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Period: 130 BCE to 1453
Silk Route Trade
The Silk Road was a network of trade routes connecting China and the Far East with the Middle East and Europe. Established when the Han Dynasty in China officially opened trade with the West in 130 B.C., the Silk Road routes remained in use until 1453 A.D., when the Ottoman Empire boycotted trade with China and closed them. Although it’s been nearly 600 years since the Silk Road has been used for international trade, which have impacted commerce, culture and history, even today. -
1252
Marco Polo
Marco Polo (1254-1324) was a Venetian merchant believed to have journeyed across Asia at the height of the Mongol Empire. He first set out at age 17 with his father and uncle, traveling overland along what later became known as the Silk Road. Upon reaching China, Marco Polo entered the court of powerful Mongol ruler Kublai Khan, who dispatched him on trips to help administer the realm. Marco Polo remained abroad for 24 years. -
1453
Fall of Constantinople
The capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by an invading Ottoman army. -
1498
Vasco da Gama
The Portuguese nobleman Vasco da Gama (1460-1524) sailed from Lisbon in 1497 on a mission to reach India and open a sea route from Europe to the East. After sailing down the western coast of Africa and rounding the Cape of Good Hope, his expedition made numerous stops in Africa before reaching the trading post of Calicut, India, in May 1498. Da Gama received a hero’s welcome back in Portugal, and was sent on a second expedition to India in 1502. -
Period: 1526 to
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire was an Empire in the Indian Subcontinent. It was ruled by the Timurid Dynasty who claimed to have direct roots to Timur and Genghis Khan though marriage alliances. -
British East India Company
Was one of the first joint-stock companies in India, it Received and English Royal Charter Dec 31, 1600 from Elizabeth I. They won the rights to build trading posts and forts from Mughal rulers. *It went from a trading company to political power in India.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpIegGu-5tI&t=3s -
Period: to
French and Indian War/Seven Years' War
he French and Indian War was the North American conflict in a larger imperial war between Great Britain and France known as the Seven Years' War. The French and Indian War began in 1754 and ended with the Treaty of Paris in 1763. -
Black Hole of Calcutta
By the end of the seventeenth century effective power in the Mogul empire had fallen into the hands of the nawabs, or provincial governors, while the British and the French were building up their competing commercial empires in India. The British had established a port and trading base at Calcutta in the 1690s and built Fort William to guard it. Some years later they began to strengthen the defences against the French. British counter with equal brutality. -
Battle of Plassey
The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company over the Nawab of Bengal and his French allies on 23 June 1757, under the leadership of Robert Clive. ... The battle was preceded by an attack on British-controlled Calcutta by Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah and the Black Hole massacre. -
Regulating act
The Regulating Act 1773 was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain intended to overhaul the management of the East India Company's rule in India. -
The British Raj
The primary goal for the Raj was trade & financial gain. Early on it maintained the structure of the Mughal Dynasty which was very costly. Thus leading to corruption and abuse in the early days of the company’s rule of India. The consequences include the British government beginning to appoint Governor Generals to administer control over the BEIC in India. -
Period: to
American Revolutionary War
The War taking place was a revolution by the 13 Colonies in order to gain independence from Great Britain, and eventually become the United States of America. Alliances such as the French, Spanish, and Dutch helped the patriots to prevail. -
Pitt's India Act
This act, which was also known as the East India Company Act 1784, as an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain intended to address the shortcomings of the Regulating Act of 1773 by bringing the East India Company's rule in India under the control of the British Government. -
Period: to
Opium Wars
The Opium Wars were two wars in the mid-19th century involving China and the British Empire over the British trade of opium and China's sovereignty. -
Wells of Cownpore
Indian brutality to men, women and children. The British counter with equal brutality. -
Indian Mutiny (Sepoy Mutiny)
The core cause of the mutiny was the insensitivity of the East India Company's military commanders to the traditions of their Indian soldiers. The regiment was being trained to use a new type of rifle. The rifle featured a greased cartridge; to use it, soldiers had to bite it open with their teeth. The problem was that the cartridges were being greased with pig and possibly cow fat. Cows are sacred in the Hindu faith, and for Muslims, eating or coming into contact with pigs or pork is forbidden. -
Formation of the Indian National Congress
Created in 1885. Made up mostly by Hindus who lived in cities. Lead by Nehru. After WWI, in 1920, Gandhi took leadership of the movement. They would present grievances to the British that they felt needed to be addressed. They seaked "self-rule", which will shift to full independence. -
The Muslim League
Founded in 1906 under leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Believed that India must be divided into 2 nations (one for the Hundis and one for the Muslims). -
Period: to
WWI
Indians were under the British crown so they believed to fight under the crown. Gandhi supports war efforts in hopes of achieving self-rule. -
The Massacre at Amritsar
In Amritsar, India’s holy city of the Sikh religion, British and Gurkha troops massacre at least 379 unarmed demonstrators meeting at the Jallianwala Bagh, a city park. Most of those killed were Indian nationalists meeting to protest the British government’s forced conscription of Indian soldiers and the heavy war tax imposed against the Indian people. When the massacre eventually ended it was because of a lack of extra ammunition. -
The Salt March
Also know as "The Dandi March", this was a nonviolent act of civil disobedience led by Ghandi to illegally produce Salt from the seawater at the end of the march. Over 60,000 Indians were arrested because of the movement. -
Salt Tax
Tax on salt was greatly increased when the British East India Company began to establish its rule over provinces in India. special taxes were imposed on Indian salt to facilitate its import. There were further protests throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries culminating in Mahatma Gandhi's Salt Satyagraha in 1930. -
Period: to
WWII
India took part in the war when the British Raj sent over two and a half million soldiers to fight under British command against the Axis powers. India also provided the base for American operations in support of China in the China Burma India Theater. In addition, The Muslim League supported the British war effort while the largest and most influential political party existing in India at the time, the Indian National Congress, demanded independence before it would help Britain. -
The Partition of India
Separation of India on August 14th 1947 into the Dominion of Pakistan and Union of India. Separated on the day of gaining independence from British due to Hindu-Muslim tension. India gained independence after 350 years of British presence. East and west Pakistan were made to avoid religious conflict. Gandhi was not pleased about this. The Hindu-Muslim split turned into a great migration and horrendous violence. During this time Gandhi began to fast, and each day the violence decreased a little. -
Gandhi Dies
The 6th attempt on his life. Assassinated in 1948, by Nathuram Godse. The assassin was angry at Gandhi for preaching peace with Pakistan. Godse also blamed Gandhi for the partition of India.
