Samraat

This article is about the Ancient Indian title. For the 1982 film, see Samraat (film).

Samraat (Sanskrit: samrāṭ or सम्राज् samrāj) is an Ancient Indian title sometimes translated into modern English as "Emperor". The title of empress is Samrãjñī. This word has been used as an epithet of various Vedic deities, like Varuna, and has been attested in the Holy Rig Veda.

Typically, in the later Vedic age, a Hindu king (Maharajah) was only called Samrāṭ after performing the Vedic Rajasuya sacrifice, enabling him by religious tradition to claim superiority over the other kings and princes. Another word for emperor is sārvabhaumā. The title of Samrāṭ has been used by many rulers of the Indian subcontinent as claimed by the Hindu mythologies. In proper history, most historians call Chandragupta Maurya the first samrāṭ of the Indian subcontinent, because of the huge empire he ruled. Mauran Emperor Ashoka the great is more well-known as Samraat Ashoka because of the vastness of his empire.

In 1556, the Hindu king, Hem Chandra Vikramaditya also called Hemu, established Hindu Raj in north India after defeating Akbar's forces in Agra and Delhi. By virtue of winning 22 battles continuously in the entire North India, from Punjab to Bengal without losing any, Hemu was bestowed the title of "Samrat" and was addressed at the time of Rajbhangsi or coronation at Purana Quila, New Delhi on 7 October 1556 as "Samrat Hem Chander VikramadityaIn Kerala the highest authority on the Namboodiri Brahmins is known as the Azhavanchery Samrat.