1500 BC Brahmans as priestly caste
The Aryans bring into India the roots of Hinduism, with the Brahmans as a priestly caste

600 BC Hindu ashrams
Hindu hermits live in groups described as ashramas

500 BC Upanishads reflect Hindu mysticism
The Upanishads, written over a long period from oral tradition, are the mystical texts of early Hinduism

350 BC Mahabharata assumes epic proportions
The Mahabharata, India's great national epic, begins to take shape

300 BC Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma
Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma emerge as India's trio of main gods, with the Vedic religion of the Aryans evolving into Hinduism

1000 Rock temples at Ellora
Buddhist, Hindu and Jain shrines are carved from the rock in the cave temples of Ellora, in India

1025 Muslims destroy temple at Somnath
Mahmud of Ghazni marches an army across an Indian desert to destroy a great temple at Somnath, killing - it is said - some 50,000 Hindus

1150 Tamils in Sri Lanka
After centuries of raiding the northern part of Sri Lanka, the Tamils establish a settled Hindu presence in the island

1632 Shah Jahan ends Mughal tradition of tolerance
Shah Jahan orders that all recently built Hindu temples shall be destroyed, ending the Mughal tradition of religious tolerance

1650 Bali last Hindu outpost
Hindu princes and brahmin priests withdraw from Java to Bali, turning the island into the last outpost of Hinduism in southeast Asia

1925 Hindu nationalist party formed
The RSS party, from which the present Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) derives, is established in India by Keshava Baliram Hedgewar

1931 Hindu-Muslim tensions in Kashmir
Sectarian hostilities increase in Kashmir, with the Muslim majority resenting the favours shown by the British to the Sikh and Hindu elite

1947 Partition of India
In granting independence to India, Britain partitions the subcontinent along sectarian lines into Pakistan and the republic of India