List of largest empires in India

This is a historical list of the largest empires in India with an area covering more than 1 million square kilometres (that is, with its capital in the Indian subcontinent, excluding foreign-ruled empires like the British Raj and the empire of Alexander the Great). An empire involves the extension of a state's sovereignty over external territories. The values given here should generally be interpreted as being only indicative, and not as determining a precise ranking. The calculation of the land area of a particular empire is controversial. In general, the list centres on the side of including any land area that was explored and explicitly claimed, even if the areas were populated very sparsely or not at all.

Empire Approximate
maximum extent
(Area in km²) 		Size as
percentage of area of
Republic of India 		Approximate
date of
maximum extent
 Ruler during
maximum extent 		Capital(s) during
maximum extent 		Estimate by
Mauryan Empire 5,000,000 152% 250 BC Ashoka (Chakravartin) Pataliputra Peter Turchin et al.[1]
Mughal Empire 4,000,000 122% 1690 Aurangzeb (Emperor) Shahjahanabad (Delhi) Peter Turchin et al.[1]
Gupta Empire 3,500,000 106% 400 Chandragupta II (Emperor) Pataliputra Peter Turchin et al.[1]
Republic of India (for comparison) 3,287,263 - - - - Government of India[2]
Delhi Sultanate (Tughlaq) 3,200,000 97% 1312 Muhammad bin Tughluq (Sultan) Delhi Peter Turchin et al.[1]
Maratha Empire 2,500,000 76% 1760 Balaji Baji Rao (Peshwa) Raigad Peter Turchin et al.[1]
Kushan Empire 2,000,000 61% 200 Kanishka (Emperor) Kapisi
Purushapura
Takshashila
Mathura 		Peter Turchin et al.[1]
Gurjara-Pratihara Dynasty 1,800,000 55% 860 Bhoja I (Maharaja) Kannauj [3]
Rashtrakuta Dynasty 1,700,000 52% 805 Govinda III (Emperor) Manyakheta [4]
Nanda Empire 1,500,000 46% 350 BC Dhana Nanda (Samrat) Pataliputra [5]
Indo-Scythian (Saka) Kingdom 1,500,000 46% 100 BC Maues (King) Sigal
Takshashila
Mathura 		[6]
Shunga Empire 1,200,000 37% 150 BC Pushyamitra Shunga (Emperor) Pataliputra [7]
Chalukya Dynasty 1,100,000 33% 636 Pulakeshin II (Maharaja) Badami [8]
Empire of Harsha 1,000,000 30% 648 Harsha (Emperor) Kannauj Peter Turchin et al.[1]

Graphical chart

Empire of Harsha Chalukya Dynasty Shunga Empire Indo-Scythians Nanda Dynasty Rashtrakuta Dynasty Gurjara-Pratihara Kushan Empire Maratha Empire Delhi Sultanate Republic of India Gupta Empire Mughal Empire Mauryan Empire

For other empires of uncertain sizes, see Category:Empires and kingdoms of India.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Turchin, Peter; Adams, Jonathan M.; Hall, Thomas D (December 2006). "East-West Orientation of Historical Empires". Journal of world-systems research. 12 (2): 223. ISSN 1076-156X. Retrieved 12 September 2016.
  2. ↑ "India: Profile". National Portal of India. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
  3. ↑
  4. ↑
  5. ↑
  6. ↑
  7. ↑
  8. ↑
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