Rulers of India

Jawaharlal Nehru

This Indian statesman succeeded Mahatma Gandhi as leader of the Indian National Congress. He negotiated the end of British colonial rule in India and became India's first Prime Minister, wherein he led the non-aligned movement.

Krishnadevaraya

This king's reign was defined by its military success, driven by his tactical nous and quick thinking. His first acts were to halt the annual plunder of local towns by the Sultans of the Deccan Plateau, when his armies fought and defeated the invaders in 1509. However, the Deccan sultanates continued to be a threat to his realm, and the culmination of his action was the Battle of Raichur in 1520, a turning point in southern Indian history. Despite winning the battle, the Muslim sultans eventually formed a coalition against him and overthrew his Vijayanagar empire.

Pulakesi II

Born with the name Ereya, this king was denied his birthright by his uncle Mangalesa, who was supposed to serve as his regent. In response, Ereya raised an army against his uncle and defeated him at the Battle of Elapattu Simbige. Multiple campaigns saw him suppress rebellions at the Bhima River and Elephanta Island in Mumbai Harbor, gain control of Gujarat, and subjugate the Deccan plateau. He was then defeated in battle by the son of Mahendravarman of the Pallava dynasty at his own capital, Vatapi. Name this 6th century ruler of the Chalukya dynasty.

Narenda Modi

Current Prime Minister of India, as of 2018.

Indira Gandhi

Daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. She was also Prime Minister of India from 1966 to 1977.

Samudragupta

Described by some as "India's Napoleon" (though, unlike Napoleon, he was never defeated in battle), he was a masterful military tactician. Chosen above his elder brothers to succeed King Chandragupta I, the young man immediately set out on a series of military expeditions in order to expand the empire and unify the subcontinent. A keen patron of the arts, his reign was also responsible for fostering music, science, literature, and religious freedom, a period often referred to as "the Golden Age of India". Name this leader of the Gupta dynasty from 335-375.

Akbar I

Following his father Hamayun's footsteps, this emperor became the third ruler of his empire in 1556 and greatly expanded the realm until it encompassed a huge swathe of the subcontinent. He was a skilled military organizer and crafted his army into an effective fighting force, incorporating proper structures, employing fortifications, and innovating with the use of cannons and matchlocks (early firearms) acquired from Europe. Over the next 20 years, he would conquer the Punjab, Rajputana, Gujarat, and Bengal. After dealing with domestic affairs, he subdued the Indus Valley and Kashmir to secure his northern borders, while Baluchistan and Kandahar were absorbed into the empire in the early 1590s. His progressive thinking helped to integrate conquered territories by diplomatic means and changed the state to become more liberal. Name this descendant of Babur, Tamerlane, and Genghis Khan, who led the Mughal empire.

Ashoka

This man was helped by local ministers in his ascension to the throne and is said to have been a cruel and aggressive king, gaining the nickname "the Fierce" due to his ownership of an ornately decorated torture chamber. He waged a bitter war against Kalinga, a feudal republic on the east coast of India, beginning around 261 BCE. That bloody conflict cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of people from both sides and is said to have caused the Daya River to run red. After winning the war, this emperor, grandson of Chandragupta Maurya, converted to Buddhism.

Ajatasatru

This son of Maharaja Bimbisara, one of the earliest rulers of the ancient kingdom of Magadha in northeast India, had his father imprisoned and killed before taking the throne for himself. Bimbisara became head of the Haryanka dynasty in 543 BCE, whereupon he set about expanding his territory through marriage and conquest. This ruler would go on to expand the Magadha empire, defeating his enemies with new weapons, including catapults and chariots.

Shivaji Blonsle

This son of a general was born in Pune in the west of India. Ill-educated, he took to roaming the hills along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau with a band of men from the region of Maharashtra. In 1659, the General Afzal Khan and 10,000 troops were sent by the Sultan of Bijapur to deal with him and his raiders at their fortress in Pratapgarh. A meeting was planned for his surrender, but he bore concealed weapons, with which he disembowelled the General. He then won a battle against the 10,000 Bijapuri troops. This signalled the beginning of the Maratha empire. Name this man crowned King of the Marathas in 1674.

Chandragupta Maurya

Under the tutelage of his advisor, Chanakya, this man incited civil unrest and overthrew Dhana Nanda to become the new King of Magadha. He then defeated the Macedonian prefects left in place by Alexander the Great and took the Persian territories of the Greek General Seleucus before heading south to capture the Deccan Plateau, founding the Mauryan Empire and subsequently uniting the subcontinent of India to create the largest empire of his time.

Raja Raja Chola I

When he came to power, he faced opposition from the Pandya, Chera, and Sinhala kingdoms. He then went on the offensive in year 994 and eventually conquered Pandya and Chera. His final resistance, Sinhala, was vanquished in Sri Lanka as his dynasty occupied the north of the island. Through a series of wars, he subdued various kingdoms, including the Chalukya empire, and expanded the Chola empire throughout southern India.

Aurangzeb

When the emperor Shah Jahan fell ill in 1658, this son of his, the governor of the Deccan, defeated his three brothers and occupied the capital, Agra. As the uncontested emperor, this man embarked on a campaign of military expansion, and his 49-year reign is notable as a period of almost perpetual warfare. When Bijapur refused to be a vassal state, he sent an army of around 50k men to lay siege to the fort there. By the end of his reign, he ruled over a vast empire incorporating most of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan--a combined area that was home to hundreds of millions of people. Name this Mughal emperor who was the great-grandson of Akbar I.