Integrated Timeline
This timeline includes Indian leaders, major events, artistic activity, and American history.
1525 – 1700
1526Mughal Emperor: Baburthrough 1530
1530Mughal Emperor: Humayunthrough 1544, 1546–1556
1556Mughal Emperor: Akbarthrough 1605
1565First permanent European settlement in North AmericaSt Augustine, present-day Florida, founded by the Spanish
1580Royal Polygot Bible presented to Akbar by the Jesuit MissionPrinted in Antwerp 1568-72.
1600Dastaan-i MasihJerome Xavier, French Jesuit priest and envoy, produces a volume in Persian on the story of Christ ‘Dastaan-i Masih’ illustrated by Akbar’s painters.
1600Queen Elizabeth grants the English East India Company charter for tradeto break the monopoly of Dutch spice trade in the Indies.
1605Mughal Emperor: Jahangirthrough 1627
1616Royal PortraitsBritish ambassador Thomas Roe presents royal portraits to Jahangir as presents.
1630Taj MahalBuilt by Shah Jahan to commemorate his wife, Mumtaz Mahal
1630Peacock ThroneBuilt for Shah Jahan, gilded and encrusted with semi-precious stones.
1658Mughal Emperor: Aurangzebthrough 1707
- Art and Architecture
- Emperors, Officials, Personalities
- Events and Developments
1725 – 1771
1729Mughal Emperor: Muhammad Shahthrough 1748
1739Sack of Delhiby Iranian General Nadir Shah. The Peacock Throne dismantled in Iran.
1754Safdar Jang diesHis line is continued by later Nawabs (Governors) of Awadh (Oudh). Nawab Shuja ud-Daula Governor of the province Awadh through 1775.
1754Safdar Jang's Tomb built in Delhi
1756Seven Years War between Great Britain and FranceEnds in 1763.
1757Battle of Plasseyfought between the East India Company (Robert Clive) and the Nawab of Bengal and his allies.
1758Carl Linnaeus, Swedish botanist, devises rules for binomial nomenclature
1758Robert CliveGovernor of Bengal (1758-60 and 1764-67)
1759Mughal Emperor: Shah Alam IIthrough 1806
1759Awadh Painter Mihr ChandActive in India until 1780s
1763End of Seven Years' War between Great Britain and France
1764Battle of BuxarHector Munro wins over combined forces of Shah Alam II and allies
1765Grant of the DiwaniRobert Clive secures right to collect Diwani (land taxes and customs) on behalf of Shah Alam II
1770Great Bengal Famine
- Art and Architecture
- Emperors, Officials, Personalities
- Events and Developments
1771 – 1806
1771Shah Alam II enters Delhi and re-stakes claim to the Mughal capital.
1771Antoine Polier in Awadh, working for Shuja ud-Daula, commissions paintings by artists
1774Jean Baptiste Gentil, French Resident, commissions albums by Indian artists in Awadh
1775Nawab Asaf ud-Daula, Governor of the province of Awadhthrough 1797
1772Warren Hastings, Governor General of Bengalin office 1772-1785; impeached in 1787
1773Elijah Impey (Chief Justice of EIC in Bengal) and Mary Impey in Calcutta
1776Declaration of Independence endorsed by CongressColonies declare independence.
1777Painter Zayn al-Din, Ram Das and others paint birds and animals in the Impey menagerie. Bhawani Das active since 1773
1782James Renell’s map of India using the Trigonometric Survey
1778Painter William Hodges’ tenure in Indiathrough 1783
1783Painter John Zoffany in India, working for various European patronsthrough 1789
1786Painters Thomas Daniell and William Daniell (uncle and nephew pair) in Indiathrough 1793
1789French Revolution
1789George Washington elected first president of USA
1793Permanent Settlement of Bengalfixing rent for landowners/zamindars to collect on behalf of British officials.
1803France sells Louisiana territories to USA
1789Evidence of painterly activity at Delhi by Painter Ghulam Ali Khan and his workshopfrom this year and onwards
1803East India Company takes over the affairs of Delhi under Shah Alam II, establishment of the office of the British Resident in Delhi
1806Death of the Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II
- Art and Architecture
- Emperors, Officials, Personalities
- Events and Developments
1806 – 1857
1806Mughal Emperor: Akbar IIthrough 1837
1806William Fraser, EIC Administrator and later British Resident of Delhithrough 1835
1808Atlantic slave trade abolished
1812War of 1812 between US and Britainpartly over the effects of British restrictions on US trade during the Napoleonic Wars. Through 1815.
1815Indian artists work on the Fraser Albumthrough 1820
1827Ghulam Ali Khan creates a trio of large paintings for James Skinner
1825US Events in the 19th CenturyResidual resistance by indigenous people crushed as immigration from Europe assumes mass proportions, with settlers moving westwards and claiming 'manifest destiny' to control North America; number of states in the union rises from 17 to 45
1837Bahadur Shah Zafar, last Mughal king of Delhithrough 1857
1837Coronation portrait of Zafar by Ghulam Ali Khan
1840Photography widely used as a medium by local and European photographersthroughout 1840s
1854US: Opponents of slavery, or abolitionists, set up Republican Party.
1857Uprising of 1857, followed by British siege of Delhi.Company rule replaced by Crown rule in India, Zafar exiled to Burma, his sons killed.
- Art and Architecture
- Emperors, Officials, Personalities
- Events and Developments
1857 – 1947
1860Death of Zafar in Captivity
1860US: Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln elected president.
1865US: Confederates defeatedslavery abolished under Thirteenth Amendment. Lincoln is assassinated
1877Grand Assemblages modelled on the Mughal court organised to celebrate British imperial coronationsalso in 1903 and 1911
1885Formation of the Indian National Congress, nationalist movement and later political party
1906Formation of the All-India Muslim League in Dhaka (present day Bangladesh)
1911King George announces the making of a new capital, New Delhi
1930Edwin Lutyens designs New Delhi capitol complex.1930s
1947Independence from British rule. Partition of India and Pakistan
- Art and Architecture
- Emperors, Officials, Personalities
- Events and Developments