Borders over time
South Asia’s borders, 2000 BCE to 2024
The Maurya and Gupta empires, the Delhi Sultanate, the Mughals, British rule and the partition of 1947.
every year drawn: 4,024 years
the borders change in 442 of them
Loading 4,024 years of borders…
2000BCE
Largest on the map
The big changes, year by year
151 changesEvery year in which a large state — over 100,000 km² inside this view — appears on the map or vanishes from it. Smaller shifts happen in many more years; press play above to see them all.
- 1700 BCE
- 615 BCE
New: Median Kingdom
- 550 BCE
New: Achaemenid Empire
Gone: Median Kingdom
- 404 BCE
New: Magadha - Shaishunaga dynasty
Gone: Magadha - Haryanka dynasty
- 333 BCE
New: Nanda Empire
Gone: Magadha - Shaishunaga dynasty
- 326 BCE
New: Ptolemaic Kingdom
Gone: Achaemenid Empire
- 323 BCE
New: Macedonian Empire
Gone: Ptolemaic Kingdom
- 318 BCE
New: Maurya Empire, Kalinga
Gone: Nanda Empire
- 307 BCE
New: Seleucid Empire
- 301 BCE
Gone: Macedonian Empire
- 256 BCE
Gone: Kalinga
- 247 BCE
- 225 BCE
New: Satavahana Dynasty
- 170 BCE
New: Mahameghavahana Dynasty, Shunga Empire
Gone: Satavahana Dynasty, Maurya Empire
- 164 BCE
New: Satavahana Dynasty
Gone: Mahameghavahana Dynasty, Seleucid Empire
- 126 BCE
New: Yuezhi, Indo-Greeks
Gone: Greco-Bactrian Kingdom
- 77 BCE
Gone: Indo-Greeks
- 66 BCE
New: Kanva Dynasty
Gone: Shunga Empire
- 27 BCE
Gone: Kanva Dynasty
- 1
New: Indo-Parthians
- 43
New: Kushan Empire, Western Satraps
Gone: Yuezhi
- 84
New: Pyu City-States
- 91
Gone: Indo-Parthians
- 224
Gone: Satavahana Dynasty
- 238
New: Eastern Kushans, Western Kushans, Sasanian Empire
Gone: Parthian Empire, Kushan Empire
- 260
New: Vakataka Kingdom, Indo-Sasanian Empire
Gone: Western Kushans
- 283
Gone: Indo-Scythians
- 306
New: Yaudheya Republic
- 324
New: Gupta Empire
- 347
Gone: Eastern Kushans
- 353
New: Kadamba Empire, Kalabhra Dynasty, Kamarupa Kingdom
- 358
New: Kidarites
Gone: Indo-Sasanian Empire
- 378
Gone: Yaudheya Republic
- 410
Gone: Western Satraps
- 451
New: White Huns
Gone: Kidarites
- 476
New: Maitraka Dynasty
- 555
New: Chalukya Dynasty, Maukhari Dynasty
Gone: Kadamba Empire, Gupta Empire, Vakataka Kingdom
- 561
New: Turk Shahis, Göktürk Khaganate
Gone: White Huns
- 587
New: Western Göktürks
Gone: Göktürk Khaganate
- 592
New: Karkota Dynasty
- 612
New: Harsha's Empire
Gone: Maukhari Dynasty
- 623
New: Tibetan Empire
- 644
New: Rashidun Caliphate
Gone: Sasanian Empire
- 656
Gone: Harsha's Empire
- 661
Gone: Western Göktürks
- 666
New: Umayyad Caliphate
Gone: Rashidun Caliphate
- 674
Gone: Tang Dynasty
- 732
New: Kannauj-Varman Dynasty, Gurjara-Pratihara Dynasty
Gone: Maitraka Dynasty
- 750
New: Pala Empire, Abbasid Caliphate, Turks
Gone: Umayyad Caliphate
- 755
New: Rashtrakuta Dynasty
- 757
Gone: Turks, Tang Dynasty, Chalukya Dynasty
- 772
Gone: Kannauj-Varman Dynasty
- 806
Gone: Late Pallava Empire
- 850
New: Tibetans
Gone: Tibetan Empire
- 860
New: Sind-Habbari Dynasty
Gone: Karkota Dynasty
- 875
Gone: Turk Shahis
- 898
Gone: Abbasid Caliphate
- 900
New: Samanid Empire
Gone: Saffarid Dynasty
- 947
New: Chaulukya Dynasty
- 960
New: Utpala Dynasty
- 962
New: Ghaznavid Empire
- 980
New: Western Chalukya Empire, Paramara Dynasty, Chauhan Dynasty
- 1000
Gone: Samanid Empire
- 1003
New: Lohara Dynasty
Gone: Utpala Dynasty
- 1040
New: Great Seljuk Empire
- 1046
New: Eastern Kara-Khanids
Gone: Kara-Khanids
- 1056
New: Eastern Ganga Kingdom
- 1072
New: Sena Dynasty
- 1085
New: Gahadavala Dynasty
- 1111
New: Hoysala Kingdom
- 1139
New: Kara-Khitans
Gone: Eastern Kara-Khanids, Kamarupa Kingdom
- 1152
New: Ghurid Dynasty
- 1177
New: Kakatiya Dynasty
- 1188
New: Yadava Dynasty
Gone: Western Chalukya Empire
- 1202
New: Khwarezmid Empire
Gone: Sind-Habbari Dynasty, Gahadavala Dynasty, Chauhan Dynasty
- 1210
New: Hamdanid Emirates, Mamluk Dynasty
Gone: Ghurid Dynasty
- 1216
Gone: Hamdanid Emirates
- 1220
New: Mongol Empire, Hamdanid Emirates
Gone: Kara-Khitans
- 1236
Gone: Sena Dynasty, Khwarezmid Empire, Paramara Dynasty, Kashmir
- 1250
Gone: Hamdanid Emirates, Chaulukya Dynasty
- 1260
Gone: Lohara Dynasty
- 1294
New: Yuan Dynasty, Khalji Dynasty, Shan States, Ilkhanate, Myinsaing Kingdom, Kashmir, Chagatai Khanate
Gone: Pagan Kingdom, Mamluk Dynasty, Mongol Empire
- 1314
New: Kingdom of Pinya
Gone: Myinsaing Kingdom
- 1326
New: Tughlaq Dynasty
Gone: Pandya Empire, Kakatiya Dynasty, Yadava Dynasty, Khalji Dynasty
- 1344
New: Kartids, Kashmiri Sultanate, Sind-Samma Dynasty, Vijayanagara Empire
Gone: Kashmir, Ilkhanate
- 1352
New: Bahmani Sultanate
Gone: Hoysala Kingdom, Eastern Ganga Kingdom
- 1363
New: Tibet
- 1375
New: Ava Kingdom, Timurid Empire
Gone: Yuan Dynasty
- 1385
Gone: Kartids
- 1395
New: Jaunpur Sultanate
- 1453
New: Lodi Dynasty
- 1463
New: East Turkestan
Gone: Chagatai Khanate
- 1468
New: Mongol Khanate
- 1475
New: Moghulistan, Kapisa
Gone: East Turkestan
- 1482
Gone: Jaunpur Sultanate
- 1492
New: Bijapur Sultanate
Gone: Bahmani Sultanate
- 1507
Gone: Kapisa
- 1512
Gone: Shaybanids
- 1519
New: Eastern Moghulistan
Gone: Moghulistan
- 1526
Gone: Sind-Samma Dynasty
- 1529
New: Mughal Empire
Gone: Lodi Dynasty, Ava Kingdom, Timurid Empire
- 1534
New: Hussain Shahi Dynasty
Gone: Sultanate of Bengal
- 1540
New: Sur Empire
Gone: Hussain Shahi Dynasty
- 1547
New: Tümed
Gone: Mongol Khanate
- 1564
Gone: Shan States
- 1572
Gone: Vijayanagara Empire
- 1588
New: Gorkha Kingdom
Gone: Kashmiri Sultanate
- 1687
Gone: Eastern Moghulistan, Golconda Sultanate
- 1700
Gone: Tümed
- 1718
New: Nawabs of Bengal
- 1727
New: Nawab of Awadh, Hyderabad State
- 1734
New: Afsharid Iran
- 1738
Gone: Hotaki Dynasty
- 1757
Gone: Afsharid Iran, First Toungoo Empire, Dzungar Khanate
- 1762
Gone: Nawabs of Bengal
- 1794
Gone: Tibet, Zand Dynasty
- 1799
Gone: Hyderabad State
- 1803
Gone: Nawab of Awadh, Carnatic Sultanate
- 1820
New: Talpur Dynasty, Burma
Gone: Konbaung Dynasty
- 1828
New: Emirate of Afghanistan
Gone: Durrani Empire
- 1840
New: Durrani Dynasty
Gone: Emirate of Afghanistan
- 1846
New: Emirate of Afghanistan, Kashmir and Jammu
Gone: Durrani Dynasty
- 1849
Gone: Sikh Empire
- 1859
New: British Raj
Gone: British Empire
- 1873
Gone: Khanate of Khiva
- 1885
Gone: Burma, Kashmir and Jammu
- 1895
New: Dutch East Indies
Gone: Qajar Dynasty
- 1898
New: Qajar Dynasty
Gone: Dutch East Indies
- 1912
New: Republic of China, Tibet
Gone: Qing Dynasty
- 1916
New: Empire of China
Gone: Republic of China
- 1917
New: Russian Republic, Kuomintang
Gone: Empire of China, Russian Empire
- 1918
New: Khanate of Khiva
Gone: Russian Republic
- 1920
New: Republics of the Soviet Union
Gone: Khanate of Khiva
- 1922
New: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Gone: Republics of the Soviet Union
- 1924
New: Pahlavi Dynasty
Gone: Qajar Dynasty
- 1926
New: Kingdom of Afghanistan
Gone: Emirate of Afghanistan
- 1930
New: Republic of China
Gone: Kuomintang
- 1938
New: Communist Party of China
- 1943
New: Empire of Japan
- 1946
Gone: Communist Party of China
- 1947
New: Republic of India, Kashmir and Jammu, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Hyderabad State
- 1948
New: Burma
Gone: British Raj, Kashmir and Jammu, Hyderabad State
- 1950
New: People's Republic of China
Gone: Republic of China
- 1953
Gone: Tibet
- 1973
New: Republic of Afghanistan, People's Republic of Bangladesh
Gone: Kingdom of Afghanistan
- 1979
New: Islamic Republic of Iran, Afghanistan
Gone: Pahlavi Dynasty, Republic of Afghanistan
- 1987
New: Mujahideen
Gone: Afghanistan
- 1990
New: Union of Myanmar
Gone: Burma
- 1992
New: Turkmenistan
Gone: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
- 1996
New: Taliban, Afghanistan
Gone: Mujahideen
- 2006
Gone: Taliban
More time-lapses
Borders from Cliopatria by the Seshat Global History Databank, licensed CC BY 4.0; simplified, clipped to this view and coloured by empire here. Each shape records the years it applies to, so every year has its own map; pre-modern borders are approximate. Areas are measured on the sphere. The full atlas uses a different source and may differ in places.