SANTOSH 9702: Who are the contemporary rulers of Akbar?

Thursday, February 12, 2026

Who are the contemporary rulers of Akbar?

So Akbar reigned from 1556 to 1605. This is a very interesting period in history as you’ll see many famous leaders of different empires also ruled around this time. Let’s find out exactly who those famous dudes were…

First of all, among the rulers Akbar directly came across, most prominent ones were Rana Udai Singh II (1540–72) and his son Maharana Pratap (1572–97) of Mewar. Unlike other Rajputana states, they didn’t submit to Akbar, resulting in a series of bloody conflicts. Akbar attacked Chitor fort which eventually fell in 1568. Rana Pratap also lost the battle of Haldighati in 1576, however, successfully retained most of his kingdom by continuously attacking the Mughals over the next two decades.

Rana Uday Singh II:

Maharana Pratap:

In Russia, Akbar’s contemporary was Ivan IV, better known as Ivan the Terrible. He ruled Russia first as “Grand prince of Moscow” (1533–47) and then as first Tsar of Russia (1547–1584). During his reign, the kingdom expanded to approximately 4,050,000 Sq. Km. He is, however, popular in history for his extreme brutality and outrage. He almost entirely wiped off the population of Novgorod (Read: Massacre of Novgorod - Wikipedia). During a heated conversation, he hit his son on the head with his sceptre causing his death that left him screaming "May I be damned! I've killed my son! I've killed my son!"

In England and Ireland, Akbar’s contemporary was queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Elizabethan era was a great period in English history. There was flourishing of English drama (William Shakespeare time) and overseas adventure (Francis Drake traveled across the globe). Her reign gave a great stability to the kingdom and Britain got a national identity. She didn’t marry and her virginity became a cult. The house of Tudor came to an end with her death.

In Spain and Portugal, Akbar’s contemporary was Philip II / Philip the prudent (1556–98 as king of Spain, 1581–98 as king of Portugal). During his regime, Spain had territories in every continent known to the Europeans at that time. The modern day country Philippines is named after him. The famous expression ‘the empire on which the sun never sets’ was coined on his kingdom. However, his ‘Spanish Armada’ lost battle against Elizabeth’s England.

In Ottoman empire, for relatively fewer years, Akbar’s contemporary was Suleiman the magnificent, (1520–1566) often considered as the greatest Ottoman sultan ever. His reign is known as the ‘golden age’ when a large amount of social reforms took place. The empire witnessed significant artistic, cultural, architectural development accompanied by an economic boom. His period was the beginning of “the transformation” of the Ottomans (Transformation of the Ottoman Empire - Wikipedia)

In Persia, Akbar’s contemporary was Tahmasp I (1524–76). He ruled for the longest time among the rulers of the Safavid dynasty. He dealt with Ottomans and Uzbeks, gave a strong response to the depleting economy due to the blockade of the silk road by the Ottomans and integrated many Caucasians into Iranian society. He also gave shelter to Akbar’s father, Humayun who was fleeing because of Sher Shah’s attack, but only after Humayun had agreed to convert to Shia.