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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).


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

Indian independence movement

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

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.

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