Textbook
History of Modern India
The old-NCERT modern India classic, from the decline of the Mughals to independence.
Aruna Asaf Ali
Freedom fighter
British Raj (Crown Rule)
1909 – 1996
Hoisted the Congress flag at Gowalia Tank on 9 August 1942.
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 British Raj (Crown Rule) 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
| 1909 | Morley-Minto Reforms Separate electorates for Muslims were introduced. |
| 1911 | Capital moved from Calcutta to Delhi |
| 1911 | Delhi Durbar annuls the Partition of Bengal Bengal was reunited and the capital moved to Delhi. |
| 1913 | Rabindranath Tagore wins the Nobel Prize |
| 1916 | Lucknow Pact The Congress and the Muslim League agreed on joint constitutional demands. |
| 1919 | Third Anglo-Afghan War; Afghan independence The Treaty of Rawalpindi recognised Afghanistan's control of its foreign affairs. |
| 1919 | Jallianwala Bagh massacre Nationwide outrage followed and Tagore renounced his knighthood. |
| 1919 | Rowlatt Act Gandhi called a nationwide Rowlatt Satyagraha. |
| 1928 | Simon Commission boycotted Lala Lajpat Rai died after a police lathi-charge. |
| 1930 | Salt March to Dandi Gandhi broke the salt law, launching the Civil Disobedience Movement. |
| 1931 | Execution of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru |
| 1942 | Quit India Movement Congress leaders were jailed, but the movement showed British rule was untenable. |
| 1943 | Bengal famine |
| 1947 | Pakistan comes into being |
| 1947 | Independence and Partition India and Pakistan became independent dominions amid mass migration and violence. |
| 1947 | Mountbatten Plan British India was to be partitioned into India and Pakistan. |
| 1948 | Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi |
| 1948 | Ceylon becomes independent |
| 1950 | Constitution comes into force India became a republic with Rajendra Prasad as its first President. |
| 1952 | Bengali Language Movement |
| 1956 | States Reorganisation Act States were reorganised largely on linguistic lines into 14 states and 6 union territories. |
| 1961 | Goa liberated Portuguese rule ended and Goa, Daman and Diu joined India. |
| 1965 | Maldives becomes independent |
| 1971 | Independence of Bangladesh |
| 1971 | Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 Pakistan's Eastern Command surrendered on 16 December 1971. |
| 1979 | Soviet intervention in Afghanistan |
| 1983 | Sri Lankan civil war begins |
| 1984 | Assassination of Indira Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi became Prime Minister. |
| 1985 | SAARC founded at Dhaka |
| 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 Aruna Asaf Ali’s life.
Mother Teresa
Saint / religious leader · 1910 – 1997
Nobel Peace laureate who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Kolkata
Overlap: 86 years
J. R. D. Tata
Statesman / administrator · 1904 – 1993
Founded Tata Airlines, India's first airline, in 1932
Overlap: 84 years
M. S. Subbulakshmi
Artist / musician · 1916 – 2004
Carnatic vocalist, the first musician awarded the Bharat Ratna
Overlap: 80 years
Ustad Bismillah Khan
Artist / musician · 1916 – 2006
Shehnai maestro of Varanasi
Overlap: 80 years
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan
Freedom fighter · 1890 – 1988
'Frontier Gandhi' who led the Khudai Khidmatgars
Overlap: 79 years
Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay
Social reformer · 1903 – 1988
Freedom fighter who revived Indian handicrafts
Overlap: 79 years
Rani Gaidinliu
Freedom fighter · 1915 – 1993
Naga spiritual and political leader who resisted British rule
Overlap: 78 years
Pandit Ravi Shankar
Artist / musician · 1920 – 2012
Sitar maestro who took Indian classical music to the world
Overlap: 76 years
Verghese Kurien
Scientist / mathematician · 1921 – 2012
Father of the White Revolution (Operation Flood)
Overlap: 75 years
Vinoba Bhave
Social reformer · 1895 – 1982
Founder of the Bhoodan (land gift) movement
Overlap: 73 years
Faiz Ahmad Faiz
Poet / writer · 1911 – 1984
Urdu poet of 'Hum Dekhenge'
Overlap: 73 years
Tenzing Norgay
Sportsperson / mountaineer · 1914 – 1986
Summited Everest with Edmund Hillary in 1953
Overlap: 72 years
Satyajit Ray
Artist / musician · 1921 – 1992
Film director of Pather Panchali
Overlap: 71 years
M. S. Swaminathan
Scientist / mathematician · 1925 – 2023
Agricultural scientist who led India's Green Revolution
Overlap: 71 years
Jayaprakash Narayan
Freedom fighter · 1902 – 1979
Leader of the 'Total Revolution' movement of 1974
Overlap: 70 years
Major Dhyan Chand
Sportsperson / mountaineer · 1905 – 1979
Hockey wizard who won three Olympic gold medals
Overlap: 70 years
Kazi Nazrul Islam
Poet / writer · 1899 – 1976
The 'Rebel Poet', national poet of Bangladesh
Overlap: 67 years
Milkha Singh
Sportsperson / mountaineer · 1929 – 2021
Sprinter known as the 'Flying Sikh'
Overlap: 67 years
Lata Mangeshkar
Artist / musician · 1929 – 2022
Legendary playback singer awarded the Bharat Ratna in 2001
Overlap: 67 years
Satyendra Nath Bose
Scientist / mathematician · 1894 – 1974
Physicist of Bose-Einstein statistics
Overlap: 65 years
A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
Scientist / mathematician · 1931 – 2015
'Missile Man' and 11th President of India
Overlap: 65 years
E. V. Ramasamy (Periyar)
Social reformer · 1879 – 1973
Founder of the Self-Respect Movement
Overlap: 64 years
Amartya Sen
Scholar / historian · born 1933
Nobel laureate in Economics (1998)
Overlap: 63 years
C. V. Raman
Scientist / mathematician · 1888 – 1970
Physics Nobel laureate (1930) for the Raman effect
Overlap: 61 years
📚 Recommended reading
Textbook
A Brief History of Modern India
The most-used exam book for modern India; dense, well organised and revision-friendly.
Reference
India's Struggle for Independence
The standard narrative of the national movement from 1857 to 1947.
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