Modern India

1765 AD: Grant of Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa to the British.

1770 AD: Famine in Bengal.

1774 AD: Regulating Act passed by British Parliament.

1774-85 AD: Warren Hastings—the first Governor- General of India.

1784 AD: Pitt’s India Bill passed by British Parliament.

1793 AD: Permanent settlement of land(land revenue system) in Bengal.

1799 AD: Fourth Mysore War; Death of Tipu Sultan; Partition of Mysore; Ranjit Singh occupied Lahore and made it his capital.

1809 AD: Treaty of Amritsar between Sikhs and British.

1818 AD: The Fourth and the last Anglo-Maratha War.

1829 AD: Prohibition of sati by Lord William Bentinck.

1833 AD: Death of Raja Ram Mohan Roy—founder of Brahmo Samaj.

1835 AD: Introduction of English as medium of instruction as recommended by Lord Macaulay.

1849 AD: Annexation of the Punjab to the British territories (March 29).

1853 AD: The first Indian railway line opened from Bombay to Thane; the first telegraph communication.

1857 AD: First war of Indian Independence; so-called Indian Mutiny of 1857 (May 10). After so many tough expeditions English finally managed to retain India.

1858 AD: India comes under direct rule of the British crown after failed Indian mutiny. Queen Victoria’s Proclamation.

1861 AD: Birth of Dr Rabindranath Tagore.

1863 AD: Birth of Swami Vivekananda.

1869 AD: Birth of Mahatma Gandhi at Porbandar (Kathiawar) (Oct 2).

1875 AD: Arya Samaj founded by Dayanand Saraswati.

1885 AD: Indian National Congress founded by A.O. Hume. The first session of the Indian National Congress was held at Bombay, under the Presidentship of W.C. Bannerji (Dec 28).

1886 AD: Burma annexed by the British and made a part of India.

1889 AD: Birth of Jawaharlal Nehru (Nov 14).

1900 AD: Introduction of Agrarian Reforms and passing of the Punjab Alienation Act during the Viceroyalty of Lord Curzon.

1905 AD: First Partition of Bengal (during the Viceroyalty of Lord Curzon). Swadeshi and Boycott Movements were associated with the first partition of Bengal in 1905.

1906 AD: Formation of the All India Muslim League at Dacca.

1909 AD: Indian Council Act or Morley-Minto Reforms Bill passed.

1911 AD: The capital of India transferred from Calcutta to Delhi. Partition of Bengal revoked.

1912 AD: Bihar separated from Bengal on April 1.

1914 AD: World War I declared (July 28)

1915 AD: Defence of India Act.

1916 AD: Lucknow Pact between the Indian National Congress and the All India Muslim League; formation of the Home-Rule League.

1917 AD: E.S. Montagu’s declaration about the political future of India.

1918 AD: End of World War I (Nov 11).

1919 AD: Government of India Act (or the Montagu- Chelmsford Reforms); division of Provinces into two halves, unofficially known as dyarchy. Rowlatt Act or the Black Bills passed; Tragedy of Jallianwala Bagh at Amritsar (April 13).

1920 AD: Indian National Congress comes under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi; Bal Gangadhar Tilak passed away; first Civil Disobedience Movement in India (March 19).

1921 AD: Moplah Rebellion in Malabar.

1922 AD: Chaura Chauri incident and suspension of civil disobedience movement by Mahatma Gandhi. Death of C.R. Dass.

1928 AD: Visit of Simon Commission and its boycott; Death of Lala Lajpat Rai; The Nehru Report.

1929 AD: Congress Resolution for complete independence (Purna Swaraj) in Lahore Session under the Presidentship of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru.

1930 AD: Historical Dandi March by Mahatma Gandhi (April 6); First Round Table Conference in London.

1931 AD: Gandhi-Irwin Pact; Second Round Table Conference. Announcement of Communal Award by British Premier Ramsay Mcdonald which was opposed by Mahatma Gandhi on the ground that it divides Hindus. Later on matter was resolved through Poona pact with Dr. Ambedker.

1935 AD: Government of India Act 1935 passed.

1937 AD: Formation of provincial govts.; Congress ministries in 7 provinces.

1939 AD: Beginning of Second World War; resignation of congress ministries.

1942 AD: Cripps proposal for Dominion status; Quit India Resolution by Indian National Congress (August 8); Massive revolt against British rule. Movement brutally supressed by govt.

1943 AD: Bengal famine. Formation of Indian National Army at Singapore by Subhash Chandra Bose.

1944 AD: Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose first to address Mahatma Gandhi as “Father of the Nation” at Rangoon.

1945 AD: INA trial at Red fort, Delhi; Shimla conference and failure of Wavell plan.

1946 AD: Formation of Interim government; Visit of Cabinet Mission; Mutiny in the Royal Indian Navy; First meeting of the Indian constituent assembly.

1947 AD: Partition of India; India achieves independence; and creation of Pakistan.

1948 AD: Kashmir acceded to India. Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi (Jan 30).

1948-50 AD: Integration of the Princely States into the Indian Union by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

1948 AD: C. Rajagopalachari appointed the first Indian Governor-General of free India in succession to Earl Mountbatten.

1949 AD: Enactment of the Indian Constitution (Nov 26).

1950 AD: India becomes a sovereign democratic republic (Jan 26). Death of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (Dec 15).

1951 AD: The First Five- Year Plan launched.

1952 AD: First General Elections held in India. Congress wins massive majority.

1953 AD: Andhra State created.

1956 AD: France relinquishes her sovereignty over her possessions in India and transfers establishments of Pondicherry, Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam (May 28). States Reorganisation Act comes into force (Nov 1).

1961 AD: Liberation of Goa.

1962 AD: All-out Chinese attack on India (Oct 20) in NEFA and Ladakh areas. China unilaterally declares ceasefire along the entire Sino-Indian border (Nov 21).

1963 AD: Death of President Dr. Rajendra Prasad (Feb 28); Nagaland inaugurated as the 16th Indian State (Dec 1).

1964 AD: Death of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru (May 27), Lal Bahadur Shastri takes over as Prime Minister of India.

1965 AD: Indo-Pak War; Indian army marches towards Lahore on Sept 6 and crosses Jammu-West Pakistan border in drive towards Sialkot on Sept 8. India and Pakistan agree to a ceasefire from Sept 23.

1966 AD: Indo-Pak summit at Tashkent; Tashkent Pact (Jan 11). Death of Lal Bahadur Shastri at Tashkent (Jan 11); Indira Gandhi installed as Prime Minister of India (Jan 24); Punjab divided—States of Punjab and Haryana come into being (Nov. 1). Chandigarh made Union Territory.

1967 AD: Dr. Zakir Hussain installed as the third President of India (May 13).

1969 AD: Death of President Zakir Hussain (May 3); V.V. Giri elected President of India (Aug. 20). Madras State named as Tamil Nadu.

1970 AD: Meghalaya inaugurated (April 2); Princes derecognised by Presidential Order (Sept 7).

1971 AD: Himachal Pradesh gets full Statehood (Jan 25); Indo-Pak War (Dec 3-17); defeat of Pakistan; Bangladesh freed (Dec 16); India declares unilateral ceasefire.

1972 AD: Assam State reorganised— Meghalaya, Manipur and Tripura become fullfledged States and new Union Territories of Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram inaugurated (Jan 20-21); Simla Agreement between India and Pakistan (July 3).

1974 AD: India becomes the sixth nuclear power in the world (May 18); Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed assumes office as the fifth President of India (Aug 25).

1975 AD: India enters space age by launching Aryabhata (April 19); Sikkim becomes 22nd State of the Indian Union (May 16); State of Emergency declared for the first time since independence. Censorship imposed on Press (June 26).

1976 AD: India and China agree to establish diplomatic relations at Ambassadors’ level (April 16-17).

1977 AD: Emergency rules relaxed. Death of President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed (Feb 11); Janata Party gains absolute majority in the Lok Sabha (March 23), Morarji Desai sworn in as Prime Minister of India (March 24); Neelam  Sanjiva Reddy elected President of India (July 21).

1978 AD: Congress (I) formed with Indira Gandhi as President (Jan 2).

1979 AD: India’s first coalition Government between Janata (S) and the Congress sworn in with Charan Singh as Prime Minister (July 26); Death of Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan (Oct 8).

1980 AD: Indira Gandhi sworn in as Prime Minister (Jan 14); India successfully launches SLV-3 into space carrying Rohini satellite into earth orbit (July 18).

1981 AD: APPLE, India’s first three-axis body-stabilised geostationary experimental communication satellite, launched into space from Kourou, French Guyana (June 19); Bhaskara II launched.

1982 AD: Zail Singh elected the seventh President of India on July 15.

1983 AD: INSAT-IB, India’s unique three-axis, geostationary, communication satellite launched from American Space Shuttle Challenger (Aug 30).

1984 AD: Sqn Ldr Rakesh Sharma becomes India’s first spaceman (April 3); 34-year-old Sikkim mountaineering instructor Phu Dorjee becomes the first Indian to climb Mount Everest without Oxygen (May 9). Bachendri Pal becomes the first Indian woman to conquer Mount Everest (May 23); Army launches operation Bluestar to flush out terrorists from Golden Temple in Amritsar (June 3); Indira Gandhi assassinated (Oct 31). Massive riots in northern Indian cities. Rajiv Gandhi becomes new Prime Minister.

1985 AD: Air India’s jet Kanishka crashes into Atlantic ocean off the coast of Ireland killing 329 people (June 23); The Punjab accord is signed (July 24); Assam accord is signed (August 20).

1986 AD: Mizoram accord is signed thus paving way for the peace in this state long torn by the extremist violence.

1987 AD: Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh attain Statehood (Feb 20). Goa attains Statehood (May 11).

1989 AD: India’s first Super-Computer, Cray X-MP- 14, is dedicated to the nation (March 25); First intermediate range missile of India, Agni, is successfully launched(May 22); V.P. Singh becomes the 7th Prime Minister of India (Dec 2).

1990 AD: Implementation of Mandal Commission report; Chandra Shekhar is sworn-in as the 8th Prime Minister of India (Nov 9).