Asoka, extending his rule over much of India, proclaims his Buddhist faith on pillars and in rock inscriptions

The digits known now as Arabic numerals make their first tentative appearance in India

Buddhism reaches Sri Lanka as a result of the missionary efforts of the Indian ruler, Asoka

Indian cavalrymen ride with their big toes in loops of leather or fabric - a first step towards the stirrup

Hindu temple sculptors develop a sinuous and full-bodied style for the naked female form

The Great Stupa at Sanchi is the earliest surviving Buddhist stupa

A doctrinal split emerges within Jainism over whether a devotee must go naked (sky clad) or may be allowed a simple robe (white clad)

A naturalistic style of Buddhist sculpture develops in the Gandhara region, part of modern Pakistan

Kanishka rules the Kushan empire of Afghanistan and northern India from his capital at Peshawar

The territory of the Gupta dynasty is extended by Chandra Gupta, to include most of the great plain of the Ganges

Kalidasa, the most distinguished of India's authors in classical Sanskrit, is at the Gupta court in Patna

Chess is first played at about this time, in India, before spreading west to Persia

The walls of caves at Ajanta are profusely decorated with Buddhist murals

Muslims, arriving from Persia through Baluchistan, occupy the region of Sind in western India

A Tamil kingdom, established by the Cholas, controls the whole of south India and will last for two centuries

Zoroastrians migrate from Muslim Persia to India, where they become known as Parsees

Turks from Ghazni, raiding into northwest India, renew the pressure of Islam on the subcontinent

Warlike tribal groups, calling themselves Rajput and claiming descent from the Aryan warrior caste, are now in Rajasthan

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

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

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

The leader of a Turkish army establishes an independent sultanate in Delhi, beginning many centuries of Muslim rule in north India

A Hindu empire in southern India is established with its capital at Vijayanagara, meaning 'city of victory'

Udiana Deva, the last Hindu ruler of Kashmir, is murdered by his Muslim prime minister

Timur devastates Delhi and loots treasure to take back to Samarkand on 120 elephants