Popular history
India After Gandhi
The history of the Republic, from 1947 to the present.
Kalpana Chawla
Scientist / mathematician
Republic of India
1962 – 2003
First woman of Indian origin in space.
Their world
Move along the chart to see their age in any year, who ruled and what happened; click anything to open it.
The map shows Republic of India around their lifetime and where the events of their lifetime took place.
Hover a dot for the event; click it to open the full map in that year.
Rulers of the time
Kujula Kadphises
Emperor, Kushan Empire · c. 30 CE – c. 80 CE
Vima Taktu
Emperor, Kushan Empire · c. 80 CE – c. 95 CE
Yajna Sri Satakarni
King, Satavahana Empire · c. 170 CE – c. 199 CE
Vasudeva I
Emperor, Kushan Empire · c. 190 CE – c. 230 CE
Sri Gupta
Maharaja, Gupta Empire · c. 240 CE – c. 280 CE
Mahasena
King, Anuradhapura Kingdom · c. 274 CE – c. 301 CE
Ghatotkacha
Maharaja, Gupta Empire · c. 280 CE – c. 319 CE
Chandragupta I
Maharajadhiraja, Gupta Empire · c. 319 CE – c. 335 CE
Samudragupta
Maharajadhiraja, Gupta Empire · c. 335 CE – c. 375 CE
Chandragupta II (Vikramaditya)
Maharajadhiraja, Gupta Empire · c. 375 CE – c. 415 CE
Kumaragupta I
Maharajadhiraja, Gupta Empire · c. 415 CE – c. 455 CE
Skandagupta
Maharajadhiraja, Gupta Empire · c. 455 CE – c. 467 CE
Dhatusena
King, Anuradhapura Kingdom · c. 455 CE – c. 473 CE
Budhagupta
Maharajadhiraja, Gupta Empire · c. 477 CE – c. 495 CE
Kashyapa I
King, Anuradhapura Kingdom · c. 477 CE – c. 495 CE
Pulakeshin I
King, Chalukyas of Badami · c. 543 CE – c. 566 CE
Kirtivarman I
King, Chalukyas of Badami · c. 566 CE – c. 597 CE
Simhavishnu
King, Pallava Dynasty · c. 575 CE – c. 600 CE
Prabhakaravardhana
King, Pushyabhuti (Vardhana) Dynasty · c. 580 CE – c. 605 CE
Mangalesha
King, Chalukyas of Badami · c. 597 CE – c. 609 CE
Mahendravarman I
King, Pallava Dynasty · c. 600 CE – c. 630 CE
Rajyavardhana
King, Pushyabhuti (Vardhana) Dynasty · 605 CE – 606 CE
Harshavardhana
Emperor, Pushyabhuti (Vardhana) Dynasty · 606 CE – 647 CE
Pulakeshin II
King, Chalukyas of Badami · c. 610 CE – c. 642 CE
Events in their lifetime
| 1962 | Sino-Indian War China declared a ceasefire after advancing in the east and in Aksai Chin. |
| 1964 | Death of Jawaharlal Nehru |
| 1965 | Maldives becomes independent |
| 1965 | Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 The war ended in a UN-backed ceasefire. |
| 1966 | Tashkent Declaration India and Pakistan withdrew to pre-war positions. |
| 1967 | Naxalbari uprising |
| 1968 | Maldives becomes a republic |
| 1969 | ISRO founded |
| 1969 | Nationalisation of 14 major banks |
| 1971 | Independence of Bangladesh |
| 1971 | Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Pakistan's Eastern Command surrendered on 16 December 1971. |
| 1971 | Bangladesh Liberation War Bangladesh became an independent nation. |
| 1972 | Simla Agreement India and Pakistan agreed to settle disputes bilaterally and respect the Line of Control. |
| 1972 | Ceylon becomes the Republic of Sri Lanka |
| 1973 | Afghan monarchy ends |
| 1974 | Smiling Buddha nuclear test |
| 1975 | The Emergency declared in India |
| 1975 | Sikkim becomes a state of India The Chogyal monarchy was abolished after a referendum. |
| 1977 | Emergency lifted; Janata Party wins Morarji Desai became the first non-Congress Prime Minister. |
| 1979 | Soviet intervention in Afghanistan |
| 1983 | Sri Lankan civil war begins |
| 1984 | Assassination of Indira Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister. |
| 1984 | Bhopal gas tragedy |
| 1984 | Operation Blue Star |
| 1984 | Rakesh Sharma flies to space |
| 1985 | SAARC founded at Dhaka |
| 1987 | Indo-Sri Lanka Accord The IPKF was sent to Sri Lanka and provincial councils were created. |
| 1988 | Benazir Bhutto becomes Prime Minister |
| 1989 | Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan |
| 1991 | Economic liberalisation The licence raj was dismantled and India opened to foreign investment. |
Contemporaries
Sorted by how long their lives overlapped. The bar shows when, within Kalpana Chawla’s life.
M. S. Subbulakshmi
Artist / musician · 1916 – 2004
Carnatic vocalist, the first musician awarded the Bharat Ratna
Overlap: 41 years
Ustad Bismillah Khan
Artist / musician · 1916 – 2006
Shehnai maestro of Varanasi
Overlap: 41 years
Pandit Ravi Shankar
Artist / musician · 1920 – 2012
Sitar maestro who took Indian classical music to the world
Overlap: 41 years
Verghese Kurien
Scientist / mathematician · 1921 – 2012
Father of the White Revolution (Operation Flood)
Overlap: 41 years
M. S. Swaminathan
Scientist / mathematician · 1925 – 2023
Agricultural scientist who led India's Green Revolution
Overlap: 41 years
Milkha Singh
Sportsperson / mountaineer · 1929 – 2021
Sprinter known as the 'Flying Sikh'
Overlap: 41 years
Lata Mangeshkar
Artist / musician · 1929 – 2022
Legendary playback singer awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2001
Overlap: 41 years
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Scientist / mathematician · 1931 – 2015
'Missile Man' and 11th President of India
Overlap: 41 years
Amartya Sen
Scholar / historian · born 1933
Nobel laureate in Economics (1998)
Overlap: 41 years
Rakesh Sharma
Scientist / mathematician · born 1949
First Indian citizen in space (1984)
Overlap: 41 years
Mother Teresa
Saint / religious leader · 1910 – 1997
Nobel Peace laureate who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata
Overlap: 35 years
Aruna Asaf Ali
Freedom fighter · 1909 – 1996
Hoisted the Congress flag at Gowalia Tank on 9 August 1942
Overlap: 34 years
J. R. D. Tata
Statesman / administrator · 1904 – 1993
Founded Tata Airlines, India's first airline, in 1932
Overlap: 31 years
Rani Gaidinliu
Freedom fighter · 1915 – 1993
Naga spiritual and political leader who resisted British rule
Overlap: 31 years
Satyajit Ray
Artist / musician · 1921 – 1992
Film director of Pather Panchali
Overlap: 30 years
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
Freedom fighter · 1890 – 1988
'Frontier Gandhi' who led the Khudai Khidmatgars
Overlap: 26 years
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay
Social reformer · 1903 – 1988
Freedom fighter who revived Indian handicrafts
Overlap: 26 years
Tenzing Norgay
Sportsperson / mountaineer · 1914 – 1986
Summited Everest with Edmund Hillary in 1953
Overlap: 24 years
Faiz Ahmad Faiz
Poet / writer · 1911 – 1984
Urdu poet of 'Hum Dekhenge'
Overlap: 22 years
Vinoba Bhave
Social reformer · 1895 – 1982
Founder of the Bhoodan (land gift) movement
Overlap: 20 years
Jayaprakash Narayan
Freedom fighter · 1902 – 1979
Leader of the 'Total Revolution' movement of 1974
Overlap: 17 years
Major Dhyan Chand
Sportsperson / mountaineer · 1905 – 1979
Hockey wizard who won three Olympic gold medals
Overlap: 17 years
Kazi Nazrul Islam
Poet / writer · 1899 – 1976
The 'Rebel Poet', national poet of Bangladesh
Overlap: 14 years
Satyendra Nath Bose
Scientist / mathematician · 1894 – 1974
Physicist of Bose-Einstein statistics
Overlap: 12 years
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