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Mughal conqueror Babur defeats the Sultan of Delhi and captures the Koh-i-noor diamond.
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Occupying Delhi, by 1529 he founds the Indian Mughal Empire, consolidated by his grandson Akbar.
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Grandson of Babur becomes third Mughal Emperor at age 13. Disestablishes Islam as state religion and declares himself impartial ruler of Hindus and Muslims; encourages art, culture, religious tolerance.
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Muslim forces defeat and completely destroy the city of Vijayanagara.
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Akbar captures fortress of Ranthambor, ending Rajput independence
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Akbar expands his empire.
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Akbar the Great dies at age 63. His son Jahangir succeeds him as fourth Mughal Emperor.
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Mughals grant Britain right to trade and establish factories in exchange for English navy's protection of the Mughal Empire, which faces Portuguese sea power.
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Life of Sivaji, valiant general and tolerant founder of Hindu Maratha Empire, emancipates large areas confiscated by Muslims, returning them to Hindu control. First Indian ruler to build a major naval force.
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Millions starve to death as Shah Jahan, fifth Mughal Emperor, empties the royal treasury to buy jewels for his "Peacock Throne."
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Shah Jahan completes Taj Mahal in Agra beside Yamuna River. Its construction has taken 20,000 laborers 15 years, at a total cost equivalence of US$25 million.
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Zealous Muslim Aurangzeb becomes Mughal Emperor. His discriminatory policies toward Hindus, Marathas and the Deccan kingdoms contribute to the dissolution of the Mughal Empire by 1750.
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Aurangzeb executes Sikh Guru Tegh Bahadur, beginning the Sikh-Muslim feud that continues to this day.
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Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb demolishes all temples in Mathura, said to number 1,000. (During their reign, Muslim rulers destroy roughly 60,000 Hindu temples throughout India, constructing mosques on 3,000 sites.)
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British defeat the weak Mughal Emperor to become rulers of Bengal, richest province of India.
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British East India Company obtains monopoly on the production and sale of opium in Bengal.
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Britain's Cornwallis defeats Tipu Sahib, Sultan of Mysore and most powerful ruler in South India, main bulwark of resistance to British expansion in India.
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British Parliament impeaches Warren Hastings, Governor General of Bengal for misconduct.
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Britain formalizes emigration of Indian indentured laborers to supply cheap labor under a system more morally acceptable to British Christian society than slavery, illegal in the British Empire since 1833.
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First Indian Revolution, called the Sepoy Mutiny, ends in a few months with the fall of Delhi and Lucknow.
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British Queen Victoria (1819-1901), head of Church of England, is proclaimed Empress of India (1876-1901).
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A group of middle-class intellectuals in India, some of them British, found the Indian National Congress to be a voice of Indian opinion to the British government. This was the origin of the later Congress Party.
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Nationalist leader, Marathi scholar Bal Bangadhar Tilak (1857-1920) initiates Ganesha Visarjana and Sivaji festivals to fan Indian nationalism. He is first to demand complete independence, Purna Svaraj, from Britain.
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US government excludes Indian citizens from immigration. Restriction stands until 1965.
