diff --git a/doc/source/whatsnew/v0.20.0.txt b/doc/source/whatsnew/v0.20.0.txt
index de33b7d4e3371..9df82b8ac7338 100644
--- a/doc/source/whatsnew/v0.20.0.txt
+++ b/doc/source/whatsnew/v0.20.0.txt
@@ -1344,6 +1344,7 @@ If indicated, a deprecation warning will be issued if you reference theses modul
     "pandas.index", "pandas._libs.index", ""
     "pandas.algos", "pandas._libs.algos", ""
     "pandas.hashtable", "pandas._libs.hashtable", ""
+    "pandas.indexes", "pandas.core.indexes", ""
     "pandas.json", "pandas.io.json.libjson", "X"
     "pandas.parser", "pandas.io.libparsers", "X"
     "pandas.formats", "pandas.io.formats", ""
diff --git a/pandas/compat/pickle_compat.py b/pandas/compat/pickle_compat.py
index e977fdc3a267d..f7d451ce7c92f 100644
--- a/pandas/compat/pickle_compat.py
+++ b/pandas/compat/pickle_compat.py
@@ -59,9 +59,9 @@ def load_reduce(self):
 
     # 15477
     ('pandas.core.base', 'FrozenNDArray'):
-        ('pandas.indexes.frozen', 'FrozenNDArray'),
+        ('pandas.core.indexes.frozen', 'FrozenNDArray'),
     ('pandas.core.base', 'FrozenList'):
-        ('pandas.indexes.frozen', 'FrozenList'),
+        ('pandas.core.indexes.frozen', 'FrozenList'),
 
     # 10890
     ('pandas.core.series', 'TimeSeries'):
@@ -84,7 +84,17 @@ def load_reduce(self):
     ('pandas.sparse.series', 'SparseSeries'):
         ('pandas.core.sparse.series', 'SparseSeries'),
     ('pandas.sparse.frame', 'SparseDataFrame'):
-        ('pandas.core.sparse.frame', 'SparseDataFrame')
+        ('pandas.core.sparse.frame', 'SparseDataFrame'),
+    ('pandas.indexes.base', '_new_Index'):
+        ('pandas.core.indexes.base', '_new_Index'),
+    ('pandas.indexes.base', 'Index'):
+        ('pandas.core.indexes.base', 'Index'),
+    ('pandas.indexes.numeric', 'Int64Index'):
+        ('pandas.core.indexes.numeric', 'Int64Index'),
+    ('pandas.indexes.range', 'RangeIndex'):
+        ('pandas.core.indexes.range', 'RangeIndex'),
+    ('pandas.indexes.multi', 'MultiIndex'):
+        ('pandas.core.indexes.multi', 'MultiIndex')
 }
 
 
diff --git a/pandas/core/api.py b/pandas/core/api.py
index 3c739d85d0074..865fe367873d8 100644
--- a/pandas/core/api.py
+++ b/pandas/core/api.py
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 from pandas.core.index import (Index, CategoricalIndex, Int64Index,
                                UInt64Index, RangeIndex, Float64Index,
                                MultiIndex, IntervalIndex)
-from pandas.indexes.interval import Interval, interval_range
+from pandas.core.indexes.interval import Interval, interval_range
 
 from pandas.core.series import Series
 from pandas.core.frame import DataFrame
diff --git a/pandas/core/categorical.py b/pandas/core/categorical.py
index 50181486d8cf7..a12cec33fb350 100644
--- a/pandas/core/categorical.py
+++ b/pandas/core/categorical.py
@@ -2128,7 +2128,7 @@ def _factorize_from_iterable(values):
         If `values` has a categorical dtype, then `categories` is
         a CategoricalIndex keeping the categories and order of `values`.
     """
-    from pandas.indexes.category import CategoricalIndex
+    from pandas.core.indexes.category import CategoricalIndex
 
     if not is_list_like(values):
         raise TypeError("Input must be list-like")
diff --git a/pandas/core/index.py b/pandas/core/index.py
index 05f98d59a1f56..2d1c22f5623a1 100644
--- a/pandas/core/index.py
+++ b/pandas/core/index.py
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 # flake8: noqa
-from pandas.indexes.api import *
-from pandas.indexes.multi import _sparsify
+from pandas.core.indexes.api import *
+from pandas.core.indexes.multi import _sparsify
diff --git a/pandas/indexes/__init__.py b/pandas/core/indexes/__init__.py
similarity index 100%
rename from pandas/indexes/__init__.py
rename to pandas/core/indexes/__init__.py
diff --git a/pandas/indexes/api.py b/pandas/core/indexes/api.py
similarity index 90%
rename from pandas/indexes/api.py
rename to pandas/core/indexes/api.py
index db076b60ab34e..d40f6da4c4ee5 100644
--- a/pandas/indexes/api.py
+++ b/pandas/core/indexes/api.py
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
-from pandas.indexes.base import (Index, _new_Index,  # noqa
+from pandas.core.indexes.base import (Index, _new_Index,  # noqa
                                  _ensure_index, _get_na_value,
                                  InvalidIndexError)
-from pandas.indexes.category import CategoricalIndex  # noqa
-from pandas.indexes.multi import MultiIndex  # noqa
-from pandas.indexes.interval import IntervalIndex  # noqa
-from pandas.indexes.numeric import (NumericIndex, Float64Index,  # noqa
+from pandas.core.indexes.category import CategoricalIndex  # noqa
+from pandas.core.indexes.multi import MultiIndex  # noqa
+from pandas.core.indexes.interval import IntervalIndex  # noqa
+from pandas.core.indexes.numeric import (NumericIndex, Float64Index,  # noqa
                                     Int64Index, UInt64Index)
-from pandas.indexes.range import RangeIndex  # noqa
+from pandas.core.indexes.range import RangeIndex  # noqa
 
 import pandas.core.common as com
 import pandas._libs.lib as lib
diff --git a/pandas/indexes/base.py b/pandas/core/indexes/base.py
similarity index 99%
rename from pandas/indexes/base.py
rename to pandas/core/indexes/base.py
index d88e54dcc9521..5149d45514e2e 100644
--- a/pandas/indexes/base.py
+++ b/pandas/core/indexes/base.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
 import pandas.core.base as base
 from pandas.util.decorators import (Appender, Substitution, cache_readonly,
                                     deprecate, deprecate_kwarg)
-from pandas.indexes.frozen import FrozenList
+from pandas.core.indexes.frozen import FrozenList
 import pandas.core.common as com
 import pandas.core.dtypes.concat as _concat
 import pandas.core.missing as missing
@@ -1675,7 +1675,7 @@ def append(self, other):
 
         if self.is_categorical():
             # if calling index is category, don't check dtype of others
-            from pandas.indexes.category import CategoricalIndex
+            from pandas.core.indexes.category import CategoricalIndex
             return CategoricalIndex._append_same_dtype(self, to_concat, name)
 
         typs = _concat.get_dtype_kinds(to_concat)
diff --git a/pandas/indexes/category.py b/pandas/core/indexes/category.py
similarity index 99%
rename from pandas/indexes/category.py
rename to pandas/core/indexes/category.py
index 5f9d106189767..257ca86947f2b 100644
--- a/pandas/indexes/category.py
+++ b/pandas/core/indexes/category.py
@@ -16,10 +16,10 @@
 
 from pandas.util.decorators import Appender, cache_readonly
 from pandas.core.config import get_option
-from pandas.indexes.base import Index, _index_shared_docs
+from pandas.core.indexes.base import Index, _index_shared_docs
 import pandas.core.base as base
 import pandas.core.missing as missing
-import pandas.indexes.base as ibase
+import pandas.core.indexes.base as ibase
 
 _index_doc_kwargs = dict(ibase._index_doc_kwargs)
 _index_doc_kwargs.update(dict(target_klass='CategoricalIndex'))
diff --git a/pandas/indexes/frozen.py b/pandas/core/indexes/frozen.py
similarity index 100%
rename from pandas/indexes/frozen.py
rename to pandas/core/indexes/frozen.py
diff --git a/pandas/indexes/interval.py b/pandas/core/indexes/interval.py
similarity index 99%
rename from pandas/indexes/interval.py
rename to pandas/core/indexes/interval.py
index 6f68e67d702fe..f14e7bf6bd183 100644
--- a/pandas/indexes/interval.py
+++ b/pandas/core/indexes/interval.py
@@ -16,20 +16,22 @@
     is_interval_dtype,
     is_scalar,
     is_integer)
-from pandas.indexes.base import (Index, _ensure_index,
-                                 default_pprint, _index_shared_docs)
+from pandas.core.indexes.base import (
+    Index, _ensure_index,
+    default_pprint, _index_shared_docs)
 
 from pandas._libs import Timestamp, Timedelta
-from pandas._libs.interval import (Interval, IntervalMixin, IntervalTree,
-                                   intervals_to_interval_bounds)
+from pandas._libs.interval import (
+    Interval, IntervalMixin, IntervalTree,
+    intervals_to_interval_bounds)
 
-from pandas.indexes.multi import MultiIndex
+from pandas.core.indexes.multi import MultiIndex
 from pandas.compat.numpy import function as nv
 from pandas.core import common as com
 from pandas.util.decorators import cache_readonly, Appender
 from pandas.core.config import get_option
 
-import pandas.indexes.base as ibase
+import pandas.core.indexes.base as ibase
 _index_doc_kwargs = dict(ibase._index_doc_kwargs)
 _index_doc_kwargs.update(
     dict(klass='IntervalIndex',
diff --git a/pandas/indexes/multi.py b/pandas/core/indexes/multi.py
similarity index 99%
rename from pandas/indexes/multi.py
rename to pandas/core/indexes/multi.py
index b341bfe7b5215..40e7118ca0f6a 100644
--- a/pandas/indexes/multi.py
+++ b/pandas/core/indexes/multi.py
@@ -35,11 +35,13 @@
 
 from pandas.core.config import get_option
 
-from pandas.indexes.base import (Index, _ensure_index,
-                                 _get_na_value, InvalidIndexError,
-                                 _index_shared_docs)
-from pandas.indexes.frozen import FrozenNDArray, FrozenList, _ensure_frozen
-import pandas.indexes.base as ibase
+from pandas.core.indexes.base import (
+    Index, _ensure_index,
+    _get_na_value, InvalidIndexError,
+    _index_shared_docs)
+from pandas.core.indexes.frozen import (
+    FrozenNDArray, FrozenList, _ensure_frozen)
+import pandas.core.indexes.base as ibase
 _index_doc_kwargs = dict(ibase._index_doc_kwargs)
 _index_doc_kwargs.update(
     dict(klass='MultiIndex',
diff --git a/pandas/indexes/numeric.py b/pandas/core/indexes/numeric.py
similarity index 99%
rename from pandas/indexes/numeric.py
rename to pandas/core/indexes/numeric.py
index 6b9999239cd88..21ba2a386d96a 100644
--- a/pandas/indexes/numeric.py
+++ b/pandas/core/indexes/numeric.py
@@ -9,9 +9,10 @@
 
 from pandas import compat
 from pandas.core import algorithms
-from pandas.indexes.base import Index, InvalidIndexError, _index_shared_docs
+from pandas.core.indexes.base import (
+    Index, InvalidIndexError, _index_shared_docs)
 from pandas.util.decorators import Appender, cache_readonly
-import pandas.indexes.base as ibase
+import pandas.core.indexes.base as ibase
 
 
 _num_index_shared_docs = dict()
diff --git a/pandas/indexes/range.py b/pandas/core/indexes/range.py
similarity index 99%
rename from pandas/indexes/range.py
rename to pandas/core/indexes/range.py
index 1eedfcc619aec..acd040693af2e 100644
--- a/pandas/indexes/range.py
+++ b/pandas/core/indexes/range.py
@@ -12,11 +12,11 @@
 from pandas import compat
 from pandas.compat import lrange, range
 from pandas.compat.numpy import function as nv
-from pandas.indexes.base import Index, _index_shared_docs
+from pandas.core.indexes.base import Index, _index_shared_docs
 from pandas.util.decorators import Appender, cache_readonly
-import pandas.indexes.base as ibase
+import pandas.core.indexes.base as ibase
 
-from pandas.indexes.numeric import Int64Index
+from pandas.core.indexes.numeric import Int64Index
 
 
 class RangeIndex(Int64Index):
diff --git a/pandas/core/sparse/array.py b/pandas/core/sparse/array.py
index d3fdfe5533a03..ef3600266c037 100644
--- a/pandas/core/sparse/array.py
+++ b/pandas/core/sparse/array.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 import pandas.core.ops as ops
 import pandas.io.formats.printing as printing
 from pandas.util.decorators import Appender
-from pandas.indexes.base import _index_shared_docs
+from pandas.core.indexes.base import _index_shared_docs
 
 
 _sparray_doc_kwargs = dict(klass='SparseArray')
diff --git a/pandas/tests/api/test_api.py b/pandas/tests/api/test_api.py
index ec9e6039c6ee4..13e6d065382a6 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/api/test_api.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/api/test_api.py
@@ -30,8 +30,7 @@ class TestPDApi(Base, tm.TestCase):
     ignored = ['tests', 'locale', 'conftest']
 
     # top-level sub-packages
-    lib = ['api', 'compat', 'core',
-           'indexes', 'errors', 'pandas',
+    lib = ['api', 'compat', 'core', 'errors', 'pandas',
            'plotting', 'test', 'testing', 'tools', 'tseries',
            'util', 'options', 'io']
 
diff --git a/pandas/tests/indexes/common.py b/pandas/tests/indexes/common.py
index bec55083829b6..9003a3707e417 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/indexes/common.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/indexes/common.py
@@ -419,7 +419,7 @@ def test_numpy_argsort(self):
             # pandas compatibility input validation - the
             # rest already perform separate (or no) such
             # validation via their 'values' attribute as
-            # defined in pandas.indexes/base.py - they
+            # defined in pandas.core.indexes/base.py - they
             # cannot be changed at the moment due to
             # backwards compatibility concerns
             if isinstance(type(ind), (CategoricalIndex, RangeIndex)):
diff --git a/pandas/tests/indexes/test_base.py b/pandas/tests/indexes/test_base.py
index 165ad91086d0a..de15abe89712a 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/indexes/test_base.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/indexes/test_base.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 
 import pandas.util.testing as tm
-from pandas.indexes.api import Index, MultiIndex
+from pandas.core.indexes.api import Index, MultiIndex
 from pandas.tests.indexes.common import Base
 
 from pandas.compat import (range, lrange, lzip, u,
diff --git a/pandas/tests/indexes/test_category.py b/pandas/tests/indexes/test_category.py
index e714bbd4f9d44..6e869890bfcd6 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/indexes/test_category.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/indexes/test_category.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
 import pandas.util.testing as tm
-from pandas.indexes.api import Index, CategoricalIndex
+from pandas.core.indexes.api import Index, CategoricalIndex
 from .common import Base
 
 from pandas.compat import range, PY3
diff --git a/pandas/tests/indexes/test_frozen.py b/pandas/tests/indexes/test_frozen.py
index cb90beb6a5bfb..ed2e3d94aa4a4 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/indexes/test_frozen.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/indexes/test_frozen.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import numpy as np
 from pandas.util import testing as tm
 from pandas.tests.test_base import CheckImmutable, CheckStringMixin
-from pandas.indexes.frozen import FrozenList, FrozenNDArray
+from pandas.core.indexes.frozen import FrozenList, FrozenNDArray
 from pandas.compat import u
 
 
diff --git a/pandas/tests/indexes/test_multi.py b/pandas/tests/indexes/test_multi.py
index f907741950b01..d45182d8d82c5 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/indexes/test_multi.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/indexes/test_multi.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
                     compat, date_range, period_range)
 from pandas.compat import PY3, long, lrange, lzip, range, u
 from pandas.errors import PerformanceWarning, UnsortedIndexError
-from pandas.indexes.base import InvalidIndexError
+from pandas.core.indexes.base import InvalidIndexError
 from pandas._libs import lib
 from pandas._libs.lib import Timestamp
 
diff --git a/pandas/tseries/base.py b/pandas/tseries/base.py
index b419aae709683..3daa88fe396f6 100644
--- a/pandas/tseries/base.py
+++ b/pandas/tseries/base.py
@@ -28,12 +28,12 @@
 from pandas._libs.period import Period
 
 from pandas.core.index import Index
-from pandas.indexes.base import _index_shared_docs
+from pandas.core.indexes.base import _index_shared_docs
 from pandas.util.decorators import Appender, cache_readonly
 import pandas.core.dtypes.concat as _concat
 import pandas.tseries.frequencies as frequencies
 
-import pandas.indexes.base as ibase
+import pandas.core.indexes.base as ibase
 _index_doc_kwargs = dict(ibase._index_doc_kwargs)
 
 
diff --git a/pandas/tseries/index.py b/pandas/tseries/index.py
index a964b6d9e09d3..d9aa72fe065ab 100644
--- a/pandas/tseries/index.py
+++ b/pandas/tseries/index.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@
 from pandas.core.common import _values_from_object, _maybe_box
 
 from pandas.core.index import Index, Int64Index, Float64Index
-from pandas.indexes.base import _index_shared_docs
+from pandas.core.indexes.base import _index_shared_docs
 import pandas.compat as compat
 from pandas.tseries.frequencies import (
     to_offset, get_period_alias,
diff --git a/pandas/tseries/period.py b/pandas/tseries/period.py
index 66275925ff355..b19e086b818f0 100644
--- a/pandas/tseries/period.py
+++ b/pandas/tseries/period.py
@@ -37,14 +37,14 @@
                                  _quarter_to_myear)
 
 from pandas.core.base import _shared_docs
-from pandas.indexes.base import _index_shared_docs, _ensure_index
+from pandas.core.indexes.base import _index_shared_docs, _ensure_index
 
 from pandas import compat
 from pandas.util.decorators import (Appender, Substitution, cache_readonly,
                                     deprecate_kwarg)
 from pandas.compat import zip, u
 
-import pandas.indexes.base as ibase
+import pandas.core.indexes.base as ibase
 _index_doc_kwargs = dict(ibase._index_doc_kwargs)
 _index_doc_kwargs.update(
     dict(target_klass='PeriodIndex or list of Periods'))
diff --git a/pandas/tseries/tdi.py b/pandas/tseries/tdi.py
index 020b7328238b7..7768b4a340775 100644
--- a/pandas/tseries/tdi.py
+++ b/pandas/tseries/tdi.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
 from pandas.tseries.frequencies import to_offset
 from pandas.core.algorithms import checked_add_with_arr
 from pandas.core.base import _shared_docs
-from pandas.indexes.base import _index_shared_docs
+from pandas.core.indexes.base import _index_shared_docs
 import pandas.core.common as com
 import pandas.core.dtypes.concat as _concat
 from pandas.util.decorators import Appender, Substitution, deprecate_kwarg
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index a1ec567a20ee2..6fc66e2355c0f 100755
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -640,9 +640,9 @@ def pxd(name):
                 'pandas.compat.numpy',
                 'pandas.core',
                 'pandas.core.dtypes',
+                'pandas.core.indexes',
                 'pandas.core.computation',
                 'pandas.core.sparse',
-                'pandas.indexes',
                 'pandas.errors',
                 'pandas.io',
                 'pandas.io.json',