# Lists of emperors

This is a list including all rulers who had carried the title of emperor or who ruled over an empire through history. Some titles meaning "emperor" might not have been used in the context like "padishah" under the Kingdom of Afghanistan or "tsar" under Kingdom of Bulgaria.

## Emperors of traditional empires
### Asia

| Empire | Duration | Title(s) | See |
| Iran ||||
| Achaemenid Empire | 550 BC–330 BC | Shahanshah ("King of Kings") | List of Persian monarchs |
| Seleucid Empire | 312 BC–63 BC | Basileus Megas ("Great King") | List of Seleucid rulers |
| Parthian Empire | 247 BC–224 AD | Shahanshah ("King of Kings") | List of Persian monarchs |
| Sasanian Empire | 224–651 | Shahanshah ("King of Kings") | List of Persian monarchs |
| Buyid Empire | 978–1062 | Shahanshah ("King of Kings") | List of Persian monarchs |
| Ilkhanate | 1295–1388 | Padishah ("Master King") | List of Persian monarchs |
| Timurid Empire | 1370–1507 | Padishah ("Master King") | List of Persian monarchs |
| Qara Qoyunlu | 1452–1469 | Padishah ("Master King") | List of rulers of Qara Qoyunlu |
| Aq Qoyunlu | 1465–1508 | Padishah ("Master King") | List of rulers of Aq Qoyunlu |
| Safavid Empire | 1501–1736 1750–1773 | Shahanshah ("King of Kings") | List of Persian monarchs |
| Hotak dynasty | 1722–1738 | Shahanshah ("King of Kings") | List of Persian monarchs |
| Afsharid Empire | 1736–1796 | Shahanshah ("King of Kings") | List of Persian monarchs |
| Qajar Empire | 1789–1925 | Shahanshah ("King of Kings") | List of Persian monarchs |
| Pahlavi Iran | 1925–1979 | Shahanshah ("King of Kings") | List of Persian monarchs |
| Indian subcontinent ||||
| Maurya Empire | 322 BC–184 BC | Chakravarti ("ideal universal ruler") Samrat ("proper ruler") | List of Mauryan emperors |
| Chola Empire | 848–1279 | Chakravartigal ("ideal universal ruler") | List of Tamil monarchs |
| Mughal Empire | 1526–1857 | Padishah ("Master King") Shahenshah ("King of Kings") | List of Mughal emperors |
| Indian Empire | 1877–1947 | King-Emperor | Emperor of India |
| East Asia ||||
| Imperial China | 221 BC–1912 | 皇帝, pronounced Huángdì ("Godly Ruler") | List of Chinese emperors |
| Japan | 660 BC-Present | 天皇, pronounced Tennō ("Heavenly Sovereign") 皇帝, pronounced Kōtei ("Godly Ruler") | List of emperors of Japan |
| Goguryeo | 37 BC–AD 668 | 太王, pronounced Taewang ("Greatest King") | List of monarchs of Korea |
| Goryeo | 918–1270 | 聖皇, pronounced Seonghwang ("Holy Sovereign") | List of monarchs of Korea |
| Korean Empire | 1897–1910 | 皇帝, pronounced Hwangje ("Godly Ruler") | List of monarchs of Korea |
| Nanyue | 204–125 BC | 皇帝, pronounced Hoàng Đế ("Godly Ruler") | List of Vietnamese emperors |
| Vietnam | 544–602 968–1945 | 皇帝, pronounced Hoàng Đế ("Godly Ruler") | List of Vietnamese emperors |
| Other ||||
| Rouran Khaganate | 330–555 | Khagan ("Great Khan") | |
| Khmer Empire | 802–1431 | Devarāja ("Godly ruler") | Monarchy of Cambodia |
| Ottoman Empire | 1453–1922 | Padishah ("Master King") | List of Ottoman emperors |
| Mongol Empire | 1206–1634 | Khagan ("Great Khan") | List of Mongol rulers |
| Durrani Empire | 1747–1823 1839–1842 | Padishah ("Master King") | List of Afghan monarchs |

### Europe

| Empire | Duration | Title(s) | See |
| Alexandrian Empire | 331 BC–301 BC | Basileus | Alexander the Great |
| Roman Empire | 27 BC–1453 | Augustus Basileus | List of Roman emperors List of Byzantine emperors |
| Empire of Nicaea | 1204–1261 | Basileus | |
| Empire of Trebizond | 1204–1461 | Basileus | List of Trapezuntine emperors |
| Empire of Thessalonica | 1224–1242 | Basileus | |
| Latin Empire | 1204–1261 | Imperator | Latin Emperor |
| Holy Roman Empire | 800–1806 | Imperator | Holy Roman Emperor |
| Avar Khaganate | 567–822 | Khagan ("Great Khan") | |
| Bulgarian Empire | 913–1018 1185–1396 | Tsar | List of Bulgarian monarchs |
| Serbian Empire | 1346–1373 | Tsar | List of Serbian monarchs |
| Russian Tsardom | 1547–1721 | Tsar | List of Russian monarchs |
| Russian Empire | 1721–1917 | Imperator | List of Russian monarchs |
| Austrian Empire | 1804–1918 | Kaiser | List of Austrian monarchs |
| German Empire | 1871–1918 | Kaiser | List of German monarchs |
| French Empire | 1804–1815 1852–1870 | Empereur | List of French monarchs |

### Americas

| Empire | Duration | Title | See |
| Aztec Empire | 1375–1521 | Hueyi Tlatoani ("great ruler") | |
| Inca Empire | 1438–1533 | Sapa Inca ("only ruler") | Pre-Conquest Sapa Incas Post-Conquest Sapa Incas |
| Empire of Brazil | 1822–1889 | Imperador | List of Brazilian monarchs |

### Africa

| Empire | Duration | Title(s) | See |
| Ethiopian Empire | 1270–1975 | Nəgusä nägäst ("ruler of rulers") | List of Ethiopian emperors |

## Emperors of short-lived monarchies

* Emperor Jacques of the Empire of Haiti (1804–1806)
* Emperor Augustine of the First Mexican Empire (1822–1823)
* Emperor Faustin of the Empire of Haiti (1849–1859)
* Emperor Maximilian of the Second Mexican Empire (1864–1867)
* Emperor Sunjong and Gojong of the Korean Empire (1897–1910)
* The Hongxian Emperor of the Empire of China (1915–1916)
* The Datong Emperor of the Empire of Manchuria (1934–1945)
* Emperor Victor Emmanuel III of Ethiopia (1936–1941)
* Emperor Bảo Đại of the Empire of Vietnam (1945)
* Emperor Bokassa of the Central African Empire (1976–1979)

## Self-proclaimed "emperors"

    See also Self-proclaimed monarchy and micronation
* Yi Ching-ok, "Emperor of the Geum dynasty" (1453)
* Jovan Nenad, "Emperor of Serbs" (1526–1527)
* Andrés Novales, “Emperor of the Philippines” (1823)
* Joshua Abraham Norton, “Emperor of the United States of America” (1859-1880)

## Fictional emperors

* Category: Fictional emperors and empresses