1947: Indian independence; India partitioned
1948: Mahatma Gandhi assassinated; Integration of princely states 1949: Ceasefire in Kashmir; Enactment of Indian constitution
1950: India becomes Republic
1952: First general elections; Congress government comes to power
1956: The states are reorganized on a linguistic basis
1962: War with China
1964: Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru dies
1965: War with Pakistan; ceasefire declared
1966: Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri dies at Indo-Pak summit at Tashkent; Indira Gandhi comes to power
1971: India and Pakistan wage another war
1972: Simla agreement signed between Indira Gandhi and Pakistan Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (Benazir Bhutto's father.)
1974: India becomes the world's sixth nuclear power, explodes nuclear device in Pokhran, Rajasthan
1975: Indira Gandhi found guilty by court of electoral malpractice; President declares state of emergency due to "internal disturbance threat"
1976: India and Pakistan re-establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level
1977: Emergency ends in sixth General elections; Janata Party comes to power
1979: Janata Party splits; Seventh general elections held
1980: Indira Gandhi returns to power
1984: Indira Gandhi assassinated; son Rajiv Gandhi becomes Prime Minister; In Bhopal, Union Carbide gas leak kills over 2,200
1989: Rajiv Gandhi's Congress defeated in ninth general elections; minority government led by Janata Dal's V.P Singh comes to power
1991: V.P Singh's government falls; Rajiv Gandhi assassinated by Sri Lankan Tamil suicide bomber; Tenth general elections sees Congress government return to power with P.V. Narasimha Rao as Prime Minister
1992: A Hindu mob demolishes the Babri Masjid (mosque) at Ayodhya; sparks off Hindu-Muslim riots in several cities across the country
1996: Eleventh general elections -- the largest democratic exercise on the planet -- sees fall of P.V. Narasimha Rao and the Congress government. The Bharatiya Janata Party comes to power and falls after 13 days; United Front Coalition forms government under Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda
1997: Congress withdraws support to coalition government; Deve Gowda resigns, I.K. Gujral becomes India's 12th Prime Minister
Five thousand years of history through the prism of time
Pakistan Timeline / Back to Homepage
