Bhopal

History at a glance

1. More than 100,000 years ago
   At least some Bhimbetka shelters are inhabited. The site shows the earliest traces of human life in India, with Stone Age evidence from Acheulean times.
2. c. 10,000 BCE — or 10,000 BP
   The earliest Bhimbetka paintings are made. The oldest show large linear figures of rhinoceroses and bears.
3. Mesolithic to Chalcolithic
   Later painted layers show hunting scenes, dancing figures and early agricultural life.
4. 11th century
   Raja Bhoj commissions the Bhojeshwar Temple at Bhojpur, with a 7.5-foot Shivalinga. It is never completed.
5. 1819-1926 approx.
   Four women rule the princely state of Bhopal in direct succession for nearly 107 years. Gohar Mahal is built by the first of them.
6. 19th century
   Shah Jehan Begum begins Taj-ul-Masajid during the reign of Bahadur Shah Zafar. Funds run out and it stands unfinished at her death.
7. 1971
   Construction of Taj-ul-Masajid resumes.
8. 1985
   Taj-ul-Masajid is completed, about a hundred years after it was begun.
9. 2003
   The Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka are inscribed by UNESCO, 27th Session, reference 925, criteria (iii) and (v).

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