Monarchs (Historical)

1. Shudhodan – The king of Kapilvastu, Lord Buddha was his son.
2. Ambhi – The king of He welcomed Alexander when he came to invade India .
3. Porus (Puru) – The king of land situated between Jhelum and Chinab rivers. He fought bravely against Alexander. Even after losing the battle, faced Alexander bravely and said he should be treated as a king is treated by another
4. Dhananand – King of Magadh at the time of invasion of India by Alexander. His army was so strong that Alexander could not dare to attack But he did not care to help other kings against Alexander.
5. Chandra Gupta Maurya – Insulted by the king Dhananand, Chanakya took the oath to destroy Nand He accordingly prepared his disciple, Chandra Gupta, who defeated Dhanan- and and became the mighty king of Magadh beginning Maurya destiny. He defeated the aggressor Sylucus (who was the king of area, which is now Afghanistan)and married his daughter. He reigned from the year 322 BC to 298 BC. He made Patliputra as his capital.
6. Bindusar – Son of Chandra Gupta Maurya. Was a peace loving king who did not fight to enhance his domain, but kept intact the inherited kingdom. He remained the king from 298 BC to 273 BC.
7. Ashoka – Son of Bindusar, famous king of Maurya He spread his kingdom to almost whole of India, Afghanistan and Baluchistan. Fought the fierce battle with king of Kalinga, but great blood shed changed his life. He took an oath not to fight any more battles. Following the path of lord Buddha, he actively engaged himself in spreading Buddism, sent his son Mahendra and daughter Sangh Mitra abroad to spread the message of Bud- dha. Got constructed minarets and muths for the general public. He ruled from 273 BC. to 232 BC.
8. Pushya Mitra – The last king of Maurya dynasty , Brihadrath was killed by his commander, Pushyamitra who himself became the king and established Sung This dynasty ruled from the year 185 BC to 73 BC.
9. Vasudev – The end of Sung dynasty came when Vasudev took over and started Kanva
10. Kanishka – He was the mighty king of Kushan dynasty who be- came king in 78 AD. His domain was spread from central Asia to Vindhya and from Bihar to Afghanistan. He made Purushpur (Peshawar) his
11. chandra Gupta i – Established the famous Gupta empire in India in the year 320 AD. His domain was limited to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
12. Samudra Gupta – Son of Chandra Gupta I. He became king in the year 325 AD and remained till 375 AD. He extended his em- pire from Hoogli in the east to Yamuna and Chambal and from Himalayas to Narmada. He is called Nepoleon of
13. Chandra Gupta II  (Vikramaditya) – He was the king from the year 380 AD to 413 Gupta dynasty flourished to the maximum extent during his period. He expanded his empire to Gujarat, Kathiavad and Ujjain. The iron pillar near Kutub Minar was built by him. The architecture, literatures arts and science were at its peak in his time. Therefore Gupta period is called the Golden Era of Indian history.
14. Kumar Gupta – The son of Vikramaditya, took over the reign after his father. Kept intact the empire of his his father.
15. Skand Gupta – The son of Kumar Gupta. He also maintained the regime of his father and grandfather well, as well as kept the tradition of best education in the form of Nalanda, Taxila, Ujjain and Sarnath
16. Harsh Vardhan – He was the king of Thaneshwar and ruled between the years 606 and 647 He extended his kingdom upto Malwa, Bengal and Assam. He is famous for his donations. The Chinese traveller Huen Tsang came during his rule and spoke highly of the king.
17. Pulkeshin i – Established Chalukya dynasty in South India in the year 550
18. Kirti Varman – Son of Pulkeshin. I. He extended his kingdom and ruled between 567AD and 608
19. Pulkeshin ii– Son of Kirtivardhan who ascended the throne in 608 AD and ruled upto 642 AD. He was the most illustrious king of Chalukya He defeated Harshvardhan and prevented him from advancing beyond Narmada in the South. He was killed by Pallav king Narsinha Varman.
20. Vikramditya i – Son of Pulkeshim II. Defeated the kings of Pal- lav dynasty who had killed his father and regained the Chalukya dynasty once
21. Vinayaditya – Became the king in 681 AD after his father Vikra- maditya I. He made contacts even upto Persia and
22. Vijayaditya – Son of Vinayditya. He was a peace loving king who did not fight many battles.
23. Vikramaditya ii– Son of Vijayaditya, who reigned from 733 AD to 747 AD. He gave liberal donations to temples and other religious places. He defended the attacks of Arabs.
24. Narsimha Varman ii – An illustrious king of Pallav dynasty, who ruled between 695 AD to 722 AD. He established examples of good architectural buildings. Art and literature also developed in his domain. Famous Sanskrit scholar Dandin lived in his
25. Gopal – He established Pal dynasty in North-Esat India in the year 750
26. Dharm Pal – Mightiest king of Pal Ruled between the year 770 AD to 810 AD. He was the follower of Buddhism. He renovated Nalanda University and established Vikramshila University. He established relations upto Tibbet.
27. Samant Sena – He was the founder of Sena His domain was restricted to Bengal only.
28. Vijaya Sena – He was most powerful king of Sena Son of Samant Sena. He extended his kingdom and took possession of the whole of Bengal.
29. Ballal Sena – Son of Vijaya Sena. Peace loving king but retained well his empire. He was a learned king who wrote four famous books, one of which related to
30. Mihir Bhoj – Became king of Kannauj in the year 836 AD. Took over Gujarat and Malva. He won some parts in east also. He was a talented king of Pratihar
31. Mahendra Pal – Son of Ascended the throne in 885 AD. after the death of his father. He extended his kingdom upto Magadh and Bengal. He constructed many temples and other buildings.
32. Danti Durga – He was king who ended Chalukya dynasty and established Rashtrakut
33. Krishna iii – The most illustrious king in Rashtrakut dynasty. Defeated all the kings in south India and established a strong kingdom. He extended his domain to Ujjayani in North and was generous towards all religions. Besides Shaiv, Vaishnav and Jain religions, Islam also prospered under his
34. Vijayalaya – He captured Tanjaur in AD and established Chola kingdom.
35. Raj Raja – He was the most famous king in Chola dynasty who ruled between 985 to 1014 He took possession of Madurai, Kerala, Maldiva, Kalinga and Northern parts of Ceylon.
36. Rajendra i – Son of Raj Raja. He extended further the kingdom of his father upto Bengal, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh and whole of Ceylon and some parts of Malaya. He ruled between 1014 to 1044
37. Prithvi Raj Chauhan – King of Delhi and Ajmer. Defeated king of Afghanistan, Gauri in 1191 in Tarain but was defeated next year. He was made a prisoner and blinded. There he killed Mohd. Gauri and was killed.
38. Hari Har and Bukka Rao – These two brothers established a Hindu kingdom, Vijayanagaram in 1336 between Krishna and Godawari rivers under the inspiration of guru Vidyaranya and his brother Saynacharya.
39. Krishnadevraya – He was the most famous king of Vijayanagram empire who ruled between 1509 and 1529 A.D. He was learned and mighty king who took possession of Rai Chur and Orissa. The kingdom reached the heights of glory in his time. He was a scholar of Sanskrit and Telugu
40. Babar – King of Kabul who established Mughal empire in India in 1526 by defeating Ibrahim Lodi and took possession of Delhi, Agra, Punjab and Bihar. Died in 1530 in
41. Akbar – The grand son of Babar, son of Humaun. He expanded the Mughal empire and gave stability to it. Made friendship with Hindu kings and established a powerful He ruled between 1556 to 1605 AD. He got constructed buildings in Fateh Pur Sikri and forts in Agra Allahabad and Lahore.
42. Jehangir – Son of Akbar. Had been king from 1605 to 1627. Fa- mous for his passion for justice and admiror of arts. He made a number of gardens of which Shalimar and Nishat in Jammu and Kashmir are
43. Shahjahan – Ruled between 1627 to 1658. Got constructed Red fort, Jama Masijid, Taj Mahal and many other buildings. His son Aurangzeb imprisoned him and became king. He possessed the peacock throne and Koh-i-noor.
44. Bahadur Shah Zafar – The king between 1837 and 1857. The first war of Independence was fought under his leadership. He was defeated by the English, who imprisoned him and sent to Rangoon where he died. He was a good Urdu poet
45. Maharaja ranjeet Singh – He proclaimed himself king of Pun- jab after winning Lahore in 1799. He was the first Sikh king who extended his empire to Punjab, Kangra, Jammu-Kashmir, Multan and Peshawar and brought back Kohinoor diamond. He defeated Shah of Afghanistan. Died in
46. Shivaji – He established Hindu kingdom in Maharashtra and was coronated in 1674. Extended his empire upto south India and fought many battles with
47. Bala Ji Vishwanath – Established Peshwa kingdom in 1713. He was the Chief Minister (Peshwa) of Sahu Ji, grandson of Shivaji. Became king himself making use of weakness of Shahu Ji. His capital was at
48. Baji Rao I – Son of Bala ji Remained king from 1720 to 1740. He was able to extend his kingdom to Malwa, Gujarat, Bundelkhand and some parts of south India. He was the most powerful amongst Peshwas.
49. Balaji Baji Rao – Son of Baji Rao I . His empire was spread upto Bihar, Orissa and Was the king from 1740 to 1761.
50. Hyder Ali – He was the king of Mysore who defeated British forces in 1780 but lost to them in 1781. Died in 1782
51. Tipu Sultan – Son of Hyder Ali. Became king of Mysore in 1782. British forces could defeated him only in the 3rd battle. Because of his bravery, he is known as Shere-Mysore.
52. Rani Laxmi Bai – Took over the reign of Jhansi after the death of her husband Gangadhar Rao. As she had no son, adopted one who was not recognized by the British and ordered to annex Jhansi in British empire. Laxmi Bai fought bravely but lost and killed in 1858 at an early age of
53. Guhil – Established Gehlot dynasty in Mewar in 566
54. Bappa Rawal – Real name Kalbhoj. A mighty king of Gehlot dy- nasty, believed to rule Mewar between 734 to 753 AD. He was a devotee of Ekling and ruled in his name as his Deewan (Prime Minister). He defeated the kings of Gazni, Kabul, Kandhar, Iran and
55. Ratan Singh – Became king of Chittore in 1302. Allah-uddin Khilji attacked him to abduct his beautiful wife Not being able to win he entered the fort making false promises and imprisoned the king. The chieftains Gora and Badal played a trick and disguised themselves as Padmini but were killed in the war that followed. Queen Padmini immolated herself with 16000 other ladies. The event became famous by the name Johar (First shaka of Chit- tore).
56. Hammir – Was the king of Mewar between 1326 to 1364 AD. He defeated and imprisoned Mohd. Tuglaq when he attacked Mewar Released him after three months taking Ran Thambore and cash in return. The state prospered much in his
57. Rana Kumbha – Took charge of Mewar in 1433 Defeated Meh- mood Khilji and imprisoned him for six months when he attacked In the memory of this victory a memorial was erected called Victory Tower which sill stands. He expanded his empire wining Gujarat, Malwa, Mandu and a part of Delhi, He is remembered as Surtan (King of Hindus). He was an able administrator as well as had good knowledge of music, arts and architect. He got con- structed many forts out of which Kumbhal Garh and Achalgarh forts are famous.
58. Sangram Singh (Rana Sanga) – Became king of Mewar in 1509 He defeated Sultan of Gujarat, Sultan of Manda and Ibrahim Lodi of Delhi. He even defeated Babar once when he first made an attempt to enter India. However was defeated later in the battle of Khanwa. During many wars, he lost a hand, a leg, an eye and had over all 80 wounds on his He was dead because of poisoning by his opponents on 30th Jan., 1528.
59. Udai Singh – Son of Maharana He was a child when Rana Sanga died. Caretaker king Banbir made an attempt to kill him, but was saved by his dai, Panna, who sacrificed her own son, Chandan. Udai Singh passed his childhood in Kumbhalgarh. He defeated Banbir and got his kingdom back. Because of regular attacks on Chittor, he built another city, Udaipur on the safe site in Aravali hills and made it his capital.
60. Maharana Pratap – Son of Udai Singh. Jaivanti Bai was his Born on May 9, 1540. Udai Singh nominated his another son Jagmal Singh to throne, but his courtiers replaced him and crowned Pratap Singh as Rana of Mewar. He was the only king in Rajasthan who did not surrender before the mighty king Akbar. Maharana got havy loss in the battle of Haldi Ghati, between him and Akbar’s commander Raja Man Singh. But he reorganised his army with the donations made by his courtier Bhamashah and took back possession of almost all the forts from Akbar.
61. Amar Singh – Son of Maharana Pratap, was the king of Mewar after the death of his father . Udaipur was his capital. He entered into treaty with the
62. Raj Singh – The descendant of Rana Pratap, was ruler of Mewar during the time of He took possession of many castles of Shahjehan. Aurangzeb attacked him later but using guerilla tactics, he did not allow him to take possession of his kingdom.
63. Bhoj Parmar – An illustrious king of Parmar Ruled between 1018 to 1060 AD. His Capital was Dhara. Defeated Chalukya and Kalchhui kings but was defeated by Chandra Dev Vidyadhar. Was author of many books on music, yoga, grammer, mathematics etc

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