swap_horiz King Goodwill Zwelithini Alternatives

1

Sultan Qaboos bin Said

Qaboos bin Said ruled Oman as sultan from 1970 until his death in 2020 after removing his father, Said bin Taimur, in a...

20TH Century Modernizer Omani Al Said

8.1 Great

2

King George VI

George VI (1895-1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the dominions of the British Commonwealth from December 1936 un...

20TH Century Wartime British Commonwealth

7.8 Good

3

Emperor Akihito (Heisei)

Akihito was emperor of Japan from 1989 until his abdication in 2019, and his reign is identified with the Heisei era. He...

Japanese Pacifist 20TH Century Yamato

7.6 Good

4

Queen Margrethe II of Denmark

Margrethe II was queen of Denmark from January 1972 until her abdication in January 2024, when her elder son succeeded h...

Danish Artist 20TH Century Glucksburg

7.6 Good

5

King George V

George V was king of the United Kingdom and the British dominions, and emperor of India, from 1910 until his death in 19...

20TH Century British Wwi Commonwealth

7.5 Good

6

King Shaka

Shaka was king of the Zulu from about 1816 until his assassination in 1828 and played a central role in expanding a smal...

19TH Century Zulu Warrior African

7.4 Good

7

King Abdulaziz Ibn Saud

Abdulaziz ibn Saud was the founder and first king of Saudi Arabia. Beginning with the recapture of Riyadh in 1902, he br...

20TH Century Founder Saudi Al Saud

7.4 Good

8

Emperor Haile Selassie I

Haile Selassie I was emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974, apart from the period of Italian occupation that followed th...

20TH Century Ethiopian Solomonic Last Emperor

7.2 Good

9

King Hussein I of Jordan

Hussein bin Talal (1935-1999) was the Hashemite king of Jordan from 1952 until his death, although a regency governed un...

20TH Century Jordanian Hashemite Long Reign

7.2 Good

10

King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX)

Bhumibol Adulyadej (1927-2016), known by the regnal title Rama IX, was king of Thailand from 1946 until his death. A mem...

Longest Reign 20TH Century Thai Chakri

7.2 Good

11

King Faisal of Saudi Arabia

Faisal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (1906-1975) was king of Saudi Arabia from 1964 until his assassination in 1975. His governm...

20TH Century Saudi Modernizer Al Saud

7.1 Good

12

King Michael I of Romania

Michael I was King of Romania during two separate reigns, from 1927 to 1930 and from 1940 until 1947. On 23 August 1944,...

Wwii 20TH Century Romanian Hohenzollern

6.9 Fair

13

King Cetshwayo

Cetshwayo kaMpande was king of the Zulu kingdom from 1872 until its defeat by Britain in the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879. His...

19TH Century Zulu African Anglo Zulu War

6.8 Fair

14

King Faisal I of Iraq

Faisal I of Iraq was a Hashemite statesman who became Iraq's first king in 1921 after the Ottoman Empire's rule in the r...

20TH Century Founder Iraqi Hashemite

6.5 Fair

15

King Norodom Sihanouk

Norodom Sihanouk was a Cambodian monarch and political leader who lived from 1922 to 2012. He was king from 1941 to 1955...

20TH Century Independence Cambodian Norodom

6.2 Fair

16

Emperor Taisho

Emperor Taisho was the posthumous name of Yoshihito, the 123rd emperor of Japan, who reigned from 1912 until his death i...

Japanese 20TH Century Democracy Yamato

6.0 Fair

17

King Idris I of Libya

Idris I was the first and only king of Libya, ruling from the country's independence in 1951 until a military coup remov...

20TH Century Libyan First King Deposed

5.8 Mediocre

18

Tsar Boris III of Bulgaria

Boris III was Tsar of Bulgaria from 1918 until his death in 1943, ruling during the period between the two World Wars an...

Wwii Bulgarian 20TH Century Saxe Coburg

5.7 Mediocre

19

King George II of Greece

George II was King of the Hellenes during two separate periods, from 1922 to 1923 and from 1935 until his death in 1947....

Wwii 20TH Century Restoration Greek

5.3 Mediocre

20

King Alexander I of Yugoslavia

Alexander I of Yugoslavia was king of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes from 1921 to 1929 and king of Yugoslavia...

20TH Century Yugoslav Dictator Assassinated

4.9 Poor