Ten Great Kings of India

Chandragupta Maurya

• Chandragupta Maurya (321–297 BCE) was the founder of the Maurya Empire in ancient India. Chandragupta built one of the largest empires on the Indian subcontinent.
• Greek writer Phylarchus (c. third century BCE), who is quoted by Athenaeus, calls Chandragupta “Sandrokoptos”. The later Greco-Roman writers Strabo, Arrian, and Justin (c. second century) call him “Sandrocottus”. In Greek and Latin accounts, Chandragupta is known as Sandrakottos and Androcottus.
• Chandragupta Maurya was an important figure in the history of India, laying the foundations of the first state to unite most of India. Chandragupta, under the tutelage of Chanakya, created a new empire based on the principles of statecraft, built a large army, and continued expanding the boundaries of his empire.
• Chandragupta’s empire extended throughout most of the Indian subcontinent, spanning from modern day Bengal to Afghanistan across North India as well as making inroads into Central and South India.
• Chanakya taught and admitted him in Taxila to study the Vedas, military arts, law, and other sastras. After Taxila, Chandragupta and Chanakya moved to Pataliputra, the capital and a historic learning center in the eastern Magadha kingdom of India.
• Chandragupta and Chanakya raised an army by recruiting soldiers from many places after the former completed his education at Taxila. Chanakya made Chandragupta the leader of the army.
• After Alexander ended his campaign and left, Chandragupta’s army conquered the Nanda capital Pataliputra around 322 BCE with Chanakya’s counsel.
• Chandragupta’s reign, and the Maurya Empire, set an era of economic prosperity, reforms, infrastructure expansions, and tolerance. Many religions thrived within his realms and his descendants’ empire. Buddhism, Jainism and Ajivika gained prominence alongside Vedic and Brahmanistic traditions, and minority religions such as Zoroastrianism and the Greek pantheon were respected.
• Chandragupta ultimately renounced his empire for an ascetic life in his final years.
• A memorial for Chandragupta Maurya exists on the Chandragiri hill along with a seventh-century hagiographic inscription.

Ashoka “the Great”

• Ashoka  also known as Ashoka the Great and Priyadarshi , was an  emperor of the Maurya Dynasty, son of Bindusara, who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from c. 268 to 232 BCE. Ashoka promoted the spread of Buddhism across ancient Asia.
• Considered by many to be one of India’s greatest emperors, Ashoka expanded Chandragupta’s empire to reign over territory stretching from present-day Afghanistan in the west to present-day Bangladesh in the east.
• Ashoka waged a particularly destructive war against the state of Kalinga (Odisha), which he conquered in about 260 BCE. According to an interpretation of his Edicts, he converted to Buddhism after witnessing the mass deaths of the Kalinga War,
• He is remembered for erecting the Ashoka pillars and spreading his Edicts, for sending Buddhist monks to Sri Lanka and Central Asia, and for establishing monuments marking several significant sites in the life of Gautama Buddha.
• The emblem of the modern Republic of India is an adaptation of the Lion Capital of Ashoka.
• In his edicts, he is referred to as Devānāmpriya (Pali Devānaṃpiya or “the Beloved of the Gods”), and Priyadarśin or Priyadarshi (Pali Piyadasī or “He who regards everyone with affection”). His fondness for a tree is the reason for his name being connected to the “Ashoka tree” or Saraca asoca, and this is referenced in the Ashokavadana.
• Ashoka’s inscriptions are the earliest self-representations of imperial power in the Indian subcontinent.
• Ashoka’s rock edicts suggest that during his 8th–9th regnal years, he made a pilgrimage to the Bodhi Tree, started propagating dhamma, and performed social welfare activities. The welfare activities included establishment of medical treatment facilities for humans and animals; plantation of medicinal herbs; and digging of wells and plantation of trees along the roads.

Samudragupta

• Samudragupta (350-375 CE) was a ruler of the Gupta Empire of Ancient India. As a son of the Gupta emperor Chandragupta I and the Lichchhavi princess Kumaradevi, he greatly expanded his dynasty’s political power.
• The Allahabad Pillar inscription, a prashasti (eulogy) composed by his courtier Harishena, credits him with extensive military conquests.
• It suggests that he defeated several kings of northern India, and annexed their territories to his empire. He also marched along the south-eastern coast of India, advancing as far as the Pallava kingdom. In addition, he subjugated several frontier kingdoms and tribal oligarchies. His empire extended from Ravi River in the west to the Brahmaputra River in the east, and from the Himalayan foothills in the north to central India in the south-west; several rulers along the south-eastern coast were his tributaries.
• Modern scholars offer various opinions regarding Samudragupta’s possible motivations behind his extensive military campaigns. The Allahabad Pillar inscription suggests that Samudragupta’s aim was the unification of the earth (dharani-bandha), which suggests that he may have aspired to become a Chakravartin (a universal ruler).
• Samudragupta performed the Ashvamedha sacrifice to prove his imperial sovereignty, and according to his coins, remained undefeated. His gold coins and inscriptions suggest that he was an accomplished poet, and also played music. His expansionist policy was continued by his son Chandragupta II.
• The high points of this period are the great cultural developments which took place primarily during the reigns of Samudragupta, Chandragupta II and Kumaragupta I.
• Many Hindu epics and literary sources, such as Mahabharata and Ramayana, were canonised during this period.
• The Gupta period produced scholars such as Kalidasa, Aryabhata, Varahamihira, and Vatsyayana who made great advancements in many academic fields. Science and political administration reached new heights during the Gupta era.
• The period gave rise to achievements in architecture, sculpture, and painting that “set standards of form and taste [that] determined the whole subsequent course of art, not only in India but far beyond her borders”.
• Strong trade ties also made the region an important cultural centre and established the region as a base that would influence nearby kingdoms and regions in India and Southeast Asia.
• The Puranas, earlier long poems on a variety of subjects, are also thought to have been committed to written texts around this period.
• Hinduism was followed by the rulers and the Brahmins flourished in the Gupta empire but the Guptas tolerated people of other faiths as well.

Prithvi Raj Chauhan

• Prithviraja III ( 1178–1192 CE), popularly known as Prithviraj Chauhan or Rai Pithora was a ruler from the Chauhan dynasty.
• He ruled Sapadalaksha, the traditional Chahamana territory, in present-day north-western India. He controlled much of the North India including present- day Rajasthan, Haryana, and Delhi; and some parts of Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. His capital was located at Ajayameru (modern Ajmer).
• Early in his career, Prithviraj achieved military successes against several neighbouring kingdoms, most notably against the Chandela king Paramardi. He also repulsed the early invasions by Muhammad of Ghor, a ruler of the Muslim Ghurid dynasty.
• However, in 1192 CE, the Ghurids defeated Prithviraj at the Second battle of Tarain, and executed him shortly after. His defeat at Tarain is seen as a landmark event in the Islamic conquest of India, and has been described in several semi-legendary accounts. The most popular of these accounts is Prithviraj Raso, which presents him as a Rajput.
• The Prithviraj Raso  is a Brajbhasha epic poem about the life of Prithviraj Chauhan (c. 1166-1192 CE). It is attributed to Chand Bardai, who according to the text, was a court poet of the king.

Krishnadeva Ray

• Krishnadevaraya was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire, who reigned from 1509 to 1529. He was the third ruler of the Tuluva dynasty.He ruled the largest empire in India after the decline of the Delhi Sultanate.
• He became the dominant ruler of the peninsula by defeating the sultans of Bijapur, Golconda, the Bahmani Sultanate and the Gajapatis of Odisha, and was one of the most powerful Hindu rulers in India.
• Presiding over the empire at its zenith, he is regarded as an icon by many Indians. Krishnadevaraya earned the titles Karnatakaratna simhasanadeeshwara  and Kannada Rajya Rama Ramana. Apart from that he was also known as Kannada Rajya Rama Ramana  and  Andhra Bhoja (lit. “Andhra Scholar King” or “King Bhoja of Andhra”).
• The rule of Krishna Deva Raya is known as golden age of Telugu literature. Eight Telugu poets were regarded as eight pillars of his literary assembly and known as Ashtadiggajas.
• Portuguese travellers Domingo Paes and Fernao Nuniz visited the Vijayanagara Empire during his reign.
• The poet Muku Timmana praised him as the destroyer of the Turkics.
• Krishnadevaraya benefited from the able prime minister Timmarusu, whom he regarded as a father figure responsible for his coronation.
• Krishnadevaraya was well advised by the witty Tenali Ramakrishna.

Shershah Suri

• Sher Shah Suri (1472 – 1545), born Farīd Khān was the founder of the Suri Empire in India, with its capital in Sasaram in modern-day Bihar. He introduced the currency of rupee. An ethnic Pashtun ruler originally from Afghanistan, Sher Shah took control of the Mughal Empire in 1540.
• During his five-year rule from 1540 to 1545, he set up a new economic and military administration, issued the first Rupiya from “Tanka” and organized the postal system of the Indian Subcontinent. The system of tri-metalism which came to characterise Mughal coinage was introduced by Sher Shah. While the term rūpya had previously been used as a generic term for any silver coin, during his rule the term rūpee came to be used as the name for a silver coin
• Some of his strategies and contributions were later idolized by the Mughal emperors, most notably Akbar. Suri further developed Humayun’s Dina-panah city and named it Shergarh and revived the historical city of Pataliputra, which had been in decline since the 7th century CE, as Patna.
• He extended the Grand Trunk Road from Chittagong in the frontiers of the province of Bengal in northeast India to Kabul in Afghanistan in the far northwest of the country. The influence of his innovations and reforms extended far beyond his brief reign; his arch foe, Humayun, referred to him as “Ustad-I-Badshahan”, teacher of kings.

Akbar”the Great”

• Akbar (1542–1605) succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan.
• Bairam khan helped young Akabar to expand and consolidate Mughal domains in India.
• Akbar was accorded the epithet “the Great” because of his many accomplishments, including his record of unbeaten military campaigns that consolidated Mughal rule in the Indian subcontinent.
• The Mansabdari system has been acclaimed for its role in upholding Mughal power in the time of Akbar. Under this system, each officer in the army was assigned a rank (a mansabdar), and assigned a number of cavalry that he had to supply to the imperial army.
• To unify the vast Mughal state, Akbar established a centralised system of administration throughout his empire and adopted a policy of conciliating conquered rulers through marriage and diplomacy.
• He created a powerful military system and instituted effective political and social reforms.
• To preserve peace and order in a religiously and culturally diverse empire, he adopted policies that won him the support of his non-Muslim subjects.  By abolishing, jaziya, the sectarian tax on non-Muslims and appointing them to high civil and military posts, he was the first Mughal ruler to win the trust and loyalty of the native.
• Akbar was a follower of Salim Chishti, a holy man who lived in the region of Sikri near Agra. Believing the area to be a lucky one for himself, he had a mosque constructed there for the use of the priest.
• Subsequently, he celebrated the victories over Chittor and Ranthambore by laying the foundation of a new walled capital, 23 miles (37 km) west of Agra in 1569, which was named Fatehpur (“town of victory”) after the conquest of Gujarat in 1573 and subsequently came to be known as Fatehpur Sikri in order to distinguish it from other similarly named towns.
• Akbar an orthodox Muslim at the outset, later came to be influenced by Sufi mysticism and moved away from orthodoxy, appointed to his court several talented people with liberal ideas, including Abul Fazl, Faizi and Birbal. In 1575, he built a hall called the Ibadat Khana (“House of Worship”) at Fatehpur Sikri where he tried to promote Din-i-Ilahi, under which he opened the Ibadat Khana to people of all religions as well as atheists for discussion on spiritual issues.
• The Akbarnāma  or Book of Akbar is an official biographical account of Akbar, the third Mughal Emperor (1542–1605), written in Persian by Abul Fazl, one of the Nine Jewels ( Navaratnas) of Akbar’s royal court. It is stated that the book took seven years to be completed and the original manuscripts contained a number of paintings supporting the texts, and all the paintings represented the Mughal School of painting.

Shivaji

• Shivaji Bhonsale I (1630 – 1680), also referred to as Chhatrapati Shivaji was a member of the Bhonsle Maratha clan.
• Shivaji carved out an enclave from the declining Adilshahi sultanate of Bijapur that formed the genesis of the Maratha Empire. In 1674, he was formally crowned the Chhatrapati of his realm at Raigad.
• Over the course of his life, Shivaji engaged in both alliances and hostilities with the Mughal Empire, the Sultanate of Golkonda, Sultanate of Bijapur and the European colonial powers.
• Shivaji’s military forces expanded the Maratha sphere of influence, capturing and building forts, and forming a Maratha navy.
• Shivaji established a competent and progressive civil rule with well-structured administrative organisations. He revived ancient Hindu political traditions, court conventions and promoted the usage of the Marathi and Sanskrit languages, replacing Persian in court and administration.
• Shivaji’s legacy gained importance during Indian independence movement, as many Indian nationalists elevated him as a proto-nationalist and hero of the Hindus.

Shah Jahan

• Shahab-ud-din Muhammad Khurram (1592  –1666 ) better known by his regnal name, Shah Jahan was the fifth Mughal emperor of India, and reigned from 1628 to 1658.
• Historian J. L. Mehta wrote that under Shah Jahan’s reign, the Mughal Empire reached the peak of its glory.
• Shah Jahan is best remembered for his architectural achievements. His reign ushered in the golden age of Mughal architecture. Shah Jahan commissioned many monuments, the best known of which is the Taj Mahal in Agra, in which is entombed his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
• His rule saw many grand building projects, including the Red Fort and the Shah Jahan Mosque.
• Foreign affairs saw war with the Safavids, aggressive campaigns against the Shia Deccan Sultanates, conflict with the Portuguese, and positive relations with the Ottoman Empire. Domestic concerns included putting down numerous rebellions, and the devastating famine from 1630-32.
• Shah Jahan was son of the Mughal King Jehangir.  Emperor Aurangzeb, Shah Jahan’s son, put his father under house arrest in Agra Fort from July 1658 until his death in January 1666.

Bahadur Shah zafar

• Bahadur Shah II, usually referred to by his poetic title Bahadur Shah Zafar was born Mirza Abu Zafar Siraj-ud-din Muhammad (1775 – 1862) and was the twentieth and last Mughal Emperor of India. He was the second son and the successor to his father, Akbar II, who died on 28th September 1837.
• He was a titular Emperor, as the Mughal Empire existed in name only and his authority was limited only to the walled city of Old Delhi (Shahjahanbad).
• Following his involvement in the Indian Mutiny of 1857, the British exiled him to Rangoon in British-controlled Burma, after convicting him on several charges.
• Bahadur Shah Zafar was a noted Urdu poet, having written a number of Urdu ghazals. While some part of his opus was lost or destroyed during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, a large collection did survive, and was compiled into the Kulliyyat-i-Zafar.