Timeline & pairs
The 119 anchors + named pairs NDA History actually tests
Single page, chronology + named-pair facts grouped by domain. Era timeline (~42 absolute dates BCE → 1947+). Rulers ↔ dynasty. Reformers ↔ movement ↔ text. Scholars ↔ texts. British Acts + Viceroys ↔ year. Each row links to the playbook where that fact most appears. Bookmark and active-recall the morning of the exam.
- anchors + named pairs
- 119
- themed clusters
- 5
- page to revise from
- 1
- years of PYQs behind it
- 10
How to use this page
- First read: cover-to-cover. Mark facts you DON’T already know cold — the ones you couldn’t derive from the entity name or era context alone. Most candidates know ~30 of the 119.
- Active recall: cover the right two columns (paired fact + context), read the entity NAME, write the paired fact + one context note from memory. Repeat for any you miss. Drill ‘Reformers ↔ movement’ + ‘Rulers ↔ dynasty’ + ‘British Acts ↔ year’ as separate 4-pass sessions — they’re the highest-leverage.
- Drill the playbook: click the ‘Playbook’ link on any row to jump to the chapter’s deep-dive + drill the bank questions where that fact appears.
- Trap-aware: the amber ‘Note’ on a row flags the most-common distractor for that pair (Shankardeva = Assam Vaishnavism not Gaudiya; Khalsa = Guru Gobind Singh 1699 not Guru Nanak; Krishnadevaraya never marched on Gujarat).
Era timeline — absolute-date anchors
~35 absolute dates spanning ancient India → 1947+. Anchor these cold and chronological-order questions answer themselves. Largest leverage on World History (39% date-anchored) and Modern India British Acts (16 q · 38% HARD).
| Year / Period | Event | Detail + significance | |
|---|---|---|---|
c. 2600–1900 BCE | Mature Harappan / Indus Valley civilisation | Mohenjo-daro, Harappa, Dholavira, Lothal active · standardised bricks, planned drainage, Pashupati seal | Playbook |
c. 1500–1000 BCE | Rigvedic period | Rigveda (oldest of 4 Vedas) composed · pastoral Aryan society · river-region settlement | Playbook |
c. 563–483 BCE | Gautama Buddha's life | Born Lumbini (Shakya clan) · enlightenment Bodh Gaya · first sermon Sarnath · parinirvana Kushinagar | Playbook |
c. 540–468 BCE | Mahavira (24th Tirthankara, Jainism) | Born Vaishali · kevala-jnana at Jrimbhikagrama · parinirvana Pavapuri | Playbook |
321 BCE | Chandragupta Maurya founds Mauryan empire | Defeated last Nanda (Dhana Nanda) with Kautilya/Chanakya · Arthashastra is Kautilya's text | Playbook |
c. 261 BCE | Ashoka's Kalinga War + dhamma turn | Kalinga Rock Edicts 13 + 14 (war remorse, dhamma); 3rd Buddhist Council at Pataliputra | Playbook |
c. 320 CE | Gupta empire founded (Chandragupta I) | Golden age of Indian classical culture · Samudragupta, Chandragupta II Vikramaditya · Fa-Hien visit | Playbook |
606–647 CE | Harshavardhana's reign | Kannauj capital · last great Hindu emperor of north India · Xuanzang (Hsuan Tsang) Chinese pilgrim visit | Playbook |
1206–1526 CE | Delhi Sultanate (5 dynasties) | Mamluk/Slave 1206 (Qutbuddin Aibak) → Khilji 1290 → Tughlaq 1320 → Sayyid 1414 → Lodi 1451–1526 | Playbook |
1336 CE | Vijayanagara founded (Harihara + Bukka) | Sangama dynasty · Hampi capital · resisted Bahmani / Deccan Sultanates till Talikota 1565 | Playbook |
1526 CE | First Battle of Panipat | Babur (Mughal founder) defeated Ibrahim Lodi · ended Delhi Sultanate · gunpowder + field artillery | Playbook |
1509–1529 CE | Krishnadevaraya — Vijayanagara golden age | Tuluva dynasty · captured Raichur 1520, Udayagiri 1514, Kondavidu 1515 · Amuktamalyada in Telugu · Paes + Nuniz visit | Playbook |
1556–1605 CE | Akbar's reign | Third Panipat 1556 · mansabdari (zat+sawar) · Din-i-Ilahi 1582 · Ibadat Khana · jizya abolished · Rajput alliances | Playbook |
1565 CE | Battle of Talikota — fall of Vijayanagara | Deccan Sultanate coalition (Bijapur + Ahmadnagar + Golkonda + Bidar) defeated Vijayanagara · political end | Playbook |
1600 CE | British East India Company founded | Dec 31 Royal Charter from Elizabeth I · Sir Thomas Smythe first governor · trading rights in East Indies | Playbook |
1602 CE Note:BEIC (1600) preceded DVOC (1602) by 2 years. Distractor reverses the order. | Dutch VOC founded | Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie · world's first listed public company · 2 years after BEIC | Playbook |
1671 CE | Battle of Saraighat — Ahoms vs Mughals | Lachit Borphukan defeated Aurangzeb's general Ram Singh I (Mirza Raja Jai Singh I's son) on Brahmaputra · Assam saved from Mughals | Playbook |
1699 CE | Khalsa founded by Guru Gobind Singh | Baisakhi at Anandpur Sahib · Panj Pyare (5 beloved) baptised with amrit · militant Sikh order | Playbook |
1757 CE | Battle of Plassey | Robert Clive vs Siraj-ud-Daulah of Bengal · Mir Jafar's defection decisive · British dominance in Bengal begins | Playbook |
1764 CE | Battle of Buxar | Hector Munro defeated combined Mir Qasim (Bengal) + Shuja-ud-Daulah (Awadh) + Shah Alam II (Mughal Emperor) · military supremacy | Playbook |
1764 CE | Spinning Jenny invented | James Hargreaves · multi-spindle spinning frame · Industrial Revolution textile breakthrough · same year as Buxar | Playbook |
1765 CE | Treaty of Allahabad — EIC gets Diwani | Shah Alam II granted Diwani (fiscal control) of Bengal-Bihar-Orissa to EIC · transformed EIC into territorial power | Playbook |
1773 CE | Regulating Act passed | British Parliament regulates EIC · Warren Hastings as first GG of Bengal · Supreme Court at Calcutta · first GG-in-Council | Playbook |
1774 CE | First Continental Congress (Philadelphia) | 12 colonies (Georgia absent) · rejected Galloway plan for British-led union · Declaration of Rights · boycott British goods | Playbook |
1776 CE | American Declaration of Independence | July 4 · drafted by Jefferson (with Franklin, Adams, Sherman, Livingston) · 2nd Continental Congress · Lockean natural rights | Playbook |
1789 CE | French Revolution — Bastille (July 14) | Storming of Bastille (Paris prison) · feudalism abolished Aug 4 · Declaration of Rights of Man Aug 26 · National Day of France | Playbook |
1813 CE | Charter Act 1813 | Broke EIC trade monopoly (except tea + China trade) · £1 lakh/year for Indian education · missionary entry permitted | Playbook |
1828 CE | Brahmo Samaj founded by Raja Ram Mohan Roy | Calcutta · monotheistic Hindu reform · also championed Sati abolition 1829 (via Bentinck's Regulation XVII) | Playbook |
1833 CE | Charter Act 1833 | Bentinck = first GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA (was earlier GG of Bengal only) · ended EIC's commercial functions · Macaulay's English education minute | Playbook |
1857 CE | Revolt of 1857 / Indian Mutiny / First War of Independence | Greased cartridges sparked Meerut May 10 · spread to Delhi (Bahadur Shah II), Kanpur (Nana Sahib), Lucknow (Begum Hazrat Mahal), Jhansi (Rani Lakshmibai) | Playbook |
1858 CE | Government of India Act 1858 — Crown rule | EIC abolished post-1857 · Secretary of State for India + India Council (London) · Viceroy + Council (India) · Crown direct rule begins | Playbook |
1885 CE | Indian National Congress founded | Womesh Chandra Banerjee first president · Bombay Dec 28–31 · AO Hume British retired official as catalyst · 72 delegates | Playbook |
1909 CE | Morley-Minto Reforms (Indian Councils Act 1909) | Separate electorates for Muslims · expanded legislative councils · first concession to communal representation | Playbook |
1914–1918 CE | World War I | Trigger = Sarajevo assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand Jun 28 1914 · Triple Entente (Russia+France+UK) vs Central Powers · US joined 1917 | Playbook |
1917 CE | Russian Revolution | Feb Revolution (Tsar Nicholas II abdicates) → Oct Revolution (Bolsheviks under Lenin take power) · world's first communist state | Playbook |
1919 CE | Rowlatt Act + Jallianwala Bagh massacre + Versailles + GoI Act 1919 | Apr 13 Jallianwala Bagh Amritsar (Gen Dyer) · Treaty of Versailles Jun 28 (war-guilt + reparations on Germany) · GoI Act 1919 introduced diarchy in provinces (Montagu-Chelmsford) | Playbook |
1929 CE | Lahore session — Purna Swaraj resolution | Dec 31 Nehru as INC president · midnight pledge of complete independence · Jan 26 1930 first Independence Day | Playbook |
1930 CE | Civil Disobedience — Dandi Salt March | Mar 12 Sabarmati Ashram → Apr 6 Dandi · 240 mi 24 days · Gandhi broke salt law · mass mobilisation | Playbook |
1935 CE | Government of India Act 1935 | Provincial autonomy · federal scheme with princely states (never operationalised) · longest UK statute · basis for 1950 Constitution | Playbook |
1939–1945 CE | World War II | Germany invades Poland Sept 1 1939 · Pearl Harbor Dec 7 1941 · D-Day Jun 6 1944 · Hiroshima+Nagasaki Aug 1945 · Holocaust | Playbook |
1942 CE | Quit India Movement | Aug 8–9 Bombay AICC · Gandhi's 'Do or Die' · arrests of all top INC leaders · spontaneous mass risings | Playbook |
1945 CE | United Nations founded | Oct 24 San Francisco Charter signed Jun 26 · replaced League of Nations (dissolved 1946) · 5 permanent UNSC members | Playbook |
1947 CE | Indian Independence + Partition | Aug 15 India + Aug 14 Pakistan · Mountbatten Plan Jun 3 · Radcliffe Line · Nehru first PM · 1947 Indian Independence Act | Playbook |
Rulers ↔ dynasty ↔ achievement
Ancient + Medieval ruler-pair recall. Distractors swap ruler↔dynasty or ruler↔achievement. The Medieval bank (53 q · 28% HARD) and Ancient Mauryan-Gupta cluster are the primary drill targets.
| Ruler | Dynasty / Period | Achievement + identifier | |
|---|---|---|---|
Chandragupta Maurya | Mauryan (321–297 BCE) — founder | Defeated Dhana Nanda · Kautilya as PM (Arthashastra) · ceded NW to Seleucus → Megasthenes mission | Playbook |
Ashoka | Mauryan (272/268–232 BCE) | Kalinga War c. 261 BCE → dhamma · Major + Pillar + Kalinga + Minor Rock Edicts · 3rd Buddhist Council · Maski/Gujarra inscriptions name 'Ashoka' | Playbook |
Samudragupta | Gupta (c. 335–375 CE) | Allahabad Pillar Inscription (Prashasti by Harisena) · Indian Napoleon · conquered N India + dakshin patha campaign | Playbook |
Chandragupta II Vikramaditya | Gupta (c. 375–415 CE) | Defeated Shakas · Fa-Hien (Chinese pilgrim) visit · Navaratnas including Kalidasa · Iron Pillar Mehrauli | Playbook |
Harshavardhana | Pushyabhuti / Vardhana (606–647 CE) | Kannauj capital · Xuanzang visit · Harshacharita by Banabhatta · last great Hindu emperor of north India | Playbook |
Rajaraja I | Chola (985–1014 CE) | Brihadeeswara Temple Thanjavur · naval conquest of Sri Lanka + Maldives · centralised administration | Playbook |
Rajendra I | Chola (1014–1044 CE) | Naval expeditions to SE Asia (Sailendra empire) · Gangaikondacholapuram new capital · title Gangaikonda | Playbook |
Qutbuddin Aibak | Mamluk / Slave dynasty (1206–10) | First Delhi Sultanate sultan · Qutub Minar begun · died playing chaugan (polo) | Playbook |
Iltutmish | Mamluk (1211–36) | Completed Qutub Minar · introduced silver tanka + copper jital · iqta system | Playbook |
Razia Sultana | Mamluk (1236–40) | First and only female Sultan of Delhi · Iltutmish's chosen successor · deposed by Turkish nobles | Playbook |
Alauddin Khilji | Khilji (1296–1316) | Market reforms + price control · Deccan campaigns via Malik Kafur · Mongol invasions repelled | Playbook |
Muhammad bin Tughlaq | Tughlaq (1325–51) | Capital transfer to Daulatabad · token currency · Ibn Battuta as Qadi · 'wisest fool' | Playbook |
Krishnadevaraya Note:Krishnadevaraya attacked Orissa Gajapatis early (Udayagiri+Kondavidu); never marched on Gujarat (distractor). | Vijayanagara / Tuluva (1509–29) | Captured Raichur 1520, Udayagiri 1514, Kondavidu 1515 · Telugu Amuktamalyada · Paes+Nuniz accounts · Tenali Rama legend | Playbook |
Babur | Mughal founder (1526–30) | Panipat I 1526 vs Ibrahim Lodi · Khanwa 1527 vs Rana Sanga · Ghaghra 1529 · Baburnama autobiography | Playbook |
Akbar | Mughal (1556–1605) | Panipat III 1556 via Bairam Khan · mansabdari (zat+sawar) · Din-i-Ilahi 1582 · Ibadat Khana · jizya abolished · Rajput marriage alliances | Playbook |
Shah Jahan | Mughal (1628–58) | Taj Mahal for Mumtaz · Red Fort + Jama Masjid + Peacock Throne · deposed by Aurangzeb 1658, imprisoned in Agra Fort till 1666 | Playbook |
Aurangzeb | Mughal (1658–1707) | Deccan campaigns · executed Guru Tegh Bahadur 1675 · Shivaji died 1680 · jizya restored 1679 · longest reign 49 yr · empire's peak then decline | Playbook |
Shivaji | Maratha founder (1674 coronation) | Coronation at Raigad Jun 6 1674 · guerrilla tactics vs Mughals + Bijapur · Ashtapradhan council of 8 ministers | Playbook |
Guru Nanak | Sikh 1st Guru (1469–1539) | Founded Sikhism · Talwandi (now Nankana Sahib Pakistan) · Ik Onkar · Kartarpur final years | Playbook |
Guru Gobind Singh Note:Khalsa = Guru Gobind Singh 1699 (NOT Guru Nanak — distractor). | Sikh 10th Guru (1666–1708) | Founded Khalsa 1699 Baisakhi at Anandpur Sahib · 5 Ks (kesh, kangha, kara, kachera, kirpan) · died Nanded · ended human Guru lineage (Guru Granth Sahib became Guru) | Playbook |
Lachit Borphukan | Ahom general (1671 Saraighat) | Defeated Aurangzeb's general Ram Singh I on Brahmaputra · saved Assam from Mughal annexation · son of Momai Tamuli Borbarua | Playbook |
Reformers ↔ movement ↔ key text
19th Century Social and Religious Reform — the densest-%HARD Modern India subtopic (17 q · 41% HARD). Distractor relentlessly swaps reformer↔movement↔text triples. Memorise the triple, not just the pair.
| Reformer | Movement / Society | Key text + year + note | |
|---|---|---|---|
Raja Ram Mohan Roy Note:Brahmo Samaj 1828 — NOT Arya Samaj (which is Dayanand 1875). Distractor swaps these two relentlessly. | Brahmo Samaj 1828 | Tuhfat-ul-Muwahhidin (against polytheism, in Persian) · championed Sati abolition 1829 via Bentinck's Regulation XVII | Playbook |
Debendranath Tagore | Brahmo Samaj continuator | Father of Rabindranath · Tattvabodhini Sabha 1839 (later merged into Brahmo) · Brahmo Dharma Granth | Playbook |
Keshub Chandra Sen | Brahmo split (1866) → Sadharan Brahmo Samaj 1878 | Civil Marriage Act 1872 (Brahmo marriages) · Bharatvarshiya Brahmo Samaj 1866 then split with Sadharan Brahmo 1878 | Playbook |
Dayanand Saraswati | Arya Samaj 1875 Bombay | Satyarth Prakash 1875 · 'back to the Vedas' · shuddhi reconversion · against idolatry + caste + child marriage | Playbook |
Swami Vivekananda | Ramakrishna Mission 1897 Belur Math | Disciple of Ramakrishna Paramhansa · Chicago Parliament of Religions 1893 'Sisters and Brothers of America' · Karma Yoga + Bhakti Yoga | Playbook |
Annie Besant | Theosophical Society (Adyar HQ) + Home Rule League 1916 | British socialist → joined Theosophy 1889 → led from Adyar 1907 onwards · Home Rule for India 1916 Madras · first woman INC president 1917 Calcutta | Playbook |
Jyotirao Phule | Satyashodhak Samaj 1873 Pune | Gulamgiri (anti-caste polemic) · championed women's + Dalit education · Bhide Wada first girls' school 1848 | Playbook |
Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar | Widow Remarriage advocacy | Hindu Widow Remarriage Act 1856 (Dalhousie passed) · Marriage of Hindu Widows treatise · Sanskrit College Calcutta · Bengali primer Borno Porichoy | Playbook |
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan | Aligarh Movement — MAO College 1875 (AMU 1920) | Asbab-e-Baghawat-e-Hind (Causes of Indian Mutiny) · loyalist modernisation of Muslim education · two-nation theory roots | Playbook |
Henry Louis Vivian Derozio | Young Bengal movement (1820s–30s) | Hindu College Calcutta lecturer · radical free-thinking · died young 1831 · rationalist + reformist students | Playbook |
Pandita Ramabai | Arya Mahila Samaj 1882 · Sharada Sadan 1889 Pune | First Indian woman fellow of Cheltenham Ladies' College · championed widows + women's education · Mukti Mission Kedgaon | Playbook |
Sri Narayana Guru | SNDP Yogam 1903 Kerala | Ezhava reform · 'One Caste, One Religion, One God' · Aruvippuram Pratishtha 1888 (consecrated Shiva idol against Brahminical norms) | Playbook |
Kabir | Bhakti — Nirgun (15C Banaras) | Weaver caste · disciple of Ramananda · Bijak + Sakhi + Ramaini · Kabir Panth · taught Hindu-Muslim unity | Playbook |
Tulsidas | Bhakti — Saguna Ram (16C) | Awadhi Ramcharitmanas · Hanuman Chalisa · Vinaya Patrika · Banaras-Ayodhya · Vishnu/Ram devotion | Playbook |
Mirabai | Bhakti — Saguna Krishna (16C Rajasthan-Mewar) | Rajput princess (Mewar royal family) · Krishna devotion · padas in Brajbhasha + Rajasthani · defied caste + gender norms | Playbook |
Srimanta Shankardeva Note:Shankardeva = Assam Vaishnavism (Ekasarana/Mahapuruxiya), NOT Gaudiya Vaishnavism (which is Chaitanya's Bengal movement). 2025 HARD PYQ tests this. | Ekasarana-Dharma / Mahapuruxiya (Assam Vaishnavism, late 15C-early 16C) | Founded Vaishnavism in Assam · Borgeet devotional songs · Ankia Naat plays · Sattras as monastic institutions | Playbook |
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu | Gaudiya Vaishnavism (Bengal, 1486–1534) | Krishna-Radha bhakti · Mayapur birth · Sankirtana congregational chanting · Six Goswamis of Vrindavana as disciples | Playbook |
Scholars ↔ texts ↔ era
Author/text pair recall across all 4 chapters. Highest leverage on Ancient Indian Literature (12 q · 42% HARD — chapter's densest %HARD) and Vijayanagara/Mughal literature. Distractor swaps author↔text or text↔patron-era.
| Scholar / Author | Text | Era / patron + genre + significance | |
|---|---|---|---|
Vyasa | Mahabharata (Itihasa, ~100,000 verses) | Includes Bhagavad Gita (Krishna-Arjuna dialogue on Kurukshetra) · longest epic poem in world literature | Playbook |
Valmiki | Ramayana (Itihasa, ~24,000 verses) | Adi Kavya (first poem) · 7 kandas · Rama's story · NOT Mahabharata (distractor swaps these) | Playbook |
Panini | Ashtadhyayi (Vyakarana / Sanskrit grammar) | 8 chapters · ~4000 sutras · ~500 BCE · world's earliest formal grammar of any language | Playbook |
Kautilya / Chanakya | Arthashastra (statecraft) | Mauryan PM under Chandragupta Maurya · 15 books · political economy + diplomacy + war + spy networks | Playbook |
Sushruta Note:Sushruta Samhita commentary by Chakrapanidatta (11C Bengal) is a 2024 HARD PYQ answer. | Sushruta Samhita (Ayurveda — surgery) | Father of surgery · cataract + plastic surgery + rhinoplasty · Chakrapanidatta wrote 11C Bengal commentary | Playbook |
Charaka | Charaka Samhita (Ayurveda — internal medicine) | Kanishka's court (1C-2C CE) · 8 sthanas · medicine + pharmacology · companion to Sushruta's surgical Samhita | Playbook |
Kalidasa | Abhijnanasakuntalam + Meghaduta + Kumarasambhava | Gupta-era poet · one of Vikramaditya's Navaratnas · Sanskrit drama + lyrical poetry peak | Playbook |
Banabhatta | Harshacharita + Kadambari | Harshavardhana's court poet (7C) · Harshacharita = historical biography · Kadambari = romantic prose | Playbook |
Kalhana | Rajatarangini (Kashmir's history) | 12C Sanskrit chronicle · earliest extant historical narrative from Kashmir · used by Mughal-era historians | Playbook |
Tolkappiyar | Tolkappiyam | Oldest extant Tamil grammar · Sangam era · phonology + morphology + syntax + poetics + rhetoric | Playbook |
Amir Khusrau | Tarikh-e-Alai + Tughluq-Nama + Hindavi poems | Sultanate-era polymath · disciple of Nizamuddin Auliya · 'Parrot of India' · attributed development of Hindavi + Khayal music | Playbook |
Ziauddin Barani | Tarikh-i-Firoz Shahi + Fatawa-i-Jahandari | 14C historian · Delhi Sultanate chronicle · political theory of Islamic kingship | Playbook |
Abul Fazl | Ain-i-Akbari + Akbarnama | Akbar's court historian + Navratan · Persian · detailed administrative + statistical account of Mughal empire | Playbook |
Jahangir | Tuzuk-i-Jahangiri (autobiography) | Mughal emperor + autobiographer · Persian · personal account of reign + court · art patronage | Playbook |
Babur | Baburnama (autobiography) | Mughal founder + autobiographer · Chagatai Turkic original (translated to Persian later) · candid memoir of conquests + culture · first major South Asian autobiography | Playbook |
Krishnadevaraya | Amuktamalyada (Telugu) + Jambavati Kalyanam (Sanskrit) | Vijayanagara emperor + poet · Telugu poetry's golden age · advice to king · patron of Tenali Rama + Vyasaraya | Playbook |
Ibn Battuta | Rihla (Travels) | 14C Moroccan traveller · served as Qadi under Muhammad bin Tughlaq in Delhi · Arabic travelogue | Playbook |
Al-Biruni | Kitab-ul-Hind (Tahqiq-i-Hind) | 11C Persian scholar with Mahmud of Ghazni · Arabic study of Indian society + philosophy + science · ethnography of Hinduism | Playbook |
Afanasii Nikitin | Voyage Beyond Three Seas | 15C Russian merchant from Tver · Bahmani Sultanate + Vijayanagara · Slavic-Persian-Arabic travelogue | Playbook |
François Bernier | Travels in the Mogul Empire | 17C French physician · Aurangzeb's court · social-economic critique of Mughal land system + jagirdari | Playbook |
Viceroys / British Acts ↔ year
British Administration, Acts and Legislation — 16 q · 38% HARD. The chronological backbone of Modern India HARDs. Memorise Act ↔ year ↔ key provision triples cold; distractor mixes Charter Acts with GoI Acts.
| Act / Viceroy | Year | Key provision + viceroy/PM responsible | |
|---|---|---|---|
Regulating Act | 1773 | British Parliament regulates EIC · Warren Hastings as GG of Bengal · Supreme Court at Calcutta | Playbook |
Pitt's India Act | 1784 | Established Board of Control (London) over EIC political matters · separated political + commercial functions | Playbook |
Charter Act 1813 | 1813 | Broke EIC commercial monopoly (except tea + China trade) · £1 lakh/yr Indian education · missionary entry | Playbook |
Charter Act 1833 | 1833 | Bentinck = first GG of INDIA (was GG of Bengal earlier) · ended EIC's commercial role · Macaulay's education minute · centralised legislation | Playbook |
Charter Act 1853 | 1853 | Separated legislative + executive councils · introduced civil services COMPETITIVE EXAM (open to Indians) | Playbook |
Government of India Act 1858 | 1858 | Post-1857 Mutiny · ended EIC + Crown direct rule · Secretary of State for India + India Council (London) · Viceroy + Council (India) | Playbook |
Indian Councils Act 1861 | 1861 | Reformed legislative council · portfolio system (Canning) · non-official Indian members allowed (token) | Playbook |
Indian Councils Act 1892 | 1892 | Expanded legislative councils · indirect election + nomination · still no representative government | Playbook |
Morley-Minto Reforms (Indian Councils Act 1909) | 1909 | Separate electorates for Muslims (first communal representation) · expanded provincial councils · Indians on Viceroy's Executive Council | Playbook |
Rowlatt Act | 1919 | Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act · arrest + detention without trial · Gandhi launched Rowlatt Satyagraha · Jallianwala Bagh massacre Apr 13 1919 | Playbook |
Government of India Act 1919 (Montagu-Chelmsford) | 1919 | Introduced DIARCHY in provinces (transferred + reserved subjects) · bicameral central legislature · still no responsible government at centre | Playbook |
Simon Commission | 1927–28 | All-British commission to review GoI Act 1919 · NO Indian members → 'Go Back Simon' protests · Lala Lajpat Rai injured in Lahore lathi charge → died Nov 1928 | Playbook |
Government of India Act 1935 | 1935 | Provincial autonomy · all-India federation with princely states (never operationalised — princes refused) · separate electorates expanded · basis for 1950 Constitution | Playbook |
Indian Independence Act 1947 | 1947 | Aug 14 Pakistan + Aug 15 India · Mountbatten Plan Jun 3 · partition into 2 dominions · 1947 Aug 15 ended British paramountcy over princely states | Playbook |
Lord Dalhousie | Viceroy 1848–56 | Doctrine of Lapse (Satara 1848, Jhansi 1853, Nagpur 1854, Awadh annexed 1856) · railways introduced 1853 Bombay-Thane · telegraph + postal reform · Widow Remarriage Act 1856 | Playbook |
Lord Canning | GG 1856–58 + first Viceroy 1858–62 | Faced 1857 Revolt · Queen's Proclamation 1858 · IC Act 1861 portfolio system · 'Clemency Canning' policy after Mutiny | Playbook |
Lord Curzon | Viceroy 1899–1905 | Partition of Bengal 1905 → Swadeshi Movement · Indian Archaeological Survey (ASI) revival · Ancient Monuments Preservation Act 1904 | Playbook |
Lord Mountbatten | Last Viceroy 1947 + first GG of free India 1947–48 | Mountbatten Plan Jun 3 1947 · partition + transfer of power Aug 14–15 · supervised integration of princely states | Playbook |
Why plain-text tables (no timelines visual)
NDA History recall is almost entirely text-pair memorisation — date ↔ event; reformer ↔ movement; ruler ↔ dynasty; scholar ↔ text; Act ↔ year. The era-anchoring (where exactly Buxar sits in the Plassey→Allahabad sequence, which Mughal ruler the traveller served) is best learned from your NCERT textbook alongside this page; the named-fact pairings + absolute dates live in tables.