Timeline
This timeline offers an overview of key political, cultural and legal events to help frame the interpretation of the documents included in this site.
1489
Bijapur Sultanate is established in southwestern India
1510
Goa conquered from Bijapur becomes capital of Portuguese empire in the East
1526
Mughal empire established in northern India
1592-1593
Completion of the Ain-i Akbari, gazetteer and administrative rule book of the Mughal empire
1600
English East India Company is chartered
1628
Mughal emperor Shah Jahan is crowned
1650
Sultanate of Oman frees itself of Portuguese control
1658
Mughal war of succession, death of princes Murad Bakhsh and Dara Shukoh; Mughal emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir is crowned
1661
Bombay is gifted by the Portuguese to the British Crown, who lease it to the East India Company
1674
Maratha king Shivaji is crowned
1675-1676
Composition of the Rajavyavaharakosha, a Marathi-Persian administrative thesaurus
1686
Bijapur kingdom conquered by the Mughals
1689
Maratha king Sambhaji is killed, his son Shahji captured, the Bhonsle dynasty moves south
1698
Zanzibar comes under Sultanate of Oman
1707
Mughal emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir dies; Mughal decline begins
1719-1720
Marathas acquire imperial grants to the Deccan, begin northward expansion
1720
Hyderabad and Bengal become independent kingdoms
1757
English East India Company takes control of Bengal province
1761
Afghan Durrani rulers invade India and defeat the Maratha confederation
1767
Maratha queen Ahilyabai Holkar becomes main ruler of Indore
1793
Permanent Settlement of Bengal
1798-1800
British control over Oman begins
1817-1818
English East India Company defeats the Maratha confederation
1829
Sati or burning of Hindu widows is legally prohibited in British-ruled India
1837
English and vernacular languages replace Persian as official language in British-ruled India
1857
The ‘sepoys’ or Indian soldiers of the East India Company rebel
1858
The British crown takes over India
1861
Zanzibar and Oman becomes separate kingdoms
1890
Zanzibar becomes a British protectorate, governed from Bombay
1897
Slavery is legally prohibited in Zanzibar
1947
India and Pakistan become independent nations
1963
Zanzibar becomes an independent nation