1783-1824
Akbar the Great, Muslim emperor of India, established a sprawling kingdom through military conquests, but is known for his policy of religious tolerance.
1542-1605
Akihito has been emperor of Japan since 1989 and is, according to tradition, the 125th direct descendant of Jimmu, Japan's legendary first emperor.
1933-
1502-1533
63-14
As Emperor of Rome from 161-180, Marcus Aurelius kept the empire safe from the Parthians and Germans, but is best known for his intellectual pursuits.
121-180
Jean-Bedel Bokassa was the president of the Central African Republic (1966-1976) and a self-proclaimed emperor of the Central African Empire (1976-1979).
1921-1996
Napoleon Bonaparte was a military general who became the first emperor of France. His drive for military expansion changed the world.
1769-1821
12-41
Charlemagne was the founder of the Carolingian Empire, best known for uniting Western Europe for the first time since the fall of the Roman Empire.
742-814
Charles of Blois was a rival duke of Brittany in the mid-1300s.
1319-1364
Charles I was a monarch of the Hapsburg line who was the last emperor of Austria and king of Hungary. He lost his throne at the end of World War I.
1887-1922
Constantine I was the first Christian Roman emperor. He ruled at the beginning of the 4th century and began the evolution of the empire into a Christian state.
280-337
Cuauhtémoc was the last Aztec Emperor, ruling from 1520 to 1521. He was tortured and killed by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés in 1522.
1495-1525
Jean-Jacques Dessalines was a military leader who worked with Toussaint l'Ouverture and gave the country of Haiti its name.
1758-1806
Domitian was a Roman emperor from years AD 81 to 96 and was known for the reign of terror members of the Senate lived under in his last years.
51-96
1708-1765
76-138
Henry IV Holy Roman Emperor became king of Germany in 1056 and was abdicated in 1105. He overthrew Pope Gregory VII because of a disagreement about imperial rule.
1050-1106
Henry V served as joint king of Germany with Henry IV until he forced his father to abdicate the throne. Holy Roman emperor from 1111 to 1125, he was the last of the Salian line.
1086-1125
Henry VI was the German king and Holy Roman emperor (1165-1197). His main achievement was increasing his dynasty's power by acquiring of the kingdom of Sicily.
1165-1197
Henry VII became the first House of Luxembourg member to serve as king of Germany in 1308. In 1312, he became the House of Luxembourg's first Holy Roman Emperor.
1275-1313
Hirohito is best known for being Japan's longest-reigning emperor. His reign lasted from 1926 until his death in 1989. He was a controversial leader who led Japan's military to surrender to the Allied Forces in 1945.
1901-1989
Holy Roman emperor Joseph II tried to strengthen the Habsburg empire with his enlightened reforms, but the changes he made were met with fierce opposition.
1741-1790
Mongolian general and statesman Kublai Khan was the grandson of Genghis Khan. He conquered China, founding and becoming the first emperor of the country's Yuan Dynasty.
1215-1294
Leopold I was Holy Roman emperor during whose lengthy reign Austria emerged from a series of struggles to become a great European power.
1640-1705
1747-1792
1428-1443
Louis I succeeded his father, Charlemagne, as emperor, serving as ruler of the Franks for 26 years.
778-840
Maximilian was the Archduke of Austria and the Emperor of Mexico from 1863-1867. He was executed in 1867 by President Benito Juárez's victorious forces.
1832-1867
1527-1576
1844-1913
1466-1520
Napoleon III, the nephew of Napoleon I, was emperor of France from 1852 to 1870. His downfall came during the Franco-Prussian War, when his efforts to defeat Otto Von Bismarck ended in his capture.
1808-1873
As Roman emperor, Nero’s reign was lavish and tyrannical. He killed his mother, persecuted Christians and is said to have "fiddled while Rome burned."
37-68
Paul I of Russia served as the nation's emperor for a brief, tyrannical five years before he was assassinated 1801.
1754-1801
Peter III was the Emperor of Russia for a mere six months in 1762 before he was overthrown by his wife, Catherine the Great, and assassinated in 1762.
1728-1762
Emperor Haile Selassie I worked to modernize Ethiopia for several decades before famine and political opposition forced him from office in 1974.
1892-1975
Tiberius was an ancient Roman emperor who ruled from year 14 to 37.
42-37
Titus was Roman Emperor from 79-81 AD who--during his short reign--completed the Colosseum and dealt with the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
39-81
1156-1987
1569-1618