Major Political and Economic Developments c . - BCE Paddy transplantation; urbanisation in the Ganga valley; mahajanapadas ; punch-marked coins c. - BCE Rulers of Magadha consolidate power c. - BCE Invasion of Alexander of Macedon c.
BCE Accession of Chandragupta Maurya c. / - BCE Reign of Asoka c. BCE End of the Mauryan empire c. - BCE Indo-Greek rule in the northwest; Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas in south India; Satavahanas in the Deccan c.
BCE - CE Shaka (peoples from Central Asia) rulers in the northwest; Roman trade; gold coinage c . CE ? Accession of Kanishka c. - CE Earliest inscriptional evidence of land grants by Satavahana and Shaka rulers c .
CE Beginning of Gupta rule c. - CE Samudragupta c. - CE Chandragupta II; Vakatakas in the Deccan c. - CE Rise of the Chalukyas in Karnataka and of the Pallavas in Tamil Nadu c.
- CE Harshavardhana king of Kanauj; Chinese pilgrim Xuan Zang comes in search of Buddhist texts c . Arabs conquer Sind (Note: It is difficult to date economic developments precisely. Also, there are enormous subcontinental variations which have not been indicated in the timeline. Only the earliest dates for specific developments have been given.
The date of Kanishka’s accession is not certain and this has been marked with a‘?’)