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Jul 1, 1497
1497- Vasco de Gama Sails for India
Vasco de Gama, a Portuguese explorer, sails for India to find Christians and spices. He only found spices and and ancient seagoing commerce run mainly by Muslims. -
Establishment of the British East India Company
The company was initially formed for pursuing trade with the east indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China The company even had its own army. -
Industrial Revolution in Britain
Wealthy landowners began buying land that village farmers had worked on,which improved farming methods. Livestock breeders improved their methods, which improved living conditions and expanded the population of England.Britain had an expanding economy to support industrialization. -
Decline of the Mughal Empire
Aurangzeb drained the empire of its resources. Over 2 million people died of famine while he was away waging war. As the Mughal empire fell, western traders slowly built their own power in the region. -
British overcame French and take control of India
Robert Clive led East India Company troops in decisive victory over Indian forces allied with the French at the Battle of Plassey. The East India Company was the leading power in India until 1858. -
Sepoy Rebellion
A gossip spread that the rifles of the British were greased with beef and pork fat and the Hindus and Muslims were shocked, so the sepoys did not accept the rifles. British jailed those who dibobeyed and this cause they sepoys to rebel. -
British colonized India
The British government took direct command of India, as a result of the mutiny. The British promised to respect all treaties the East India Company had made with them and they promised that the Indian states that were still free would remain independent. -
Creation of the Indian National COngress (INC)
The Indian National Congress were calling for self-government. It was formed to rid India of foreign rule and worked toward the goal of independence from the British. -
Creation of the Muslim League
Muslim League was founded in 1906 in India to protect Muslim interests. The Muslim League stated that it would never accept Indian independence if it meant rule by the Hindu-dominated Congress Party. -
Rowlett Acts
The British government promised reforms that would eventually lead to self-government, but they never kept their promise. The British passed the Rowlatt Acts, which allowed the government to jail protesters without trial for as long as two years. -
Amritsar Masacre
British commander at Amritsar believed they were openly defying the ban even though most people at were unaware he had banned public meetings. He ordered his troops to fire on the crowd without warning. 400 indians were killed and 1200 were wounded, Indians demanded endepence after the masacre -
Mohandas Gandhi's leadership of the INC
Gandhi emerged as the leader of the independence movement after the Amritsar massacre. His strategy changed from his deeply religious approach to political activity. He became known as Mahatma meaning "great soul." -
Gandhi's travels stressing nonviolent resistance
The congress party endorsed civil disobedience. Gandhi launched his campaign law, and nonviolence as the means toachieve independence. -
The Salt March
To show their hatred of the Salt Acts, Indians marched 240 miles to the seacoast. They were attacked with clubs by police officers and the 60,000 followers of Gandhi, including him, were all arrested. -
Government of India Act
This act provided local self-government and limited democratic elections, but not total independence. But became a tension between Indians and Muslims -
WWII- Riots between Hindus and Muslims
Muslims wanted to be included in the Indian government, so riots between the two groups broke out in several Indian cities. More than 5,000 people were dead and more than 15,000 were hurt. -
Partition
The northwest and eastern regions became known as Pakistan and was where the Muslims moved. The rest of India was for Hindus. -
Indian/Pakistan Independence
The British House of Commons passed an act on July 16, 1947, that granted two nations, India and Pakistan, independence in one month's time. Everyone had to choose whether they were going to stay in India or move to Pakistan. -
Gandhi's Death
Gandhi personally went to the Indian capital of Delhi to plead for fair treatment of Muslim refugees. While he was there, a Hindu extremist, who thought Gandhi was too protective of Muslims, shot and killed him.
