This timeline is part of an independent educational initiative, Humshehri, dedicated towards enhancing understanding of Pakistan’s history, culture, places and people. It is a project of the Society for the Advancement of Education (SAHE) and its Campaign for Quality Education (CQE), a non-profit organization focused on researching and advocating for educational quality in Pakistan for the past 30 years.
The Parthians were an Iranian people who had taken over much of the Seleucus Empire. In the east they conquered Afghanistan and northern Pakistan and to the west they expanded towards eastern Turkey. It was during this time that the Gandharan School of Art began to develop.
The Kushans were a branch of the Yue-Chi nomadic tribe from Central Asia. The Yue-Chi had had taken over Bactria around 130 BC and the Kushans became dominant in that region. In 64 AD the Kushans conquered Gandhara from the Parthians and founded the Kushan Empire. At the height of its power it stretched across Pakistan, northern India and as far north as Kashgar and Yarkand.
The Kushans, a branch of the Yue-Chi nomadic tribe from Central Asia, took over Bactria around 130 BC. In 64 AD, the Kushans conquered Gandhara from the Parthians and founded the Kushan Dynasty. At the height of its power it stretched across Pakistan, northern India and as far north as Kashgar and Yarkand.
The Gandharan Civilization sat at the crossroads between India and Central Asia. From 1st century BC a distinctive art style emerged, known as Gandharan art, which was a mixture of Indian-Buddhist and Greco-Roman influences. It sought to depict different Buddhist concepts through sculptures, rock carvings and petroglyphs.
When the Mauryan Empire began to weaken, Demetrius, the Greek King of Bactria, invaded the Kabul River Valley and established the Indo-Greek Kingdom. The kingdom reached its peak under Menander, who extended the empire to Punjab. His successors were unable to maintain a united Indo-Greek Kingdom and ruled in separate small kingdoms.
Epics were myths and legends handed down from generation to generation. The two famous epics are the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. These epics were revised over a long period of time until they took their final form.
The Sassanians, a southern Iranian people, overthrew the Parthians and seized Peshawar in 240 AD. They extended their power over eastern and southern Pakistan but small Kushan Kingdoms continued to thrive by paying tribute to the Sassanid Empire.
Ashoka, the grandson of Chandragupta, was known for expanding the Mauryan Empire. Around 261 BC he waged a war with Kalinga. But when Ashoka viewed the massacre that occurred, he felt deep remorse and renounced war on the battlefield. He decided to rule not by force but through piety and is remembered for being a benevolent ruler.
Seleucus, a Greek general under Alexander, laid claim to the Asian provinces soon after Alexander's death. He was thoroughly defeated by Chandragupta Maurya. A peace treaty was established between them, with Chandragupta given much of the territories east of the Indus.
Chandragupta was the most powerful ruler of northern India. Under his successors, the Gupta Empire extended from the Bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea. Under Gupta rule, great advancements in mathematics and science were made. The empire eventually collapsed due to territorial loss as well as the invasion of the Huns.
Chandragupta was a low born prince of Magadha (present day India) who was sentenced to exile. Soon after Alexander's death, he launched a rebellion against the king of Magadha and established himself as the first ruler of the Mauryan Empire.
Raja Porus, ruler of a kindgom between the rivers Jhelum and Chenab, gathered an army of war elephants to fight Alexander. At first, the monsoon rains flooded the Jhelum River but eventually Alexander was able to cross the river and defeat Porus. Due to his bravery, Porus was able to stay on as a viceroy to Alexander.
Alexander the Great of Macedonia, after subduing the Persians, in 327 BC entered the subcontinent through the Khyber Pass and crossed the Indus River. Although many local rulers surrendered peacefully, Alexander still faced strong opposition from several tribesmen but managed to subdue them all.
After the death of Darius I, the Achaemenid Empire began to disentegrate. By the time Darius III ascended the throne, the court was divided. He was defeated by Alexander the Great in the Battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC and later killed in 330 BC. After this Alexander declared himself ruler of Persia.
The Huns were nomads from China who invaded Gandhara and later took over northern India around 455 AD. After the last Gupta emperor died, they occupied Punjab and Sindh. They did not embrace the Buddhist culture like the Kushans before them and eventually Buddhism disappeared from the region.
Darius I, the third Emperor of the Achaemenid Empire, was a strong ruler. He divided the empire into provinces and appointed a governor, known as a satrap, over each province. His policies allowed for trade to flourish and he consolidated his empire by adding large parts of Punjab and Sindh.
Cyrus the Great was a tolerant and just ruler who established the Charter of Human Rights over those he conquered. He entered the Indian Subcontinent from Khyber Pass and occupied Gandhara, the area around modern day Peshawar.
Cyrus the Great, founded the Achaemenid Empire in 550 BC. At the height of its power, the Achaemenid Empire was one of the largest empires of the ancient world. It stretched from Greece in the west to parts of Pakistan in the east and grew as far south as northern Africa.
Buddhism provided an alternative to mainstream religion, which had become increasingly ritualistic and exclusive. Its rules were simple, to practice right speech, thought, intentions and actions. These teachings appealed to the mass population. It gained popularity as it was preached in the local language, Prakrit.
Buddha (meaning enlightened one) was born as prince Siddhartha in Lumbini, a garden site, now in present day Nepal.
Muhammad bin Qasim, an Arab general under the Umayyad Caliphate, marched into Sindh and conquered the area from ruler Raja Dahir. He went on to capture Brahmanabad and Multan. Thus establishing Ummayad rule in the subcontinent.
Mahmud ascended the throne in 998 AD and in 1001 AD led his first raid into India. Over the course of the next 25 years, he carried out 17 expeditions into India. Since the wealth of India was hoarded in temples, Mahmud targeted and looted them. His early raids were focused on securing Punjab as a base for future attacks into India.
Mahmud's last major attack was on the temple of Somnath located in Gujarat. Somnath was one of the holiest and richest temples of India. For three days, Mahmud and his solders fought the local Hindus. After breaking through the defensive lines, Mahmud entered the temple and broke the statue of Shiva.
Al Beruni was a scholar in the court of Mehmud of Ghazni. He wrote the Kitab al-Hind, a compendium on the history, religion, language, literature, manners and customs of the local people. He met Hindu Pandits and Buddhists and remained with them for more than a decade. It added to his research on mathematics, astronomy, geography, chronology and natural sciences.
Data Ganj Baksh was one of the greatest sufi saints of the subcontinent. He was born Ali Hujwari in Ghazni, Afghanistan during the reign of the Ghaznavids. He came to Lahore under orders from his pir and eventually settled there. His shrine in Lahore is one of the most frequented and famous in all of Pakistan.
Baba Farid, also known as Sheikh Fariduddin Masud Ganj Shakar, was born in a village near Multan. He was inducted into the Chisti Silsila while in Delhi and traveled extensively before settling down in Pakpattan. It is said that Timur spared the lives of the inhabitants of Pakpattan out of reverence for the shrine of Baba Farid.
Lal Shahbaz Qalandar, whose real name was Syed Muhammad Usman Marwandi, was one of the earliest Sufi poets of Sindh whose lyrics are popular even today. After his travels Shahbaz Qalandar settled down in Sehwan Sherif, Sindh. His humanist message resulted in a large following over the centuries among Muslims as well as Hindus.
Muhammad of Ghaur defeated the Rajput king Prithviraja, ruler of Ajmer and Delhi, at the second battle of Tarain. A year earlier he had been defeated at the same battlefield by Prithviraj. This victory opened up north India to further conquest.
Qutbuddin Aibak was a general of Muhammad of Ghaur who consolidated the conquest of northwest India. After Ghaur's assassination in 1206, Qutbuddin proclaimed himself Sultan of Delh. Hei established an independent kingdom, the Mamluk Dynasty, later known as the first Delhi Sultanate.
Iltutmish, son-in-law of Qutbuddin Aibak, became the Sultan of Delhi after Qutbuddin's death in 1211. Iltutmish expanded the empire and shifted his capital to Delhi. He is known for completing the Qutb Minar, one of the tallest minarets in the world.
Adab-al-Muluk was dedicated to Sultan Iltutmish. Each chapter was written in the pattern of episodic history, a tradition laid down by the Arab historians. Almost all introductory 12 chapters focus on the function of different ministerial departments as well as civil administration, the art of diplomacy and statesmanship. The remaining 28 chapters are related to the art of warfare, war-horses and so on.
Razia Sultana was nominated as heir to the throne by her father Iltutmish. She became the first ever Muslim woman to run a kingdom. She was a shrewd politician and an able administrator. However her success was short lived. Her governors rebelled against her, and although she fought valiantly, she was murdered in 1240.
Amir Khusro, a poet, musician and philosopher, is known for inventing qawwali (Sufi devotional music) and the sitar. He was a disciple of the Sufi Saint Nizamuddin Auliya. He was associated with the royal courts of seven rulers of the Delhi Sultanate including Alauddin Khilji and Ghiasuddin Tughlaq.
The Khiljis were a Turkish dynasty who founded the second Delhi Sultanate after the Mamluks. Alauddin Khilji, its second ruler, secured the borders of his kingdom by defeating the Mongols. He became the first Muslim ruler to extend his kingdom south of the river Narmada.
The first Tughlaq king, Ghiyasuddin seized the throne of Delhi in 1320. His successor's, Muhammad Tughlaq, unsuccessful policies led to the break-up of the kingdom. Although the third ruler, Feroz, attempted to regain lost territories and restore wealth, he was unable to consolidate the central power. Soon after his death the sultanate broke apart.
Soon after the fall of Tughlaq dynasty Timur, the Turkmen Mongol conqueror, invaded the subcontinent. He sacked Delhi and massacred its people. Timur returned to Samarqand, shortly thereafter with the spoils of war.
The Rig Veda means 'The Knowledge of Verses' in Sanskrit and is a compilation of the hymns that the Aryans used to chant during rituals. The Aryans composed more than a thousand such hymns between 1500 BC and 1200 BC. These were handed down orally before being written down around 300 BC.
Babar was both a descendent of Timur and Chengiz Khan. In 1525, Daulat Khan, the viceroy of Punjab under Ibrahim Lodhi, invited Babar to conquer India and rid it of the unpopular Lodhi ruler. Babar defeated Ibrahim Lodhi at the First Battle of Panipat. The next day he was pronounced the Emperor of Delhi.
Upon his ascension to the Mughal throne at the age of 23 Humayun was faced with numerous threats within the empire and from his own brothers.
Sher Shah Suri, the son of an Afghan chief, had served in Babar's army during the conquest of India. When Humayun's rule began to weaken, he challenged him on the battlefied. At the Battle of Chaunsa in 1539, Suri completely defeated Humayun’s forces forcing him into exile. In the short time that he ruled, Suri introduced important administrative reforms and built the Grand Trunk Road.
After 15 years of exile, Humayun took advantage of the discord that followed the death of Sher Shah and returned to India. But in January of the next year Humayun died after falling down the stairs.
Akbar ascended the throne at age 13. In the early years, he faced two major threats to his throne: the Afghans and Rajputs, both of which he was able to overcome. During his reign the empire tripled in size and wealth. Akbar is remembered as a tolerant and enlightened ruler.
The Mughal army met the Afghan forces, commanded by the Hindu ruler Hemu, at Panipat. At first it seemed that the Afghan's would be victorious, but their leader was struck in the eye by an arrow and fell unconscious. The Afghan army fled. After this victory, Akbar's forces faced little resistance.
The British lived for several years at court but Jahangir refused to grant them trading rights for fear of offending the Portuguese. But the defeat of Portuguese ships by the British near Surat and the Portuguese plundering of a ship belonging to Jahangir's mother, shifted the balance in favor of the British. In return, the British agreed to protect Mughal ships from the Portuguese.
The reign of Shah Jahan is often described as the Golden Age of the Mughal Empire. During his thirty year reign there was no serious threat of a foreign invasion, trade was able to flourish and cities expanded rapidly. Architecture, literature, music and the arts were encouraged. But signs of decay and had begun to appear.
Aurangzeb and his three brothers fought each other for the Mughal throne for two years. Aurangzeb not only defeated his brothers but also imprisoned his father Shah Jahan in Agra Fort and then declared himself emperor of Mughal India.
The Battle of Plassey took place between the East India Company, led by Robert Clive, and the Nawab of Bengal. The Nawab had tried to curtail the power of the Company but was unsuccessful. In retaliation, Clive made a pact with the rich Hindu merchants to overthrow the Nawab and replace him. The Nawab's forces were easily defeated. This event is conventially considered the beginning of British rule in India.
The act was the first step by the British Government in taking over the Company's administration in India. It granted the British Government the right to regulate and control administration. Under it the first Governor-General of India, Warren Hastings, was appointed.
Ranjit Singh founded the Sikh kingdom of Punjab. After capturing Lahore, he began to take over the rest of Punjab. Soon he was able to conquer parts of Kashmir and KPK. In 1809 he signed the Treaty of Amritsar with the British which confined his territories west of the Sutlej.
Soon after the death of Ranjit Singh, a war of succession weakened the Sikh Kingdom and gave the British a chance to take over. Two successive wars were fought between the British and the Sikhs and each time the British emerged victorious. In 1849 all the Sikh territories were annexed to the British crown.
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