1858 Although the mutiny was unsuccessful, the British empire takes over the rule of India from the East India Company.

December 1906 A political group called the Muslim League is formed to look after the interests of India's minority Muslim community.

1916 Muslim politician Muhammad Ali Jinnah becomes the leader of the Muslim League. He later goes on to become the founder of Pakistan and becomes known as "Quaid-i-Azam", or "Great Leader".

April 13, 1919 British troops, under orders from commander Brigadier-General Reginald Dyer, fire without warning on a peaceful protest of thousands of unarmed Indians in Amritsar, Punjab. 

1919 Jawaharlal Nehru joins and becomes a prominent figure in the Indian National Congress party, which campaigns for independence from the British. He is deeply inspired by Gandhi.

1921 Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, better known as Mahatma Gandhi, becomes the leader of India's independence movement and revamps the Indian National Congress Party. Promoted non-violence and civil disobedience

1940 Following marked differences between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League, tensions between Hindus and Muslims rise. Jinnah makes the first demand for a separate nation for Muslims.

August 1946 The Muslim League provincial government in Calcutta, now known as Kolkata, makes a call to Muslims for a "Direct Action Day" - ostensibly a day of strikes, although it has been open to different interpretations - to support the creation of Pakistan. It ends up becoming a harrowing day of violence between Muslims and Hindus. At least 4,000people are killed and more than 10,000 injured.

August 14-15, 1947 Though planned to take place before June 1948, Pakistan gains independence on August 14, 1947 and India the day after -- ten months before the scheduled date, and without the border finalized.

October 1947 The first war between India and Pakistan takes place over Kashmir -- a region in the Himalayan and Karakoram mountain ranges that both countries are still fighting over today.

January 30, 1948 Gandhi is assassinated by a Hindu extremist, Nathuram Godse, as he walks from Birla House, where he lives, through the gardens for his prayer meeting. He is 78.

January 1, 1949 A UN-sponsored ceasefire is announced in Kashmir January 1, 1949 A UN-sponsored ceasefire is announced in Kashmir. However, tensions and fighting persist.

January 19, 1966 Nehru's daughter, Indira Gandhi, becomes the first female prime minister of the country. She is assassinated in 1984. Her son, Rajiv, who succeeds her in 1984, will also be killed in an assassination.

December 16, 1971 After a brutal and bloody war, East Pakistan gains independence from West Pakistan. It becomes the nation of Bangladesh, founded by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.