Period
Description
Ancient Empires
ca. 1000 B.C.
Settlement of Bengal (see Glossary) by Dravidian-speaking
peoples
ca. 550-486 B.C.
Life of Siddartha Gautama--the Buddha; founding of Buddhism
ca. 320-180 B.C.
Mauryan Empire; reign of Asoka (273-232 B.C.); spread of
Buddhism
A.D. ca. 319-ca. 540
Gupta Empire; Classical Age in northern India
606-47
North Indian empire of Harsha
750-1150
Pala Dynasty
1150-1202
Sena Dynasty
Coming of Islam
1001-1030
Turkish armies led by Mahmud of Ghazni raid into Indian
subcontinent
1202
Turkish conquerors defeat Sena Dynasty and overrun Bengal
1206
Establishment of Delhi Sultanate
1341
Bengal achieves independence from Delhi; Dhaka established as
capital
The Mughal Period
1526-30
Babur lays foundation of Mughal Empire
1556-1605
Akbar the Great expands and reforms the empire
1576
Bengal conquered by Mughals
1605-27
Reign of Jahangir; British East India Company opens first
trading post in 1612
1658-1707
Reign of Aurangzeb, last great Mughal ruler
1704
Capital of Bengal moved from Dhaka to Murshidabad
1707-1858
Lesser emperors; decline of the Mughal Empire
British Period
Company Rule
1757
Battle of Plassey--British victory over Mughal forces in Bengal;
British rule in India begins
1793
Britain imposes Permanent Settlement (Landlease) Act on Bengal,
establishing a new landlord system, which turns out to be
disastrous for farmers
1835
Institution of British education and other reform measures
1857-58
Revolt of Indian sepoys (soldiers) against British East India Company
1858
British East India Company dissolved; rule of India under the British
crown--the British Raj--begins; marks formal end of Mughal Empire
Empire to Independence
1885
Indian National Congress (Congress) formed
1905
Partition of Bengal into separate provinces of East Bengal
(including Assam) and West Bengal
1906
All-India Muslim League (Muslim League) founded
1909
Morley-Minto reforms: separate electorates for Muslims
1912
Partition of Bengal annulled
1916
Congress-Muslim League Pact (often referred to as Lucknow Pact) signed
1919
India Act
1935
Government of India Act
1940
Muslim League adopts Lahore Resolution; "Two Nations" theory
articulated by Muslim League leader Mohammad Ali Jinnah and others
1946
"Direct action day" of Muslim League, August 16
Independent Pakistan
August 15, 1947
Partition of British India; India achieves independence and
incorporates West Bengal and Assam; Pakistan is created and
incorporates East Bengal (the East Wing, or East Pakistan) and
territory in the northwest (the West Wing, or West Pakistan);
Jinnah becomes governor general of Pakistan; Liaquat Ali Khan
becomes prime minister
October 27, 1947
Undeclared war with India begins
September 11, 1948
Jinnah dies; Khwaja Nazimuddin becomes governor general
January 1, 1949
United Nations-arranged ceasefire between Pakistan and India
takes effect
October 16, 1951
Liaquat assassinated; Nazimuddin becomes prime minister;
Ghulam Mohammad becomes governor general
October 6, 1955
Iskander Mirza sworn in as governor general, succeeding Ghulam
Mohammad, who had retired in ill health the previous month
March 23, 1956
Constitution adopted; Mirza becomes president
August 8, 1956
Muslim League leader Choudhry Mohammad Ali tenders resignation
as prime minister and is succeeded the following month by
Awami League (People's League) leader Hussain Shaheed Suhrawardy
October 7, 1958
President Mirza abrogates constitution and declares martial law
October 27, 1958
Mirza sent into exile; General Mohammad Ayub Khan begins rule
August-September 1965
War with India
March 25, 1969
Ayub resigns as result of public pressure; General Agha
Mohammad Yahya Khan assumes power; East Pakistani Awami League
leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Mujib) arrested and jailed in
West Pakistan
December 7, 1970
First general elections; Awami League under Mujib secures
absolute majority in new Constituent Assembly; West
Pakistan-dominated government declines to convene assembly
March 26-28, 1971
East Pakistan attempts to secede, beginning civil war; Mujib,
imprisoned in West Pakistan, declared provisional president
April 17, 1971
Formal declaration of independence of Bangladesh issued; Mujib
named president
December 3, 1971
Pakistan launches preemptive air strikes against India
December 4, 1971
India invades East Pakistan
December 6, 1971
India recognizes Bangladesh
December 16, 1971
Pakistani military forces in East Pakistan surrender to Indian
armed forces, marking Bangladeshi independence
Independent Bangladesh
January 10-12, 1972
Mujib returns from prison in West Pakistan; promulgates
interim constitution and is sworn in first as president, then
as prime minister
November 4, 1972
Parliamentary Constitution adopted
March 7, 1973
Mujib's Awami League wins overwhelming victory in
parliamentary elections
February 22, 1974
Pakistan recognizes Bangladesh
September 17, 1974
Bangladesh admitted to United Nations
December 28, 1974
State of emergency declared as political situation
deteriorates; fundamental rights under Constitution suspended
January 25, 1975
Constitution amended, abolishing parliamentary system and
establishing presidential system with de facto one-man rule
under Mujib
February 25, 1975
Mujib abolishes all parties but one--the Bangladesh Krishak
Sramik Awami League (Bangladesh Peasants, Workers, and
People's League), the new name of the Awami League--which is
under his direct control
August 15, 1975
Mujib assassinated in "majors' plot"; Khondakar Mushtaque
Ahmed installed as president
November 3-7, 1975
Major General Khaled Musharraf killed in coup; Mushtaque
resigns; Supreme Court chief justice Abu Sadat Muhammad Sayem
becomes president and chief martial law administrator on
November 7
November 30, 1976
Army chief of staff Ziaur Rahman (Zia) becomes chief martial
law administrator
April 21, 1977
Sayem forced to resign because of "ill health"; Zia becomes
president
May 30, 1977
Zia wins 98.9 percent of votes in referendum on his
continuance as president
June 3, 1977
Supreme Court justice Abdus Sattar named vice president
April 1978
Zia announces new elections and independent judiciary; lifts
ban on political parties
June 3, 1978
Zia elected president
February 18, 1979
Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party wins 207 out of 300 seats
in parliamentary election
April 6, 1979
Martial law revoked; Constitution restored in full; Fifth
Amendment ratifies all actions of Zia's martial law
administration
May 30, 1981
Zia assassinated; Sattar becomes acting president
November 15, 1981
Sattar elected president
March 24, 1982
Sattar ousted in coup engineered by Lieutenant General
Hussain Muhammad Ershad; Constitution suspended, Parliament
dissolved, and political parties abolished; Ershad assumes
full powers as chief martial law administrator
February 14-15, 1983
Student riots mark first major expression of public
opposition to Ershad's martial law administration
March 1982-December 1983
Interim presidency of Abdul Fazal Muhammad Ahsanuddin
Chowdhury
December 1983
Ershad assumes presidency
March 21, 1985
General referendum supports Ershad's administration
May 7, 1986
Parliamentary elections give pro-Ershad Jatiyo Party
(National Party) majority in Parliament
October 15, 1986
Ershad elected president
November 10, 1986
Parliament passes Seventh Amendment to Constitution,
ratifying all actions of Ershad's martial law
administration; martial law withdrawn; Constitution restored
in full
November 10-12, 1987
"Siege of Dhaka," mass demonstrations by united opposition
parties against Ershad's government
December 6, 1987
Ershad dissolves Parliament
March 3, 1988
Parliamentary elections reaffirm Jatiyo Party control of
Parliament
June 7, 1988
Eighth Amendment establishes Islam as state religion
Data as of September 1988