The History of Modern Day India
5500 BCE to 2000 BCE: Indus Valley Civilization. Provinces with
Indus Valley Civilization Sites: Sindh, Rajasthan, Punjab(both East & West), UP, Gujrat, Baluchistan, Haryana, Kashmir, Maharashtra.
2000 BCE to 600 BCE: Vedic Civilization or Gangetic Civilization.
600 BCE to 300 BCE: Sixteen Mahajanapadas or Sixteen Great Kingdoms.
4th Century BCE: The Nanda Empire. It was the
first powerful and influential Indian imperial power.
322 BCE to 185 BCE:TheMaurya Empire. It was the
largest ever Indian empire and imperial power.
1st Century BCE to 1st Century CE: 1) North-West India: Indo-Greek Kingdom. 2) North-Central India: Sunga Empire. 3) South India: Satavahana Kingdom. 4) West India: Indo-Scythian Kingdom.
1st Century CE to 3rd Century CE: 1) North India: The Kushan Empire. 2) South India: Satavahana Kingdom. 3) West India: Indo-Scythian Kingdom.
4rd Century CE to 6th Century CE: The Gupta Empire. Most of the historians consider this period as
The Golden Age of India.
6th Century CE: 1) North India: The White Huna Kingdom under Mihirakula and his father Tormana. And also many small Kingdoms.. 2) South India: The Pallava Empire.
7th Century CE: 1) North India: Empire of Harshavardhan. 2) South India: The Pallava Empire and The Chalukya Empire.
NOTE: Contrary to popular beliefs, Islam came to India in this time, mainly in the south India in the 1st half of 7th century by Arab traders.
8th Century to 12th Century CE: 1) West India: TheGurjara Pratihara. 2) East India: Pala Empire. 3) South India: Rashtrakutas Empire and Chola Empire. Again, between 8th and 11th century a fierce Tripartite Struggle took place among them over Kanauj or Gangetic plane. Again, the Karkota dynasty of King Lalitaditya Muktapida of Kashmir created a huge north Indian empire (625-1003) extended upto Central Asia(Turkestan).
13th Century CE to Mid 16th Century CE: 1) North India: Delhi Sultanate. It was the third Indian empire of Central Asians after Scythians and Hunas. Sufism and Bhakti Movement started during this time. 2) South India: Chola Empire( upto mid 14th century) and Vijaynagar Empire (upto mid 16th century). 3) Other Areas: Rajputana by Rajputs, Himalayan Kingdoms by Gurkhas and Maharasthra by Bahmani Empire.
1526 CE to 1556 CE: 1) North India: Total Chaos. Four rulers came into being: Babur, Sher Shah, Humayun and Hemu Vikramaditya. 2) South India: Vijaynagar Empire.
1556 CE to 1707 CE: Mughal Empire. It was one of the greatest empires of India. Mughals were Chagatai Turks of Uzbekistan. During this time, a new culture of singing, dancing, drinking, writing, art, inter-religious marriages and synthesis of faiths developed.
1680/1707 CE to 1805/1818 CE: Maratha Empire. It was the last Pan-Indian imperial power. At its peak, it was stretched from Bengal to Peshawar and from Kashmir to Tamilnadu.
Bengal: Battle of Palassey(1757) took place which later proved to be a turning point in the history of India.
First half of the 19th Century: 1) North-West India: Sikh Kingdom in Punjab, Haryana, Kashmir and KP. 2) Rest of India: Rapid expansion of British East India Company rule annihilating many small states.
1857 CE: The Sepoy Mutiny or The Indian Rebellion.
1858 CE to 1947: British India. Bengal Renaissance. Congress was established in 1885, Muslim League in 1906 and RSS in 1925. Age of Gandhi (1919- his death).
1947 CE: Partition of India. The Republic of India was born.
1947 CE to Present Time: Nehruvian Period (1948 to 1964). Help in the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. First Non-Congress Government came in 1977. India becomes a Trillion Dollar economy in 2007.