- 1528 Babar’s commander, Mir Baqi, builds the mosque
- 1856 Awadh’s Nawab Wajid Ali Shah removed from power and exiled to Calcutta
- 1857 The epoch-making Indian rebellion takes place. Awadh is one of its main centres.
- 1859 British administrator erects fence to separate the places of worship, with the inner court to be used by Muslims and outer court by Hindus
- 1885 The “Janam Asthan” suit of Mahant Raghubardas, seeking permission to build a temple over a chabutra, denied and dismissed
- 1934 Communal riot triggered by news of cow slaughter in Shahjahanpur damages mosque, but it is subsequently repaired
- 1944 Commissioner of waqfs declares the land to be Sunnis’ property as Babar was a Sunni
- 1949 Ram idol appears inside the mosque, Muslims complain and file suit. Hindus file counter-suit, leading the government to declare it disputed and lock its gate.
- 1950-59 Hindu priests file a number of suits in the next nine years demanding the right to perform puja and place idols inside the structure, and the Nirmohi Akhara files a suit demanding actual control of the site in 1959
- 1964 VHP formed to safeguard “Hindu interests”
- 1984 Parliament elections in the wake of Indira Gandhi’s assassination give massive victory to Congress, reducing BJP to two Lok Sabha seats
- 1984 Hindu outfits form a committee to “liberate” the birth-place of Lord Ram and build a temple in his honour
- 1986 The gates of the disputed mosque opened to allow Hindus to worship there following a court order. Babri Masjid Action Committee set up by protestors.
- 1989 VHP steps up campaign, laying the foundations of a Ram temple on land adjacent to disputed mosque
- 1989 V.P. Singh government sworn in with the outside support of BJP and CPI(M). Soon after, V.P. expresses desire to implement the Mandal Commission report on OBC quotas.
- 1990 L.K. Advani’s “rath yatra” begins in Somnath on September 25
- 1990 Oct 23, Laloo Prasad Yadav arrests Advani and stops his “rath yatra” in Samastipur
- 1990 Police fire at VHP kar sevaks who defy orders and march into the disputed area
- Nov 10, V.P. Singh loses confidence vote, and resigns. Soon after, Chandra Shekhar is sworn in as prime minister with Congress support
- 1990-91 BJP wins four states: MP, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, UP
- 1992 Kar sevaks demolish the mosque, CM Kalyan Singh resigns as Advani, Uma Bharati and M.M. Joshi chargesheeted
- 1992 Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao dismisses four BJP governments in the wake of Babri Masjid demolition by BJP supporters
- 1992 Liberhan Commission formed to look into the demolition
- 1992-93 Communal riots take place in Bombay followed by serial bomb blasts, killing hundreds of people
- 2002 PM A.B. Vajpayee sets up a cell in his office and appoints Shatrughan Singh to find a solution by talking to Hindus and Muslims
- 2002 Communal riots erupt in Gujarat following the Godhra train attack
- 2003 ASI begins a court-ordered survey to find out if a Ram temple existed at the site. It finds evidence of a temple but Muslims dispute the finding.
- 2004 A UP court reverses an earlier order exonerating Advani from his alleged role in the demolition
- 2005 Five suspected militants killed when they try to blow a hole on the wall of the complex in an explosive–laden jeep
- 2009 17 years after being constituted, the Liberhan Commission submits its report
- 2010 Allahabad High Court rules, splitting the site and giving one-third each to the Muslims, Hindus and the Nirmohi Akhara. The site of the mosque is given to the Hindus.
- 2011 Supreme Court suspends High Court ruling after Hindu and Muslim groups appeal
- 2014 BJP’s Narendra Modi leads the NDA coalition to power at the Centre, winning 336 seats
- 2017 The Supreme Court says charges against Advani and other leaders cannot be dropped and must be revived
- 2017 April 19, the Supreme Court pronounces its verdict, charging the BJP leaders with criminal conspiracy, and asks the trial court in Lucknow to complete the hearing within two years
- 2017 RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat announces that only Ram temple will be built at the disputed site, ahead of the Supreme Court hearing
Compiled by R. Prasad
