Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

2

🕯️ 0

Jahangir

نور الدین محمد جہانگیر

Mughal Empire

1569 – 1627 (58 years old)

Fourth Mughal Emperor who patronized the golden age of Mughal miniature painting, established the 'Chain of Justice' (Zanjir-i Adl) at Agra, and recorded acute natural history observations in Jahangirnama.

Shahdara Bagh (Lahore), Pakistan

2 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

10

🕯️ 1,240

Tokugawa Ieyasu (First Tokugawa Shogun)

徳川 家康 (Tokugawa Ieyasu)

Japan

31 January 1543 – 1 June 1616 (73 years old)

Third and final "Great Unifier" of Japan who triumphed at the Battle of Sekigahara (1600). Established the Tokugawa Shogunate and made Edo (Tokyo) the seat of government, inaugurating two and a half centuries of peace, stability, and cultural flourishing.

Sunpu Castle (Shizuoka), Japan

10 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

2

🕯️ 0

Henry IV of France (Good King Henry)

Henri IV (Le Vert Galant)

Kingdom of Navarre (France)

1553 – 1610 (56 years old)

First Bourbon King of France who ended the Wars of Religion by issuing the Edict of Nantes and promised 'a chicken in every pot'.

Saint-Denis, Paris, France

2 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

15

🕯️ 1,440

Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar (Akbar the Great)

جلال الدین محمد اکبر (Akbar)

Pakistan

15 October 1542 – 27 October 1605 (63 years old)

Third Mughal Emperor celebrated for tripling the empire's size, abolishing the sectarian Jizya tax on non-Muslims, establishing the Ibadat Khana interfaith debate hall, and promoting the doctrine of universal harmony (Sulh-i-Kul).

Fatehpur Sikri, India

15 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

1

🕯️ 0

King Naresuan the Great

สมเด็จพระนเรศวรมหาราช

Ayutthaya Kingdom

1555 – 1605 (50 years old)

King of the Ayutthaya Kingdom celebrated as Siam's greatest warrior monarch, who liberated Siam from Burmese vassalage and won the legendary elephant duel at Nong Sarai in 1593.

Ayutthaya, Thailand

1 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

4

🕯️ 0

Ahmad al-Mansur

أحمد المنصور السعدي (الذهبي)

Saadian Sultanate

1549 – 1603 (54 years old)

Glorious Saadian Sultan of Morocco known as 'Al-Dhahabi' (The Golden), who triumphed at the historic Battle of the Three Kings in 1578, conquered the Songhai Empire in Timbuktu, and constructed the opulent El Badi Palace.

Marrakech, Morocco

4 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

10

🕯️ 1,430

Elizabeth I (The Virgin Queen / Gloriana)

Elizabeth I of England

United Kingdom

7 September 1533 – 24 March 1603 (69 years old)

Tudor monarch who ruled England for forty-four years during the Elizabethan Golden Age. Consolidated the Church of England, defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588, and patronized the flourishing Renaissance of William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe.

Richmond Palace, United Kingdom

10 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

1

🕯️ 0

Idris Alooma

Idris Alooma (Mai of Kanem-Bornu)

🌐 Kanem-Bornu Empire

c. 1571 CE – c. 1603 CE (32 years old)

Renowned Mai (Emperor) of the Kanem-Bornu Empire who modernized his army with Ottoman firearms, camel cavalry, and established legal and administrative reforms based on Islamic law.

Yobe State, Nigeria

1 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

3

🕯️ 0

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

豊臣秀吉

Japan

1537 – 1598 (61 years old)

Second of the 'Three Great Unifiers' of Japan who rose from peasant foot-soldier to Imperial Regent (Kampaku), unifying feudal Sengoku Japan.

Kyoto, Japan

3 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

3

🕯️ 0

Philip II of Spain

Felipe II de España (El Prudente)

Kingdom of Spain

1527 – 1598 (71 years old)

King of Spain during its Golden Age, champion of the Counter-Reformation, builder of El Escorial, and ruler of the Iberian Union.

San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Madrid, Spain

3 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

2

🕯️ 0

Alvaro I of Kongo

Álvaro I Nimi a Lukeni lua Mvemba

Kingdom of Kongo

c. 1530 CE – 1587 (57 years old)

Manikongo (King) of the Kingdom of Kongo who reclaimed his throne from the devastating Jaga invasions with Portuguese assistance and Europeanized Kongo's royal court ceremonies.

Mbanza Kongo, Angola

2 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

3

🕯️ 0

Mary, Queen of Scots

Mary Stuart (Mairi Stiùbhart)

Kingdom of Scotland

1542 – 1587 (44 years old)

Queen of Scotland and Queen Consort of France whose tragic life, imprisonment, and execution made her an immortal romantic martyr.

London, United Kingdom

3 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

5

🕯️ 0

Ivan IV of Russia (Ivan the Terrible)

Иван IV Васильевич (Иван Грозный)

Grand Duchy of Moscow (Russia)

1530 – 1584 (53 years old)

First crowned Tsar of all Russia who conquered the Khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan, opening Siberia and building Saint Basil's Cathedral.

Moscow, Russia

5 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

12

🕯️ 1,190

Oda Nobunaga (First Great Unifier of Japan)

織田 信長 (Oda Nobunaga)

Japan

23 June 1534 – 21 June 1582 (47 years old)

The first of Japan's "Three Great Unifiers" of the Sengoku (Warring States) period. Overthrew the Ashikaga Shogunate, revolutionized samurai tactics with volley-fire matchlock firearms at the Battle of Nagashino, and dismantled feudal economic barriers.

Honnō-ji Temple (Kyoto), Japan

12 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

4

🕯️ 0

King Bayinnaung

ဘုရင့်နောင် ကျော်ထင်နော်ရထာ

Taungoo Kingdom

1516 – 1581 (65 years old)

Third king of the Toungoo Dynasty who assembled the largest empire in the history of Southeast Asia, conquering Siam, Lan Na, and Lan Xang (Laos) across three decades of military campaigns.

Bago (Pegu), Myanmar

4 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

1

🕯️ 0

King Myeongjong of Joseon

조선 명종 (이환)

Joseon Kingdom

1534 – 1567 (33 years old)

Thirteenth monarch of the Joseon Kingdom of Korea who struggled against conservative factionalism, patronized Neo-Confucian scholarship under Yi Hwang (Toegye), and established royal state grain relief.

Nowon-gu (Seoul), South Korea

1 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

10

🕯️ 1,410

Suleiman I (The Magnificent / Kanuni Sultan Süleyman)

سليمان اول / Kanunî Sultan Süleyman

Turkey

6 November 1494 – 6 September 1566 (71 years old)

Tenth and longest-reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1520–1566). Known in the West as "the Magnificent" and in the East as "the Lawgiver" (Kanuni). Oversaw the golden age of Ottoman military supremacy, arts, and monumental architecture.

Szigetvár, Hungary

10 Full Record →

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

5

🕯️ 0

Gustav I of Sweden (Gustav Vasa)

Gustav I (Gustav Eriksson Vasa)

Kalmar Union (Sweden)

1496 – 1560 (64 years old)

Founding father of modern Sweden who led the War of Liberation against Danish rule, introduced the Protestant Reformation, and created hereditary kingship.

Uppsala, Sweden

5 Full Record →