~ India ~
Timeline: Medieval India
A.D. 1206 to 1290 Slave Dynasty founded by General Qutb-ud-din Aibak. Aibak never lost any battles and brought a large part of India under Islam.
A.D. 1221 Mongol invasion under Genghis Khan
A.D. 1288 Marco Polo visits India
A.D. 1290 to 1320 Jalaludin Firuz Khilji establishes the Khilji Dynasty, at the age of 70.
A.D. 1320 to 1412 Ghyasuddin Tughlaq founds the Tughlaq Dynasty, defeating the Khilji Kingdom.
A.D. 1336 to 1565: Vijayanagara Empire Kingdom (Deccan): founded by Hindu princes, Harihara and his brother Bukka, to check the progress of Islam in the south.
A.D. 1398 Tamerlane (Timur) invades India, ending Delhi Sultanate.
A.D. 1346 to 1689: Bahamani Kingdom (Deccan) founded by Hasan Gangu.
A.D. 1414 to 1526: Sayyids and Lodhis Dynasties (Delhi)
A.D. 1498 Vasco de Gama (Portugal) comes to India by sea.
A.D. 1510 Portuguese capture Goa.
A.D. 1526 Mughul rule established by Zahiruddin Muhammad Babur (a Chagatai Turk), by defeating Ibrahim Lodhi in the Battle of Panipat. By 1529, after three victorious battles (Battles of Panipat, Khanwar, and Ghagra) Babur becomes ruler of all of northern India.
A.D. 1530 to 1540 Reign of Humayun, after the death of his father Babur, who gave the empire its first distinctive features.
A.D. 1540 to 1545 Reigh of Sher Shah Suri in Delhi after defeat of Humayan.
A.D. 1555 Humayun reconquers Delhi.
A.D. 1560 to 1605 Akbar the Great starts his rule at the age of 13. He has been described as the glory of the Empire.
A.D. 1564 Akbar abolishes poll tax on Hindus.
A.D. 1565 Battle of Talikota: Muslim rulers in Deccan defeat and destroy the Vijayanagara Empire.
By A.D. 1567 Akbar builds a vast empire in India, extending from Kashmir to Kandesh and Varhad, from Sindh to Orissa and Bengal. Kabul and Kandhahar also form part of the Empire.
A.D. 1605 to 1627 Akbar was succeeded by his son Salim, who takes the title of Jahangir. Jahangir consolidates the gains made by his father. He marries Nur Jahan, "Light of the World", in 1611.
A.D. 1600 East India Company is given the monopoly of trade in the East Indies.
A.D. 1627 to 1658 Shah Jahan's rule, succeeding to the throne on the death of his father Jahangir.
A.D. 1629 Mumtaz Mahal dies in childbirth at Burhanpur while on a campaign with Shah Jahan. Construction of the Taj Mahal, for her tomb, begins in 1631.
A.D. 1648 Shah Jahan moves his court to the newly constructed capital of Shahjahanabad at Delhi.
A.D. 1658 to 1707 Aurangzeb's reign. Shah Jahan is imprisoned in the Red Fort at Agra. During his forty-nine year rule, Aurangzeb Alamgir ("World Conqueror") extended his empire so far that it was weakened.
A.D. 1666 Shah Jahan dies.
A.D. 1674 to 1819 Maratha Empire spreads through most of the sub-continent before succumbing to the British.
A.D. 1707 Aurangzeb's death, the great Mughal Empire decends into a series of "successor states."
A.D. 1756 Nawab of Bengal imprisons English soldiers in the Black Hole of Calcutta.
A.D. 1757 Robert Clive defeats Nawab of Bengal at the Battle of Plassey.
A.D. 1772 to 1885 British extends their rule over most of India.
