Free India (Frommer's, 4th Edition) by Keith Bain Page A

farming communities in the region.
    ■ 1500–600 B.C. Vedic states in the north establish the basis of Hinduism and the caste system.
    ■ 326 B.C. Alexander the Great’s army halts at the Indus.
    ■ 322–185 B.C. Mauryan state in North India; conversions to Buddhism under Asoka (reigned 272–232 B.C. ).
    ■ A.D. 319–540 Gupta empire reunites northern India.
    ■ 300–900 Pallava empire in Dravidian southern India.
    ■ 900–1300 Chola empire in southern India.
    ■ 1206–1400s Islamic Delhi sultanates established in north.
    ■ 1510 Portuguese establish first European coastal settlement in India.
    ■ 1526 Mughal conquest of Delhi (returned permanently in 1555).
    ■ 1556–1605 Akbar extends Mughal power.
    ■ 1600 Founding of British East India Company.
    ■ 1658–1707 Aurangzeb conquers south for Mughal empire.
    ■ 1739 Persian sacking of Delhi and removal of the Peacock Throne accelerates Mughal decline.
    ■ 1757 Clive defeats Nawab of Bengal at Battle of Plassey, establishing British rule in Bengal.
    ■ 1790s–1820s British extend power in southern, western, and central India.
    ■ 1856–57 Indian “Mutiny”: uprising against British. British sacking of Delhi and expulsion of Mughals.
    ■ 1858 Dissolution of East India Company; India to be ruled directly from London.
    ■ 1877 Queen Victoria declared Queen-Empress of India.
    ■ 1885 Foundation of the Indian National Congress.
    ■ 1890s Bengal famine and plague epidemics.
    ■ 1903 British capital moved from Calcutta to Delhi.
    ■ 1905 Division of Bengal provokes boycott campaigns against British.
    ■ 1906 Muslim League founded.
    ■ 1915 Gandhi returns to India.
    ■ 1919 Amritsar massacre galvanizes Indian nationalist opposition to British.
    ■ 1930 Gandhi leads salt march to protest British taxation policies.
    ■ 1935 Government of India Act gives measure of local self-government to India, but retains British power at the center.
    ■ 1939–45 World War II: India threatened by Japanese advance in Southeast Asia.
    ■ 1942 Gandhi announces “Quit India” campaign and is imprisoned.
    ■ 1946 Labor government in Britain announces future independence for India, with Mountbatten as new viceroy.
    ■ 1947 British leave India. Partitioning into separate states of India and Pakistan. Massacres of refugees across new frontiers. Nehru becomes independent India’s first prime minister.
    ■ 1948 Gandhi assassinated by a Hindu fundamentalist.
    ■ 1964 Death of Nehru.
    ■ 1966 Nehru’s daughter, Indira Gandhi, becomes prime minister.
    ■ 1975 Indira Gandhi declares State of Emergency but is ousted from power in the 1977 elections.
    ■ 1980 Indira Gandhi regains power.
    ■ 1984 Indian army besieges Sikh temple at Amritsar. Indira Gandhi assassinated by Sikh bodyguards in revenge.
    ■ 1984–89 Indira Gandhi’s son Rajiv is prime minister.
    ■ 1991 Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi by a Tamil separatist. Liberalization of the economy by reducing government controls, privatizing, and drastically reducing import tariffs and taxes.
    ■ 1992 BJP-led attack on mosque at Ayodhya.
    ■ 1996 BJP Hindu fundamentalist party wins electoral majority and forms coalition government.
    ■ 2002 Threat of nuclear war with Pakistan over Kashmir averted by international mediation. Gujarat sees tensions between Hindu and Muslim nationalists inflamed.
    ■ 2004 National elections held; in an unforeseen victory, the Congress-led alliance wins and forms the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government. Manmohan Singh becomes the new prime minister of India.
    ■ 2005 India’s $575-billion economy grows by a whopping 8.2%.
    ■ 2008 Mumbai is rocked by a multi-pronged terrorist attack which focuses on high-profile tourist locations. Terrorists, who have trained in Pakistan under Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives, kill 166 innocent people from India, the U.K., U.S., Israel, and other countries, and cause extensive damage to the landmark Taj Mahal Palace and Oberoi