The Observer, London
1846 The British East India Co sells Kashmir to a maharajah for six million rupees and an annual tribute of six shawls spun from the wool of Kashmiri goats.
1925 Maharajah Hari Singh conquers the throne of the princely state of Kashmir. He is part of a dynasty, empowered by the British, ruling over a majority Muslim state.
1947 Partition - India gains control of Kashmir after the maharajah of Jammu and Kashmir acceded to India in return for armed assistance. Indian troops in Kashmir fight their first war against Pakistan. The war ends after a UN intervention on 1 January 1949 that sets up a ceasefire line between the two states.
1954 Kashmir's Constituent Assembly ratifies accession to India. The customs barrier between Kashmir and India is lifted. Simultaneously, Pakistan signs a military pact with the US, which dislikes India's non-aligned stance. India expands its relationship with the USSR.
1965 In August, India responds to Pakistan crossing the ceasefire line by invading the border at Lahore. After three weeks of fighting, both states agree to a UN-sponsored ceasefire.
1971 Civil war in Pakistan forces 10 million East Pakistani civilians to flee to India. India invades East Pakistan, which in December becomes the independent country of Bangladesh. Indo-Pakistan tensions are eased by the Shimla accord of 1972, which commits both sides to work bilaterally through outstanding conflicts, rather than via international forums. The ceasefire line in Kashmir becomes 'the line of control'.
1974 India launches its first nuclear device.
1979 After the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the US and Pakistan are involved in the training and employment of the Mujahideen on Afghanistan. One of the Mujahideen's aims is to secure Islamic rule in Kashmir.
1984 Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is gunned down by her own bodyguards in a revenge attack for her repressive policies in Punjab.
1989 Kashmir insurgency: armed resistance to Indian rule breaks out in Kashmir - some calling for independence and some for Pakistan union. India insists that Pakistan is supporting this insurgency by supplying weapon and military training to the separatists.
1997 Indian and Pakistani leaders meet several times to discuss the diffusion of tension in Kashmir.
1998 In May, India conducts underground nuclear tests near the Pakistani border which are met by international condemnation. Pakistan conducts similar tests three weeks later.
1999 The Indian army launches air strikes against Pakistani soldiers who have crossed the Indian-controlled part of Kashmir, north of Kargil, and these lead to direct conflict between the two states.
2001
1 October Militants attack the Kashmiri assembly in Srinagar, leaving 38 people dead. Farooq Abdullah, Chief Minister of Indian-controlled Kashmir, orders the Indian government to attack militant training camps across the Pakistani border.
18 October The US says its campaign against terrorism will include the pursuit of Kashmiri militants.
13 December Unidentified men attack the Indian Parliament in New Delhi, leaving 14 dead, including the attackers.
2002
11 January India's army chief says the nation is ready for war with Pakistan and would use its nuclear weapons if its neighbour were to launch a nuclear strike first.
25 February India's Parliament resumes after the December suicide attack with a new strategy to crack down on terrorism.
14 May Suspected Islamic militants attack an army camp in Indian Kashmir, killing more than 30 people and ruining a new effort to ease the tension between India and Pakistan.
22 May India's Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee visits the front lines. In a speech to soldiers on the border with Pakistan he says that the time is right for a decisive battle.
