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       1000
  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      Martia
 9afl law rerevoked  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