Famous Indian Emperors & Kings
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When it comes to heritage and legacy, not many countries can assert of a rich and vibrant history as India. Home to several rulers, dynasties, emperors, conquerors, kings and monarchs, the opulence and grandeur of India reached new heights under different dynasties and empires. Be it Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of Mauryan Empire and the first ruler of unified India or his grandson Samrat Chakravartin Ashoka who globally spread Buddhism and gave modern India its emblem, Akbar, the greatest Mughal Emperor who led way for cultural integration or Privithiraj Chauhan who ruled the kingdom of Delhi, Rajasthan and Haryana, each of them added to the lustrous heritage of the country. While some contributed as great warriors the others became connoisseurs of art, some proved to be generous in their rule and others were known for their bravery and chivalry. At different phases, India was ruled by different rulers before coming under the British rule, and finally gaining its independence in 1947. Chronicling through the pages of history, one can only marvel at how the country became a hotbed for some of the greatest monarchs and kings. Check out this section to know about the life and works of some of the greatest Indian emperors and kings.
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Birthdate: February 19, 1630
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Maharashtra, India
Died: April 3, 1680
Shivaji was an Indian warrior-king. He is credited with founding the Maratha Empire, which became a force to reckon with during the 18th century. He is also credited with creating his own navy. Considered one of the most important Indian kings and a hero of the Hindus, Shivaji's life and work have inspired several works of art, including films.
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Ashoka(Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty)
Birthdate: 0304 BC
Birthplace: Pataliputra
Died: 0232 BC
Ashoka the Great of the Maurya Dynasty was the grandson of Chandragupta Maurya and ruled the Indian subcontinent from c. 268 to 232 BCE. Following the death and destruction caused by the Kalinga War, which was part of his expansion plan, he converted to Buddhism and propagated the faith.
Birthdate: 0340 BC
Birthplace: Pataliputra
Died: 0297 BC
Chandragupta Maurya established the Maurya Empire in India. He was mostly advised by philosopher Chanakya. He conquered the Nanda Empire and fought the Seleucid-Mauryan War, too. His reign was marked by religious tolerance, and cultural and economic prosperity. He later relinquished his throne and became a Jain monk.
Birthdate: 1149 AD
Birthplace: Ajmer
Died: 1192 AD
A king from the Chahamana dynasty, Prithviraj Chauhan ruled Sapadalaksha in present-day north-western India. The son of king Someshvara and queen Karpuradevi, he ascended to the throne when he was just a child. As a young man, he became known as a brave warrior and an excellent military commander. Various sources differ on the exact circumstances of his death.
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Maharana Pratap(13th Rana of Mewar Who Became a Folk Hero for His Military Resistance Against Mughal Empire Under Akbar)
Birthdate: May 9, 1540
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Rajsamand District, Rajasthan, India
Died: January 19, 1597
Maharana Pratap, son of Maharana Udai Singh, ruled the Indian region of Mewar, in modern-day Rajasthan, from 1572 to 1597. Also known as “Mewari Rana,” he is best remembered for his exploits at the Battle of Haldighati, against the Mughal army of Akbar, led by Man Singh I of Amer.
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Raja Raja Chola I(Chola Emperor Who was the Most Powerful King in South India During His Reign)
Birthdate: 0947 AD
Died: 1014 AD
Raja Raja Chola I was an emperor who reigned over south India from 985 to 1014. Also known as Rajaraja the Great, the emperor was deemed the most powerful southern king. He is remembered for resuscitating the Chola power and controlling south India and Indian Ocean. He is also credited with building the Brihadisvara Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Babur(Founder of Mughal Dyanasty)
Birthdate: February 14, 1483
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Andijan
Died: December 26, 1530
Babur, the first emperor of the Mughal Dynasty of India, was a descendant of Genghis Khan and Timur. He defeated Ibrahim Lodi in the First Battle of Panipat in 1526 CE and then defeated Rajput ruler Rana Sanga in the Battle of Khanwa in 1527. His memoir is titled Baburnama.
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Samudragupta(Second Emperor of the Gupta Empire of Ancient India)
Birthdate: 0318 AD
Birthplace: Indraprastha, India
Died: 0380 AD
The son of legendary Gupta emperor ruler Chandragupta I, Samudragupta ruled from 350 to 375 CE. He was part of the golden age of Hindu history and is known to have revived the horse sacrifice or Ashvamedha ritual. A devout follower of Vishnu, he had control over almost the entire Gangetic valley.
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Tipu Sultan(Ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore Based in South India)
Birthdate: December 1, 1751
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Died: May 4, 1799
Tipu Sultan, or the “Tiger of Mysore,” ruled the Kingdom of Mysore from 1782 to 1799. Apart from improving his kingdom’s military arrangements, he also established a new calendar, a new land-revenue system, and a coinage system. He died while defending the fort of Seringapatam in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War.
Birthdate: August 31, 1569
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Fatehpur Sikri
Died: November 8, 1627
Prince Salim, son of Mughal emperor Akbar, ruled as Emperor Jahangir from 1605 to 1627. Jahangir was a patron of the arts and architecture, and focused on expansion through war. Fictional accounts of his relationship with a courtesan named Anarkali were later portrayed in literature and movies.
Birthdate: November 2, 1780
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Gujranwala, Pakistan
Died: June 27, 1839
Maharaja Ranjit Singh, also known as the "Lion of Punjab" and the “Napoleon of the East,” was a Sikh leader who reigned over the northwest Indian subcontinent in the 19th century. He fought valiantly against the Afghans and introduced many modern reforms. His Khalsa Army included people of all religions.
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Akbar(3rd Emperor of the Mughal Empire (1556 - 1605))
Birthdate: October 25, 1542
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Umarkot, Pakistan
Died: October 27, 1605
Akbar, the third Mughal emperor, played an important role in inculcating Persian culture into the Indian subcontinent. Akbar is considered one of the most important rulers of the Mughal Empire, an empire that seeped foreign ideas and culture into medieval India, the effects of which are still visible in modern-day India, especially in the northern parts of the country.
Birthdate: 1261 AD
Birthplace: Qalāt-e Ġilzay, Afghanistan
Died: December 31, 1316
Birthdate: February 16, 1471
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Hampi
Died: 1529 AD
Krishnadevaraya, from the Tuluva Dynasty, was the emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1509 to 1529. Named the Lord of the Kannada empire, he was one of the most influential Hindu kings of the Indian peninsula. An able military general and ruler, he also patronized art and literature.
Birthdate: January 5, 1592
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Lahore
Died: February 1, 1666
Shah Jahan, emperor Jahangir’s son, ruled as the fifth Mughal emperor, from 1628 to 1658. He is known for commissioning the Taj Mahal for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, among other contributions to Mughal architecture. He was put under house arrest by his son, Aurangzeb, during his final years.
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Aurangzeb(6th Emperor of the Mughal Empire (1658 - 1707))
Birthdate: November 3, 1618
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Dahod, Gujarat, India
Died: March 3, 1707
Aurangzeb reigned over most part of the Indian subcontinent for 49 years as the sixth Mughal emperor. He helped the Mughal Empire reach its greatest extent and helped India become the biggest manufacturing power and the world's largest economy. He was known for his religious piety and led a very simple life..
Birthplace: Punjab, India
Died: 0321 AD
Fourth century BC Indian prince Porus only finds mention in Greek texts but is said to have ruled over a vast land in what is present-day Punjab in the Indian subcontinent. He fought and lost against the legendary Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great in the Battle of the Hydaspes.
Birthdate: 0320 BC
Died: 0273 BC
Bindusara, son of Chandragupta Maurya, reigned as the second Mauryan emperor of India. He was the father of Ashoka the Great. Not much is known about his life. It is believed that much of the Deccan had been conquered by him, though there is no concrete proof of the same.
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Baji Rao I(Peshwa of Maratha Empire from 1720 to 1740)
Birthdate: August 18, 1700
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Sinnar, Maharashtra, India
Died: April 28, 1740
Baji Rao I was a peshwa, or chief minister, of the Maratha empire in India. His conquests led a massive blow to the Mughal Empire. In spite of being married to Kashibai, he took a second wife, half-Muslim Mastani, a story that was retold in several movies later.
Birthdate: 1486 AD
Birthplace: Sasaram, India
Died: May 22, 1545
Afghan ruler Sher Shah Suri, the founder of the Suri Empire, established the rupee as the Indian currency. He was initially part of Babur’s Mughal army and then became the governor of Bihar. He is also remembered for developing Humayun's Dina-panah city, reviving Pataliputra, and extending the Grand Trunk Road.
Birthdate: May 14, 1657
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Purandar fort, India
Died: March 11, 1689
The Maratha Empire’s second Chhatrapati, Sambhaji Bhosale, was the eldest son of Shivaji. After losing his mother at 2, he was raised by his grandmother. A treaty made him a Mughal mansabdar. Later, following repeated clashes with the Mughals, he was eventually captured and tortured to death.
Birthplace: Veerapur, Karnataka, India
Died: 0642 AD
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Humayun(2nd Emperor of the Mughal Empire)
Birthdate: March 6, 1508
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Kabul, Afghanistan
Died: January 27, 1556
Humayun was the second emperor of the Mughal Empire, which ruled over South Asia for nearly two centuries. At the time of his demise, the empire spanned nearly one million square kilometers. The expansion of the empire under Humayun’s reign helped his son Akbar establish a substantial legacy of his own.
Birthdate: 1149 AD
Birthplace: Ghor, Afghanistan
Died: March 15, 1206
Muhammad of Ghor of the Ghurid Empire went down in history as the man who established Muslim rule in the Indian subcontinent and set the tone for the upcoming Mughal dynasty. He ruled over a vast area, which included India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran, among others, along with his brother, Ghiyath ad-Din Muhammad.
Birthdate: 0590 AD
Died: 0647 AD
Harshavardhana, the second son of king Prabhakaravardhana of Thanesar, became a king at 16. Also known as Harsha, he reigned over a vast region of North and Northwestern India from 606 to 647 CE. Hieun Tsang’s Harshacharita detailed how Harsha converted from Hinduism to Buddhism, banned animal slaughter, and built monasteries.
Birthdate: December 8, 1720
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Pune, Maharashtra, India
Died: June 23, 1761
Birthdate: 1290 AD
Birthplace: Multan, Pakistan
Died: March 20, 1351
Birthdate: April 12, 1484
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Malwa
Died: March 17, 1527
Maharana Sangram Singh I, better known as Rana Sanga, is remembered in history as a fierce Rajput king of the Sisodia dynasty. He controlled modern-day Rajasthan, Gujarat, and MP, with Chittor as his capital. In his struggle for power, he had lost one arm and one eye, and was crippled for life.
Birthdate: 1014 AD
Birthplace: Thanjavur, Gangaikonda Cholapuram
Died: 1044 AD
Rajendra Chola I, or Rajendra the Great, was a Tamil ruler who reigned over the mighty Chola empire. He outdid his father Rajaraja I and expanded the kingdom to areas such as Sri Lanka and the Maldives. His conquests in the North covered the Gangetic plain.
Birthdate: October 24, 1775
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Delhi, India
Died: November 7, 1862
Bahadur Shah Zafar, son of Akbar II, was the last Mughal emperor. Back then, the Mughals had been reduced to nominal rulers, and his authority extended till the walled city of Old Delhi, or Shahjahanbad. Following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, he was exiled to Rangoon by the British.
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Dalip Singh
(Sikh maharaja)
Birthdate: September 4, 1838
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Lahore, Pakistan
Died: October 22, 1893
Birthdate: 1721 AD
Birthplace: Budikote
Died: December 6, 1782
Birthdate: 0492 BC
Birthplace: Rajgir
Died: 0460 BC
Fifth-century BC empire of Magadha, what is now South Bihar, Ajatasatru was the son of King Bimbisara, and forcefully gained control of the kingdom by imprisoning his father. The Haryanka dynasty ruler formed the city of Pataliputra and also extended the kingdom to Kashi. He lived during the time of Buddha.
Birthdate: June 25, 1728
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Delhi, India
Died: November 19, 1806
Bharata finds mention in the Indian epic Mahābhārata, and was the son of Dushyanta and Shakuntala. He also appears in poet Kalidasa’s Abhijñānaśākuntalam. Though Bharata’s dynasty gave rise to the Pandavas, it is believed they were not his real descendants. Sources also mention him as an ancestor of Kurus.
Birthdate: 0078 AD
Birthplace: Peshawar, Pakistan
Died: 0144 AD
Birthdate: October 14, 1643
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Burhanpur, India
Died: February 27, 1712
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Bimbisara
(King of Magadha)
Birthdate: 0558 AD
Birthplace: India
Died: 0491 AD
Birthdate: 0380 AD
Birthplace: India
Died: 0410 AD
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Mīr Jaʿfar
(Bengali ruler)
Birthdate: 1691 AD
Birthplace: Cumilla, Bangladesh
Died: February 5, 1765
Birthdate: 1733 AD
Birthplace: Murshidabad, India
Died: July 2, 1757
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Rajaram Chhatrapati
(Ruler)
Birthdate: February 24, 1670
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Raigad Fort
Died: March 2, 1700
Birthdate: May 9, 1661
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Deccan Plateau, India
Died: February 12, 1713
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Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII
(Prince)
Birthdate: April 6, 1886
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Purani Haveli, Hyderabad, India
Died: February 24, 1967
Birthplace: India
Died: 0335 AD
Birthdate: 1433 AD
Died: 1468 AD
Birthdate: September 10, 1872
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Kathiawar, Vansoj, India
Died: April 2, 1933
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Mukarram Jah
(8th Nizam of Hyderabad)
Birthdate: October 6, 1933
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Nice, France
Birthplace: Delhi, India
Died: April 21, 1526