Comparative Timeline of Indian and World History

A Brief Chronology (until 500 BC)

AGE

BHARATA

WORLD

~ 40,000,000 BC

Tibetan Marginal Mountains created (including Kailas).

~ 2,500,000 BC

First man to make stone-tools (Homo habilis) appeared, in Africa.

~ 2,000,000 BC

Homo habilis in northern India.

~ 1,500,000 BC

First man to control fire (Homo erectus) appeared, in Africa.

ICE-AGE (lasting until ~ 900,000 BC).

~ 800,000 BC

Homo erectus spread into Asia.

TEMPERATE PERIODS lasting about 100,000 years and REGULAR GLACIATION.

SEA-LEVEL at times down as much as 120 m from present. (e.g. 140,000 BC and 20,000 BC).

~ 600,000 BC

Great Himalayan Range created.

~ 500,000 BC

Homo erectus entered India.

~ 200,000 BC

Lesser Himalayan Range created.

~ 100,000 BC

First Homo sapiens (modern man) appeared.

~ 40,000 BC

Hunter-Gatherer communities present from Africa to Australia

~ 12,000 BC

First domestication of animals and crops, in North Africa.

~ 8,500 BC

Winter solstice conjunct with the Pleiades (Krittika) ~ recorded in the Taittitiya Samhita (?)

Site of Jericho first occupied.

~ 8,000 BC

Britain first separated from Europe.

END of the LAST ICE-AGE.

~ 7,000 BC

Agricultural settlement in Baluchistan (Mergarh), with sun-dried clay bricks.

.

SEA-LEVEL rising slowly to present heights (which were reached by ~ 4,500 BC).

~ 6,500 BC

Winter solstice conjunct with Mesha (Aries) ~ recorded in the Rig Veda.

Agricultural settlement in Egypt and Mesopotamia.

~ 5,500 BC

Baked pottery made in Mergarh.

First irrigation system developed, in Mesopotmia.

~ 4,000 BC

Solar eclipse first recorded (Rig Veda).

Mahashivaratri at the Winter Solstice.

Decreasing rainfall in North Africa led to dispersal of the Sub-Saharan Tribes.

Horses first domesticated, in Central Asia.

~ 3,600 BC

Urban settlement in the Indus Valley.

Urban settlement in Egypt and Sumer.

~ 3,500 BC

First evidence of Wheels (in Sumer) and Sails (in Egypt).

~ 3,400 BC

Egyptian Heiroglyphic Script developed.

~ 3,300 BC

Harappan (Sarasvati) Logosyllabic Script developed.

~ 3,200 BC

Sumerian Pictographic Script developed.

~ 3,100 BC

Spring equinox conjunct with Rohini (Aldebaran) ~ recorded in various Brahmanas.

Kaliyuga began in 3,102 BC.

First Egyptian Dynasty founded by King Narmer (Menes).

~ 3,000 BC

Indus-Sarasvati civilization was flourishing.

Sarasvati River was navigable to Ropar, and maritime trade was well established.

Aryans in northern Iran.

2,685 BC

"Old Kingdom" of Egypt (until 2,180 BC).

~ 2,590 BC

Great Pyramid of Cheops constructed.

~ 2,500 BC

Spring equinox conjunct with Krittika ~ recorded in the Yajur and Atharva Vedas.

Minoan Civilization on Crete (until 1628 BC).

2,371 BC

Sargon founded the Akkadian Empire.

~ 2,350 BC

Export to Sumer and Akkad became the major revenue source for Harappa.

~ 2,300 BC

Vedic ritual Star-calendar compiled.

~ 2,200 BC

Loss of major tributaries, and extensive drought, began drying up the Sarasvati River.

~ 2,100 BC

The Ziggurat of Ur was constructed.

~ 2,000 BC

Stonehenge was constructed, in Britain.

Hittite Empire was established.

~ 1,900 BC

Sarasvati River no longer flowed continuously.

Aryan nomads, with horses and wheeled chariots, arrived in Bactria and Margiana.

~ 1,800 BC

Assyrian Empire established, by Shamshi-Adad.

~ 1,790 BC

Babylonian Empire established, by Hammurabi

~ 1,700 BC

Aryan movement into northwestern India began.

First evidence of horses in the Indus Valley.

Canaanite Script developed.

Second wave of Soma drinking Aryans swept across Bactria-Margiana.

~ 1,600 BC

Mycenaeans on Crete (until ~ 1,200 BC).

1,567 BC

"New Kingdom" of Egypt (until 1,090 BC).

~ 1,500 BC

Compilation of the Rg Veda Samhitas began (completed ~ 1,000 BC).

Dvaraka, a major port-city at the mouth of the Indus, was submerged.

~ 1,370 BC

Akhenaten enforced monotheistic worship of the Sun (Ra)

~ 1,230 BC

Exodus of Hebrew tribes from Egypt, following Moses ~ and the beginnings of Jaweh worship.

1,166 BC

Ramesses III died.

~ 1,100 BC

Aryans in the western Ganges Valley.

Phoenician trade and settlement throughout the Mediterranean region (until ~ 700 BC).

~ 1,000 BC

Compilation of the Saman, Yajus, and Atharvan Samhitas began (completed ~ 700 BC).

Phoenician Script developed, at Byblos.

King David united Israel and Judah.

~ 900 BC

Compilation of the Brahmanas began (completed ~ 500 BC).

Aramaic script developed, replacing Assyrian.

Nubian Kingdom of Kush founded.

~ 817 BC

Parsvanatha was born.

814 BC

Phoenician colony of Carthage was founded.

~ 800 BC

Aryans entered Saurastra, and began moving east to the frontiers of Bengal.

Egypt was conquered by Ethiopians (790 BC).

776 BC

First Olympic Games, in Greece.

753 BC

Rome was founded.

~ 750 BC

Prophecies of Amos (first Prophet of Israel).

Epics of Homer first transcribed in Greek.

~ 700 BC

Composition of the Aranyakas and earlier (mainly prose) Upanishadas began (completed ~ 500 BC).

Sargon II deported the Israelites (722 BC).

664 BC

Psammetichus restored the freedom of Egypt.

~ 600 BC

Composition of the later Upanishadas (mainly verse) began, (completed ~ 400 BC).

Kingdom of Magadha was established around the iron mines of Rajagriha (Rajgir).

Vardhamana Jnatrputra (Mahavira) was born, at Kundagrama (Besarh), in 599 BC ~ living until 527 BC.

Necho of Egypt defeated Judah (608 BC).

Chaldean Empire was founded (606 BC).

Lao-Tzu (the founder of Taoism) was born in 605 BC ~ living until 520 BC.

Necho was defeated by Nebuchadnezzar II (604 BC).

588 BC

Prophesies of Zarathustra began.

586 BC

Nebuchadnezzar held the Jews captive in Babylon.

~ 570 BC

Mahavira was initiated into the monastic order of Parsvanatha.

563 BC

Gautama Siddhartha (Buddha) was born at Kapilavastu (Lumbini) ~ living until 486 BC.

~ 551 BC

Zoroastrianism became the official religion of Persia.

Confucius was born ~ and lived until 479 BC.

539 BC

Cyrus II conquered Babylon and founded the Persian Empire.

The Jews were returned to rebuild Jerusalem.

~ 519 BC

Achaemenian rule in northwestern India was established by Darius I (lasting until ~ 350 BC).

~ 500 BC

Composition of the Pali Canon of major Buddhist texts began (completed ~ 200 BC).

Sinhalese Aryans arrived in Sri Lanka.