1850	Bhagat
1852	Udaipur
1853	Jhansi
1854	Nagpur
1855	Tore and Arcot
1856	Awadh

Indian independence movement

The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British rule in India.

Time Period	Event	Remark
1856	"Awadh" was annexed to British Empire by "Lord Dalhousie"	by declaring the state as "Maladministered (Misgovernance)"
1856	Widow Remarriage Act	by Lord Canning
December, 1856	New Enfield rifle was introduced	-
1857	First war of Indian Independence	Revolt due to socio-economic and religious causes.
1 Nov, 1858	Queen Victoria appointed "Empress of India"	took over Indian administration under "British crown"
1872	Native Marriage Act	or Indian Christian Marriage Act regulating the legal marriage of Indian Christians.
1885	Formation of Congress	by "A.O. Hume"
1885-1907	Moderate Phase	Pherozeshah Mehta Dadabhai Naoroji Surendranath Banerjee Gopal Krishna Gokhale R.C.Dutt Rash Behari Ghosh Mahadev Govind Ranade Ananda Charlu
1907-1919	Extremist Phase	Lala Lajpat Rai Bal Gangadhar Tilak Bipin Chandra Pal Aurobindo Ghosh
1919-1947	Nationalists	Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Jawaharlal Nehru Maulana Azad C Rajagopalachari Mohandas Gandhi Rajendra Prasad Badshah Khan
1905	Partition of Bengal	Announced:19 July 1905 by Lord Curzon Anti-Partition movement was initiated on 7 August 1905 Implemented:16 October 1905 1905 INC Session - Benares - Gopal Krishna "Gokhale" Reunited by "Lord Hardinge" in 1911
1906-1908	Swadeshi and Boycott Movement	boycott goods people sang "Vande Mataram", Rabindranath Tagore composed: Amar Sonar Bangla Poona and Bombay: Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Punjab: Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh, Delhi: Syed Haider Raza, Madras: Chidambaram Pillai
1906	Formation of Muslim League	founded by "Nawab Khwaja Salimullah"
1906	INC Session at Calcutta	President: Dadabhai Naoroji Declared self-government or Swaraj as the goal of INC.
1907	Surat Split	1907 INC Session - Surat - Rash Behari Ghosh
1909	Morley-Minto Reforms	Separate electorate for Muslims
1915	Gandhi arrived in Bombay	Tour of India for first two years and not to participate in any movement.
1915	Defence of India Act 1915	curtailing the nationalist and revolutionary activities during and in the aftermath of the First World War
1916-1918	Home Rule movement	Annie Besant and Bal Gangadhar Tilak
1916	Lucknow Pact	INC & Muslim League agreed to allow representation to religious minorities in the provincial legislatures.
1916	INC Lucknow Session	President: Ambica Charan Mazumdar Joint session with the Muslim League. Extremists admitted in INC.
1917	Champaran (Bihar) Satyagraha	against Indigo planters.
1918	Ahmedabad (Gujarat) Mill Strike	first Hunger Strike
1918	Kheda (Gujarat) Satyagraha	first non-cooperation movement, no-tax peasant struggle
18 March 1919	Rowlatt Act	gave powers to the police to arrest any person without any reason, viceroy - Lord Chelmsford.
13 April 1919	Jallianwala Bagh massacre	in "Amritsar" by "General Dyer"
23 Dec 1919	Government of India Act 1919
26 Dec 1919	INC 34th Session	in "Amritsar", presided over by Maulana Mohammad Ali
1919-1922	Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movement	Khilafat - Shaukat and Muḥammad Ali
1920	Non-Cooperation Movement	by Mahatma Gandhi
1922	Chauri Chaura incident	demonstrators attacked and set fire to a police station.
1 January 1923	Congress-Khilafat Swaraj Party	by "C R Das (President)" and "Motilal Nehru(Secretary)" Members: N C Kelkar, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy and Subhas Chandra Bose. Entry in legislative councils.
1924	INC Belgaum Session	President: M K Gandhi
1927	Indian Navy Act	last amendment was done in 1957
November 1927	Simon Commission	group of "seven" Members of British Parliament to study constitutional reforms. Opposed by many Indians but supported by B R Ambedkar and Periyar E. V. Ramasamy. Lala Lajpat Rai suffered a police beating and died of his injuries on 17 November 1928.
August 1928	Nehru Report	prepared by "Motilal Nehru" - proposed for the Joint Electorates with reservation of seats for minorities.
December 1928	Jinnah 14 points	to safeguard the political rights of Muslims in a self-governing India.
September 1929	Child Marriage Restraint Act (Sharda Act)	fixed the age of marriage for girls at 14 years and boys at 18 years
1929	INC Lahore Session	President: Jawaharlal Nehru - 26 January to be observed as Independence Day. Resolution for "Poorna Swaraj. The flag of India was hoisted by Jawaharlal Nehru on 31 December 1929 on the banks of Ravi river, in Lahore.
26 January 1930	Observance of Independence Day	India celebrated first independence day.
March 1930	Dandi March	twenty-four day march lasted from - 12 March 1930 to 6 April 1930.
March 1930-1934	Civil Disobedience Movement	launched after the observance of Independence Day and commenced with the infamous dandi march.
12 Nov 1930	1st Round Table Conference	INC decided not to participate in the conference
5 March 1931	Gandhi-Irwin Pact	To ask Gandhi participation in 2nd RTC.
7 Sep 1931	2nd Round Table Conference	MK Gandhi represented INC and Sarojini Naidu represented Indian women.
17 Nov 1931	3rd Round Table Conference	-
16 August 1932	Communal Award	Announced by Ramsay MacDonald - Extended the separate electorate to depressed Classes and other minorities.
14 Sep 1932	Poona Pact	Agreement between Mahatma Gandhi and B. R. Ambedkar.
August 1935	Government of India Act 1935	provisional autonomy
8 August 1940	August Offer	To seek Indian's cooperation in World War II
1940-1941	Individual Satyagraha	Delhi Chalo Movement, Resultant of August offer and for Freedom of Speech against the war
March 1942	Cripps Mission	Failed attempt to secure full Indian cooperation in World War II.
8 August 1942	Quit India Movement	Gandhi made a call to "Do or Die"
1944	CR Formula	to solve the political deadlock between the All India Muslim League and the INC.
24 June 1945	Wavell plan - Shimla Conference	Proposed the complete Indianisation of the Executive Council, but seats were reserved for members on the basis of religion and caste
November 1945 -May 1946	INA trials	British Indian trial by court-martial of a number of officers of the Indian National Army (INA) on various charges of treason, torture, murder and abetment to murder, during the World War II.
Feb 1946	Royal Indian Navy mutiny	protest against living conditions and food.
March 1946	Cabinet Mission to India	Proposed to divide into three administrative groups: A, B and C clusters.
Nov 1946	Formation of Constituent Assembly	elected by the 'Provincial Assembly' and served as the nation's first Parliament.
20 Feb 1947	Attlee's Statement	British withdrawal from India was fixed as 30 June 1948.
May 1947	Mountbatten Plan	Provinces were to be declared independent successor states with the power to choose whether to join the onstituent assembly or not.
22 July 1947	India adopted the National Flag	Constituent Assembly of India adopted the National Flag.
15 August 1947	Indian Independence Act 1947	Partitioned British India into the two new independent dominions of India and Pakistan.

Home Rule League Movement

There were two home rule leagues launched.

Tilak launched the Indian Home Rule League in April 1916 at Belgaum (Karnataka).

Annie Besant launched the Home Rule League in September 1916 at Madras (Tamil Nadu).

They had the common objective of achieving self-government in India.

There was an informal understanding between both the leagues wherein Tilak's league worked in Maharashtra (except Bombay), Karnataka, Berar and the Central Provinces.

Besant's league worked in the rest of the country.

Tilak's league had its headquarters in Delhi, it had 6 branches.

Besant's league had 200 branches and was a looser organisation compared to Tilak's.

The two leagues worked closely with one another, but did not merge to avoid friction between both the leaders.

Both the leagues were merged into one in 1918.