History of India in Timeline

India, officially the Republic of India, is a South Asian country and the world's most populous democracy since its independence in 1947. It is the seventh-largest country by area and the most populous country since 2023. Geographically, India is bordered by the Indian Ocean, the Arabian Sea, and the Bay of Bengal. It shares land borders with Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. Maritime neighbors include Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Myanmar, Thailand, and Indonesia.

1901: Temperature Increase

Between 1901 and 2018, temperatures in India rose by 0.7 °C (1.3 °F).

1911: Primary Schools

According to Latika Chaudhary, in 1911 there were under three primary schools for every ten villages.

1920: Nationalist movement

After 1920, the nationalist movement in India became noted for nonviolent resistance, influencing other nationalist movements.

1921: Literacy Rates

In 1921, the rates 7%, 12% and 2%.

1928: Excavation of the Pashupati seal

In 1928, the Pashupati seal was excavated in Mohenjo-daro, Pakistan. It is the best known seal from the Indus Valley civilisation.

1935: National Parks

In 1935, the system of national parks and protected areas was first established in India.

1935: Government of India Act

The Government of India Act 1935 was used as a model and framework for the Constitution of India.

1946: Drafting of Constitution

Between 1946 and 1949, the Constitution of India was drafted.

August 15, 1947: Independence of India

On August 15, 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru became the first prime minister of the Dominion of India.

1947: War with Pakistan

In 1947, India and Pakistan went to war over the disputed territory of Kashmir.

1947: Independence

In 1947, India gained independence but was tempered by the partition into India and Pakistan.

1947: Partition of British Indian Empire

In 1947, the British Indian Empire was partitioned into India and Pakistan, resulting in significant loss of life and migration.

1947: Abolishment of untouchability

In 1947, the Constituent Assembly of India abolished untouchability, marking a significant step towards social equality.

1947: Partition impacts Punjabi cuisine

The 1947 partition caused an entrepreneurial response among people from the Punjab who had been displaced and led to the popularity of tandoori chicken.

September 1949: Choosing the Official Language of India

In September 1949, after three years of debate, the Constituent Assembly of India chose the official language of India.

1949: Drafting of Constitution

Between 1946 and 1949, the Constitution of India was drafted.

January 1950: Articles 343-351 of India's constitution came into effect

On 26 January 1950, articles 343–351 of India's constitution came into effect.

January 26, 1950: India becomes a republic

On January 26, 1950, India became a republic, with Jawaharlal Nehru continuing as prime minister.

1950: India becomes a republic and remains in the Commonwealth

In 1950, India became a republic but remained a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

1950: Republic of India abolishes untouchability

In 1950, the Republic of India formally abolished untouchability, reinforcing the commitment to eliminate caste-based discrimination through legal means.

1950: Scheduled Languages

In 1950, there were 14 scheduled languages: Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu.

1950: Secular Democratic Republic

India's constitution was adopted in 1950, establishing a secular, democratic republic.

1950: Federal Republic

Since 1950, India has been a federal republic governed through a democratic parliamentary system.

1951: Population and Income

In 1951, India's population was 361 million, with a per capita income of US$64 annually and a literacy rate of 16.6%.

1951: General Elections

In 1951, the Congress, led by Nehru, won the general elections.

1951: First post-colonial census

In 1951, the first post-colonial census counted 361 million people.

1956: States Reorganisation Act

In 1956, the States Reorganisation Act led to the reorganization of Indian states on a linguistic basis.

1957: General Elections

In 1957, the Congress, led by Nehru, won by comfortable margins in the general elections.

1962: India-China War

In 1962, India and China went to war, with India being decisively defeated.

1962: Nehru Re-elected

In 1962, Singh became the first prime minister to be re-elected after Jawaharlal Nehru.

May 1964: Death of Nehru

In May 1964, Jawaharlal Nehru died in office, and Lal Bahadur Shastri was chosen as prime minister.

1964: Missing Women

During the period 1964-2014, the number of missing women quadrupled from 15 million to 63 million.

1964: China's nuclear test

In 1964, China's nuclear test and threats to support Pakistan led India to consider producing nuclear weapons.

1965: India-Pakistan War

After the India-Pakistan war of 1965, Shastri died soon after signing the Tashkent Peace Declaration.

1965: Threats to intervene in support of Pakistan

In 1965, China's threats to intervene in support of Pakistan in the war, caused India to produce nuclear weapons.

1965: War with Pakistan and ties with Soviet Union

In 1965, India and Pakistan engaged in war, leading India to pursue closer military and economic ties with the Soviet Union.

1965: English as "de facto formal language of India"

In 1965, the Government of India announced that English would continue to be the "de facto formal language of India".

January 1966: Death of Shastri

In January 1966, Lal Bahadur Shastri died soon after signing the Tashkent Peace Declaration.

1967: India fends off Chinese excursions into Sikkim

By 1967, India was able to fend off Chinese excursions into Sikkim.

1967: Election Victories

In 1967, Indira Gandhi led the party to election victories.

1967: Constitutional Amendment

In 1967, constitutional amendments added Sindhi as a scheduled language.

1970: Life Expectancy at Birth

Between 1970 and 1975, the life expectancy at birth in India was 49.7 years.

1971: War with Pakistan

In 1971, India and Pakistan were at war again.

1971: Landslide Election Victories

In 1971, Indira Gandhi led the party to a landslide victory after Pakistan's defeat in the Bangladesh Liberation War.

1972: Wildlife Protection Act

In 1972, India enacted the Wildlife Protection Act and Project Tiger.

1974: India's first nuclear weapons test

In 1974, India conducted its first nuclear weapons test.

1975: Life Expectancy at Birth

Between 1970 and 1975, the life expectancy at birth in India was 49.7 years.

1975: State of Emergency

In 1975, Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency, suspending many civil liberties.

1977: Congress Voted out of Power

In 1977, following public discontent, the Congress was voted out of power.

1980: Congress returns to power

In 1980, the Congress returned to power.

1980: Forest Conservation Act

In 1980, the Forest Conservation Act was enacted.

1981: Literacy Rates

In 1981 the respective literacy rates for total population, men and women were 41%, 53% and 29%.

October 31, 1984: Assassination of Indira Gandhi

On October 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated and succeeded by Rajiv Gandhi as prime minister.

1984: Absolute Majority

In the 2014 general election, the BJP under Narendra Modi became the first political party since 1984 to win an absolute majority.

1985: Share of External Trade in India's GDP

In 1985, the share of external trade in India's GDP was 6%.

1985: People Leaving Poverty

Since 1985, some 431 million Indians have left poverty.

1988: Amendments to Forest Conservation Act

In 1988, amendments were added to the Forest Conservation Act.

1989: National Front Coalition

In 1989, a National Front coalition, led by the Janata Dal, won the general elections.

1991: Growth of people living in urban areas

Between 1991 and 2001, the number of people living in urban areas grew by 31.2%.

1991: Population Growth Rate

From 1991 to 2001, India's population grew by 21.54%.

1991: Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi

In 1991, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated; P. V. Narasimha Rao formed a minority government.

1991: Economic Liberalisation

In 1991, an acute balance of payments crisis forced India to liberalise its economy, moving towards a free-market system.

1991: GDP Per Capita

Since economic liberalisation began in 1991, India's nominal GDP per capita increased steadily from US$308.

1992: Constitutional Amendments

In 1992, constitutional amendments added Nepali, Manipuri, and Konkani as scheduled languages.

1994: Under-Five Mortality Rate

In 1994, the under-five mortality rate for the country was 113 per 1,000 live births.

January 1995: Member of World Trade Organization

On January 1995, India became a member of the World Trade Organization.

1996: BJP Government

In 1996, the BJP briefly formed a government after winning the general election.

1998: Vajpayee Becomes Prime Minister

After the 1998 Indian general election, Atal Bihari Vajpayee of the BJP became prime minister.

1998: Additional underground nuclear testing

In 1998, India carried out additional underground nuclear testing.

1999: War with Pakistan

In 1999, India and Pakistan went to war.

1999: BJP Coalition Government

In 1999, the BJP formed a coalition government led by Vajpayee.

2001: Contribution of petrochemical and engineering goods to total exports

Between 2001 and 2011, the contribution of petrochemical and engineering goods to total exports grew from 14% to 42%.

2001: Population Growth Rate

From 2001 to 2011, India's population grew by 17.64%.

2001: People living in rural areas

In 2001, over 70% of people lived in rural areas and the number of people living in urban areas grew by 31.2% between 1991 and 2001. The level of urbanization also increased from 27.81% in the 2001 census.

2001: Rural-Urban Literacy Gap

In 2001, the rural-urban literacy gap was 21.2 percentage points.

2004: Constitutional Amendments

In 2004, constitutional amendments added Maithili, Dogri, Santali and Bodo as scheduled languages.

2004: UPA Coalition

In the 2004 general election, Congress formed the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) coalition.

2006: Share of External Trade in India's GDP

In 2006, the share of external trade in India's GDP stood at 24%, up from 6% in 1985.

2007: Economic Growth Rate

Before 2007, India averaged an economic growth rate of 7.5% for several years.

2007: Viswanathan Anand became Chess World Champion

In 2007, Viswanathan Anand became the undisputed Chess World Champion.

2008: Increase in exports in automotive industry

During 2008, the Indian automotive industry increased exports by 36% during 2008-2009.

2008: India's Share of World Trade

In 2008, India's share of world trade was 1.7%.

2008: Civilian nuclear agreement with the United States

In 2008, a civilian nuclear agreement was signed between India and the United States, leading to waivers from international agencies and cooperation agreements with other countries.

2009: Increase in domestic sales in automotive industry

During 2009, the Indian automotive industry increased domestic sales by 26% during 2009-2010.

2009: UPA Returned to Power

In the 2009 general election, the UPA returned to power with increased numbers, with Manmohan Singh remaining prime minister.

2010: GDP Per Capita

By 2010, India's nominal GDP per capita increased to US$1,380.

2010: Increase in domestic sales in automotive industry

During 2010, the Indian automotive industry increased domestic sales by 26% during 2009-2010.

2011: Religious Demographics

According to the 2011 census of India, 79.8% of the population follows Hinduism, 14.2% Islam, 2.3% Christianity, 1.7% Sikhism, 0.7% Buddhism and 0.4% Jainism.

2011: Human Sex Ratio

According to the 2011 census, the human sex ratio was 940 females per 1,000 males.

2011: Indian IT industry employment and revenue

At the end of 2011, the Indian IT industry employed 2.8 million professionals, generated revenues close to US$100 billion.

2011: Contribution of petrochemical and engineering goods to total exports

Between 2001 and 2011, the contribution of petrochemical and engineering goods to total exports grew from 14% to 42%.

2011: Level of Urbanisation

In the 2011 census, the level of urbanisation increased to 31.16%.

2011: Census of India language breakdown

The 2011 Census of India provides a breakdown of languages spoken.

2012: GDP Growth Rate

During 2012, India's average annual GDP growth rate reached 6.1%.

2012: Growth of the biotech industry

In 2012, the Indian biotech industry grew by 15.1% in 2012-2013.

June 2013: Biotech industry revenue

In June 2013, Indian biotech industry revenue reached US$3.94 billion.

2013: India as textile exporter

In the 2013 calendar year, India was the world's second-largest textile exporter after China.

2013: Viswanathan Anand held status of Chess World Champion

Viswanathan Anand held the status of Chess World Champion until 2013.

2014: Missing Women

During the period 1964-2014, the number of missing women quadrupled from 15 million to 63 million.

2014: BJP Majority

In the 2014 general election, the BJP under Narendra Modi won an absolute majority.

2017: Indian labor force

As of 2017, The 522-million-worker Indian labour force is the world's second largest.

2017: Deaths due to Air Pollution

In 2017, air pollution killed 1.24 million Indians.

2018: Temperature Increase

Between 1901 and 2018, temperatures in India rose by 0.7 °C (1.3 °F).

2018: Under-Five Mortality Rate

In 2018 the under-five mortality rate reduced to 41.1 per 1,000 live births.

2018: Leading cause of death

In 2018, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was the leading cause of death after heart disease.

2019: BJP Majority Increased

In the 2019 general election, the BJP won a larger majority.

2020: Median Age

In 2020, the median age in India was 28.7.

2021: India as Importer and Exporter

In 2021, India was the world's ninth-largest importer and the sixteenth-largest exporter.

2022: India becomes the world's third-largest vehicle market

In 2022, India became the world's third-largest vehicle market after China and the United States, surpassing Japan.

2022: Foreign Exchange Remittances

In 2022, India's foreign exchange remittances of US$100 billion, highest in the world, were contributed to its economy by 32 million Indians working in foreign countries.

2022: Tuberculosis Rates

World Health Organization (WHO) statistics for 2022 estimated 2.8 million new tuberculosis infections annually, accounting for 26% of the global total.

2023: Population Growth

By 2023, India's population grew to over 1.4 billion.

2023: Most populous country

In 2023, India became the most populous country.

2023: India's population

In 2023, India had an estimated 1,428,627,663 residents, becoming the world's most populous country. The life expectancy at birth also increased to 72.0 years.