Hindu History 2

GURU NANAK: 1469-1538: Guru Nanak Dev taught humanity and Om. SURDAS: 1483-1563: Surdas, sightless Hindi bard of Agra. CHAITANYA: 1486-1543: Chaitanya, Bengali founder of popular Vaishnava sect. COLUMBUS: 1492: Looking for India, Christopher Columbus landed on San Salvador island in the Caribbean, thus "discovering" the Americas and proving that the earth is round, not flat. VASCO DE GAMA: 1498: Portugal's Vasco de Gama sailed around Cape of Good Hope to Calicut, Kerala, first European to find sea route to India. TRAGIDY: ca 1500: Buddhist and Saiva Hindu princes were forced off Java by invading Muslims. Within 100 years they construct what many call a fairytale kingdom. GOA CHRISTIAN: 1510: Portuguese Catholics conquer Goa to serve as capital of their Asian maritime empire, beginning conquest and exploitation of India by Europeans. BABAR: 1526: Mughal conqueror Babur (1483-1530) defeats the Sultan of Delhi and captures the Koh-i-noor diamond. Occupying Delhi, by 1529 he founds the Indian Mughal Empire (1526-1761), consolidated by his grandson Akbar. RAM TEMPLE DESTROYED: 1528: Emperor Babur destroys temple at Lord Rama's birthplace in Ayodhya, erects Muslim masjid, or monument. TULASIDAS: 1532-1623: Life of Monk-poet Tulasidasa. Writes Ramacharitamanasa (1574-77), greatest medieval Hindi literature (based on Ramayana). It advances Rama worship in the North. NATIVE CLERGY: 1542: Portuguese Jesuit priest Francis Xavier employ native clergy in Goa to spread Christianity in India. HINDU-MUSLIM: 1556: Akbar (1542-1605), grandson of Babur, becomes third Mughal Emperor at age 13. Disestablishes Islam as state religion and declared himself impartial ruler of Hindus and Muslims; encourages art, culture, religious tolerance. 1565: Muslim forces defeat and completely destroy the city of Vijayanagara. Empire's final collapse comes in 1646. COPERNICUS: 1565: Polish astronomer Copernicus' (1473-1543) Heliocentric system, in which the Earth orbits the sun, gained popularity in Europe among astronomers and mathematicians. RAJASTHAN: 1569: Akbar captures fortress of Ranthambor, ending Rajput independence. Soon controls nearly all of Rajasthan. SEIZED HINDU RASTRA: 1589: Akbar rules half of India, shows tolerance for all faiths. GURU ARJAN: 1603-4: Guru Arjun Dev compiles Adi Granth, Sikh scripture. HARIMANDIR: 1605: Sikh Golden Temple (Harimandir) at Amritsar, Punjab, is finished, completely covered with gold leaf. GALILEO: 1610: Galileo of Italy (1564-1642) perfects the telescope, with which he confirms the Copernican theory. Condemned a heretic by the Catholic Inquisition for his discoveries. DESTROY HINDU TEMPLES: 1619: Jaffna kingdom is annexed and Sri Lanka's ruling dynasty deposed by Portuguese Catholics who, between 1505 and 1658, destroy most of the island's Hindu temples.