Kingdoms of South Asia


The States of India

Indus Valley Culture (Harappans) c.2500 - c.1800 BC People of unknown origin centered in the Indus Valley in modern Pakistan and India.
c.1800 BC	Civilisation dies out as the Indo-European Aryans drift in from the west.


Kingdom of Magadha Aryan descendants centered on the Ganges Plain. They later spread out to encompass much of India. Capital unknown.
c.500 BC	Bimbisara
c.370 - 324 BC	Nanda monarchs of Magadha
c.261 BC	Conquered the kingdom of Kalinga.

c.AD 684	Bhogaverma	His daughter m.Shiva Deva II, king of Nepal.


Kingdom of Kalinga
c.261 BC	Conquered by Magadha.
from 184 BC	There is a new era of independent rajahs.


Mauryan Empire 321 - 184 BC
c.324 - 301 BC	Chandragupta Maurya	Gained Afghanistan from Seleucids 324-303 BC.
	Chandragupta is known as Sandrokotos by the Greeks of Macedon.
301 - 269 BC	Bindusara Maurya	Son of Chandra. Gained Deccan Plateau.
273 - 269 BC	War of Succession.
269 - 232 BC	Ashoka Maurya	Son of Bindusara. Visited Nepal on pilgrimage in around 250 BC.
232 BC	Ashoka's sons dispute the title and the empire starts to crumble.
? - 184 BC		Last Mauryan king - assassinated.


Gupta Dynasty c.AD 320 - 550 The Guptas were the descendants of an obscure line of local rulers, probably in Bihar. By the fifth century they controlled India from the Himalayas to the River Narmada, and the Bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea. Their capital was at Purushapura (modern Peshawar).
AD 78 - 101	Kanishka
320 - 335	Chandra Gupta I	Brought Guptas to power. m.daughter of the king of Nepal.
335 - 375	Samudra Gupta	Son.
375 - 415	Chandra Gupta II
415 - 455	Kumara Gupta
455 - 467	Skanda Gupta
from 467	The empire is overrun by White Hunnish tribes from the north-west.
c.550s	The Sassanids of Persia make conquests in India.


Kushan Rulers The Kushan held power in the north only.

c.AD 250	The Kushans are toppled by Persia. The follows a power vacuum until circa 300.


Thaneshwar Kingdom Centred on Ganges Plain.
606 - 647	Harsha Vardhana	Reunited parts of North India.
647	Harsha is overthrown. India breaks up into a patchwork of fighting states and petty kingdoms that would not reform into one kingdom. For the next 300 years India's main events occur in the southern plateau.


Southern Indian Kingdoms

The Chalukyas Probably migrated from Central Asia.

The P�ndyas

The Pallavas
1008 - 1186	The Ghaznavids of (eastern) Persia conquer the Punjab.
1186 - 1215	The Ghurid sultanate of Afghanistan conquer the Ghaznavids and rule much of Northern India.
1215 - 1526	The Delhi Sultanate rules Northern India.
1221	Indus Valley under Mongols.
1526 - 1858	Most of India is ruled or controlled by the Moghuls.


Nawwabs of Bengal AD 1704 - 1765
1704 - 1725	Murshid Quli Khan Ala' ad Dawla
1725 - 1739	Shuja Khan Shuja ad Dawla
1739 - 1740	Sarfaraz Khan Ala ad Dawla
1740 - 1756	Al�wirdi Khan Hashim ad Dawla
1756 - 1757	Mirza Mahmud Siraj ad Dawla
1757	Defeated & dethroned by the Briton Robert Clive after the Battle of Plassey.
1757 - 1760	M�r Jafar Muhammad Khan/Hashim ad Dawla
1760 - 1763	M�r Qasim Ali
1763 - 1765	Mir Jafar Muhammad Khan/Hashim ad Dawla
1765 - 1858	The British East India Company rules under the Presidency of Calcutta.
1858 - 1947	Direct British rule follows the Indian Mutiny (or Great Sepoy Mutiny).


Nawwabs & Kings of Oudh (Awadh) AD 1722 - 1856
1722 - 1739	Sa'adat Khan Burhan al Mulk
1739 - 1754	Abu Mansur Khan Safdar Jang
1754 - 1775	Haydar Shuja ad Dawla
1775 - 1797	�saf ad Dawla
1797 - 1798	Wazir Ali	Died 1817.
1798 - 1814	Sa'adat Ali Khan
1814 - 1827	Haydar I Ghazi ad Din	King from 1819.
1827 - 1837	Haydar II Sulayman Jah
1837 - 1842	Muhammad Ali Mu'in ad Din
1842 - 1847	Amjad Ali Thurayya Jah
1847 - 1856	Wajid Al�	Deposed by British (d.1887).
1857 - 1858	Oudh is annexed to British India during the Great Sepoy Mutiny.
1857	Barjis Qadir	During the mutiny.
1858 - 1947	Direct British rule follows the mutiny.


Nizams of Hyderabad (Haydarabad) AD 1720 - 1948
1720 - 1748	Chin Qilich Khan Nizam al Mulk
1748 - 1751	Nasir Jang
1751 - 1752	Muzaffar Jang
1752 - 1762	Salabat Jang
1762 - 1803	Nizam Ali Khan
1829 - 1857	Farkhanda Ali Khan Nasir ad Dawla
1857 - 1869	Mir Mahbub Ali I Afdal ad Dawla
1869 - 1911	Mir Mahbub Ali II
1911 - 1948	Mir Uthman Ali Khan Bahadur Fath Jang
1948	Annexation by the Dominion of India follows.


British Viceroys of India AD 1858 - 1947 After the British government had to interpose directly to end the Indian Mutiny, the Crown took control of the Indian possessions and ended the East India Company's rule.
1856 - 1862	Lord Canning	Governor-General 1856-1858, Viceroy 1858.
1862 - 1863	Lord Elgin
1863 - 1869	Lord Lawrence
1869 - 1872	Lord May
1872 - 1876	Lord Northbrook
1876 - 1880	Lord Lytton
1880 - 1884	Lord Rippon
1884 - 1888	Lord Dufferin
1885 - 1886	Britain captures Mandalay and Burma becomes a province of British India.
1888 - 1894	Lord Landsdowne
1894 - 1899	Lord Elgin
1899 - 1905	Lord Curzon
1905 - 1910	Lord Minto
1910 - 1916	Lord Hardinge
1916 - 1921	Lord Chelmsford
1921 - 1926	Lord Reading
1926 - 1931	Lord Irwin (Halifax)
1931 - 1936	Lord Willingdon
1936 - 1943	Lord Linlithgow
1937	Britain separates Burma from India.
1943 - 1947	Lord Wavell
1947	The post of viceroy (sub-king, or commander in the king's name) of India is downgraded to that of Governor General of India upon the eve of independence. Following the handover by Britain, native governor-generals are appointed by their respective governments.
1947 - 1948	Lord Mountbatten
1947 - ?	C Rajagopala Chari	Governor-General of India.
1947 - 1948	Mohammad Ali Jinnah	Governor-General of Pakistan.
1955 - 1956	Iskander Mirza	Governor-General of Pakistan.


Principality of Rajasthan
1870s	Jai Singh
1947	India gains independence from the British empire.


Maharajahs of Jaipur Title with no real power in democratic India.
1980s	(Unknown)

Far East Kingdoms

South Asia