BC
| c. 7000 | Village habitation at Mehrgarh (Baluchistan) |
| c. 2600–1900 | Indus Valley civilization |
| second mill. | Migration of Aryans into northwest India |
| c. 1500–1200 | Composition of Rigveda |
| c. 1200–500 | Composition of later Vedas, Samhitas, Brahmanas and Upanishads |
| c. 950 | Mahabharata War |
| ? 563–483 | Life of Siddhartha Gautama, founder of Buddhism |
| sixth/fifth cent. | Life of Vardhamana the Mahavira, founder of Jainism |
| c. 543–321 | Magadhan empire |
| 326 | Alexander the Great invades Punjab |
| c. 321–298 | Reign of Chandragupta Maurya |
| fourth cent. | Composition of Kautilya’s Arthashastra |
| c. 300 | Composition of Ramayana begins |
| c. 269–232 | Reign of Asoka; inscriptions in Brahmi and Kharoshti |
| c. 200 | Cave paintings begin at Ajanta |
| c. 187 | End of Mauryan empire |
| second cent. | Shunga dynasty in north India |
| late second cent. | Monsoon wind permits Greeks to sail across Indian Ocean |
AD
| first cent. | Bharata Natyam dance form emerges in Tamil Nadu |
| first cent. | Buddhism reaches Southeast Asia and China |
| first cent. | Roman maritime trade with India begins |
| 78 | Saka era begins |
| first–second cent. | Jews settle at Kodungallur |
| c. 200 | Ramayana reaches its present form |
| c. 300–888 | Pallava dynasty in south India |
| 320–c. 335 | Reign of Chandra Gupta I |
| c. 400 | Mahabharata reaches its present form |
| early fifth cent. | Faxian visits India |
| fifth cent. | Nalanda University founded |
| sixth cent. | Buddhism becomes influential in Japan |
| c. 500 | Second wave of Huna invasions |
| c. 550 | End of Gupta empire |
| c. 550–757 | First Chalukya dynasty in Deccan |
| 606–47 | Reign of Harsha |
| 629–45 | Xuanzang visits India |
| c. 630–970 | Eastern Chalukya dynasty in Deccan |
| 712 | Arabs occupy Sindh |
| c. 750–950 | Gurjara-Pratihara dynasties in Ganges basin |
| 757–973 | Rashtrakuta dynasty in Deccan |
| c. 760–1142 | Pala dynasty in Bengal, Bihar and Assam |
| c. 850–1267 | Chola dynasty in south India |
| 10th–12th cent. | Odissi dance form emerges in Orissa |
| c. 916–1203 | Chandella dynasty in central India |
| 973–c. 1189 | Second Chalukya dynasty in Deccan |
| 973–1048 | Life of al-Biruni |
| 1001 | Mahmud of Ghazni begins raids on India |
| 1026 | Destruction of Somnath Temple |
| 1192 | Second battle of Tarain |
| c. 1190s | Destruction of Nalanda University |
| c. 1200 | ‘Arabic’ numerals, invented in India, reach Europe |
| 1206–1526 | Delhi Sultanate |
| 1228–1826 | Ahom dynasty in Assam |
| 1325–51 | Reign of Muhammad bin Tughlaq |
| 1336–1565 | Vijayanagar empire |
| 1398 | Timur sacks Delhi |
| 1401–1562 | Malwa Sultanate |
| ? 1440–1518 | Life of Kabir |
| 15th–16th cent. | Sattriya dance form emerges in Assam |
| 1498 | Vasco da Gama reaches India |
| 16th cent. | Mohinyattam, Kathak and Kuchipudi dance forms emerge in Kerala, north India and Andhra Pradesh, respectively |
| 1526–1858 | Mughal empire |
| 1556–1605 | Reign of Akbar |
| 1600 | East India Company founded (London) |
| 1627–1658 | Reign of Shah Jahan |
| 1632–1640s | Taj Mahal built |
| 17th cent. | Kathakali dance form emerges in Kerala |
| 1680 | Death of Shivaji |
| 1707 | Death of Aurangzeb |
| 1739 | Nadir Shah sacks Delhi |
| 1757 | Battle of Plassey |
| 18th cent. | Manipuri dance form emerges in Manipur |
| 1764 | Battle of Buxar |
| 1765 | East India Company granted fiscal administration of eastern India |
| 1770 | Famine in Bengal |
| 1774–85 | Governor-generalship of Warren Hastings |
| 1784 | Asiatic Society of Bengal founded |
| 1786 | Indo-European language family announced by William Jones |
| 1793 | Permanent Settlement of Bengal and reform of civil service |
| 1799 | Death of Tipu Sultan |
| 1828 | Brahma Sabha (later Brahmo Samaj) founded by Rammohun Roy |
| 1830s | English replaces Persian in government administration/education |
| 1857–58 | Sepoy Mutiny and Indian Uprising |
| 1858 | British Crown replaces East India Company as ruler of India |
| 1885 | Indian National Congress founded |
| 1905 | Partition of Bengal; Swadeshi movement in Bengal |
| 1906 | All-India Muslim League founded |
| 1909 | Indian Councils Act (Morley-Minto Reforms) |
| 1912 | Capital of India moved from Calcutta to Delhi |
| 1913 | Rabindranath Tagore awarded Nobel Prize in Literature |
| 1914–18 | First World War |
| 1918 | Srinivasa Ramanujan awarded fellowship of Royal Society |
| 1919 | Amritsar massacre |
| 1921 | Non-cooperation movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi |
| 1930 | Chandrasekhar Venkata Raman awarded Nobel Prize in Physics |
| 1935 | Government of India Act |
| 1937 | First democratic elections, won by Indian National Congress |
| 1939–45 | Second World War |
| 1940 | Pakistan resolution by All-India Muslim League |
| 1942 | Quit India movement launched by Gandhi |
| 1943 | Famine in Bengal |
| 1947 | Independence of India and Partition into India and Pakistan |
| 1947–64 | Prime ministership of Jawaharlal Nehru |
| 1948 | Gandhi assassinated |
| 1956 | States Reorganization Act |
| 1962 | Indo-China War |
| 1968 | Hargobind Khorana awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine |
| 1971 | Bangladesh War |
| 1975–77 | Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi |
| 1983 | Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar awarded Nobel Prize in Physics |
| 1984 | Indira Gandhi assassinated |
| 1991 | Rajiv Gandhi assassinated |
| 1991 | Liberalization of Indian economy leads to rapid growth |
| 1992 | Satyajit Ray receives Academy Award for Lifetime Achievement |
| 1992 | Destruction of Babri Masjid, Ayodhya |
| 1998 | Bharatiya Janata Party elected to lead national coalition government |
| 1998 | Amartya Sen awarded Nobel Prize in Economics |
| 2009 | Venkatraman Ramakrishnan awarded Nobel Prize in Chemistry |