List of Prime Ministers and Presidents of India

 

Prime Ministers of India
Jawaharlal Nehru August 15, 1947 - May 27, 1964
Lal Bahadur Shastri June 9, 1964 - January 11, 1966
Indira Gandhi January 24, 1966 - March 24, 1977
Morarji Desai March 24, 1977 - July 28, 1979
Charan Singh July 28, 1979 - January 14, 1980
Indira Gandhi January 14, 1980 - October 31, 1984
Rajiv Gandhi October 31, 1984 - December 1, 1989
Vishwanath Pratap Singh Dec. 2, 1989 - November 10, 1990
Chandra Shekhar November 10, 1990 - June 21, 1991
P.V. Narasimha Rao June 21, 1991 - May 16, 1996
Atal Behari Vajpayee May 16, 1996 - 1 June 1996
H. D. Deve Gowda 1 June 1996 - 12 April 1997
Inder Kumar Gujral 21 April 1997 - 19 Mar 1998
Atal Behari Vajpayee 19 Mar 1998 - present

 

Note: Gulzarilal Nanda was caretaker Prime Minister twice in the 1960s.

 

Presidents of India
Dr. Rajendra Prasad Jan. 26,1950 - May 13, 1962
Dr. S. Radhakrishnan May 13, 1962 - May 13, 1967
Dr. Zakir Hussain May 13, 1967 - August 24, 1969
Varahagiri Venkata Giri August 24, 1969 - August 24, 1974
Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed August 24, 1974 - February 11, 1977
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy July 25, 1977 - July 25, 1982
Giani Zail Singh July 25, 1982--July 25, 1987
R. Venkataraman July 25, 1987- July 25, 1992
Dr.S.D. Sharma July 25, 1992 - July 25, 1997
K R Narayanan July 25, 1997 -July 25,2002
A P J ABDUL KALAM July 25,2002 - present

 

 

 

Recipients of Bharat Ratna Award

 

NAME AWARDED
Dr Sarvepali Radhakrishnan (1888-1975) 1954
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari (1878-1972) 1954
Dr Chandrasekhar Venkat Raman (1888-1970) 1954
Dr Bhagwan Das (1869-1958) 1955
Dr Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya (1861-1962) 1955
Jawaharlal Nehru (1889 -1964) 1955
Govind Ballabh Pant (1887-1961) 1957
Dr Dhondo Keshave Karve (1858-1962) 1958
Dr Bidhan Chandra Roy (1882-1962) 1961
Purushottam Das Tandon (1882-1962) 1961
Dr Rajendra Prasad (1884-1963) 1962
Dr Zakir Husain (1897-1969) 1963
Dr Pandurang Vaman Kane (1880-1972) 1963
Lal Bahadur Shastri (Posthumous) (1904-1966) 1966
Indira Gandhi (1917-1984) 1971
Varahagiri Venkatagiri (1894-1980) 1975
Kumaraswami Kamraj (Posthumous) (1903-1975) 1976
Mary Taresa Bojaxhiu (Mother Teresa) (1910-1997) 1980
Acharya Vinobha Bhave (Posthumous) (1895-1982) 1983
Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan (1890-1988) 1987
Marudu Gopalan Ramachandran (Posthumous) (1917-1987) 1988
Dr Bhim Rao Ramji Ambedkar (Posthumous) (1891-1956) 1990
Dr Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (b-1918) 1990
Rajiv Gandhi (Posthumous) (1944-1991) 1991
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (Posthumous) (1875-1950) 1991
Morarji Ranchhodji Desai (1896-1995) 1991
Maulana Abul Kala Azad (1888-1958) 1992
Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhai Tata (1904-1993) 1992
Satyajit Ray (1922-1992) 1992
A.P.J. Abdul Kalam 1997
Gulzarilal Nanda (1898-1998) 1997
Aruna Asaf Ali (Posthumous) 1997
MS Subbulakshmi (b 1916) 1998
(Source: India 1996: A Reference Manual)

 

chronological history of INDIA

 

 

 

1799 

 

   

Fourth Mysore War: The British defeat Tipu; Death of Tipu; Partition of Mysore

1802 

 

   

Treaty of Bassein

1803-1805 

 

   

The Second Anglo-Maratha war: The British defeat the Marathas at Assaye: Treaty of Amritsar

1814-1816 

 

   

The Anglo-Gurkha war

1817-1818 

 

   

The Pindari war

1817-1819 

 

   

The last Anglo-Maratha war: Marathas finally crushed by the British

1824-1826 

 

   

The First Burmese war

1829 

 

   

Prohibition of Sati

1829-1837 

 

   

Suppression of Thuggee

1831 

 

   

Raja of Mysore deposed and its administration taken over by East India Company

1833 

 

   

Renewal of Company's Charter; Abolition of company's trading rights

1835 

 

   

Education Resolution

1838 

 

   

Tripartite treaty between Shah Shuja, Ranjit Singh and the British

1839-1842 

 

   

First Afghan war

1843 

 

   

Gwalior war

1845-1846 

 

   

First Anglo-Sikh war

1848 

 

   

Lord Dalhousie becomes the Governor-General

1848-1849 

 

   

Second Anglo-Sikh war : (Rise of Sikh Power) British annex Punjab as Sikhs are defeated

1852 

 

   

Second Anglo-Burmese war

1853 

 

   

Railway opened from Bombay to Thane; Telegraph line from Calcutta to Agra

1857 

 

   

First War of Indian Independence: The Sepoy Mutiny

1858 

 

   

British Crown takes over the Indian Government

1861 

 

   

Indian Councils Act; Indian High Courts Act; Introduction of the Penal Code

1868 

 

   

Punjab Tenancy Act; Railway opened from Ambala to Delhi

1874 

 

   

The Bihar Famine

1877 

 

   

Delhi Durbar: The Queen of England proclaimed Empress of India

1878 

 

   

Vernacular Press Act

1881 

 

   

Factory Act; Rendition of Mysore

 

1885 

 

   

First meeting of the Indian National Congress; Bengal Tenancy Act

1891 

 

   

Indian Factory Act

1892 

 

   

Indian Councils Act to regulate Indian administration

1897 

 

   

Plague in Bombay; Famine Commission

1899 

 

   

Lord Curzon becomes Governor-General and Viceroy

1905 

 

   

The First Partition of Bengal

1906  </FONT< TD>

 

   

Formation of Muslim League; Congress declaration regarding Swaraj

1908 

 

   

Newspaper Act

1911 

 

   

Delhi Durbar; Partition of Bengal modified to create the Presidency of Bengal

1912 

 

   

The Imperial capital shifted from Calcutta to Delhi

1913 

 

   

Educational Resolution of the Government of India

1915 

 

   

Defence of India Act

1916 

 

   

Home Rule League founded; Foundation of Women's University at Poona

1919 

 

   

Rowlatt Act evokes protests; Jalianwalla Bagh massacre; The Montague-Chelmsford Reforms offer limited autonomy

1920 

 

   

The Khilafat Movement started; Mahatma Gandhi leads the Congress; Non-co-operation Movement

1921 

 

   

Moplah (Muslim) rebellion in Malabar; Census of India

1922 

 

   

Civil Disobedience Movement; Chauri-Chaura violence leads to Gandhi suspending movement

1923 

 

   

Swarajists in Indian Councils; Certification of Salt Tax; Hindu-Muslim riots

1925 

 

   

Reforms Enquiry committee Report

1926 

 

   

Royal Commission on Agriculture; Factories Act

1927 

 

   

Indian Navy Act; Simon Commission Appointed

1928 

 

   

Simon Commission comes to India: Boycott by all parties; All Parties Conference

1929 

 

   

Lord Irwin promises Dominion Status for India; Trade Union split; Jawaharlal Nehru hoists the National Flag at Lahore

1930 

 

   

Civil Disobedience movement continues; Salt Satyagraha: Gandhiji's Dandi March; First Round Table Conference

1931 

 

   

Second Round Table Conference; Irwin-Gandhi Pact; Census of India

1932 

 

   

Suppression of the Congress movement; Third Round Table Conference; The Communal Award; Poona Pact

1933 

 

   

Publication of White Paper on Indian reforms

1934 

 

   

Civil Disobedience Movement called off; Bihar Earthquake

1935 

 

   

Government of India Act

1937 

 

   

Inauguration of Provincial Autonomy; Congress ministries formed in a majority of Indian provinces

1939 

 

   

Political deadlock in India as Congress ministries resign

1942 

 

   

Cripps Mission to India; Congress adopts Quit India Resolution; Congress leaders arrested; Subhash Chandra Bose forms Indian National Army

1944 

 

   

Gandhi-Jinnah Talks break down on Pakistan issue

1945 

 

   

First trial of the Indian Army men opened

1946 

 

   

Mutiny in Royal Indian Navy; Cabinet Mission's plan announced; Muslim League decides to participate in the Interim Government; Interim Government formed; Constituent Assembly's first meeting

3 June 1947 

 

   

Announcement of Lord Mountbatten's plan for partition of India

15 Aug 1947 

 

   

Partition of India and Independence

15 Aug 1947          

 

   

India obtains Independence from the British; Jawaharlal Nehru becomes the first Indian Prime Minister

Oct 1947 

 

   

Maharaja of Kashmir accedes to Indian Sovereignty

Oct 1947 

 

   

Maharaja of Kashmir accedes to Indian Sovereignty

 

 

 

 

Nov 1947 

 

   

John Mathai presents the First Railway Budget

 

 

 

 

Jan 1948 

 

   

Reserve Bank of India Nationalised

 

 

 

 

30 Jan 1948 

 

   

Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in New Delhi

 

 

 

 

Sep 1948 

 

   

Troops of Government of India enter Hyderabad state

 

 

 

 

Nov 1948 

 

   

B.R.Ambedkar presents first Draft Constitution to Constituent Assembly

 

 

 

 

1 Jan 1949 

 

   

United Nations monitored cease fire takes effect in Kashmir

 

 

 

 

Sep 1949 

 

   

Rupee devalued by approximately 31 percent

 

 

 

 

26 Nov 1949 

 

   

New Constitution of India adopted and signed

 

 

 

 

26 Jan 1950 

 

   

Constitution of India comes into force

 

 

 

 

March 1950 

 

   

Planning Commission set up

 

 

 

 

July 1951 

 

   

First Five year plan set in motion

 

 

 

 

25 Oct'51-21 Feb'52 

 

   

First General Election

 

 

 

 

1952 

 

   

Atomic Energy establishment set up in Bombay; Chandernagar incorporated with India

 

 

 

 

1953 

 

   

Private Airlines are Nationalised; Chandigarh inaugurated as Capital of Punjab

 

 

 

 

29 Dec 1953 

 

   

The States Reorganisation Commission

 

 

 

 

April 1954 

 

   

India concludes treaty with China

July 1954 

 

   

Nehru inaugurates Bhakhra Dam

 

 

 

 

December 1954 

 

   

Imperial Bank renamed as State Bank of India

 

 

 

 

1955 

 

   

Chinese troops enter India's Garhwal district in Uttar Pradesh

 

 

 

 

18 May 1955 

 

   

Hindu marriage Act is amended

 

 

 

 

1 June 1955 

 

   

Untouchability Act comes into force

 

 

 

 

1956 

 

   

Second Five year Plan

 

 

 

 

Jan 1956 

 

   

Nationalisation of Insurance Companies

 

 

 

 

17 June 1956 

 

   

Hindu Succession Act

 

 

 

 

Feb 24-June 9 1957 

 

   

Second General Election held

 

 

 

 

Sep 1957 

 

   

Wealth Tax Bill passed

 

 

 

 

Feb 1958 

 

   

Finance Minister T.T.Krishnamachari resigns following Mundhra LIC share scandal

 

 

 

 

1959 

 

   

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation set up; Television transmission introduced in New Delhi; Indo-Portuguese dispute

 

 

 

 

March 1959 

 

   

Dalai Lama flees from Tibet to India

 

 

 

 

Oct 1959 

 

   

Military confrontation with China in Aksai Chin

 

 

 

 

19 April 1960 

 

   

Meeting of Afro-Asian Conference at New Delhi

 

 

 

 

1960 

 

   

Bombay Presidency bifurcated into Maharashtra and Gujarat states

 

 

 

 

21 Jan 1961 

 

   

Arrival of Queen Elizabeth at New Delhi

 

 

 

 

19 Dec 1961 

 

   

Liberation of Goa

 

 

 

 

Feb 16-June 6 1962 

 

   

Third General election

 

 

 

 

Oct 1962 

 

   

Indo-China war

 

 

 

 

Jan 1963 

 

   

Gold Control Order comes into force

 

 

 

 

10 Aug 1963 

 

   

The Kamraj Plan

 

 

 

 

27 May 1964 

 

   

Jawaharlal Nehru dies

 

 

 

 

09 June 1964 

 

   

Lal Bahadur Shastri becomes Prime Minister

 

 

 

 

July 1964 

 

   

UTI and IDBI set up

 

 

 

 

April 1965 

 

   

Pakistan tanks penetrate India

 

 

 

 

30 June 1965 

 

   

Ceasefire agreed under UN auspices

 

 

 

 

1 Sep 1965 

 

   

Indo-Pak war

 

 

 

 

4-10 Jan 1966 

 

   

Tashkent Conference between Pakistan and Indian leaders

 

 

 

 

11 Jan 1966 

 

   

Lal Bahadur Shastri dies

 

 

 

 

24 Jan 1966 

 

   

Indira Gandhi becomes Prime Minister

 

 

 

 

June 1966 

 

   

Rupee devalued by 36 percent

 

 

 

 

15-28 Feb 1967 

 

   

Fourth General Election

 

 

 

 

June 1969 

 

   

Forward trading in shares banned

 

 

 

 

16 July 1969 

 

   

Morarji Desai resigns from cabinet

 

 

 

 

19 July 1969 

 

   

Fourteen Banks nationalised

 

 

 

 

12 Nov 1969 

 

   

Indira Gandhi expelled from Congress party for indiscipline

 

 

 

 

Feb 1970 

 

   

Supreme court holds nationalisation of banks illegal

 

 

 

 

April 1970 

 

   

Privy Purses and special privileges of former Indian rulers abolished

 

 

 

 

11 May 1970 

 

   

A bill for setting up of "North Eastern Council" passed

 

 

 

 

1-13 March 1971 

 

   

Fifth General Election

 

 

 

 

April 1971 

 

   

General Insurance nationalised

 

 

 

 

May 1971 

 

   

Wealth Tax doubled to 8 percent of Net Income

 

 

 

 

Dec 1971 

 

   

India-Pakistan War; Formation of Bangladesh

 

 

 

 

1972 

 

   

Pakistan and India sign Simla Accord ; Monsoon failure causes drought

 

 

 

 

1973 

 

   

Coal mines nationalised; Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) passed

 

 

 

 

18 May 1974 

 

   

Underground nuclear explosion at Pokhran

 

 

 

 

May 1974 

 

   

Jaiprakash Narayan starts Citizens for Democracy Movement

 

 

 

 

July 1974 

 

   

Indira Gandhi imposes 12 percent ceiling on dividends, Stockmarket crashes

 

 

 

 

April 1975 

 

   

Indian satellite Aryabhatta launched from a Soviet cosmodrome

 

 

 

 

16 May 1975 

 

   

Sikkim joins India

 

 

 

 

26 June 1975 

 

   

Emergency declared

 

 

 

 

July 1975 

 

   

Indira Gandhi announces 20-point economic programme

 

 

 

 

Jan 1976 

 

   

Private Oil companies nationalised

 

 

 

 

Feb 1976 

 

   

Urban Land Ceiling Regulation Act passed

 

 

 

 

Nov 1976 

 

   

Lok Sabha passes 42nd Constitution Amendment Bill

 

 

 

 

18 Jan 1977 

 

   

Opposition politicians released from jail

 

 

 

 

16-20 March 1977 

 

   

Sixth General Election; First Non-Congress Govt, led by Morarji Desai

 

 

 

 

Jan 1978 

 

   

Currency notes in denominations of Rs 1,000, Rs 5,000 and RS 10,000 demonetised

 

 

 

 

June 1979 

 

   

Bhaskara, India's second satellite, launched from a Soviet cosmodrome

 

 

 

 

19 June 1979 

 

   

Morarji Desai resigns after split in Janata Party

 

 

 

 

Oct 1979 

 

   

Operation Flood II launched

 

 

 

 

Jan 1980 

 

   

Seventh General Election; Indira Gandhi becomes Prime Minister again

 

 

 

 

23 June 1980 

 

   

Sanjay Gandhi, younger son of Indira Gandhi, dies in plane crash

 

 

 

 

Feb 1981 

 

   

Maruti Udyog set up

 

 

 

 

Feb 1982 

 

   

Datta Samant leads Bombay's 300,000 textile workers on strike

 

 

 

 

Dec 1982 

 

   

The Ninth Asian games held in Delhi

 

 

 

 

25 June 1983 

 

   

India wins the Cricket World Cup

 

 

 

 

6 Oct 1983 

 

   

Indira Gandhi imposes President's rule on Punjab

 

 

 

 

Oct 1983 

 

   

Government nationalises 13 textile mills in Bombay

 

 

 

 

5 June 1984 

 

   

Operation Blue Star: Indian army storms Golden Temple in Amritsar, killing hundreds of people

 

 

 

 

31 Oct 1984 

 

   

Indira Gandhi assassinated in Delhi; Rajiv Gandhi sworn in as Prime Minister

 

 

 

 

2 Dec 1984 

 

   

India's biggest Industrial disaster: Bhopal gas tragedy

 

 

 

 

24-28 Dec 1984 

 

   

Eighth General Election: Congress wins

 

 

 

 

1985 

 

   

Narmada Bachao Andolan

 

 

 

 

July 1985 

 

   

Rajiv Gandhi signs Punjab Accord

 

 

 

 

Oct 1986 

 

   

V.P.Singh elected as President of Janata Dal, a new opposition party

 

 

 

 

May 1987 

 

   

The Bofors Deal

 

 

 

 

Nov 1987 

 

   

IPKF deployment and Operation Pawan

 

 

 

 

April 1988 

 

   

Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) comes into existence

 

 

 

 

July 1988 

 

   

Insat-IC launched

 

 

 

 

22 Aug 1988 

 

   

The Darjeeling Accord

 

 

 

 

22-26 Nov 1989 

 

   

Ninth General Election: Congress loses; V.P. Singh becomes Prime Minister

 

 

 

 

1990 

 

   

Mandal Commission Report

 

 

 

 

May 1991 

 

   

V P Singh clears Rs 13,000 crore Sardar Sarovar project

 

 

 

 

21 May 1991 

 

   

Rajiv Gandhi assassinated by LTTE

 

 

 

 

20 May-15 June'91 

 

   

Tenth General Election: Congress wins; Narasimha Rao becomes Prime Minister; Liberalisation initiated by Finance Minister Dr Manmohan Singh

 

 

 

 

Sep 1991 

 

   

Konkan Railway launched

 

 

 

 

Jan 1992 

 

   

Prices of steel and iron decontrolled

 

 

 

 

April 1992 

 

   

Stock market scandal causes losses to banks

 

 

 

 

July 1992 

 

   

Government allows private producers time slots on TV and Radio

 

 

 

 

6 Dec 1992 

 

   

Demolition of Babri Masjid

 

 

 

 

Jan 1993 

 

   

Hindu-Muslim Riots in Bombay

 

 

 

 

Feb 1993 

 

   

Rupee made convertible on trade account

 

 

 

 

March 1993 

 

   

Over 300 people killed in bomb blasts

 

 

 

 

April 1993 

 

   

Motor cars and consumer goods delicensed

 

 

 

 

30 Sep 1993 

 

   

The Latur earthquake

 

 

 

 

Jan 1994 

 

   

Air India and Indian Airlines converted into companies

 

 

 

 

May 1994 

 

   

Telecom services sector opened to private companies

 

 

 

 

21 Sep 1994 

 

   

Outbreak of Pneumonic Plague in Surat

 

 

 

 

March 1995 

 

   

Lok Sabha passes the Patents Bill

 

 

 

 

July 1995 

 

   

Rajan Pillai dies in Delhi jail

 

 

 

 

Jan 1996 

 

   

Revised carry forward system introduced

 

 

 

 

27 Jan 1996 

 

   

Prithvi test-fired

 

 

 

 

29 Feb 1996 

 

   

Jain Hawala case

 

 

 

 

27 April-21 May'96 

 

   

Eleventh General Election; BJP's Atal Behari Vajpayee becomes Prime Minister

 

 

 

 

June 1996 

 

   

BJP loses confidence vote; Deve Gowda takes over as Prime Minister of United Front coalition government

 

 

 

 

Jan 1997 

 

   

Veteran labour leader Datta Samant shot dead

 

 

 

 

30 March 1997 

 

   

Congress withdraws support to UF government

 

 

 

 

21 April 1997 

 

   

I.K.Gujral appointed Prime Minister

 

 

 

 

15 Aug 1997 

 

   

Nation celebrates 50 years of Independence

5 Sep 1997 

 

   

Mother Teresa dies

14 Oct 1997 

 

   

Arunadati Roy wins Booker Prize

7 Nov 1997 

 

   

Bimal Jalan is the new Reserve Bank of India governor; C Rangarajan becomes Andhra governor

27 Nov 1997 

 

   

Femina Miss India Diana Hayden wins Miss World 1997

28 Nov 1997 

 

   

Gujral government falls as Congress withdraws support

29 Dec 1997 

 

   

Sonia Gandhi stepped into active politics

14 Jan 1998 

 

   

MS Subbualakshmi awarded Bharat Ratna

15 Feb 1998 

 

   

Tennis duo Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati were ranked No. 2 when they won Dubai Open

9 Mar 1998 

 

   

Chess legend Vishwanathan Anand wins teh Super Grand Master Title

19 Mar 1998 

 

   

BJP-led alliance government is sworn in. Atal Behari Vajpayee became the Prime Minister of India

28 Mar 1998 

 

   

The BJP-led alliance survived its first test of trust, with the support of Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party. Jayalalitha continues to call the shots.

11 May 1998 

 

   

India conducted three underground Nuclear tests at teh Pokhran Range in Rajasthan

1 June 1998 

 

   

Finance Minister announced the Swadeshi budget

9 June 1998 

 

   

Gujarat was hit by cyclone killing 1000 people in six days

29 June 1998 

 

   

Three new states were announced -- Delhi, Uttaranchal and Vananchal

22 July 1998 

 

   

24-year old PT Usha won bronze medal in the 400m and 200m anchored the 4x100m relay team to gold and 4x400m for silver at the Asian Track and Field Championships in Fukuoka, Japan

6 Aug 1998 

 

   

SriKrishna Commission report was tabled by teh Maharashtra government. It was rejected by the ruling alliance whom it heavily indicted.