Famous Emperors & Kings - List of Famous Emperors & Kings

When we talk of emperors and kings, the picture of a regal man dressed in resplendent attire reigning over some ancient land comes to our mind, for in today’s world what we know about emperors and kings comes primarily from folklores and history books. An emperor is the male sovereign ruler of an empire. There have been many vast empires worldwide which consisted of several states and countries. Kings were the rulers of their own kingdoms over which they exercised complete power. Being extremely powerful, the emperors and kings have played crucial roles in shaping the history of not just their own empires and kingdoms, but of the whole world. Titus, the ancient Roman Emperor might have had a short reign, but he secured his place in history as he completed the Colosseum and dealt with the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Genghis Khan, the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire conquered vast territories, four times the lands of Alexander the Great. Other rulers still revered today are Atilla the Hun, Timur the Lame and Charlemagne. Over the centuries, absolute monarchies gave way to several other forms of government and now only a handful of monarchies, that too ceremonial, remain in the world. Browse on to learn more about the great emperors and kings who had once walked on this earth.

The Most Famous Emperors & Kings

NameBirthdayNationalityBio
Sundiata KeitaAugust 20, 1217Central AfricanSundiata Keita was the founder of the Mali Empire in West Africa
Ashoka304 BCIndianAshoka was the third emperor of the Mauryan Dynasty and ruled almost the entire Indian subcontinent
Murad IVJuly 26, 1612TurkishMurad IV was one of the mighty Sultans in the history of the Ottoman Empire
Abdullah of Saudi ArabiaAugust 1, 1924Saudi ArabianAbdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud was the King of Saudi Arabia from 2005 to 2015 and the third wealthiest head of state in the world
Xerxes I519 BCIranianXerxes I (Xerxes the Great) was the fourth and the most famous king of the Archaemenid dynasty of Persia
Sargon of Akkad2340 BCIraqiSargon of Akkad, also called ‘Sargon the Great’, ‘Sarru-Kan’ and ‘Shar-Gani-Sharri’, was the founder and first king of the Akkadian Empire
Ibn SaudJanuary 15, 1876Saudi ArabianKing Abdulaziz al-Saud was the first monarch of Saudi Arabia
Gia LongFebruary 8, 1762VietnameseGia Long was the first emperor of the Nguyen dynasty as well as the founding father of the modern nation of Vietnam
Flavius Odoacer435Ancient RomanFlavius Odoacer was a soldier who went on to become the King of Italy
Suleiman The MagnificentNovember 6, 1494TurkishSuleiman I, commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent, was the tenth and longest-reigning sultan of the Ottoman Empire
Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou

Louis Alphonse, Duke of Anjou

Louis Alphonse of Bourbon-Segovia, Duke of Anjou is a member of the Royal House of Bourbon in Spain

SpanishApril 25, 1974182 views

Abdullah II of Jordan

Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein is the 41st direct descendent of Prophet Muhammad and the present king of Jordan

JordanianJanuary 30, 1962127 views

King Willem-Alexander

King Willem-Alexander of Netherlands is the second-youngest monarch in Europe after Felipe VI of Spain

DutchApril 27, 1967125 views

Leonidas I

Leonidas I was a king of the ancient Sparta

Greek540 BC184 views

Henry II of France

Henry II of France was a monarch who ruled France from 1547 to 1559

FrenchMarch 31, 1519159 views

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor

Charles V was the Holy Roman Emperor as well as the King of the Romans and King of Italy

ItalianFebruary 24, 1500126 views

Napoleon III

Napoleon III was the Emperor of the Second French Empire from 1852-70

FrenchApril 20, 1808187 views

Puyi

Puyi, also famous as Pu Yi, was the last Emperor of China who remained the 12th and last Emperor of the Qing Dynasty

ChineseFebruary 7, 1906262 views

George VI

George VI was King of the United Kingdom

BritishDecember 14, 1895226 views

Xerxes I

Xerxes I (Xerxes the Great) was the fourth and the most famous king of the Archaemenid dynasty of Persia

Iranian519 BC592 views