Vasco da Gama sets sail on the first direct European voyage to India.

Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrives at Kozhikode (previously known as Calicut), India.

Portuguese explorer Nicolau Coelho returns to Lisbon, after discovering the sea route to India as a companion of Vasco da Gama.

Vasco da Gama sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on his second voyage to India.

The Battle of Diu takes place near Diu, India, between Portugal and Turkey.

The Battle of Diu, between Portugal and the Ottoman Empire takes place in Diu, India.

Battle of Talikota, fought between the Vijayanagara Empire and the Islamic sultanates of the Deccan, leads to the subjugation, and eventual destruction of the last Hindu kingdom in India, and the consolidation of Islamic rule over much of the Indian subcontinent.

Indian Mughal Emperor Akbar defeats Bengali army at the Battle of Tukaroi.

The first official English representative to India lands in Surat.

Madras (now Chennai), India, is founded by the British East India Company on a sliver of land bought from local Nayak rulers.

Aurangzeb is proclaimed Moghul emperor of India.

Calcutta, India is founded.

Nadir Shah occupies Delhi in India and sacks the city, stealing the jewels of the Peacock Throne.

Nadir Shah occupies Delhi in India and sacks the city, stealing the jewels of the Peacock Throne.

Commodore William James captures the pirate fortress of Suvarnadurg on west coast of India.

The Third Battle of Panipat is fought in India between the Afghans under Ahmad Shah Durrani and the Marhatas. The Afghan victory changes the course of Indian History.

The British capture Pondicherry, India from the French.

The first elephant ever seen in the United States arrives from India.

Second Anglo-Maratha War: Battle of Assaye between the British East India Company and the Maratha Empire in India.

The Vellore Mutiny is the first instance of a mutiny by Indian sepoys against the British East India Company.

In the face of fierce opposition, British governor Lord William Bentinck issues a regulation declaring that all who abet suttee in India are guilty of culpable homicide.

The General Assembly's Institution, now the Scottish Church College, one of the pioneering institutions that ushered the Bengal Renaissance, is founded by Alexander Duff and Raja Ram Mohan Roy, in Calcutta, India.

A cyclone slams India with high winds and a 40 foot storm surge, destroying the port city of Coringa (which has never been completely rebuilt). The storm wave sweeps inland, taking with it 20,000 ships and thousands of people. An estimated 300,000 deaths result from the disaster.

The Battle of Aliwal, India, is won by British troops commanded by Sir Harry Smith.

The first freight train is operated in Roorkee, India.

The first passenger rail opens in India, from Bori Bunder, Bombay to Thane.

Indian Mutiny: In India, the first war of Independence begins. Sepoys revolt against their commanding officers at Meerut.

Indian Mutiny: Indian rebels seize Delhi from the British.

The Indian city of Calcutta is almost totally destroyed by a cyclone; 60,000 die.

The Allahabad High Court (then Agra High Court) is established in India.

The Abyssinian War ends as British and Indian troops capture Magdala.

A monster cyclone ravages India, resulting in over 200,000 deaths.

University of the Punjab is founded in a part of India that later became West Pakistan.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community is established by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad in Qadian India.

Dadabhai Naoroji is elected as the first Indian Member of Parliament in Britain.

British colonial officers Charles Walter Rand and Lt. Charles Egerton Ayerst are assassinated in Pune, Maharashtra, India by the Chapekar brothers and Mahadeo Vinayak Ranade, who are later caught and hanged.

In India, the 1905 Kangra earthquake hits the Kangra valley, kills 20,000, and destroys most buildings in Kangra, Mcleodganj and Dharamshala.

The Partition of Bengal in India takes place.

Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital of India.

Raja Harishchandra the first full-length Indian feature film was released, marking the beginning of the Indian film industry.