| 150,000-100,000 BCE | Evidence for presence of Hominins with Acheulean technology in north Tamil Nadu. |
| 30,000 BCE | Paleolithic industries in north Tamil Nadu |
| 8000-3000 BCE | Pre-pottery microlithic industries |
| 3000-1000 BCE | Neolithic and fine microlithic industries |
| 1000-300 BCE | Megalithic age |
| 600 BCE | TAMILI (Tamil-Brahmi) prevalent as the Tamil script |
| 300 BCE | Greek ethnographer Megasthenes describes Pandyan capital Madurai., |
| 250 BCE | Asoka\’s inscription recording the four kingdoms (Chera, Cholas, Pandya and Satyaputra) of the ancient Tamil country |
| 200 BCE | Elara, a Tamil prince and contemporary of Dutte Gamini, rules Lanka |
| 200 BCE-200 CE | Sangam age during which books of Sangam Literature are created |
| 150 BCE | Kharavela of Kalinga records his conquest of a federation of Tamil kings in his Hathigumpha inscription |
| 13 | Greek historian Nicolaus of Damascus met an ambassador sent by Pandyan King to Caesar Augustus, Strabo XV.1-73. |
| 1-100 | The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea gives a detailed description of early Chera and Pandya kingdom and mentions Tamil country as \’Damirica\’ |
| 77 and 140 | Greco-Roman writers Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy mention Madurai ruled by Pandyan. |
| 130 | Chera king Udayanjeral rules in the Chera country |
| 175-195 | Gajabahu I of Lanka a contemporary of Chera Senguttuvan and Karikala Chola (the Gajabahu synchronism) |
| 190 | Chera Kadukko Ilanjeral Irumporai rules in the Chera country |
| 200 | Writing becomes widespread and vattezuttu evolved from the Tamil Brahmi becomes a mature script for writing Tamil |
| 210 | Pandya Neduncheliyan rules in Madurai and defeats his enemies at the battle of Talaiyalanganam |
| 300-590 | Kalabhras invade the Tamil country and displace the traditional rulers |
| 300-500 | Post-Sangam period, Tamil epics such as Silappatikaram written |
| 560-580 | Pallava Simhavishnu overthrows the Kalabhras in Tondaimandalam |
| 560-590 | Pandya Kadungon rules from Madurai and displaces the Kalabhras from the south |
| 590-630 | Pallava Mahendravarman I rules in Kanchipuram |
| 610 | Saiva saint Thirunavukkarasar (Appar) converts Mahendravarman from Jainism |
| 628 | Chalukya Pulakesi II invades the Pallava kingdom and lays siege on Kanchipuram |
| 630-668 | Pallava Narasimhavarman I (Mamalla) rules in Tondaimandalam |
| 642 | Pallava Narasimhavarman I launches a counter invasion into the Chalukya country and sacks Vatapi. Pulakesi is killed in battle |
| 670-700 | CE-Pandya Arikesari Parankusa Maravarman rules in Madurai |
| 700-728 | Pallava Rajasimha[disambiguation needed] builds the Kailasanatha temple in Kanchipuram and many of the shore temples in Mamallapuram |
| 710-730 | Pandya king Kochadaiyan Ranadhiran expands the Pandya kingdom into the Kongu country |
| 731 | Pandya Maravarman Rajasimha aligns with the Chalukya Vikramaditya II and attacks the Pallava king Nandivarmam |
| 731-765 | Pandya Maravarman Rajasimha aligns with the Chalukya Vikramaditya II and attacks the Pallava king Nandivarmam |
| 735 | Chaluka Vikramaditya II invades the Pallava country and occupies the capital Kanchipuram |
| 760 | Pallava Nandivarman II invades and defeats the Ganga kingdom at the battle of Villande |
| 768-815 | Pandya Parantaka Nedunchadaiyan (Varaguna Pandyan) rules in Madurai |
| 767 | Pandya forces defeat the Pallavas on the south banks of the Kaveri |
| 800-830 | Varagunan I becomes Pandya king and extends his empire up to Tiruchirapalli by defeating the Pallava king Dandivarman |
| 830-862 | Pandya Sirmara Srivallabha rules in Madurai |
| 840 | Srimara invades Lanka and captures the northern provinces of the Lanka king Sena I |
| 848 | Rise of Vijayalaya Chola in Tanjavur after defeating the MuttaraiyarMuthuraja rulers of kaveri delta |
| 846-869 | Pallava Nadivarman III leads an invasion against the Pandya kingdom and defeats the Pandyas at the battle of Tellaru. Pallava kingdom extends up to the river Vaigai |
| 859 | Pandya Srivallaba defeats the Pallavas at a battle at Kumbakonam |
| 862 | Sinhala forces under Sena II invade the Pandya country and sack Madurai. Srimara is killed in battle |
| 903 | Chola defeats the PallaAdithyava king Aparajita 0] |
| 949 | Battle of Takkolam. Rashtrakuta Krishna III defeats the Chola army 0] |
| 985 | Accession of Rajaraja Chola I 0] |
| 1010 | Rajaraja completes the Brihadisvara Temple |
| 1012 | Accession of Rajendra Chola I 0] |
| 1023 | Rajendra\’s Expedition to the Ganges |
| 1025 | Chola navies defeat the king of Srivijaya |
| 1041 | Rajendra invades Lanka |
| 1054 | Rajadhiraja Chola dies in the battle of Koppam against Western Chalukyas |
| 1070 | Accession of Kulothunga Chola I |
| 1118 | Vikrama Chola |
| 1133 | Kulothunga Chola II |
| 1146 | Rajaraja Chola II |
| 1163 | Rajadhiraja Chola II |
| 1178 | Kulothunga Chola III |
| 1216 | Rajaraja Chola III |
| 1246 | Rajendra Chola III |
| 1190-1260 | Bana Dynasty rule Magadaimandalam with family title of \’ponparappinan\’ and headquarters at Aragalur |
| 1216 – 1238 | Kadava Dynasty and Maravarman Sundara Pandyan ruled regions of South India |
| 1251 | Accession of Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I |
| 1279 | End of the Chola dynasty with the death of Rajendra Chola III |
| 1268-1310 | Kulasekara Pandiyan rules in Madurai |
| 1308 | Malik Kafur a general of Allaudin Khilji invades Devagiri en route to Tamil Nadu |
| 1310 | Sundara Pandian, son of Kulasekara Pandiyan, kills his father and becomes king. In the ensuing civil war he is defeated by his brother Vira Pandiyan. |
| 1311 | Malik Kafur, invades Pandiya country and attacks Madurai |
| 1327-1370 | Madurai under the rule of Madurai Sultanate |
| 1370 | Bukka, the Vijayanagara ruler and his son Kumara Kamapna capture the entire Tamil country |
| 1518 | Portuguese land on the Coromandel Coast in Pulicat |
| 1532 to 1580 | Sevappa Nayak rules as the first independent Nayak ruler in Tanjavur |
| 1600to 1645 | Ragunatha Nayak, the greatest of the Tanjavur Nayaks |
| 1609 | the Dutch establish a settlement in Pulicat |
| 1623 to 1659 | Tirumalai Nayak rules in Madurai |
| 1639 | British East India Company purchases Chennapatinam and establishes Fort St. George |
| 1652 | Tanjavur and Gingee fall to the Bijapur Sultan |
| 1656 | Mysore army invades Salem against the Madurai Nayak Tirumalai |
| 1676 | Maratha army from Bijapur marches into Tanjavur, Ekoji declares himself king |
| 1692 | Nawab of Arcot established by Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Khan, a viceroy of the Moghul Emperor |
| 1746 | La Bourdonnais of the French East India company attacks and takes Fort St. George |
| 1749 | British regain Fort St. George through the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle arising out of the War of the Austrian Succession |
| 1751 | Robert Clive attacks Arcot and captures it.0] |
| 1756 | The British and the French sign the first Carnatic treaty. Mahommed Ali Walajah was recognized as Nawab of the Carnatic |
| 1759 | French under Thomas Arthur, Comte de Lally, attack Madras |
| 1760 | Battle of Vandavasi between the British and the French. Birth of Veerapandya Kattabomman |
| 1767 | Hyder Ali, Sultan of Mysore attacks Madras against British, but defeated by the British at the Battle of Chengam |
| 1773 | British Government passes the Regulating Act. The administration of Madras comes under British Government review |
| 1777-1832 | Serfoji II rules in Tanjavur |
| 1799 | Serfoji cedes the Tanjavur kingdom to the British. Kattabomman executed by British |
| 1803 | Bentinck appointed governor of Madras |
| 1800-1805 | Polygar Wars or Palaiyakkarar Wars were wars fought between the Polygars of the former Tirunelveli Kingdom in Tamil Nadu, India and the British East India Company forces |
| 1806 | Vellore Mutiny East India Company\’s Indian soldiers in Vellore mutiny against governor Bentinck in Vellore fort. 114 British officers killed and 19 mutineers executed. |
| 1892 | British government passes the Indian Councils Act |
| 1909 | \’Minto-Morley Reforms\’. Madras Legislative Council formed |
| 1921 | First regional elections held in Madras. Justice party forms government |
| 1927 | Madras Congress passes a resolution for \’Full Independence\’ |
| 1928 | Simon Commission visits Madras. Mass protests result in several deaths |
| 1937 | Congress party under C. Rajagopalachari wins provincial elections and forms government in Madras |
| 1938 | Periyar E. V. Ramasamy organises a separatist agitation demanding Dravida Nadu consisting of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala |
| 1941 | Indian Muslim League holds its congress in Madras. Muhammad Ali Jinnah delivers keynote speech |
| 1944 | Periyar E. V. Ramasamy and C. N. Annadurai organise Dravidar Kazhagam |
| 1947 | Madras Presidency, comprising Tamil Nadu and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka established |
| 1953 | \’Madras state comes into being along linguistic lines |
| 1965 | Widespread agitations in response to the Federal Government\’s directive of Hindi being the National Language |
| 1969 | Madras state is renamed as Tamil Nadu (Country of the Tamils) |
| 1972 | Dravidian party and was founded by M. G. Ramachandran (popularly known as MGR) on 17 October 1972 |
| 1977 | Karunanidhi\’s government was dismissed by the central government of Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi citing corruption charges against Karunanidhi and President\’s rule was imposed on the state. |
| 1977 | M. G. Ramachandran (MGR), the ADMK founder and a leading Tamil film actor, was sworn in as Chief Minister for the first time. |
| 1978 | 1978 Srilankan Government Cancelled Ceylon Citizenship For 100,000 Tamils And Sent To Tamilnadu |
| 1983 | Black July; Sinhalese Armed Forces massacred over 3000 Tamils, and thousands more were deported to the North-East. |
| 1987 | M. G. Ramachandran (MGR) died on 24 December |
| 1991 | Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by suicide bombing in Sriperumbudur |
| 1992 | Jayalitha Became Cheifminister of Tamilnadu |
| 1997 | Karunaneethi Became Cheifminister of Tamilnadu |
| 2001 | Jayalitha Became Cheifminister of Tamilnadu |
| 2006 | Karunaneethi Became Cheifminister of Tamilnadu |
| 2009 | Eelam War IV – Tamil Tigers Admit Defeat in Sri Lankan Civil War |
| 2009 | 6 Tamils Self-immolate (suicide by fire) Triggered off by Muthukumar against injustice to Srilankan tamils |
| 2011 | Senkodi (20), self-immolated in front of a government office in Kacheepuram to oppose the death sentence |
| 2016 | Jayalalitha died on December 5 |
| 2017 | More than one Million People made democratic protest against Jallikattu ban at Marina Beach in Chennai. |