| Time | Events |
| 9000 BCE | Period of early Neolithic culture |
| 9000 BCE | Bhimbetka rock shelters (found in Madhya Pradesh region); also evidenced some of the Stone Age rock paintings |
| 7000 to 2500 BCE | Mehergarh Culture (Neolithic Age) |
| 3300 to 1700 BCE | Phase of Indus Valley Civilization |
| 1800 BCE | Indo-Aryan migration |
| 1500 to 1000 BCE | Early Vedic Period |
| 1300 BCE | End of Cemetery H culture |
| 1200 BCE | Rigveda Period |
| 1000 to 500 BCE | Late Vedic period |
| 1000 BCE | Iron Age of India |
| 877 BCE | Birth of Parsvanatha (23rd Jain Tirthankara) |
| 700 BCE | Age of Upanishads |
| 600 BCE | Period of Sixteen Maha Janapadas |
| 599 BCE | Birth of Mahavira (24th Tirthankar of Jainism) |
| 563 BCE | Birth of Siddhārtha Gautama (Buddha) |
| 558–491 BCE | Bimbisara (also known as Srenika) founded Haryanka dynasty |
| 527 BCE | Nirvana of Mahavira |
| 492–460 BCE | Period of Ajatshatru (son of Bimbisara) |
| 483 BCE | Mahaparinirvana of Gautama Buddha |
| 350 BCE | Panini (a resident of Gandhara) had written Ashtadhyayi (Sanskrit Grammar book) |
| 326 BCE | Battle of the Hydaspes River between Porus and Alexander |
| 321 BCE | Chandragupta Maurya established Mauryan Empire in Magadha |
| 305 BCE | Chandragupta Maurya defeated Seleucus Nicator |
| 300 BCE | Chola dynasty (in south India) |
| 297–273 BCE | Period of Bindusara (son of Chandragupta Maurya) |
| 268–232 BCE | Period of the Great Ashoka (son of Bindusara) |
| 265 BCE | Kalinga War (between Ashoka and the kingdom of Kalinga) |
| 260 BCE | Ashoka inscribed the Edicts of Ashoka (written in Brahmi script) |
| 251 BCE | Mahinda (son of Ashoka) introduced Buddhism to Ceylon (Sri Lanka) |
| 250 BCE | The followers of Buddhists carved the first cave temples (namely Lomas Rishi) |
| 232 BCE | Ashoka died (Kunala, his son, succeeded) |
| 184 BCE | After the assassination of Brihadrata (by his general Pushyamitra shunga), Mauryan empire collapsed |
| 184 BCE | Establishement of the Shunga dynasty by Pushyamitra Shunga |
| 78 BCE | Beginning of Saka era |
| 57 BCE | Beginning of Vikram Era |
| Common Era (CE) | |
| 10 CE | The Indo-Parthian kingdom established |
| 240 CE | Sri-Gupta established the Gupta Empire in Magadha (and its capital was in Pataliputra) |
| 275 CE | Pallava dynasty established |
| 320 CE | Chandragupta I became the king of Gupta empire |
| 335 CE | Samudragupta became the king of Gupta empire |
| 380 CE | Chandragupta II (son of Samudragupta) became the Gupta Emperor |
| 405 CE | Fahien, the Chinese traveler came India |
| 450 CE | Huna invasions |
| 554 CE | After the death of skandagupta, Gupta empire collapsed |
| 606 CE | Harshavardhana became the kind |
| 629 CE | Chinese monk Huang Tsang (Xuanzang) came to India |
| 753 CE | After defeating Chalukyas of Badami, Danti Durga established Rashtrakuta Kingdom |
| 788 CE | Birth of Adi Shankaracharya |
| 1001 CE | Invasion of Mahmud Ghazni |
| 1025 CE | Last invasion of Mahmud Ghazni that lead to destruction of temple of Somnath |
| 1030 CE | Death of Mahmud of Ghazni |
| 1030 CE | Alberuni came India |
| 1191 CE | First battle of Tarain between Mohammed Ghori and Prithviraj III (Ghauri was defeated) |
| 1192 CE | Second battle of Tarain between Mohammed Ghori and Prithviraj III (Prithviraj was defeated) |
| 1154 CE | Battle of Chandawar fought between Ghauri and Jaichand of Kannauj (Ghauri defeated Jayachandra and killed) |
| 1192 CE | Qutb al-Din Aybak constructed the Qutub Minar in Delhi |
| 1206 CE | Qutb-ud-din Aibak established ‘Slave Dynasty’ (which later came to known as Delhi Sultanate) |
| 1210 CE | While playing polo, Qutb-ud-din Aibak died |
| 1221 CE | Invasion of Changez Khan (Mongol invasion) |
| 1240 CE | Razia Sultan was killed by Turkish nobles |
| 1336 CE | Harihara I and his brother Bukka Raya I founded the Vijayanagara Empire |
| 1398 CE | Timur’s invasion |
| 1483 CE | Babur born |
| 1498 CE | The first voyage of Vasco de Gama from Europe to India |
| 1526 CE | The first Battle of Panipat in which Mughal ruler Babur defeated Ibrahim Lodi |
| 1530 CE | Babur died and his son Humayun became the emperor |
| 1539 CE | Battle of Chausa fought between Mughal emperor Humayun and Sher Shah Suri (Humayun defeated) |
| 1540 CE | Battle of Kannauj fought between Humayun and Sher Shah Suri and Humayun. Humayun lost the Mughal empire and hence escaped from India |
| 1545 CE | Sher Shah Suri died and his son Islam Shah Suri succeeded |
| 1554 CE | Islam Shah Suri died |
| 1555 CE | Humayun recuperated the throne of Delhi |
| 1556 CE | Humayun died and Akbar (his 12-year-old son) succeeded |
| 1556 CE | Second Battle of Panipat fought between Hemu and Akbar’s forces (Hemu was defeated and killed) |
| 1576 CE | Battle of Haldighati fought between Rana Pratap and Akbar (Akbar defeated Rana Pratap) |
| 1600 CE | East India company is formed (in England) resultantly received exclusive trading rights with India |
| 1605 CE | Akbar died and his son Jahangir succeeded |
| 1628 CE | Jehangir died and his son Shah Jahan succeeded |
| 1627 CE | Birth of Chatrapati Shivaji |
| 1658 CE | Aurangzeb became the Mughal emperor |
| 1666 CE | Shah Jahan died |
| 1674 CE | Shivaji defeated Mughal emperor’s troops and established Maratha empire |
| 1680 CE | Death of Shivaji |
| 1707 CE | Death of Aurangzeb |
| 1739 CE | Invasion of Nadir Shah |
| 1756 CE | Black Hole of Calcutta incident |
| 1760 CE | Battle at Wandewash (British troops defeated French) |
| 1761 CE | Third Battle of Panipat fought between Maratha and Afghans (led by Ahmad Shah); Marathas were defeated |
| 1767 CE | First Anglo-Mysore War (Haidar Ali of Mysore defeated the combined armies of the East India Company) |
| 1772 CE | Birth of Ram Mohan Roy |
| 1773 CE | Warren Hastings appointed as first Governor-General of India |
| 1799 CE | Fourth Anglo-Mysore War (Tipu Sultan died in the war) |
| 1806 CE | Vellore Mutiny |
| 1814 | Raja Ram Mohan Roy established “Atmiya Sabha” |
| 1820 CE | Birth of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar |
| 1824 CE | Birth of Dayananda Saraswati |
| 1836 CE | Birth of Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa |
| 1853 CE | Started Postal Service in India |
| 1853 CE | First Rail run between Bombay and Thane |
| 1855 CE | Santhal rebellion |
| 1856 CE | Hindu Widows’ Remarriage Act |
| 1856 CE | Birth of Bal Gangadhar Tilak |
| 1857 CE | Sepoy Mutiny |
| 1861 CE | Birth of Rabindranath Tagore |
| 1863 CE | Birth of Swami Vivekanand |
| 1865 CE | Birth of Lala Lajpat Rai |
| 1869 CE | Birth of Mahatma Gandhi |
| 1873 CE | Satyashodhak Samaj was established by Jyotirao Phule |
| 1875 CE | Arya Samaj was established |
| 1877 CE | First time Delhi Durbar organized |
| 1885 CE | Indian National Congress was founded |
| 1899 CE | V.D.Savarkar organized ‘Mithra Mela’ |
| 1902 CE | Anushilan Samiti was organized |
| 1905 CE | Partition of Bengal |
| 1906 CE | Muslim League formed in Dacca |
| 1907 CE | Congress Session at Surat (Congress divided as Moderate and Extremists) |
| 1908 CE | Alipore bomb case |
| 1909 CE | Morley-Minto Reforms |
| 1911 CE | Cancellation of Partition of Bengal |
| 1911 CE | British government moved capital city from Calcutta to Delhi |
| 1912 CE | Delhi conspiracy case |
| 1913 CE | Formation of Gadar Party |
| 1914 CE | Hindu–German Conspiracy |
| 1916 CE | Lucknow Pact |
| 1917 CE | Champaran and Kheda Satyagraha |
| 1919 CE | Jallianwala Bagh massacre |
| 1919 CE | Montagu–Chelmsford Reforms |
| 1919 CE | Rowlatt Act |
| 1920 CE | Non-cooperation movement (Khilafat Movement) |
| 1922 CE | Chauri Chaura incident |
| 1924 CE | Formation of Hindustan Socialist Republican Association |
| 1925 CE | Kakori conspiracy |
| 1927 CE | Simon Commission |
| 1928 CE | Bardoli Satyagraha |
| 1929 CE | Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt bombed on Central Assembly |
| 1929 CE | Resolution of Purna Swaraj |
| 1930 CE | Salt Satyagraha (Dandi March) |
| 1930 CE | First Round Table Conferences |
| 1931 CE | Gandhi–Irwin Pact |
| 1931 CE | Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, and Sukhdev martyred |
| 1931 CE | Second Round Table Conferences |
| 1932 CE | Poona Pact |
| 1932 CE | Communal Award |
| 1932 CE | Third Round Table Conferences |
| 1935 CE | Government of India Act 1935 |
| 1937 CE | Indian provincial elections |
| 1939 CE | Subhas Chandra Bose established ‘All India Forward Bloc’ |
| 1940 CE | Lahore Resolution |
| 1940 CE | August offer (1940) |
| 1942 CE | Cripps’ Mission |
| 1942 CE | Quit India Movement |
| 1942 CE | Subhas Chandra Bose established Indian National Army |
| 1944 CE | Subhas Chandra Bose named Mahatma Gandhi as the ‘Father of the Nation’ |
| 1945 CE | Wavell Plan (Simla Conference) |
| 1946 CE | Royal Indian Navy Mutiny |
| 1946 CE | Cabinet Mission |
| 1946 CE | Great Calcutta Killings |
| 1947 CE | Indian Independence Act 1947 |
| 1947 CE | Partition of India and Pakistan (both became independent nations) |
| 1948 CE | Mahatma Gandhi assassinated by Nathuram Godse |
| 1948 CE | India-Pakistan war |
| 1950 CE | Indian became Republic (of India) |
| 1951 CE | Congress Party won first general election |
| 1962 CE | India won Diu, Daman, and Goa from Portuguese |
| 1964 CE | Death of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru |
| 1965 CE | Second Pakistan-India war |
| 1966 CE | Indira Gandhi (daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru) becomes prime minister |
| 1971 CE | Third Pakistan-India war |
| 1974 CE | India exploded first nuclear device (in underground test) |
| 1975 CE | Indira Gandhi declared state of emergency |
| 1975 CE | Birth control introduced |
| 1977 CE | Janata Party came into power (Congress party lost the election) |
| 1979 CE | Janta Party split |
| 1980 CE | Congress again came into power |
| 1984 CE | Operation Blue Star (Anti-Sikh Riots 1984) |
| 1984 CE | Indira Gandhi was assassinated |
| 1988 CE | SEBI (Security and Exchange Board of India) was established by The Government of India |
| 1991 CE | Rajiv Gandhi assassinated |
| 1991 CE | Economic reform program (liberalization) |
| 1992 CE | Babri Mosque in Ayodhya is demolished |
| 1992 CE | 1992 Odisha liquor deaths incident |
| 1996 CE | Amarnath Yatra tragedy |
| 1998 CE | BJP forms coalition government under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| 2000 CE | US President Bill Clinton’s India visit |
| 2001 CE | Massive earthquakes in Gujarat |
| 2001 CE | Suicide squad attacked parliament in New Delhi |
| 2002 CE | Godhra (Gujarat) incident |
| 2003 CE | Bomb blasts in Mumbai |
| 2004 CE | Tsunami incident |
| 2005 CE | Earthquake in Kashmir |
| 2007 CE | India’s first commercial space rocket is launched (carried Italian satellite) |
| 2008 CE | Series of bomb explosions in Ahmedabad (Gujarat) |
| 2008 CE | Attack on two hotels namely the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower and the Oberoi Trident (Mumbai) |
| 2009 CE | India and Russia signed a Uranium deal worth $700 million |
| 2012 CE | Ajmal Kasab the sole surviving gunman of the 2008 Mumbai attacks was hanged |
| 2013 CE | Mars Orbiter Mission is successfully launched into the Orbit of Mars by ISRO (the Indian Space Research Organization) |
| 2014 CE | Congress was routed in the general elections and Narendra Modi (BJP) elected as the Prime Minister |
| 2016 CE | Terror Attacks on Pathankot Air Base |
| 2016 CE | India becomes a member of Missile Technology Control Regime |