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May 20, 1498
Vasco da Gama
The first European nobleman (with a crew of 170 men) to sail from Lisbon, around Africa to Calicut, India. -
The British East India Company wins trading rights in the Mughal empire.
As the Mughal empire declined the British empire took advantage of this and won the rights to trade with India forming The British East India Company, in the hope to make money and to fund the Industrial Revolution in Britain. -
The Battle of Plassey
Robert Clive leads a British military force to victory at Plassey against the Nawab of Bengal. As a result, the East India Company takes political control over a large part of India. They became very powerful in Bengal and over the next 100 years, they extended their control over India. -
Governor-General Warren Hastings consolidates control in India.
Warren Hastings becomes the first Governor-General of India in 1773. Hastings works quickly to consolidate the East India Company's control in India, removing power from the Nawab of Bengal and crippling the Mughal Empire. Hastings wages war and forms alliances to increase Britain's control. While he hopes to introduce Britain to Indian history and culture. -
Mangal Pandey
The East India Company requires Indian soldiers serving the company, to bite off cartridges greased with animal fat to load their rifles. The animal fat is from cows, which are sacred to Hindus, or from pigs, which are forbidden to Muslims. Indian soldiers rose up in rebellion against their British officers. Mangal Pandey, an Indian soldier, attacked a British soldier near Calicut and was eventually hanged. -
Mangal Pandey was hanged
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The Sepoy Rebellion breaks out in India - the first war of Indian independence.
Indian solider in Meerut shot down the British officers and took control of Meerut, they then marched to Delhi and asked the last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar to lead the revolt against the British empire. Although there were many prominent leaders the British had stronger weapons and hence won. -
Parliament puts India directly under control of the British crown.
Due to the ending of the east indin company, India is now put under the control of the British crown. Indian is now governed by colonial rule. Britain also slows down the reforms on Hindus and Muslims -
The Suez Canal opens and greatly improves British trade.
The Suez Canal opens which is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, defining the border between Africa and Asia. The farmers in India were forced to grow cotton and indigo which provided raw material to the British factories for them to make mill cloth in British factories which were later sold in India at higher prices. This destroyed the weaving industry in India. -
The Indian National Congress is organized.
Nationalist leaders organize the Indian National Congress for greater democracy. They believe in the western model but ultimately they hope to use non-violent protest to achieve India's independence from British rule. -
The Muslim League is organized.
Due to the fact that Hindus are dominating the congress party, the Muslims decide to form their own party called the Muslim League. They also want independence from the British but are afraid that the Hindus will overpower them. -
The Amritsar massacre
Indians made up a large sum of soldiers who fought during World War 1 alongside the British. During a peaceful public meeting in Amritsar, British general Reginald Dyer fires on these people resulting in a massacre. Indian is hungry for independence. -
Mahatma Gandhi launches a campaign of noncooperation
Indian lawyer, Mahatma Gandhi, launches a two-year campaign of incorporation. He encourages Indians to leave British institutions and to have self-independence. The campaign halted due to his arrest in 1922. -
Gandhi leads the Salt March.
Indians are forbidden to touch any salt not sold by the British government, so Gandhi organises a march to the sea ( 240 miles to Dandi ) to produce salt from seawater in order to avoid paying tax to the British, this was illegal. this was done to raise support for the Indian nationalist. -
Indians are forced to fight in WW2 and plans for independence were put on hold
When WW2 broke out, independence for India was put on hold and the Indians were brought to war without any notice. This angered many of the Indian leaders who started a campaign of non-cooperation. -
Britain agrees to grant India independence.
Britain finally agrees to grant India independence after WW2. However, the Muslim League insist that Muslims have their own separate state later known as Pakistan. So Briain decides to separate India into two separate states Pakistan for the Muslims and India for the Hindus. -
The partition of India
When Pakistan and India are formally created in 1947, 14 million Hindus and Muslims crossed the borders in both directions across 2 days. Centuries of doubt between religious groups caused violence to explode in northern India causing 200,000 to 2 million people to die. Nevertheless, India has finally gained independence from Britain.
