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Chakravarti (Sanskrit cakravartin), literally meaning "turner of the wheel" is a term used for a successful conqueror or imperial ruler of all or most of the subcontinent of India, both in legend and in history. The name has also come to be used as a common surname. (See also Dharmacakra wheel of religion or wheel of law)
Bharat Rajah
Bharat was the son of the Puru Dynasty. India (Bhārat, Skt:भारत) is named after him. He was able to conquer the whole subcontinent. There are some disputes over whether Bharat conquered India or certain parts of India. Some believe that he even conquered regions outside of the Subcontinent such as Afghanistan (then referred to as Gandhara) and Tibet (then referred to as Bhuta.)
Samrath Bindusara
Bindusara was the son of the Magadhan Empire of Chandragupta Maurya, who dreamt of united Bharat. He was the first king since Bharat to unify India.
Samrath Asoka
Asoka (Skt: अशोक) was the son of the of Bindusara and with his peaceful ideas, conquered the whole of India. He himself was a devout Buddhist converted by his mentors the Brahmin Buddhists Radhasvami and Manjushri. He was respectful of Hinduism even practicing Hindu beliefs (as he was born a Hindu into a Hindu family and Buddhism was not yet Nastik.) He crowned himself as Devanampiya Piyadassi, Sanskrit for "He who is the beloved of the Gods who, in turn is his loving servant."
Pushyamitra Sunga
Pushyamitra Sunga was the Hindu soldier in the Mauryan army. Revolting against the oppression of Hindus by the later Buddhist Mauryan rulers, Pushyamitra Sunga overthrew the Mauryan Dynasty and established the Sunga Dynasty.
Akbar Rajah
Jalaluddin Muhammad Akbar of the Mughal Dynasty was admired by people of all religions in his realm as and a result, the Mughal Empire expanded to its greatest heights under his rule. He himself born a Muslim and in his attempt to bring all peoples together he even founded a new religion, Din-i-Elahi, which emcompassed beliefs of all religions of India, which included Islam, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism and Christianity. Several officialls in the Mughal empire during his time were Hindus. Through his benovelence, the Indians enjoyed his rule.
Chhatrapati Shivaji
(shown here in yellow)
Shivaji Bhonsle was the son of a Maratha solder in the Mughal army. During this time, Akbar Rajah's time had passed and the Hindus were being harassed by Islamist of the Mughal empire. Temples were also being destroyed, the Jaziya was enacted, and if not payable, Hindus were executed. Many Hindus, especially from backward castes were forced to convert as they could not pay the tax. As a result, several Hindus within did not want to remain loyal to the empire and established rebellions. Shivaji created a confederacy of Marathas originally but later his confederacy included Hindus of all groups. His empire even conquered Lahore, and Kashmir but lost it to the Afghans. In the South his empire was expanded by the Peshwas. Shivaji's aim was to establish a Hindavi Swarajya (Indian Democracy) and so he was called Janata Rajah (People's King.) Apart from this title, he is also called Shivaji Maharaj. His childhood name was Shivba and a patriotic Indian group named themselves after him as the Lashkar-e-Shivba.
Mythological Chakravartis
There have been several stories in sacred scriptures of who ruled India. Below are the list of the icons.
Iskhvaku
Shri Ikshvaku dynasty, the son of Ila of the Suryavanshi lineage after whom India was named (Ilavarta and Eelam) in Hindu mythology he is said to have conquered the world. This might have just been referring India alone as the world's ancient peoples saw the region in which their peoples live as the world itself.
Adinath
Again, to the Jain community he is the 1st Tirthankar and is said to be the father of King Bharat.
Shantinath
To the Jain community he is worshipped as a the 16th Tirthankar and to have ruled the whole of India.
Shibi
He is famous in Hindu and Buddhist mythology. He sacrificed his flesh. There have been several dynasties which have claimed heritage from Emperor Shibi's line. The Cholas were one of the dynasties and they referred to him as Sembiyan.
Neduncheralathan
Imayavaramban Neduncheralathan, a Sangam age king said in inscriptions to have conquered up to the Himalayas.
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