General Awareness Indian History Timeline
📌 Indian History Quick-Revision Sheet for RRB
⚡ Last-day cram sheet – fit-in-your-pocket facts only!
1. Stone-Bronze-Iron @ One Glance
| Phase | Time-span | Super-fact |
|---|---|---|
| Palaeolithic | 2 mn–10,000 BC | Hunting, no metal |
| Mesolithic | 10,000–4,000 BC | Microliths, 1st dog |
| Neolithic | 4,000–1,800 BC | Wheat, cotton, plough |
| Chalcolithic | 2,500–700 BC | Copper + stone = “Chalco” |
| Iron-Age | 1,000 BC onward | Painted-Grey Ware (PGW) |
Mnemonic: PMNCI – “Prez. Nehru Made India” (Palaeo → Meso → Neo → Chalco → Iron)
2. Indus Valley (Sindhu-Saraswati)
- Date: 2,500–1,750 BC (mature phase)
- Largest site: Mohenjo-daro (Pak.)
- Largest Indian site: Rakhigarhi (Haryana)
- Port: Lothal (dock)
- Script: pictographic, Boustrophedon (bull- plough style)
- No coins, iron, horse, temple, idol of chief god
Trick: Lothal = “Lo” “thal” = Low tidal port = Dockyard
3. Vedic & Mahajanapada Era
| Veda | Meaning | Upaveda | Trick |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rig | Praise | Ayurveda | “Rig-aveda” = medicine |
| Yajur | Worship | Dhanurveda | Dhanush = arms |
| Sama | Song | Gandharvaveda | Sa-re-ga-ma = music |
| Atharva | Charm | Shilpa + Artha | “Atharva-craft” |
- 16 Mahajanapadas (600 BC) – Magadha, Vatsa, Avanti top trio
- 1st Republic: Vajji/Vriji (capital Vaishali)
4. Buddhism vs Jainism – 2-column kill
| Point | Buddhism | Jainism |
|---|---|---|
| Founder | Gautama (563 BC) | Rishabha → 24th Mahavira (540 BC) |
| Birthplace | Lumbini | Kundagrama (Vaishali) |
| Symbol | Dharmachakra | Lion |
| Text | Tripitaka | 12 Angas |
| Ahimsa | Moderate | Extreme (mask, sweeping) |
| Salvation | Nirvana (end of sorrow) | Moksha ( Siddha-loka) |
Mnemonic: “BL” – Buddha Lumbini; “JK” – Jina Kundagrama
5. Maurya to Gupta – Golden Frame
| Empire | Founder | Capital | GC (Grand-Chart) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maurya | Chandragupta | Pataliputra | Megasthenes, Kautilya |
| Shunga | Pushyamitra | Pataliputra | Agnimitra Kalidasa play |
| Satavahana | Simuka | Paithan | Gautamiputra Satakarni |
| Kushana | Kujula Kadph | Purushpur | Kanishka, Mahayana, 78 Saka era |
| Gupta | Sri Gupta | Pataliputra | Chandragupta-I “Maharajadhiraj”, 320 AD start |
Formula:
Golden Age of India = Gupta Age (AD 320-550)
Reasons: Nagara, Decimal, Aryabhata, Kalidasa, Mehrauli Pillar (Iron)
6. South-Indian Sangam & Trio
- Sangam = 3 assemblies (Madurai) – 1st mythical; 3rd (historical) 1st–3rd AD
- Chera → Vanji (Kerala), emblem Bow
- Chola → Uraiyur (later Tanjore), emblem Tiger
- Pandya → Madurai, emblem Fish
Trick: “BTC” – Bank Tiger Cash: Bow-Tiger-Chera-Chola; Pandya=Fish (water)
7. Delhi Sultanate – 5+1 Rule
| Dynasty | Yrs | 1st King | Quirk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slave | 1206-90 | Qutb-ud-din | Built Qutub Minar |
| Khilji | 1290-1320 | Jalaluddin | Market + Price control |
| Tughlaq | 1320-1414 | Ghiyasuddin | Token currency, Daulatabad shift |
| Sayyid | 1414-51 | Khizr Khan | Puppet of Mongols |
| Lodi | 1451-1526 | Bahlol | Ibrahim died at Panipat-1 |
Memory: SLK-T-S-L → “Sultan Likes Tea Sweet Long” (Slave-Khilji-Tughlaq-Sayyid-Lodi)
8. Mughal Mansabdari – 1-liner
Babur (1526) → Akbar (1556-1605) → Shah Jahan (Taj) → Aurangzeb (Peak 1680) → Farrukh → Decline 1857
Formula: 6+1 = 6 great + 1 Bahadur (last)
9. European to 1857 – ‘C-F-P-D-B’
| Company | Year | Place | Fact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Portuguese | 1498 | Calicut | 1st factory |
| Dutch | 1602 | Masulipatnam | 1st printing |
| English | 1600 | E.I.Co. | Battle of Plassey 1757 |
| Danish | 1616 | Tranquebar | Serampore college |
| French | 1664 | Pondicherry | Battle of Wandiwash 1760 |
Trick: “Come First Please Do Best” – order of arrival
10. Revolt-1857 – 5M-5L
- Started 10 May Meerut – Mangal Pandey 29 March Barrackpur
- 5 Main Leaders: Nana Saheb, Tantia Tope, Rani Lakshmibai, Begum Hazrat Mahal, Kunwar Singh
- End: 1858 – GoI Act – Secretary of State (dual control gone)
11. Governors-General Formula Table
| Name | Year | Punch-word |
|---|---|---|
| Warren Hastings | 1773 | 1st |
| Cornwallis | 1786 | Police+Permanent Settlement |
| Wellesley | 1798 | Subsidiary Alliance |
| Dalhousie | 1848 | Doctrine of Lapse |
| Canning | 1856 | 1857 + Queen Proclamation 1858 |
12. Congress & Gandhian Era
- 1885 Bombay, A.O.Hume, 1st prez W.C.Bonnerjee
- 1905 Partition Bengal → Swadeshi
- 1916 Lucknow Pact – Congress-League
- 1919 Rowlatt + Jallianwala
- 1920 NCM – 1st mass movement
- 1930 CDM – Dandi 12 March – 24-days, 390 km
- 1942 Quit India – ‘Do or Die’
- 1946 INA Trials – Rash Behari & Subhas Chandra
Formula: “19-20-30-40” – 1919,1920,1930,1940 (major decades)
13. Freedom Full-Circle
| Pact/Plan | Year | Punch-point |
|---|---|---|
| Cripps | 1942 | Dominion offer |
| Wavell | 1945 | Simla conf. |
| Cabinet Mission | 1946 | Grouping; Interim Govt |
| Mountbatten | 1947 | 3-June; 15-Aug |
14. Quick-Fire Dates (RRB loves these)
| Event | Year |
|---|---|
| Plassey | 1757 |
| Regulating Act | 1773 |
| Permanent Settlement | 1793 |
| Charter Act | 1853 (1st open competition) |
| Vernacular Press Act | 1878 |
| Ilbert Bill | 1883 |
| Morley-Minto | 1909 (separate electorate) |
| Montagu-Chelmsford | 1919 (dyarchy) |
| GOI Act | 1935 (provincial autonomy) |
15. Handy Mnemonics Bank
- 6 religions recognised: B-C-J-S-P-Z → “Brahma-Created Jazzy Songs, People Zig-zag”
(Buddhism, Christianity, Jainism, Sikhism, Parsi, Zoroastrian) - Tripartite struggle: P-G-B → “Please Give Book” (Pratihara, Gurjara, Buddha-Gupta?) Actually: Pratihara (Gurjara), Palas, Rashtrakutas (for Kannauj)
- Delhi Sultans five: SLK-T-S-L → “Sultan Likes Tea Sweet Long”
🧠 Common RRB MCQs – Rapid-Fire
Q1. Who started the Saka era & when?
Kanishka, 78 ADQ2. The Iron Pillar at Mehrauli is of which king?
Chandra (Gupta-II)Q3. First to use the word 'Hindu'?
Persians / Iranians (Avesta)Q4. First Indian to become Viceroy's Executive Council member?
S.P. Sinha, 1909Q5. Who called 1857 revolt 'First War of Independence'?
V.D. Savarkar⚡ 30-Second Before-Exam Chew
- 3 C’s of Ashoka: Chakra, Caves (Barabar), Chausa (1st inscription)
- 3 P’s of Akbar: Prarthana (Ibadat Khana), Panch-Padshahi, Purana-Razmnama
- 3 M’s of British: Macaulay (Minute), Montagu (Declaration), Mountbatten (Plan)
Carry in mind:
“History is just dates + drama; drama has 3-act: Rise-Peak-Fall. Attach a year to each act – you score!”
📄 Fit this sheet in pocket, read aloud once, sleep tight – Paper next morning!
BETA
