👑 Capitals through time

Where India was ruled from, century by century. Larger dots are cities that served several kingdoms.

Cities ruled from most often

Pataliputra 6 Magadha → Mauryan Empire → Shunga Dynasty → Kanva Dynasty → Gupta Empire … Madurai 5 Early Pandyas (Sangam era) → Pandya Kingdom (First Empire) → Pandya Empire (Second Empire) → Madurai Sultanate → Madurai Nayaks Kabul 5 Turk Shahis → Durrani Empire → Emirate of Afghanistan → Kingdom of Afghanistan → Afghanistan Kathmandu 5 Malla Dynasty of Nepal → Kantipur (Kathmandu) → Kingdom of Nepal — expansion era → Kingdom of Nepal → Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal Kannauj 4 Pushyabhuti (Vardhana) Dynasty → Maukhari Dynasty → Gurjara-Pratihara Empire → Gahadavala Dynasty Delhi 4 Tomaras of Delhi → Delhi Sultanate → Mughal Empire → Sur Empire Patan 4 Chaulukyas (Solankis) of Gujarat → Malla Dynasty of Nepal → Vaghela Dynasty → Lalitpur (Patan) Colombo 4 Portuguese Ceylon → Dutch Ceylon → British Ceylon → Dominion of Ceylon Mathura 3 Surasena → Indo-Scythian (Saka) Kingdoms → Kushan Empire Taxila 3 Indo-Greek Kingdoms → Indo-Scythian (Saka) Kingdoms → Indo-Parthian Kingdom Srinagar 3 Karkota Dynasty of Kashmir → Lohara Dynasty of Kashmir → Kashmir Sultanate Thanjavur 3 Chola Empire → Thanjavur Nayaks → Thanjavur Maratha Kingdom

Every capital, in date order 49

Show all 197 polities

FromKingdom / empireCapital
c. 7,000–2,600 BCE Mehrgarh Cultural Tradition 📍 Mehrgarh · Bolan Pass
c. 3,300–1,300 BCE Indus / Harappan Civilization 📍 Harappa · 📍 Mohenjo-daro · 📍 Dholavira
c. 1,500–1,000 BCE Early Vedic Communities 📍 Sapta Sindhu
c. 700–321 BCE Magadha 📍 Rajagriha · 📍 Pataliputra
c. 437 BCE – c. 1017 Anuradhapura Kingdom 📍 Anuradhapura
c. 321–185 BCE Mauryan Empire 📍 Pataliputra
c. 200 BCE – c. 225 CE Satavahana Empire Pratishthana · 📍 Amaravati
c. 30 CE – c. 375 CE Kushan Empire 📍 Purushapura · 📍 Mathura
c. 240 CE – c. 550 CE Gupta Empire 📍 Pataliputra · Ayodhya
c. 275 CE – c. 897 CE Pallava Dynasty 📍 Kanchipuram
c. 500 CE – c. 647 CE Pushyabhuti (Vardhana) Dynasty 📍 Thanesar · 📍 Kannauj
c. 543 CE – c. 753 CE Chalukyas of Badami Vatapi · 📍 Badami
c. 650 CE – c. 1194 Chahamanas (Chauhans) of Shakambhari Shakambhari · 📍 Ajmer
c. 730 CE – c. 1036 Gurjara-Pratihara Empire 📍 Kannauj
c. 750 CE – c. 1161 Pala Empire Gauda · 📍 Pataliputra · Monghyr
c. 753 CE – c. 982 CE Rashtrakuta Empire 📍 Manyakheta
c. 848 CE – 1279 Chola Empire 📍 Thanjavur · 📍 Gangaikonda Cholapuram
c. 977 CE – c. 1186 Ghaznavid Empire 📍 Ghazni · 📍 Lahore
c. 1070 – 1232 Polonnaruwa Kingdom 📍 Polonnaruwa
c. 1153 – 1968 Sultanate of the Maldives 📍 Malé
1201 – 1769 Malla Dynasty of Nepal 📍 Kathmandu · 📍 Patan · Bhaktapur
1206 – 1526 Delhi Sultanate 📍 Delhi
1228 – 1826 Ahom Kingdom 📍 Charaideo · Garhgaon · Rangpur
1326 – 1949 Mewar (Sisodia) 📍 Chittorgarh · Udaipur
1336 – 1646 Vijayanagara Empire Vijayanagara · 📍 Hampi · Penukonda · 📍 Chandragiri
1347 – 1527 Bahmani Sultanate 📍 Gulbarga · Bidar
1399 – 1950 Kingdom of Mysore 📍 Mysore · 📍 Srirangapatna
c. 1469 – 1815 Kingdom of Kandy Senkadagala · 📍 Kandy
1505 – 1961 Portuguese Estado da Índia 📍 Goa
1526 – 1857 Mughal Empire 📍 Agra · 📍 Fatehpur Sikri · 📍 Delhi · Shahjahanabad
1540 – 1556 Sur Empire 📍 Delhi · Sasaram
1600 – 1858 British East India Company 📍 Surat · Madras · Bombay · Calcutta
1674 – 1818 Maratha Empire 📍 Raigad · 📍 Satara · 📍 Pune
1717 – 1765 Nawabs of Bengal 📍 Murshidabad
1724 – 1948 Hyderabad State (Nizams) 📍 Aurangabad · 📍 Hyderabad
1799 – 1849 Sikh Empire 📍 Lahore
1816 – 2008 Kingdom of Nepal 📍 Kathmandu
1858 – 1947 British Raj (Crown Rule) Calcutta · New Delhi from 1911
1907 – present Kingdom of Bhutan 📍 Punakha · 📍 Thimphu
1947 – 1950 Dominion of India 📍 New Delhi
1947 – 1971 Pakistan (West & East) 📍 Karachi · 📍 Islamabad
1948 – 1972 Dominion of Ceylon 📍 Colombo
1950 – present Republic of India 📍 New Delhi
1968 – present Republic of Maldives 📍 Malé
1971 – present Islamic Republic of Pakistan 📍 Islamabad
1971 – present People's Republic of Bangladesh 📍 Dhaka
1972 – present Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte
1973 – present Afghanistan 📍 Kabul
2008 – present Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal 📍 Kathmandu

121 of 197 capitals are on the map — only places whose location is already recorded on YugMap are shown; the rest are listed by name.