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1800 BCE
decline of Mahenjo Daro and Harappa
It was one of the first and most important urban settlements in the world, existing at the same time as the civilizations of Mesopotamia, Caral, Ancient Egypt, and Crete. Probably a change in the course of the river caused the abandonment of the city. -
Period: 1500 BCE to 100 BCE
Aryan invasion
One of the main ideas used to interpret and generally devalue the ancient history of India is the theory of the Aryan invasion. According to this account, India was invaded and conquered by nomadic light-skinned Indo-European tribes from Central Asia around 1500-100 BC, who overthrew an earlier and more advanced dark-skinned Dravidian civilization from which they took most of what later became Hindu culture. -
790 BCE
Siddhartha gautama founds buddhism
Siddhartha Gautama (also known as the Buddha “the awakened one”) was the leader and founder of a sect of wandering ascetics (Sramanas), one of many sects which existed at that time all over India. This sect came to be known as Sangha, to distinguish it from other similar communities. -
Period: 320 BCE to 550 BCE
Gopta Emire
The Gupta Empire was an ancient Indian empire founded by Sri Gupta. The empire existed at its zenith from approximately 320 to 550 CE and covered much of the Indian subcontinent. -
Period: 261 BCE to 260 BCE
Kalinga War
The Kalinga War was fought in India between the Maurya Empire under Ashoka and the state of Kalinga. Kalinga was an independent feudal kingdom located on the coast of the present-day state of Odisha and the northern parts of Andhra Pradesh. The Kalinga War, the only major war Ashoka fought after his accession to the throne, included one of the largest and bloodiest battles in history. -
Period: 261 BCE to 271 BCE
The conquest of Kilanga
The conquest of Kalinga of c.271-261 BC was the only aggressive war fought by the third Mauryan emperor, Ashoka, and the suffering he saw during this war helped turn the Emperor away from violence and towards a more peaceful path. -
Period: 232 BCE to 268 BCE
Regis of Asoka
Ashoka was an ancient indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty. He ruled almost all of the Indian continent from 268 to 232 BCE. One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over a realm that stretched from the Hindu Kush mountains in Afghanistan to the modern state of Bangladesh in the east. It covered the entire Indian subcontinent except parts of present-day Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. -
Period: 322 to 185
The Mauya Empire
The Maurya Empire (322 – 185 B.C.E.), ruled by the Mauryan dynasty, was a geographically extensive and powerful political and military empire in ancient India. Originating from the kingdom of Magadha in the Indo-Gangetic plains of modern Bihar, Eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bengal, the empire's capital city was at Pataliputra near modern Patna. Chandragupta Maurya founded the Empire in 322 B.C.E. after overthrowing the Nanda Dynasty.