MODERN INDIA TIMELINE

1. 1700s (Early Modern Period)

• 1707 – Death of Aurangzeb.
• 1717 – Farrukhsiyar issues Farman to British giving trade privileges.
• 1739 – Nadir Shah invades Delhi, takes Peacock Throne.
• 1757 – Battle of Plassey; British gain Bengal.
• 1761 – Third Battle of Panipat.
• 1764 – Battle of Buxar; Diwani rights granted to British (1765).
• 1767–69 – First Anglo-Mysore War.
• 1770 – Great Bengal Famine.
• 1773 – Regulating Act passed.
• 1774 – First Supreme Court in Calcutta.
• 1780 – First Indian newspaper: Hicky’s Bengal Gazette.
• 1784 – Pitt’s India Act passed.
• 1786 – Cornwallis becomes Governor-General.
• 1793 – Permanent Settlement introduced.
• 1799 – Fourth Anglo-Mysore War; Tipu Sultan killed.

2. 1800–1850 (British Expansion Phase)

• 1802 – Treaty of Bassein.
• 1805 – Lord Wellesley departs India.
• 1829 – Abolition of Sati (Bentinck).
• 1830 – Thuggee suppression begins.
• 1833 – Charter Act: End of Company’s trade monopoly.
• 1835 – Macaulay’s Minute on Education.
• 1837 – Telegraph first experimented by O’Shaughnessy.
• 1843 – Sindh annexed by British.
• 1845–46 – First Anglo-Sikh War.
• 1848–49 – Second Anglo-Sikh War; Punjab annexed.
• 1848 – Lord Dalhousie appointed Governor-General.
• 1853 – First railway in India (Bombay–Thane).
• 1854 – Wood’s Despatch.
• 1856 – Awadh annexed; Widow Remarriage Act.
• 1857–1900 (Nationalism Begins)
• 1857 – First War of Independence / Revolt of 1857.
• 1858 – Queen’s Proclamation; Company rule ends.
• 1861 – Indian Councils Act.
• 1863 – Death of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan’s brother leads to Aligarh movement.
• 1866 – Poona Sarvajanik Sabha established.
• 1875 – Arya Samaj founded by Dayanand Saraswati.
• 1876 – Queen Victoria declared Empress of India.
• 1877 – First Delhi Durbar.
• 1878 – Vernacular Press Act (Lytton).
• 1882 – Hunter Commission on Education.
• 1883 – Ilbert Bill controversy.
• 1885 – Indian National Congress founded.
• 1886 – INC second session (Dadabhai Naoroji).
• 1887 – Third session at Madras (Badruddin Tyabji).
• 1892 – Indian Councils Act (Limited elections).
• 1893 – Swami Vivekananda visits Chicago Parliament of Religions.
• 1897 – Plague in Bombay; Chapekar Brothers kill Rand.
• 1899 – Curzon becomes Viceroy.
• 1900 – Currency Act.

3. 1901–1910 (Curzon Era + Swadeshi Movement)

• 1901 – Rabindranath Tagore writes ‘Amar Sonar Bangla.’
• 1903 – Second Delhi Durbar (Curzon).
• 1904 – Indian Universities Act.
• 1905 – Partition of Bengal (Lord Curzon).
• 1906 – Muslim League formed at Dhaka.
• 1907 – Surat Split (Moderates vs Extremists).
• 1908 – Khudiram Bose executed.
• 1909 – Morley–Minto Reforms.
• 1910 – Indian Press Act.
• 1911–1920 (Emergence of Gandhian Era)
• 1911 – Partition of Bengal annulled.
• 1912 – Capital shifted to Delhi.
• 1914 – Komagata Maru incident.
• 1915 – Gandhi returns to India (9 January).
• 1916 – Lucknow Pact between Congress & Muslim League.
• 1916 – Home Rule League (Tilak + Annie Besant).
• 1917 – Champaran Satyagraha (Gandhi’s first).
• 1918 – Kheda Satyagraha.
• 1918 – Ahmedabad Mill Strike.
• 1919 – Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms.
• 1919 – Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (13 April).
• 1919 – Rowlatt Act enforced.
• 1920 – Non-Cooperation Movement launched.
• 1921–1930 (Civil Disobedience Period)
• 1921 – Prince of Wales visit boycott.
• 1922 – Chauri Chaura incident; NCM withdrawn.
• 1922 – Swaraj Party formed (C.R. Das & Motilal Nehru).
• 1923 – Kakori train robbery.
• 1924 – Hindu Mahasabha revived by Malaviya.
• 1925 – RSS founded by Hedgewar.
• 1927 – Simon Commission appointed.
• 1927 – Bardoli Satyagraha (Vallabhbhai Patel).
• 1928 – Nehru Report.
• 1928 – All Parties Conference.
• 1929 – Lahore Session: Purna Swaraj resolution.
• 1930 – Gandhi’s Dandi March begins (12 March).
• 1930 – First Round Table Conference.

4. 1931–1940 (Towards Freedom)

• 1931 – Gandhi–Irwin Pact.
• 1931 – Second Round Table Conference.
• 1931 – Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev executed.
• 1932 – Communal Award by Ramsay MacDonald.
• 1932 – Poona Pact (Gandhi–Ambedkar).
• 1933 – Gandhi starts Harijan weekly.
• 1934 – Congress Socialist Party formed.
• 1935 – Government of India Act (Largest Act).
• 1936 – Congress session at Lucknow (Nehru president).
• 1937 – Provincial Elections; Congress forms ministries.
• 1938 – Subhas Bose elected INC President (Haripura).
• 1939 – Bose resigns; forms Forward Bloc.
• 1939 – Congress ministries resign after WWII entry.
• 1940 – Lahore Resolution by Muslim League.
• 1940 – August Offer by Linlithgow.

5. 1941–1947 (Final Phase of Independence)

• 1941 – Subhas Bose escapes from India.
• 1942 – Formation of INA under Mohan Singh.
• 1942 – Quit India Movement launched (8 August).
• 1943 – Bose becomes Supreme Commander of INA.
• 1943 – Famine of Bengal.
• 1944 – Gandhi–Jinnah Talks.
• 1945 – Wavell Plan & Shimla Conference.
• 1945 – INA trials at Red Fort begin.
• 1946 – Cabinet Mission Plan.
• 1946 – Interim Government formed.
• 1946 – Royal Indian Navy Mutiny.
• 1947 – Mountbatten Plan (3 June).
• 1947 – Indian Independence Act.
• 1947 – Independence of India & Partition (15 August).

6. SOCIAL, CULTURAL, & REFORM ACTIVITIES 

• 1828 – Brahmo Samaj founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy.
• 1849 – Death of Rammohan Roy.
• 1866 – Prarthana Samaj formed.
• 1873 – Satyashodhak Samaj (Jyotiba Phule).
• 1878 – First women’s organisation: Bharat Mahila Samaj.
• 1884 – Ramakrishna Mission idea conceived.
• 1897 – Ramakrishna Mission founded (Vivekananda).
• 1916 – Banaras Hindu University established.
• 1917 – Women’s Indian Association founded.
• 1920 – Aligarh Muslim University established.
• 1925 – Communist Party of India founded.

6. REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT

• 1904 – India House founded in London (Savarkar).
• 1907 – Bande Mataram case.
• 1912 – Delhi conspiracy case (Basanta Kumar Biswas).
• 1915 – Ghadar Party activities peak.
• 1925 – Kakori Conspiracy.
• 1928 – HSRA formed (Azad, Bhagat Singh).
• 1929 – Central Assembly Bomb Case.
• 1930 – Chittagong Armoury Raid (Surya Sen).
• 1934 – Death of Chandrasekhar Azad.

7. ECONOMIC & ADMINISTRATIVE DEVELOPMENT

• 1793 – Cornwallis Code.
• 1837 – Introduction of modern coins & post office.
• 1853 – Competitive Civil Service exams introduced.
• 1858 – India comes under Crown rule.
• 1860 – Indian Penal Code drafted.
• 1870 – Income Tax Act introduced.
• 1882 – Transfer of Property Act.
• 1894 – Land Acquisition Act.
• 1905 – Swadeshi industries boom.
• 1921 – Railway Budget separated.
• 1926 – Trade Union Act.
• 1935 – Reserve Bank of India established.

8. AGRICULTURE, SOCIETY & EDUCATION

• 1793 – Permanent Settlement introduced.
• 1820 – Ryotwari system extended.
• 1840 – Mahalwari system expands in North.
• 1854 – Wood’s Despatch (Education blueprint).
• 1857 – First three universities (Calcutta, Bombay, Madras).
• 1882 – Hunter Commission.
• 1913 – Sadler Commission.
• 1920 – Wardha Scheme (Basic Education).
• 1944 – Sargent Plan.

9. IMPORTANT LEGISLATIONS

• 1773 – Regulating Act.
• 1784 – Pitt’s India Act.
• 1813 – Charter Act (Trade monopoly ends).
• 1833 – Charter Act (Company becomes admin body).
• 1858 – India Councils Act.
• 1861 – Legislative Councils Act.
• 1892 – Councils Act (indirect elections).
• 1909 – Morley–Minto Reforms.
• 1919 – Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms.
• 1935 – Government of India Act.

10. FREEDOM MOVEMENT EVENTS 

• 1905–1911 – Swadeshi Movement.
• 1919–1922 – Non-Cooperation Movement.
• 1920–1922 – Khilafat Movement.
• 1927 – Boycott of Simon Commission.
• 1930 – Civil Disobedience Movement begins.
• 1932 – CDM suspended.
• 1934 – CDM withdrawn fully.
• 1942–1944 – Quit India Movement.

11. ORGANISATIONAL FOUNDINGS

• 1837 – First Post Office Act.
• 1875 – Theosophical Society in India.
• 1914 – Ghadar Party founded in USA.
• 1915 – Hindu Mahasabha strengthened.
• 1920 – All India Trade Union Congress formed.
• 1928 – All India Youth Congress formed.
• 1936 – All India Kisan Sabha formed.

12. IMPORTANT COMMISSIONS

• 1855 – Dalhousie Commission on Public Works.
• 1902 – Raleigh Commission (Universities).
• 1907 – Fowler Committee (Currency).
• 1920 – Saddler University Commission.
• 1927 – Butler Committee (Princely States).
• 1928 – Simon Commission.
• 1929 – Royal Indian Navy Inquiry.
• 1931 – Willingdon Committee.
• 1940 – Sargent Education Plan.
• 1946 – Cabinet Mission.

13. TOWARDS CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• 1919 – Dyarchy introduced.
• 1935 – Provincial Autonomy granted.
• 1946 – Constituent Assembly elections.
• 1946 (Dec 9) – First meeting of Constituent Assembly.
• 1947 (Aug 15) – India becomes independent.
• 1947 (Aug 15) – Lord Mountbatten becomes first Governor-General.
• 1947 – Pakistan created.
• 1947 – Boundary Commission under Radcliffe.
• 1947 – Maharaja Hari Singh signs Instrument of Accession (J&K).
• 1947 – Sardar Patel begins integration of princely states.
• 1947 – Junagadh integrated into India.
• 1947 – Hyderabad crisis begins (resolved 1948).