 
Before the Common Era (B.C.E.)
| 1500-1200 | 
India
B.C.E.
-Vedas 
Southeast Asia
-Thailand: Ban Chiang Culture 
| 800-600 | 
India
-Upanishads
| 500 | 
India
-Mahaparinirvana of the Buddha; year 1 of the Buddhist era and beginning of 
the historical period
| 400 | 
Southeast Asia
-Bronze Age culture -Vietnam: Dongson culture (Late Bronze Age) 
| 300 | 
India
-Alexander the Great reaches India 
| 200 | 
India
-Reign of King Ashoka -Buddhist missionaries travel to nearby countries
Southeast Asia
-Beginnign of Iron Age 
-First use of lacquer in Vietnam
-Vietnam: Early historical period
-First exchanges with India
| 100 | 
Sri Lanka
-Building of anuradhapura -Writing of the Pali Canon 
Southeast Asia
-Vietnam: Beginning of one thousand years of Chinese occupation 
Common Era (C.E.)
| 0-100 | 
Southeast Asia
-Beginning of Indianization; Buddhist monks in Vietnam 
| 100-200 | 
India
-Appearance of Greco Buddhist art of Gandhara; art style of Mathura; art style 
of Amaravati 
Southeast Asia
-Vietnam: Han style brick tombs; earliest artifacts from Oc-eo 
| 200-300 | 
Southeast Asia
-Kingdom of Lin-yi which later becomes northern part of Champa kingdom -Pyu 
kingdom of the Irrawaddy
| 300-400 | 
India
-Beginnings of the Gupta era and Gupta art style -Gandhara art flourishes 
Southeast Asia
-Sanskrit inscriptions from Champa 
| 400-500 | 
India
-Mahayana Buddhist caves of Ajanta, Ellora -End of the Gupta dynasty 
Southeast Asia
-Thailand: Influence of South Indian art 
| 500-600 | 
India
-Cave art of Ajanta, Ellora 
Southeast Asia
-End of fu-nan kingdom 
-Cambodia: Beginnings of Chen-la kingdom
-Thailand: Gupta influences in Thai sanctuaries; Khmer inscriptions in eastern 
provinces 
| 600-700 | 
India
-Reign of Mahendravarman I, Pallava dynasty of southeast India.
-Pallava art style. 
Southeast Asia
-Champa: Mi-Son site established 
-Java: Beginning of the Shrivijaya kingdom 
-Thailand: Rise of the Dvaravati school of art; Pre-Angkorian art in the eastern 
provinces of modern Thailand; Buddhist incriptions; founding of Haripunjaya 
kingdom 
| 700-800 | 
India
-Pala dynasty in Bengal and Bihar 
-Rise of Mahayana and Tantric Buddhism 
Southeast Asia
-Indonesian raids in the Indochina peninsula 
-Java: Sailendra dynasty established
-Thailand: Shrivijaya kingdom rules in the peninsula 
| 800-900 | 
India
-Chola art 
Southeast Asia
-Cambodia: Reign of Jayavarman II; reign of Indravarman temples founded at Roluos, 
Prah Ko, Bakong; founding of Angkor
-Burma: founding of Pegu 
-Champa: Buddhist temple of Dong-duong established
-Thailand: Mahayana school of Buddhism dominates Shrivijaya Pallava influences 
in Peninsula art 
| 900-1000 | 
India
-Khajuraho 
Southeast Asia
-Cambodia: Reign of Jayavarman IV; new capital at Koh Ker 
-Vietnam: Independence from China
-Champa: Invaded by Vietnam 1000-1100 India
-Sacking of Buddhist temples of mathura 
| 1200-1300 | 
India
-Muslim art in Delhi
Southeast Asia 
-Champa: Annexed by Cambodia 
-Vietnam: Tran dynasty 
-Burma: Pagan defeated by Mongols 
-Thailand: Founding of Sukhothai kingdom; independence of Lopburi; decline of 
Shrivijaya in penisula; founding of chiang Mai as capital of Lan Na kingdom; 
sculptures in U Thong art style; Lan Na art style 
| 1300-1400 | 
India
-Founding of Vijayanagar
Southeast Asia 
-Vietnam: Conquers Champa Peninsula: Spread of Islam
-Laos: Founding of kingdom of Lan Chang 
-Burma: Founding of Ava
-Thailand: Ayutthaya kingdom; Sukhothai school of art flourishes; Sawankalok 
ceramics; Lan Na kingdom 
-Champa: Campaigns against Vietnam
| 1400-1500 | 
India
-Development of Muslim architecture 
Southeast Asia
-Cambodia: Angkor defeated by Ayutthhaya; capital moves to Phnom Phen -Thailand: 
Sukhothai subjected by Ayutthaya
| 1500-1600 | 
India
-Beginning of Mughal empire and architecture; fall of Vijayanagar empire 
Southeast Asia
-Burma: Pegu annexed by Taungu dynasty 
-Laos: Capital moved from Luang Prabang to Vientiane
| 1600-1700 | 
India
-Reign of Shah Jahan -Bombay ceded to England 
Southeast Asia
-Vietnam: Divided into two kingdoms under Trinh (north) and Nguyen (south) 
-Thailand: Burmese conquer Chiang Mai; Ayutthaya establishes relations with 
Europe and Japan 
-Burma: Ava is capital -Vietnam: Hue is capital
| 1700-1800 | 
India
-End of Mughal power 
Southeast Asia
-Laos: Divided into 3 kingdoms
-Cambodia: Loses southern provinces to Nguyen dynasty of Vietnam
-Burma: Founding of Rangoon -Laos: Vientiane taken by Chao Phraya Chakri of 
Thailand
-Vietnam: Treaty between France and Nguyen dynasty of the south
-Thailand: Ayuttaha sacked by Burma: Chakri dynasty established in Bangkok; 
Wat Phra kaeo containing the Emerald Buddha was built 
| 1800-1900 | 
Southeast Asia
-Burma: First Anglo-Burmese war; Ava destroyed by earthquake; founding of Mandalay
-Thailand: commercial treaty with East India Company and U.S.; reign of King 
Rama V, King Chulalongkorn 
from Dictionary of South & Southeast Asian Art Gwyneth Chaturachinda Silkworm books Bangkok, 1995