Who was the Greatest Emperor in South Asian History?

[ushikra]

And while we are on this subject, how about George V or Edward VII or Queen Victoria. Sure they are not Natives of South Asia, but so is Babur and he's on the list.

 

[Rusty]

Asoka,why is this even a contest.Asoka is considered among the greatest emperors of all human history along with augustus,charlemagne,suleiman,cyrus.
A conqueror will never be the equal of an emperor who raised the living standard of the common people.Many of the above were conqueror's but they all did good for the common man.



He's timurid actually.That is central asian.Modern day say uzbek.

I don't mean to troll but how can a guy who was almost forgotten by history be the "Greatest"?
You have to thank the British for reminding India (forget the world) about his assistance.


Personally I say Aurangzeb, he brought about the peak of the Mughal empire and provided the strongest government. He was also a model ruler in that it is said that he used to sow topis for his income instead of taking it from the treasury, and had more Hindu noblemen in his courts than even Akbar.

 

[Bang Galore]

I always detest when I see "Great" and "Emperor" in the same sentence, However, I was wondering why Harsha Verdhana was not on the list.

Maybe because he got his backside handed to him by Pulakesi II.

Religious bigots are almost directly excluded from 'greatest ' title because a truly great emperor looks upon the well being of all his subjects equally .Besides he may have saved the subcontinent from mongol devastation ,but made up with devastation caused by himself.He despite being extremely capable was arrogant to the point of being delusional.He was so overwhelmed by his own success that he proclaimed himself 'sikander i sani' or the second alexander and dreamt of conquering the world,also he even thought of starting a new religion with himself as divine head!

Difficult to easily classify Alauddin Khilji as an out & out bigot. True he destroyed some temples but he was equally sharp in putting down the ulema when they asked for more strict islamisation (essentially telling them to stick to religion & to leave politics to him). All "Great" kings were arrogant, difficult to see that as factor for exclusion.

 

[genmirajborgza786]

Ashoka, & Barbur were among-st the greatest
but
Queen Victoria was the greatest of them all

 

[RazPaK]

Why are Indians upset?

 

[dollarman]

Depends what the criteria is. Ashoka, Chandragupta Maurya and Akbar for me. Of all the rulers to ever rule India, the biggest empire by area was the Mauryan empire under Chandragupta Maurya and Ashoka, even bigger than the the British empire which would probably be number 2.

 

[Bang Galore]

I really don't think this list of the "Greatest" emperors is in any way complete. No Krishna Deva Raya of the Vijaynagar Empire and an emperor much before him, Govinda III of the Rashtrakutas; probably one of the most successful military campaigner in Indian history. Btw, the Rashtrakutas get far too little credit in Indian history, even when people go to the Elephanta caves (where credit also goes to Chalukya Emperor Pulakeshi II) or to the magnificent Kailashnath Temple in Ellora (Krishna I)

 

[deepak.chauhan2312]

wat those persons did for u ..they are in the hell now

u r being biased about religion...and Maurya Empire was no doubt greatest empire in history of Indian Subcontinent okay so. this is not about what they did for us. just think about what great are you doing now for generation about 2000 years after today...you are not worthy to be so ill mannered about any of these emperors okay. Akbar, Chandragupta, Asoka were great

 

[Dushmann]

her majesty........the queen of England

And queen of Pakistan till 1956

 

[Varunastra]

Ashoka was the greatest emperor ,there is a reason he is called Ashoka the great

 

[Rehan khan 1]

Mehmood Ghaznavi
size of empire doesnt matter. quality of emperer does

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

Mehmood Ghaznavi
size of empire doesnt matter. quality of emperer does

He never ruled over india,just raided it.Also if conquest and war is the criteria for greatest caesar,alexander,genghis,timur and napoleon say hello.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

Ashoka, & Barbur were among-st the greatest
but
Queen Victoria was the greatest of them all

Victoria was a figurehead without real power.
Babur ruled over mostly northern part of the subcontinent.If he is to be considered then the southern emperors like krishnadevaraya,dhruva,rajendra chola also demand attention.Besides his non military achievments are nil.
Akbar is by far the most balanced and greatest ruler of the mughals.
Illtutumish and alauddin for the sultanate.

To me its asoka,just followed by akbar.

I really don't think this list of the "Greatest" emperors is in any way complete. No Krishna Deva Raya of the Vijaynagar Empire and an emperor much before him, Govinda III of the Rashtrakutas; probably one of the most successful military campaigner in Indian history. Btw, the Rashtrakutas get far too little credit in Indian history, even when people go to the Elephanta caves (where credit also goes to Chalukya Emperor Pulakeshi II) or to the magnificent Kailashnath Temple in Ellora (Krishna I)

Indeed krishnadevaraya,dhruva,govinda 3,pulakeshin 2,rajendra and rajaraj chola were all great empires.Main problem is they mostly stuck to the south and can't be called in a true sense emperor of the subcontinent except rajendra chola maybe.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

Maybe because he got his backside handed to him by Pulakesi II.



Difficult to easily classify Alauddin Khilji as an out & out bigot. True he destroyed some temples but he was equally sharp in putting down the ulema when they asked for more strict islamisation (essentially telling them to stick to religion & to leave politics to him). All "Great" kings were arrogant, difficult to see that as factor for exclusion.

Pulakeshin did stick it to harsha.
About aluddin personally he wasn't a bigot far from it,he didn't give a **** about religion as long as he could use it as an excuse to advance his own interests ,but the jizya was imposed so that's unequal treatment of subjects which lowers his ratings as a truly great empire.Add to that massive destruction caused by his greed and minimal non military achievements.

 

[AUSTERLITZ]

I don't mean to troll but how can a guy who was almost forgotten by history be the "Greatest"?
You have to thank the British for reminding India (forget the world) about his assistance.


Personally I say Aurangzeb, he brought about the peak of the Mughal empire and provided the strongest government. He was also a model ruler in that it is said that he used to sow topis for his income instead of taking it from the treasury, and had more Hindu noblemen in his courts than even Akbar.

Aurangzeb was a rigid religious bigot.
His deccan policy destroyed the mughals.But that said personally he was down to earth,pious,unpretentious and exteremely hard working and courageous.But his flawed policy making nullified these virtues.And as for having more noblemen this was usually in the period of the deccan war ,when jagirs were given to just about any maratha chief willing to defect.Also the main part of the other jagirs were occupied by rajputs.The rajput alliance was a cornerstone of mughal policy since akbar.

About asoka,if there were no written records do u think history would remember most of these emperors.Btw buddhists always remebered asoka as one of the 4 great kings of buddhism.Others being kanishka,menander and harshavardhana.