🕉 Religions & philosophies

How India’s faiths and schools of thought arose and grew — the events and the thinkers, on one timeline. Pick a tradition to follow it through time.

1. c. 1,500 BCE
   🔥 Vedic & Upanishadic thought Composition of the Rigveda begins · Sapta Sindhu

   Oldest layer of the Vedic corpus.
2. c. 599 BCE
   🤲 Jainism Birth of Vardhamana Mahavira · Kundagrama, Vaishali

   Traditional date; many scholars prefer c. 540 BCE.
3. c. 599 BCE
   🤲 Jainism 👤 Vardhamana Mahavira · c. 599–527 BCE

   24th Tirthankara of Jainism
4. c. 563 BCE
   ☸ Buddhism Birth of Siddhartha Gautama at Lumbini · Lumbini

   Traditional date; debated (c. 563 or c. 480 BCE).
5. c. 563 BCE
   ☸ Buddhism 👤 Gautama Buddha · c. 563–483 BCE

   Founder of Buddhism
6. c. 528 BCE
   ☸ Buddhism The Buddha's enlightenment at Bodh Gaya · Bodh Gaya

   After meditating for many days under a pipal tree at Bodh Gaya, Siddhartha attained enlightenment: he realised that ignorance and attachment are the source of human suffering, and…
7. c. 527 BCE
   🤲 Jainism Mahavira's nirvana at Pavapuri · Pavapuri

   Traditional date.
8. c. 483 BCE
   ☸ Buddhism Mahaparinirvana of the Buddha · Kushinagar

   Date debated (c. 483 or c. 400 BCE).
9. c. 483 BCE
   ☸ Buddhism First Buddhist Council at Rajagriha · Rajgir
10. c. 383 BCE
    ☸ Buddhism Second Buddhist Council at Vaishali · Vaishali

    The Buddha’s teachings were not written down in his lifetime; NCERT notes that his disciples compiled them at a council of senior monks at Vesali (Vaishali), and the compilations …
11. c. 250 BCE
    ☸ Buddhism Third Buddhist Council at Pataliputra · Pataliputra
12. c. 180 BCE
    ☸ Buddhism 👤 Nagasena · active c. 150 BCE

    Buddhist monk whose dialogue with King Menander forms the Milindapanha
13. c. 150 BCE
    ☸ Buddhism Menander's reign; Milindapanha dialogues · Sagala

    Menander was an Indo-Greek king. Indo-Greek coins often carried Greek deities, but some depicted Indian deities such as Vasudeva-Krishna and Lakshmi.
14. c. 150 BCE
    ☸ Buddhism Bharhut stupa railings carved · Bharhut

    The Bharhut stupa was probably built in Ashoka’s time, but the Shungas added beautifully carved railings and reliefs from the Buddha’s life — some of the earliest Buddhist art.
15. c. 50 BCE
    ☸ Buddhism Sanchi gateways carved · Sanchi

    Sanchi’s carved gateways survive to this day. In the 19th century the French asked Shahjehan Begum of Bhopal for the best-preserved eastern gateway, but plaster-cast copies were m…
16. c. 170 CE
    ☸ Buddhism 👤 Nagarjuna · active c. 200 CE

    Founder of the Madhyamaka school of Buddhist philosophy
17. c. 337 CE
    ☸ Buddhism 👤 Faxian · c. 337 CE – c. 422 CE

    Chinese Buddhist pilgrim who travelled through Gupta India
18. c. 427 CE
    ☸ Buddhism Nalanda Mahavihara founded · Nalanda

    According to the records of the pilgrim Xuanzang, a monastery’s foundation was laid at Nalanda by Kumaragupta I in the fifth century CE; later kings built it up into a great unive…
19. c. 590 CE
    🪔 Bhakti 👤 Appar (Tirunavukkarasar) · active c. 620 CE

    Nayanar saint who converted Mahendravarman I to Shaivism
20. c. 602 CE
    ☸ Buddhism 👤 Xuanzang · c. 602 CE – c. 664 CE

    Chinese pilgrim who studied at Nalanda and visited Harsha's court
21. 635 CE
    ☸ Buddhism 👤 Yijing (I-tsing) · 635 CE – 713 CE

    Chinese monk who studied at Nalanda in the 670s-680s
22. c. 636 CE
    ☸ Buddhism Xuanzang studies at Nalanda · Nalanda

    Chinese pilgrim travelled in India c. 630-645.
23. c. 788 CE
    🔥 Vedic & Upanishadic thought 👤 Adi Shankaracharya · c. 788 CE – c. 820 CE

    Exponent of Advaita Vedanta who founded four mathas
24. c. 1017
    🔥 Vedic & Upanishadic thought 👤 Ramanujacharya · c. 1017 – c. 1137

    Exponent of Vishishtadvaita Vedanta
25. c. 1088
    🤲 Jainism 👤 Hemachandra · c. 1088 – c. 1173

    Jain polymath at the court of Kumarapala
26. c. 1105
    🪔 Bhakti 👤 Sekkizhar · active c. 1135

    Author of the Periya Puranam on the Nayanar saints
27. c. 1134
    🪔 Bhakti📜 Reform movements 👤 Basavanna · c. 1134 – c. 1196

    Lingayat reformer who founded the Anubhava Mantapa
28. c. 1141
    🌙 Sufism 👤 Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti · c. 1141 – c. 1236

    Sufi saint who established the Chishti order in India at Ajmer
29. c. 1200
    ☸ Buddhism Destruction of Nalanda · Nalanda

    Attributed to Bakhtiyar Khalji's campaigns (c. 1193-1200).
30. 1238
    🌙 Sufism 👤 Nizamuddin Auliya · 1238 – 1325

    Chishti Sufi saint of Delhi
31. c. 1238
    🔥 Vedic & Upanishadic thought 👤 Madhvacharya · c. 1238 – c. 1317

    Founder of the Dvaita school of Vedanta
32. c. 1270
    🪔 Bhakti 👤 Namdev · c. 1270 – c. 1350

    Marathi saint of the Varkari tradition
33. 1377
    🌙 Sufism 👤 Nund Rishi (Sheikh Nooruddin) · 1377 – 1438

    Kashmiri Sufi saint of the Rishi order
34. c. 1440
    🪔 Bhakti 👤 Kabir · c. 1440 – c. 1518

    Bhakti poet-saint of Varanasi known for his dohas
35. c. 1450
    🪔 Bhakti Kabir's poetry in Varanasi · Varanasi

    Kabir, raised by a family of Muslim weavers (julahas) in or near Benares (Varanasi), composed verses that speak of one God and decry the rituals of both Hinduism and Islam; little…
36. 1469
    🪯 Sikhism Birth of Guru Nanak · Nankana Sahib

    Founder of Sikhism.
37. 1469
    🪯 Sikhism 👤 Guru Nanak · 1469 – 1539

    Founder of Sikhism and the first Sikh Guru
38. c. 1470
    🪔 Bhakti 👤 Guru Ravidas · active c. 1500

    Bhakti saint whose hymns appear in the Guru Granth Sahib
39. c. 1478
    🪔 Bhakti 👤 Surdas · c. 1478 – c. 1583

    Blind Bhakti poet of the Sursagar
40. 1486
    🪔 Bhakti 👤 Chaitanya Mahaprabhu · 1486 – 1534

    Bhakti saint of Bengal who inspired Gaudiya Vaishnavism
41. c. 1498
    🪔 Bhakti 👤 Mirabai · c. 1498 – c. 1547

    Rajput princess and Bhakti poet devoted to Krishna
42. 1504
    🪯 Sikhism 👤 Guru Angad · 1504 – 1552

    Second Sikh Guru who standardised the Gurmukhi script
43. c. 1532
    🪔 Bhakti 👤 Tulsidas · c. 1532 – c. 1623

    Author of the Ramcharitmanas
44. 1563
    🪯 Sikhism 👤 Guru Arjan Dev · 1563 – 1606

    Fifth Sikh Guru who compiled the Adi Granth
45. 1604
    🪯 Sikhism Adi Granth installed at Harmandir Sahib · Amritsar

    Guru Arjan compiled the hymns of Baba Guru Nanak and his successors, together with those of poets such as Baba Farid, Ravidas and Kabir, in 1604 — the Adi Granth. The town of Ramd…
46. 1606
    🪯 Sikhism Execution of Guru Arjan Dev · Lahore

    Emperor Jahangir saw the growing Sikh community as a potential threat; finding that Guru Arjan had supported his rebellious son, he had the Guru executed in 1606. This led Guru Ar…
47. c. 1608
    🪔 Bhakti 👤 Sant Tukaram · c. 1608 – c. 1650

    Marathi Varkari saint-poet of the abhangas
48. 1621
    🪯 Sikhism 👤 Guru Tegh Bahadur · 1621 – 1675

    Ninth Sikh Guru executed in Delhi in 1675
49. 1666
    🪯 Sikhism 👤 Guru Gobind Singh · 1666 – 1708

    Tenth Sikh Guru who founded the Khalsa
50. 1675
    🪯 Sikhism Execution of Guru Tegh Bahadur · Delhi

    When Kashmiri Pandits sought his protection from religious persecution, Guru Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Guru, stood with them. Arrested and ordered by Aurangzeb to convert, he r…
51. 1699
    🪯 Sikhism Guru Gobind Singh founds the Khalsa · Anandpur Sahib

    Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, laid the foundation of the Khalsa Panth (‘army of the pure’) and defined its five symbols; the community became a socio-religious and milit…
52. 1708
    🪯 Sikhism Death of Guru Gobind Singh · Nanded

    Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Sikh Guru, instituted the Khalsa in 1699 and in 1706 authenticated the compilation now known as the Guru Granth Sahib. After his death in 1708 the Kha…
53. 1772
    📜 Reform movements 👤 Raja Ram Mohan Roy · 1772 – 1833

    Founder of the Brahmo Samaj who campaigned against sati
54. 1817
    📜 Reform movements 👤 Sir Syed Ahmad Khan · 1817 – 1898

    Founder of the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh
55. 1824
    📜 Reform movements 👤 Swami Dayananda Saraswati · 1824 – 1883

    Founder of the Arya Samaj
56. 1827
    📜 Reform movements 👤 Jyotirao Phule · 1827 – 1890

    Founder of the Satyashodhak Samaj
57. 1828
    📜 Reform movements Brahmo Samaj founded · Kolkata

    Raja Rammohun Roy founded the Brahmo Sabha (later the Brahmo Samaj) in Calcutta in 1828. It opposed child marriage and caste discrimination, supported widows’ rights and girls’ ed…
58. 1829
    📜 Reform movements Sati abolished · Kolkata

    Rammohun Roy campaigned against sati, arguing from Sanskrit texts that widow burning had no sanction in ancient scripture; British officials, already critical of the custom, liste…
59. 1836
    📜 Reform movements 👤 Ramakrishna Paramahamsa · 1836 – 1886

    Mystic of Dakshineswar and guru of Vivekananda
60. 1856
    📜 Reform movements Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act · Kolkata

    Ishwarchandra Vidyasagar used the ancient texts to argue that widows could remarry; British officials adopted his suggestion and a law permitting widow remarriage was passed in 18…
61. 1856
    📜 Reform movements 👤 Sree Narayana Guru · 1856 – 1928

    Kerala reformer who preached 'One caste, one religion, one God'
62. 1863
    📜 Reform movements 👤 Swami Vivekananda · 1863 – 1902

    Addressed the Parliament of Religions in Chicago in 1893
63. 1875
    📜 Reform movements Arya Samaj and Aligarh (MAO) College founded · Aligarh

    Swami Dayananda Saraswati founded the Arya Samaj in Bombay in 1875. It called for a return to the Vedas, rational thinking and equality, opposed ritualism and birth-based caste, a…

📘 NCERT study guide

Items are grouped by tradition from their names and descriptions; some belong to more than one. Dates follow the sources on each page; many early dates are traditional or approximate.