A Chronology of the British in India

Being a list of the main historical events effecting the British role in India from the foundation of the East India Company in 1600 to the final withdrawal of Britain in 1947.

Part One - the East India Company

• 1600 Elizabeth I grants a charter to the East India Company
• 1612 The East India Company establishes a factory at Surat
• 1640 The East India Company establishes a factory at Madras
• 1661 Charles II receives Bombay from Catherine of Braganza as part of her dowry; the East India Company establishes a factory there
• 1690 The East India Company establishes a factory at Calcutta
• 1756-63 The Seven Years War
• 1757 The Battle of Plassey - the British defeat Siraj Ud Daulah
• 1760 The Battle of Wandiwash - the British defeat the French
• 1761 The Battle of Panipat - the British defeat the Marathas
• 1764 The Battle of Buxar - the British defeat Mir Kasim
• 1765 The Treaty of Allahabad - the British granted Diwani Rights in Bengal, Bihar and Orissa
• 1767-1769 The First Mysore War - the British are forced to concede a peace treaty with Hyder Ali
• 1772 Warren Hastings appointed as Governor of Bengal
• 1773 The Regulating Act passed by the British Parliament, creates post of Governor-General of India
• 1774-85 Warren Hastings Governor-General of India
• 1774 The India Act
• 1775-1782 The First Anglo-Maratha War
• 1780-1784 The Second Mysore War - the British finally defeat Hyder Ali
• 1784 The Government of India Act establishes a Board of Control
• 1786-93 Lord Cornwallis Governor-General of India
• 1790-1792 The Third Mysore War between the British and Tipu Sultan
• 1793 Cornwallis’ permanent settlement of Bengal revenue
• 1798 Lord Wellesley appointed Governor-General of India
• 1799 The Fourth Mysore War, once again between the British and Tipu Sultan; The Battle of Seringapatam - the death of Tipu Sultan and the Partition of Mysore
• 1802 The Treaty of Bassein
• 1803 The Nawab of Oudh cedes the southern and western parts of his territories to the British
• 1803-1805 The Second Anglo-Maratha war - the British defeat the Marathas at the Battle of Assaye
• 1804 The Mughal Emperor at Delhi is placed under British protection
• 1805 The Treaty of Amritsar
• 1813 The East India Company’s charter is renewed but it's monopoly over Indian trade is abolished
• 1814-1816 The Anglo-Gurkha War
• 1817-1818 The Pindari War
• 1817-1819 The Third Anglo-Maratha War - the Marathas fmally crushed by the British who are now the paramount power in India
• 1824-1826 The First Burmese War
• 1828-35 Lord William Bentinck as Governor-General of India
• 1829 The prohibition of Sutee
• 1829-1837 The suppression of Thuggee
• 1831 The Raja of Mysore is deposed, and Mysore annexed by the Britsh
• 1833 The Charter Act and the abolition of the East India Company’s trade
• 1835 The Education Resolution
• 1838 The Tripartite Treaty between Shah Shuja, Ranjit Singh and the British
• 1839-1842 The First Afghan War
• 1843 The Gwalior War; the British annex the Sindh, Hyderabad and Khairpur
• 1845-1846 The First Anglo-Sikh War
• 1848 Lord Dalhousie becomes the Governor-General of India
• 1848-1849 The Second Anglo-Sikh War
• 1849 The Annexation of the Punjab
• 1852 The Second Anglo-Burmese War
• 1856 The complete annexation of the Oudh
• 1857 The Indian Mutiny, otherwise known as the Sepoy Uprising or Rebellion, or the First War of Independence
• 1858 The final abolition of the East India Company

Part Two - the British Raj

In 1858 The last Mughal emperor of India, Bahadur Shah II, was deposed as a result of his support for the Indian Mutiny and exiled to Burma. The British government now imposed direct rule on India, appointing a Governor-General or Viceroy to act as the crown's representative.

• 1861 The India Councils Act divides the government of India between a Secretary of State and a Council based in London, and the Viceroy and a Legislative Council based in Calcutta. Indians are only permitted to attend the Legislative Council in an advisory role
• 1869 The birth of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
• 1876 Queen Victoria is proclaimed Empress of India
• 1878 The Arms Act forbids Indians to carry arms
• 1878-1880 The Second Afghan War
• 1879 The murder of the British Resident in Kabul
• 1882 The Resolution on Local Self-Government
• 1883 The Ilbert Act
• 1885 The formation of the Indian National Congress
• 1886 The annexation of Burma
• 1892 The Indian Councils Act that allows Indians to be full members of the Legislative Council
• 1893 The establishment of the Durand Line now fixes the frontier between Afghanistan and British India
• 1905 The First Partition of Bengal
• 1906 The foundation of the Muslim League
• 1909 The Morley-Minto Reforms increase Indian representation on both the central and provincial councils
• 1911 The Coronation Durbar; King George V visits India ; transfer of capital from Calcutta to Delhi; the Partition of Bengal modified to create the Presidency of Bengal
• 1915 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, now known as the 'Mahatma' returns to India and begins his campaign of passive resistance to British rule
• The Defence of India Act
• 1916 The Lucknow Pact; Congress and the Muslims League unite to demand Home Rule
• 1917 The Montagu declaration establishes that the British government intends to develop self-governing institutions in India
• 1919 The Amritsar Massacre and the Third Afghan War
• The Montague-Chelmsford Reforms offer a limited form of Indian autonomy
• 1920 The launch of the Civil Disobedience Movement
• 1922 The Civil Disobedience Movement suspended after the Chauri-Chaura violence
• 1927 The Simon Commission appointed
• 1928 The Simon Commission visits India
• 1931 New Delhi becomes the capital of India
• 1935 Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the head of the Muslim League demands a new Muslim nation of Pakistan
• 1939 Congress refuses to support Britain during World War II
• 1940 The Muslim League adopts the Pakistan Resolution
• 1941 Congress offers its support in return for Independence. Gandhi disapproves and leaves Congress
• 1942 The Cripps Mission to India fails; Congress launches the Quit India Movement; as a result many Congress leaders, including Gandhi, are imprisoned
• 1946 Formation of the Interim Government, later joined by the Muslim League
• 1947 Lord Mountbatten appointed Viceroy and ; on the 14th, the Congress accepts the partition of India and the creation of Pakistan.
• 3rd June 1947 Lord Mountbatten announces the British government's decision to grant India independence on the basis of partition
• 3rd June 1947 Congress announces its acceptance of partition
• 15th August 1947 India gains its independence from British rule, but partitioned into the separate states of India and Pakistan

Compiled, collated and adapted from various chronicles of Indian history including;

http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/harlandj/Chrons/india_chron.html
http://www.indiainformation.com/history/history2.htm
http://nte.univ-lyon2.fr/~goethals/india/india_chronology.html
www.bharatvani.org/books/ir/IR_chrono.htm
http://www.history.upenn.edu/hist086/chronology.htm
http://www.tourism.gov.pk/history.html
www.anand.to/india/chronology.html