Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

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Sunni Ali Ber (Sunni Ali the Great)

Sonni Ali Ber / Si Ali

Songhai Empire (Mali)

c. 1440 – 1492 (52 years old)

Founder of the Songhai Empire who forged the greatest state in West African history through naval cavalry dominance on the Niger River.

Gao, Mali

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

12

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Mehmed II (Fatih Sultan Mehmed / The Conqueror)

فاتح سلطان محمد / Fatih Sultan Mehmed

Turkey

30 March 1432 – 3 May 1481 (49 years old)

Seventh Ottoman Sultan who conquered Constantinople in 1453 at age twenty-one, bringing an end to the Byzantine Empire and the Middle Ages. A Renaissance polyglot who spoke six languages and issued the Ahdname charter protecting religious freedom.

Gebze, Turkey

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

2

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Oba Ewuare

Ewuare Ogidigan (Ewuare the Great)

Kingdom of Benin

c. 1440 CE – c. 1473 CE (33 years old)

Transformative Oba of Benin known as Ewuare the Great who transformed Benin from a city-state into a vast maritime empire, rebuilt Benin City with massive earthwork moats, and patronized brass casting.

Benin City (Edo State), Nigeria

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

5

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Pachacuti

Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui (Pachakutiq)

Kingdom of Cusco

c. 1418 CE – c. 1471 CE (53 years old)

Ninth Sapa Inca who transformed the modest Kingdom of Cusco into the colossal Inca Empire (Tawantinsuyu), rebuilt Cusco in the shape of a puma, and constructed the sanctuary of Machu Picchu.

Cusco, Peru

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

5

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Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui

Pachakutiq Inka Yupanki

Kingdom of Cusco (Peru)

c. 1418 – c. 1471 (53 years old)

Ninth Sapa Inca whose military genius transformed the Kingdom of Cusco into Tawantinsuyu (Inca Empire) and who commissioned Machu Picchu.

Cusco, Peru

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

2

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Zara Yaqob (Emperor)

ዘርአ ያዕቆብ

Ethiopian Empire

1399 – 1468 (69 years old)

Fifteenth-century Emperor of Ethiopia from the Solomonic Dynasty whose thirty-four-year reign represented the golden age of medieval Ethiopian power, literature, and church organization.

Lake Tana, Ethiopia

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

4

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Constantine XI Palaiologos

Κωνσταντῖνος ΙΑ΄ Δραγάσης Παλαιολόγος

Turkey

1405 – 1453 (48 years old)

Last Emperor of the Byzantine Empire who died fighting heroically on the walls of Constantinople during the final Ottoman assault in 1453.

Constantinople (Istanbul), Turkey

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

13

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Sejong the Great (King of Joseon Korea)

세종대왕 (世宗大王)

South Korea

15 May 1397 – 8 April 1450 (52 years old)

Fourth King of the Joseon Dynasty revered as Korea's greatest monarch. Personally invented the Hangul phonetic alphabet in 1443 so common citizens could read and write, and sponsored world-pioneering rain gauges, celestial globes, and sundials.

Hanseong (Seoul), South Korea

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

3

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Yongle Emperor

明成祖 (朱棣)

Yuan / Early Ming

1360 – 1424 (64 years old)

Third emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1402–1424) Zhu Di, who constructed the colossal Forbidden City in Beijing, rebuilt the Grand Canal, commissioned the 11,000-volume Yongle Encyclopedia, and launched Admiral Zheng He's legendary treasure fleet voyages across the Indian Ocean.

Changping (Beijing), China

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

5

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Yongle Emperor (Zhu Di)

永乐帝 朱棣 (Chengzu)

Ming Dynasty (China)

1360 – 1424 (64 years old)

Third Ming Emperor who built the Forbidden City, moved the capital to Beijing, compiled the Yongle Encyclopedia, and launched Zheng He's treasure voyages.

Changping, Beijing, China

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

3

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Henry V of England

Henry of Monmouth

Kingdom of England

1386 – 1422 (35 years old)

Warrior King of England celebrated for his legendary victory against overwhelming odds at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.

London, United Kingdom

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

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Margaret I of Denmark (Margrete I)

Margrete Valdemarsdatter

Kingdom of Denmark

c. 1353 – 1412 (59 years old)

Master Scandinavian queen who created the Kalmar Union in 1397, uniting the three Nordic kingdoms of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.

Roskilde, Zealand, Denmark

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

3

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Hongwu Emperor

明太祖 (朱元璋)

Yuan Dynasty (Mongol Empire)

1328 – 1398 (69 years old)

Founder of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1398) Zhu Yuanzhang, who rose from an orphaned beggar and Buddhist novice monk to lead the Red Turban rebellion that expelled the Mongol Yuan dynasty from China, restoring native Han rule.

Nanjing (Jiangsu), China

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

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Hongwu Emperor (Zhu Yuanzhang)

明太祖 朱元璋 (Zhu Yuanzhang)

Yuan Dynasty (China)

1328 – 1398 (69 years old)

Peasant monk who rose to lead the Red Turban Rebellion, drove out the Mongol Yuan Dynasty, and founded the native Chinese Ming Dynasty.

Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

3

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Abu Hammou Moussa II

أبو حمو موسى الثاني

🌐 Kingdom of Granada

1323 – 1389 (66 years old)

Zayyanid Sultan of Tlemcen, patron of arts and letters, celebrated poet, and author of the political treatise 'Wasitat al-Suluk', who restored Tlemcen's glory after Marinid occupations.

Tlemcen, Algeria

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

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Hayam Wuruk

Hayam Wuruk (Sri Rajasanagara)

Majapahit Empire

1334 – 1389 (55 years old)

Fourth monarch of the Majapahit Empire whose reign alongside Prime Minister Gajah Mada represented the golden age of Indonesian maritime unity and classical Javanese culture.

Nganjuk (East Java), Indonesia

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

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Hayam Wuruk (Sri Rajasanagara / Emperor of Majapahit)

Hayam Wuruk (Śrī Rājasanagara)

Indonesia

c. 1334 CE – c. 1389 CE (55 years old)

Fourth monarch of the Majapahit Empire who, alongside Prime Minister Gajah Mada, guided Java to its golden age, uniting the entire Indonesian archipelago (Nusantara) from Sumatra to Papua under the national motto "Bhinneka Tunggal Ika" (Unity in Diversity).

Trowulan, Indonesia

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Monarchs, Kings & Royalty

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Edward III of England

Edward of Windsor

Kingdom of England

1312 – 1377 (64 years old)

Plantagenet King whose fifty-year reign transformed England into a supreme military power and launched the Hundred Years' War.

London, United Kingdom

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