This is a list of monarchical dynasties and dynastic regimes organized by geographic region. Extant dynasties are rendered in bold and highlighted.
General information Criteria for inclusion This list includes defunct and extant monarchical dynasties of sovereign and non-sovereign statuses at the national and subnational levels. Monarchical polities each ruled by a single family—that is, a dynasty, although not explicitly styled as such, like the Golden Horde and the Qara Qoyunlu—are included. Dynasties had/have assumed power in various types of monarchical entities, from loose hereditary tribal units to multinational dynastic empires.
While most dynasties were/are reckoned through the male line, the relatively uncommon cases of dynasties formed through matrilineal succession, such as the Rain Queen (Modjadji) dynasty, are also listed.
Although thrones could theoretically be rotated among several families in elective monarchies, some entities consistently elected/elect their rulers from the same family, effectively functioning as hereditary monarchies controlled by dynasties. For example, the Holy Roman Empire was de jure an elective monarchy, but came under the de facto hereditary rule of the House of Habsburg from AD 1440 to AD 1740, and is therefore listed as such in the "Germany" section.
This list also includes monarchical regimes whose ruling houses became extinct or were removed from power after having produced only one monarch, but would otherwise have been dynastic in their throne successions. For instance, whereas the Thonburi kingdom had only one ruler, it would likely have produced a series of monarchs from the same ruling clan had the throne not been usurped by the Chakri dynasty; the Thonburi kingdom is thus included under the "Thailand (Siam)" section.
Where possible, descendants of overthrown dynasties and pretenders are also listed. For instance, the House of Plantagenet laid claim to the throne of the Kingdom of Sicily between AD 1254 and AD 1263, and is thus listed under the "Italy" section. Likewise, the Osmanoğlu family is descended from the Ottoman dynasty, and is therefore included in the "Anatolia (Asia Minor)" section.
Entries in each section are sorted by the start year and end year of their rule, irrespective of the exact dates. Dynasties with unverifiable or disputed periods of rule are listed after those with reign periods that are generally agreed upon by scholars. In cases wherein several dynasties are typically grouped together in conventional historiography, such as the Northern and Southern dynasties of China, they are listed as such for ease of reference.
Houses of nobility with no territorial holdings (and thus were/are not monarchical dynasties in their own right), like the House of Sayn-Wittgenstein-Ludwigsburg and the House of Jocelyn; dynasties of micronations, like the Bertoleoni dynasty; dynasties of religious sects, like the Nusaybah family and the Slonim dynasty; political families, like the Roosevelt family and the Chiang family; family dictatorships, like the Mount Paektu bloodline and the Duvalier dynasty; and dynastic military regimes, like the Choe clan and the Ashikaga shogunate, are not included.
Nomenclature A dynasty may be known by more than one name, either due to differences between its official and historiographical denominations, and/or due to the existence of multiple official and/or historiographical names. For example, the Amorian dynasty is also referred to as the "Phrygian dynasty".
Due to variations in romanization, the name of a dynasty may be rendered differently depending on the source. For instance, the Qing dynasty is also written as "Ch῾ing dynasty" using the Wade–Giles romanization.
In layman and academic parlance, the name of a dynasty is often affixed before the common name of a state in reference to a state under the rule of a particular dynasty. For example, whereas the official name of the realm ruled by the Qajar dynasty was the "Sublime State of Iran", the domain is commonly known as "Qajar Iran".
Period of rule The year of establishment and/or the year of collapse of a dynasty may be unknown or remain contentious among scholars. In the latter cases, only an approximate time frame will be given. For example, the Deva dynasty is believed to have ruled during the 12th and 13th centuries AD, but the exact dates are disputed.
The year of establishment and/or the year of collapse of a dynasty could differ from its period of rule over a particular realm and/or geographic region. In such cases, the year(s) provided indicate the period during which a dynasty was/is in power in a particular realm and/or geographic region. For instance, whereas the House of Savoy was founded in AD 1003 in the County of Savoy and maintained its rule until AD 1946 in the Kingdom of Italy, it briefly held the throne of Spain from AD 1870 to AD 1873, and is thus reflected as such in the "Spain" section.
Location of rule This list is sorted by the territorial extent of dynasties. Listing a particular dynasty under a specific section need not necessarily denote affiliation—political, ethnic, religious, cultural, or otherwise—between the historical dynasty and the contemporary polity/polities existing in the same region. As the succession of states and the identities of the rulers, elites, and subjects or citizens are complex and contentious issues, the classification of dynasties may be multidimensional. For example, the Ayyubid dynasty has been variously described as "Egyptian" and "Syrian" based on its geographic location and the titles held by its monarchs; "Kurdish" according to its rulers' ethnicity; "Arabized" according to its cultural identity; and "Muslim", "Islamic", and "Sunni" based on its religious faith.
Some dynasties appear more than once in this list, because: more than one realm was/is ruled by a single dynasty; or a single dynastic realm spanned/spans across more than one geographic region.
For example, apart from previously ruling over the possessions of the British Empire and numerous sovereign states that later abolished the monarchy, the House of Windsor remains the ruling dynasty of 15 sovereign states and their associated territories, and is therefore included in multiple sections. Likewise, although the Tang dynasty existed as a single realm, it had at various points in time ruled over China proper, Dzungaria, the Tarim Basin, the Mongolian Plateau, Inner Manchuria, Outer Manchuria, as well as parts of Central Asia, the Korean Peninsula, Vietnam, Siberia, and Afghanistan, and is thus listed under multiple sections.
Regions with long lines of "local" dynasties—including dynasties of indigenous and non-indigenous (but had/have assumed "local" characteristics) provenances—that experienced partial or full colonization in the modern era are given separate lists for clarity. For instance, the "Indian Subcontinent (South Asia)" section includes a main list containing "local" South Asian dynasties, such as the indigenous Chola dynasty and the non-indigenous Mughal dynasty, and a subsection listing the decidedly "foreign" dynasties of colonial entities, like the House of Bourbon of French India.
Extant dynasties
List of extant dynasties ruling sovereign monarchies
At present, there are 44 sovereign realms—including 43 sovereign states (and their associated territories) and one sovereign entity in international law without territorial possession—ruled by monarchs, of which 41 are under dynastic control. There are currently 26 sovereign dynasties, two of which rule more than one sovereign realm.
DynastyRealmReigning monarchDynastic founderDynastic place of originKing Charles IIIKing-Emperor George VThuringia and Bavaria New ZealandKing Hamad bin Isa Al KhalifaSheikh Khalifa bin MohammedNajdKing PhilippeKing Albert IThuringia and BavariaDruk Gyalpo Jigme Khesar Namgyel WangchuckDruk Gyalpo Ugyen WangchuckModern-day BhutanSultan Hassanal BolkiahSultan Muhammad ShahTarimKing Norodom SihamoniKing Norodom ProhmbarirakModern-day Cambodia Kingdom of DenmarkKing Frederik XDuke Friedrich WilhelmGlücksburgKing Harald VKing Mswati IIIChief Dlamini IEast AfricaEmperor NaruhitoEmperor JimmuNaraKing Abdullah IIKing Hussein ibn Ali al-HashimiHejazEmir Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-SabahSheikh Sabah I bin JaberNajdKing Letsie IIIParamount Chief Moshoeshoe IModern-day LesothoPrince Hans-Adam IIPrince Karl ILower AustriaGrand Duke HenriGrand Duke AdolpheNassauYang di-Pertuan Agong IbrahimSultan Abu BakarJohorPrince Albert IIFrançois GrimaldiGenoaKing Mohammed VISultan Abul Amlak Sidi Muhammad as-Sharif ibn 'AliTafilaltKing Willem-AlexanderPrince William INassauSultan Haitham bin TariqSultan Ahmad bin Said al-BusaidiModern-day YemenEmir Tamim bin Hamad Al ThaniSheikh Thani bin MohammedNajdKing Salman bin Abdulaziz Al SaudEmir Saud IDiriyahKing Felipe VIKing Philip VBourbon-l'ArchambaultKing Carl XVI GustafKing Charles XIV JohnPauKing Rama XKing Rama IPhra Nakhon Si AyutthayaKing Tupou VIKing George Tupou IModern-day TongaPresident Mohamed bin Zayed Al NahyanSheikh Dhiyab bin Isa Al NahyanLiwa Oasis
List of sovereign states and territories with extant non-sovereign dynasties
The following is a list of sovereign states and territories with existing dynasties ruling non-sovereign polities. Such dynasties usually possess and exercise authority over subnational divisions or people groups.
Non-sovereign dynasties may be conferred official status through constitutional arrangement or government recognition, like the dynasties ruling the Republic of Botswana's subnational chiefdoms. Alternatively, non-sovereign dynasties may exist without official recognition, as in the case of the Te Wherowhero dynasty of the Māori King Movement in New Zealand.
Non-sovereign dynasties could have once held sovereign power (and vice versa). For example, as the Emirate of Umm Al Quwain was formerly an independent shiekdom but is now a constituent emirate of the United Arab Emirates, the currently non-sovereign House of Mualla therefore held sovereign power historically.
Dynasties could simultaneously reign in both sovereign and non-sovereign polities, as is the case of the House of Temenggong whose reigning ruler is both the sovereign monarch of Malaysia and the non-sovereign monarch of the Malaysian state of Johor Darul Ta'zim.
ContinentSovereign state or territoryAfricaAsiaEuropeNorth AmericaOceaniaSouth America
List of dynasties in Africa
Algeria Kings from States of the Classical Age Kings of Numidia (originated from the union of tribal rulers of the Masaesyli and of the Massylii) Kings of the Vandals and Alans Kings of the Moors and Romans
Monarchs from Medieval states Kings of the Aurès Kings of Altava Kings of Capsus Kings of Ouarsenis Muhallabids (771–793) - Ifranid dynasty - Muhallabids (771–793) - Aghlabid dynasty (800–909) - Rustamid dynasty (777–909) - Zirid dynasty (972–1148) - Hammadid dynasty (1014–1152) Sulaymanid dynasty (814–922) - Awlad Mandil Banu Khazrun (1001–1146) Banu Ghaniya Hafsid dynasty (1229–1574) Zayyanid dynasty (1236–1337, 1348–1352, 1359–1550) –
Dynasties of pre-colonial states conquered by the French Sultans of Kuku Sultans of Ait Abbas Banu Djellab – Emir of Abdelkader
Angola Dynasties of pre-colonial states conquered by the Portuguese (incomplete) Kingdom of Matamba Guterres dynasty Kingdom of Kongo House of Kilukeni (AD 1390–1567) House of Kwilu (AD 1568–1622, AD 1626–1636) – House of Nsundi (AD 1622–1626) – House of Kinlaza (AD 1665–1666, AD 1669–1716, AD 1743–1752, AD 1764–1787, AD 1842–1857, AD 1859–1891) – House of Kimpanzu (AD 1665, AD 1666–1669, AD 1669–1670, AD 1673–1715, AD 1718–1743, AD 1752–1758, AD 1763–1764, AD 1857–1859, AD 1891–1896) – House of Água Rosada (AD 1688–1718, AD 1803–1842) –
Benin (former Dahomey) Aladaxonou dynasty (1600–1900) –
Burkina Fasso (former Upper Volta) Severall Mossi Kingdoms
Burundi