Introduction:
India boasts a rich and vibrant history, most of it ingrained in its many empires. It has created many Top Powerful Kings in India in history. It played host to the ebb and flow of empire-building since around 600 BCE.
Its position at the confluence of east and west has also seen it come under fire from various would-be conquerors, including the Mongols of Genghis Khan and Timur, the Persian Achaemenids under Cyrus the Great, and even the Macedonian warrior Alexander the Great.
List Of Top Powerful Kings in India:
Table of Contents
Chandragupta Maurya:
Chandragupta Maurya (Image Source: indiaonline.in)
Chandragupta Maurya is one of the top 10 powerful kings in India. He founded the Maurya Empire, which stretched across Kashmir in the north to Deccan Plateau in the south and Afghanistan and Balochistan in the west to Bengal and Assam in the east. He seized the Macedonian territories and conquered the eastern territories of Alexander’s general Seleucus making his territory even larger.
Maurya was one of the most important rulers in the history of India and is credited with unifying small independent states in India to form a large single kingdom under one administration. Under the tutelage of his advisor, Chanakya, Chandragupta assembled a band of men to rebel against the incumbent ruler.
A young Chandragupta Maurya destroyed the Nanda dynasty, which ruled most of northern India. This was quite an achievement for a 20-year-old. Chandragupta Maurya was born in 340 BC in Bihar and was guided by Chanaka, great Brahmin economics, and political science scholar, who later became his mentor.
Details of his birth parents are uncertain- he is said to have been born to a Namda Prince and his maidservant Mura, or that he was from the Moriya tribe of Peacock tamers. As already established, Chandragupta Maurya conquered most of the Indian subcontinent, establishing one of the largest empires ever seen in India’s history.
He is known and honored for this feat. His son Bindusara succeeded him after he abandoned his throne and converted to Jainism. Maurya traveled to Shravanabelagola, a famous religious site in south India where he meditated and fasted to his death in 298 BC. Overall he is one of the top powerful kings in India.
Emperor Ashoka:
Emperor Ashoka (Image Source: quora.com)
The grandson of Chandragupta, Ashoka was one of India’s top 10 powerful kings. He was also known as ‘Ashoka the Great’ as he ruled almost the entire Indian subcontinent. He focused on expanding his empire continuously. His reign is considered one of India’s most glorious periods. Loyal ministers helped him to the throne in favor of the rightful heir, and he’s said to have been a cruel and aggressive King, gaining the nickname “Ashoka the Fierce” due to his ownership of an ornately decorated torture chamber.
The Emperor waged a bitter war against Kalinga, a feudal republic on the east coast, beginning around 261 BCE. This bloodiest of conflicts cost the lives of around 150,000 Kalinga warriors and 100,000 Mauryan men, and is said to have caused the Daya River to run red.
The aftermath, in which Kalinga was ransacked and thousands of people were deported, caused Ashoka to reappraise his attitude towards war and, on his subsequent conversion to Buddhism, he vowed never to take another human life. Such was his adherence to the faith, he had around 84,000 stupas built and gave millions of pieces of gold to the monastic order. Overall he is one of the top powerful kings in India.
Ajatasatru Haryanka Emperor:
Ajatasatru Haryanka Emperor (Image Source: thefamouspeople.com)
Ajatasatru was the son of Maharaja Bimbisara, one of the top 10 powerful kings in India. The earliest rulers of the ancient kingdom of Magadha in north-east India. Bimbisara became head of the Haryanka dynasty in 543 BCE, whereupon he set about expanding his territory through marriage and conquest.
However, in his own desire for power, and due to a family misunderstanding, the Prince had his father imprisoned before taking the throne for himself. Ajatasatru would go on to expand the Magadha empire, defeating no fewer than 36 neighboring states in the process, and spent 15 years battling the Licchavi Republic in the Vajji region of Nepal.
During these battles, he employed two new weapons: a catapult and a covered chariot with a swinging mace, which has been likened to a modern-day tank. Eventually, he would preside over a huge kingdom covering the northern tip of India, from Bengal in the east to Punjab in the west, and north into Nepal. Moreover, he is one of the top powerful kings in India.
Emperor Krishnadevaraya:
Emperor Krishnadevaraya (Image Source: amazon.in)
He was the emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire one of the top 10 powerful kings in India. Krishnadevaraya consolidated the empire, defeating the Bahmani Sultans and Portuguese and the Bahmani Sultans, thereby conquering their fortresses of Bidar, Gulbarga, Raichur, and Bijapur. He seized and captured the fortresses of Udayagiri, Kondavalli, and Kondavidu.
The first few years of his reign were spent averting sieges. Emperor Krishnadevaraya had a great track record of brilliant achievements and was able to maintain political stability. His success is often compared to that of the greatest emperors of Asia and Europe.
His territory encompassed three different powerful regions, with each referring to him by different titles such as King of three Kings. Krishnadevaraya also made smart trade decisions- he capitalized on the presence of the Portuguese, buying Arabian horses and guns, and improving the supply of water in Vijayanagara City. No wonder he is one of the top powerful kings in India.
Bahadur Shah Zafar:
Bahadur Shah Zafar (Image Source: siasat.com)
Bahadur Shah Zafar is one of the top powerful kings in India. He was born in 1775 in Delhi, He was a second son to Akbar Shah II and Lai Bai thus was not the first pick to take over from his father. Two of his teachers exposed him to and made him fall in love with poetry.
Zafar would have much rather pursued Sufism, music, and literature than politics. Emperor Zafar ruled over a relatively small empire at a time when the East India Company was gaining political power in India. He had very little power over India which had by now broken into hundreds of Kingdoms and principalities.
During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, Emperor Zafar played a prominent role in fighting for India’s independence from British Rule- the British had grossly underestimated him. Emperor Zafar was keen to have religious tolerance in his empire.
He promoted religious fairness but did not support the extremist views of some Orthodox Muslim sheiks. The decline of Emperor Zafar’s empire is attributed to the British invasion. Zafar lost many male members of his family who were killed by the British. Moreover, he is one of the top powerful kings in India.
King Shivaji:
King Shivaji (Image Source: india-a2z.com)
King Shivaji was born in 1630 into a family of Maratha bureaucrats. He is one of the top 10 powerful kings in India. His father was a Maratha general in the army of the Bijapur Sultanate, and Jijabai. His Mother had him grow up studying religious teachings of Hindu and Sufi saints- she was very religious.
Dadoji Konddeo was Shivaji’s administrator who played a big role in his upbringing after Shivaji’s father left with his second wife. He taught him how to ride a horse, archery, marksmanship, Patta, and other fighting techniques. King Shivaji’s first conquest was at age 16 when he attacked and captured Torna Fort.
He captured three other Forts in succession. Shivaji respected all religions and was unbiased towards other castes and communities. King Shivaji’s rule saw the rising of a strong and powerful army, comprising infantry and cavalry.
He had his army trained in sophisticated warring methods. He also organized a commanding and disciplined navy, including 200 warships. The navy protected his empire’s coastline from the Portuguese, British, Dutch, Siddis, and Mughals. This earned him the title ‘Father of Indian Navy’. That’s why he is one of the top powerful kings in India.
Emperor Humayun:
Emperor Humayun (Image Source: tshistorical.com)
Emperor Humayun is one of the top 10 powerful kings in India. He was born in 1508 to the founder of the Mughal dynasty Babur and Maham Begum. He was born into a large family, many of whom he would contend with for authority and sovereignty. Growing up he learned Turki, Arabic, and Persian and was trained for military duties as well.
Humayun had an interest in mathematics, philosophy, and astrology. By age 20, Humayun had been appointed governor of Badakhshan and, fought at Panipat and Khanwa. Emperor Humayun is famous for leaving a rich legacy for his son Akbar- his peaceful demeanor and patience as a leader were admirable.
The Mughals referred to him as ‘Perfect Man’. He was also discerning and strategic. Emperor Humayun delegated army leadership to Bairam Khan, knowing his shortcoming when it came to military leadership. This delegation resulted in the recapturing of Delhi.
It must have been a grueling and tasking genesis to his rule as Humayun spent his first few years as Emperor fending off rivals interested in his land. While he lost several of his territories early on in his rule, he recovered them after a few years.
Emperor Humayun’s territories may have been seen as a soft target but he did consolidate them. Humayun can be said to have died a senseless death, that is however commonplace- a fall down the stairs cost him his life in 1556 and not the many battles he fought to expand his empire. Overall he is one of the top powerful kings in India.
Maharaja Ranjit Singh:
Maharaja Ranjit Singh (Image Source: dnaindia.com)
At the age of 21, he proclaimed the Maharaja of Punjab. He is one of the top 10 powerful kings in India. This was because he fought many battles, the first being with his father at an early age of 10 years while the other he fought after the death of his father against the Afghans.
Surprisingly, his empire grew in the Punjab in which, which had various warrings misls, twelve of which were under Sikh rulers and one Muslim. He was a successful ruler, the fact that he was able to absorb and unite the Sikh misls while taking over other Kingdoms to create Sikh Empire was enough evidence that he succeeded in his reign.
Basically, he won many battles which involved outside armies like those from Afghanistan. Most importantly, he established friendly relations with the British. During his rule, he initiated reforms, modernization, investment, infrastructure, and general prosperity. His Khalsa army and government included Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims, and Europeans.
His legacy includes a period of Sikh cultural and artistic renaissance, including the rebuilding of the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar as well as other major gurudwaras, including Takht Sri Patna Sahib, Bihar, and Hazur Sahib Nanded, Maharashtra under his sponsorship. Maharaja Ranjit Singh was succeeded by his son Maharaja Kharak Singh. No wonder he is one of the top powerful kings in India.
Prithviraj Chouhan:
Prithviraj Chouhan (Image Source: zeebiz.com)
Prithviraj is recognized as the greatest warrior in Indian history. He is one of the top 10 powerful kings in India. He inherited the kingdom of Ajmer when, at the age of thirteen in 1179, his father was killed in battle. The ruler of Delhi, his grandfather Angam, named him the heir to the kingdom after learning of his bravery and courage.
He once killed a lion by using nothing except his power. He was known as the King of the Warriors. The final independent Hindu ruler of Delhi was Chauhan. At the age of 20, he seized control of the twin towns of Ajmer and Delhi and established himself as the ruler. He defeated Gujarat’s ruthless king Bheemdev at the age of barely thirteen. Overall he is one of the top powerful kings in India.
Kanishka The Great:
Kanishka The Great (Image Source: commons.wikimedia.org)
He was one of the top 10 powerful kings in India. He was an emperor of the Kushan dynasty in the second century. He was famous because of his military, political and spiritual achievements. However, he was a descendant of Kujula Kadphises, the founder of the Kushan empire.
He came to rule an empire in Bactria extending to Pataliputra on the Gangetic plain. His conquests and patronage of Buddhism played an important role in the development of the Silk Road, and in the transmission of Mahayana Buddhism from Gandhara across the Karakoram range to China.
Around 127 CE. He replaced Greek with Bactrian as the official language of administration in the empire. Earlier scholars believed that Kanishka ascended the Kushan throne in 78 CE. Further, this date was used as the beginning of the Saka calendar era. However, historians no longer regard this date as that of Kanishka’s accession. Falk estimates that Kanishka came to the throne in 127 CE. Moreover, he is one of the top powerful kings in India.
FAQs About Top Powerful Kings in India:
Who is the strongest king in India?
Chandragupta Maurya
Who is bravest king in India?
- Porus
- Maharana Pratap
- Chhatrapati Shivaji
Who is the bravest king in the world?
Alexander the Great
Who is the fearless king of India?
Maharana Pratap
Which king lost India?
Wajid Ali Shah
Which king never lost a war?
Alexander the Great
Who was the world’s strongest ruler?
Genghis Khan
Who was the weakest king of India?
Humayun
Who was the most intelligent and strong king in India?
Shivaji has long been described in Marathi as Janata Raja, the Knowing King. His intelligence was one among many virtues that have endeared him to the people of his native Maharashtra for centuries.
Who are the 5 great kings of India?
This book – ‘The Five Great Indian Kings and The Legendary King Maker’ holds the many tales of the five efficient Indian rulers – Maharaja Porus, Chandragupta Maurya, Ashoka the Great, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, and Maharana Pratap, and the greatest ancient Indian teacher – Chanakya.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, these are the Top Powerful Kings in India. These kings have fought the toughest battles and rules for years and years.
