Chronology
1872, Aug. 15 - Sri Aurobindo is born in Calcutta; he spends his first years at Rangpur (now in Bangladesh), and at the age of 5 is sent to Loreto Convent School, Darjeeling.
1878, Feb. 21 - Mother is born in Paris.
1879, June - Sri Aurobindo leaves India for England with his parents and his two elder brothers. He spends 5 years in Manchester, enters St. Paul’s School, London, in 1884, and King’s College, Cambridge, in 1890.
1885, Dec. - First session of the Indian National Congress at Bombay.
1886, Aug. 16 - Sri Ramakrishna passes away.
1892, August - Sri Aurobindo passes the I.C.S.; he does not appear at a riding test and is disqualified.
1893, Feb. 6 - Lands at Bombay and soon joins the State service of the Maharaja Gaekwar of Baroda. From August, 1893 to March, 1894, contributes to the Indu Prakash a series of articles, “New Lamps for Old.”
1893, May 31 - Swami Vivekananda sails for America.
1894, April 8 - Bankim Chandra Chatterji passes away. In July-August, Sri Aurobindo writes a series of articles on him in the Indu Prakash.
1897 - Sri Aurobindo teaches French, then English at the Baroda College; he will become its Vice-Principal in 1905.
1897, Jan. 15 - Swami Vivekananda lands at Colombo, and on his way north delivers many lectures throughout India.
c. 1900 - Sri Aurobindo takes first contacts with secret societies in Maharashtra and Bengal.
1901, April 30 - Sri Aurobindo marries Mrinalini Bose.
1902, July 4 - Swami Vivekananda passes away.
1905 - Sri Aurobindo writes Bhawani Mandir, a revolutionary pamphlet.
- Partition of Bengal, beginning of the
Swadeshi movement.
1906, August - Bepin Chandra Pal launches the Bande Mataram (English daily); Sri Aurobindo joins it and soon becomes its editor.
- On August 15, the Bengal National College
opens with Sri Aurobindo as its principal.
1906, Dec. - At its Calcutta session presided over by Dadabhai Naoroji, the Congress declares Swaraj to be its goal.
1907, Aug. 16 - Sri Aurobindo is arrested for the publication of seditious writings in the Bande Mataram; released on bail. He resigns his post of principal of the Bengal National College, giving on August 23 a speech to the students and teachers. Acquitted a month later.
1907, Dec. - At the Surat session of the Congress, the Nationalist party with Sri Aurobindo presiding over its conference breaks away from the Moderates.
- First session of the Muslim League at
Karachi.
1908, January - In Baroda, Sri Aurobindo meets Vishnu Bhaskar Lele, a Maharashtrian yogi, and experiences the Brahman consciousness. Gives many speeches on his way back to Calcutta.
1907-1908 - Many Nationalist leaders, such as Lala Lajpat Rai, Tilak, Ashwini Kumar Dutt, etc., are deported under various repressive laws. The Nationalist movement goes underground.
1908, May 2 - Sri Aurobindo is arrested in the Alipore Bomb Case; spends a year in jail and is acquitted on May 6, 1909.
1909 - The Morley-Minto reforms provide separate electorates for Indian Muslims.
1909, May 30 - Sri Aurobindo’s famous Uttarpara speech.
1909, June 19 - First issue of the Karmayogin (English weekly).
1909, Aug. 23 - First issue of the Dharma (Bengali weekly).
1910, February - Sri Aurobindo abruptly leaves Calcutta for Chandernagore; on March 31, he will leave for Pondicherry.
1910, April 4 - Sri Aurobindo reaches Pondicherry.
- Charged with sedition for an article in
the Karmayogin (the charge will be rejected in November).
1914, March 29 - First meeting with Mother.
1914, June - Tilak is released from a six-year-long deportation to Burma.
1914, Aug. 15 - First issue of the Arya (English monthly), which will appear until January, 1921.
1916, Dec. - “Lucknow Pact” between the Congress and the Muslim League.
1919-1920 - Beginning of the Khilafat and non-cooperation movements under the growing leadership of Mahatma Gandhi.
1920 - Sri Aurobindo turns down several offers to return to British India and to active politics.
1920, April 24 - Mother returns to Pondicherry from Japan.
1920, Aug. 1 - Lokmanya Tilak passes away.
1920, October - Dr. B. S. Munje pays a visit to Sri Aurobindo.
1920, Dec. - Nagpur session of the Congress; the goal of Swaraj is eclipsed by the Khilafat agitation.
1923, June 5 - Chittaranjan Das meets Sri Aurobindo.
1923, Sept. - Creation of the Swarajya Party.
1925, Jan. 5 - Lala Lajpat Rai and Purushottamdas Tandon meet Sri Aurobindo.
1925, June 16 - Deshbandu Chittaranjan Das passes away.
1926, Nov. 24 - Sri Aurobindo withdraws completely to concentrate on his work.
1928, Feb. 16 - Rabindranath Tagore meets Sri Aurobindo.
1928, Nov. 17 - Lala Lajpat Rai passes away a few weeks after having been assaulted by the police during a demonstration at Lahore.
1929, Dec. - The Lahore session of the Congress, presided over by Jawaharlal Nehru, adopts the goal of complete independence.
1930-1932 - Three Round Table Conferences with, in August 1932, the Communal Award which hardens divisions between Hindus and Muslims. Savage repression of the Civil Disobedience Movement by the British rulers.
1937 - Formation of Congress ministries in the Provinces.
1938, Nov. 24 - Sri Aurobindo breaks his leg while walking in concentration.
1939, Sept. - World War II breaks out; the Provincial ministries resign in October-November.
1940, March - The Muslim League, in session at Lahore, formally demands the creation of Pakistan.
1940, Sept. 19 - Sri Aurobindo’s declaration in support of the Allies.
1941, March - Subhas Bose, having escaped from detention in Calcutta, arrives in Germany.
1941, Aug. 7 - Rabindranath Tagore passes away.
1942, March 31 - Sri Aurobindo publicly supports Cripps’ proposals; the Congress turns them down.
1942, April - The Japanese overrun Burma and bomb cities on India’s east coast.
1942, Aug. 9 - Start of the “Quit India” movement; Mahatma Gandhi and other leaders are arrested soon afterwards.
1944, July - Subhas Bose’s Indian National Army and the Japanese are repulsed in Manipur.
1946, Aug. 16 - The Muslim League launches its “Direct Action” plan; bloody riots follow in Bengal and Bihar.
1946, Sept. 2 - Formation of the Interim Government, which the Muslim League joins a month later.
1947, March 24 - Lord Mountbatten is the new Viceroy.
1947, June - On the 3^(rd), Mountbatten announces the British government’s final decision to grant India independence on the basis of partition; on the 14^(th), the Congress accepts the partition of India and the creation of Pakistan.
1947, Aug. 15 - India’s Independence; Sri Aurobindo’s 75^(th) birthday.
1947, October - Pakistan attacks Kashmir; the Indian army repels Pakistani troops, but Nehru calls a halt to the fighting and takes the dispute to the United Nations.
1948, Jan. 30 - Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated.
1950, October - China invades Tibet; India remains a silent spectator.
1950, Dec. 5 - Sri Aurobindo leaves his body. Mother continues his work.