List of Russian rulers

This is a list of all reigning monarchs in the history of Russia. It includes titles Prince of Novgorod, Grand Prince of Kiev, Grand Prince of Vladimir, Grand Prince of Moscow, Tsar of All Rus', and Emperor of All Russia. The list started with a semi-legendary Prince of Novgorod Rurik sometime in the mid 9th century (862) and ended with the Emperor of All Russia Nicholas II who abdicated in 1917, and was executed with his family in 1918.

The vast territory known today as Russia covers an area that has been known historically by various names, including Rus', Kievan Rus', the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Tsardom of Muscovy and the Russian Empire, and the sovereigns of these many nations and throughout their histories have used likewise as wide a range of titles in their positions as chief magistrates of a country. Some of the earliest titles include Kniaz and Velikiy Kniaz, which mean "Prince" and "Great Prince" respectively but are often rendered as "Duke" and "Grand Duke" in Western literature; then the title of Tsar, meaning "Caesar", which was disputed to be the equal of either a king or emperor; finally culminating in the title of Emperor. The full title of the Russian Emperors, according to Article 59 of the 1906 Russian Constitution, was given as:


 * Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias, of Moscow, Kiev, Vladimir, Novgorod, Tsar of Kazan, Tsar of Astrakhan, Tsar of Poland, Tsar of Siberia, Tsar of Chersonesos Taurica, Tsar of Georgia, Lord of Pskov, and Grand Duke of Smolensk, Lithuania, Volhynia, Podolia, and Finland, Prince of Estland, Livland, Courland and Semigalia, Samogitia, Belostok, Karelia, Tver, Yugra, Perm, Vyatka, Bulgaria and other territories; Lord and Grand Duke of Nizhny Novgorod, Sovereign of Chernigov, Ryazan, Polotsk, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Beloozero, Udoria, Obdoria, Kondia, Vitebsk, Mstislavl, and all northern territories; Sovereign of Iveria, Kartalinia, and the Kabardinian lands and Armenian territories – hereditary Lord and Ruler of the Circassians and Mountain Princes and others; Lord of Turkestan, Heir of Norway, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, Stormarn, Dithmarschen, Oldenburg, and so forth, and so forth, and so forth.

The Patriarchs of Moscow, who were the head of Russian Orthodox Church, also have acted as the leaders of Russia from time to time, usually in periods of political upheaval as during the Polish occupation and interregnum of 1610–1613.

Monarchs of various Russian states prior to 1547
The land that is today known as Russia was populated by various East Slavic peoples from before the ninth century. The first states to exert hegemony over the region were those of the Rus' people, a branch of Nordic Varangians who moved into the region occupied by modern Russia sometime in the ninth century, and set up a series of states starting with the Rus' Khaganate sometime around 830 or so. Little is known of the Rus' Khaganate beyond its existence, including the extent of its territory or any reliable list of its Khagans (rulers). Traditionally, Russian statehood is traced to Rurik, a Rus' leader of Holmgard (later Novgorod, modern Veliky Novgorod), a different Rus' state. Rurik's successor Oleg moved his capital to Kiev, founding the state of Kievan Rus'. Over the next several centuries, the most important titles were those of the Grand Prince of Kiev and Grand Prince of Novgorod whose holder (often the same person) could claim hegemony. By the early 11th century, however, the Rus' state had fragmented into a series of petty principalities which warred constantly with each other. In 1097, the Council of Liubech formalized the federal nature of the Russian lands. By the 12th century, the Grand Duchy of Vladimir became the dominant principality, adding its name to those of Novgorod and Kiev, culminating with the rule of Alexander Nevsky. After Alexander Nevsky, the region once again broke up into petty states, though the Grand Duchy of Moscow, founded by Alexander Nevsky's youngest son Daniel, began to consolidate control over the entire Russian territory in the 15th century. Following the Mongol conquests of the 13th century, all of the Russian principalities paid tribute to the Golden Horde, effectively operating as vassals of the Mongol state. The Russians began to exert independence from the Mongols, culminating with Ivan the Great of Moscow ceasing tribute to the Horde, effectively declaring his independence. The last Grand Duke (sometimes Grand Prince) of Moscow Ivan the Terrible assumed the title Tsar of All Russias in 1547.

Grand Princes of Kiev
In 1169 Vladimir-Suzdal troops took Kiev. This act underlined the declining importance of that city.

Grand Princes of Vladimir
The state of Vladimir-Suzdal (formally the Grand Duchy of Vladimir) became dominant among the various petty principalities to form from the dissolution of the Kievan Rus' state; the title of Grand Prince of Vladimir became one of the three titles (along with Kiev and Novgorod) possessed by the most important rulers among the Russian nobility. While Vladimir enjoyed hegemony for a time, it too would disintegrate into a series of petty states, the most important of which became Grand Duchy of Moscow, which itself would eventually evolve into the Tsardom of Russia.

Since 1331 the title of the Grand Princes of Vladimir assigned to the Princes of Moscow.

Grand Princes of Moscow
Alexander Nevsky, Grand Prince of Vladimir, placed his youngest son Daniel in charge of the territory around Moscow, and establishing the state of Muscovy, originally a vassal state to Vladimir-Suzdal. Daniel's son Ivan I assumed the title of Vladimir himself, establishing Muscovy as the premier principality among the various Russian states. Later rulers of Muscovy would consolidate power, culminating with Ivan III who threw off the Mongol yoke and conquered most of the other Russian states. His son Vasili III completed the task of uniting all of Russia by eliminating the last few independent states in the 1520s. Vasili's son Ivan the Terrible formalized the situation by assuming the title Tsar of All Russias in 1547.

Tsars of Russia
From the rule of Ivan III, the Grand Duchy of Moscow effectively became the dominant Russian state, overthrowing the Golden Horde, consolidating all remaining Russian principalities under itself, and conquering lands far from its roots in the city of Moscow. While Ivan III became effective ruler over the entirety of Russia, the situation was not formally recognized until his grandson Ivan the IV assumed the title Tsar in 1547, that the state of Russia (apart from its constituent principalities) came into formal being.

Dates are listed in the Old Style, which continued to be used in Russia.

Time of Troubles
Following the death of the Feodor I, the son of Ivan the Terrible and the last of the Rurik dynasty, Russia fell into a succession crisis known as the Time of Troubles. As Feodor left no male heirs, the Russian Zemsky Sobor (feudal parliament) elected his brother-in-law Boris Godunov to be Tsar. Devastated by famine, rule under Boris descended into anarchy. A series of impostors, known as the False Dmitriys, each claimed to be Feodor's long deceased younger brother. These impostors claimed (and at times actually held) the title of Tsar. A distant Rurikid cousin, Vasili Shuyskiy, also seized power for a time. During the period of Anarchy, foreign powers involved themselves in Russian politics under the leadership of the Vasa monarchs of Sweden and Poland-Lithuania, including Sigismund III Vasa and his son Władysław IV Vasa. As a child, Władysław was even chosen as Tsar by the Seven Boyars, though he was prevented by his father from formally taking the throne. The Time of Troubles is considered to have ended with the election of Michael Romanov to the throne, who established the Romanov dynasty that would rule Russia until the Russian Revolution of 1917.

House of Romanov
The Time of Troubles came to a close with the election of Michael Romanov as Tsar in 1613. Michael officially reigned as Tsar, though his father, the Patriarch Philaret (died 1633) initially held the real power. However, Michael's descendents would rule Russia, first as Tsars and later as Emperors, until the Russian Revolution of 1917. Peter the Great (reigned 1682-1725), a grandson of Michael Romanov, reorganized the Russian state along more Western lines, establishing the Russian Empire in 1721.

Emperors of Russia
(Also Grand Princes of Finland from 1809 until 1917; and Kings of Poland from 1815 until 1917)

The Empire of Russia was declared by Peter the Great in 1721. Officially, Russia would be ruled by the Romanov dynasty until the Russian Revolution of 1917. However, direct male descendants of Michael Romanov came to an end in 1730 with the death of Peter II of Russia, grandson of Peter the Great. The throne passed to Anna, a niece of Peter the Great, and after the brief rule of her infant son Ivan VI, the throne was seized by Elizabeth, a daughter of Peter the Great. Elizabeth would be the last of the direct Romanovs to rule Russia. Elizabeth declared her nephew, Peter, to be her heir. Peter (who would rule as Peter III) spoke little Russian, having been a German prince of the House of Holstein-Gottorp before arriving in Russia to assume the Imperial title. He and his German wife Sophia changed their name to Romanov upon inheriting the throne. Peter was ill-liked, and he was assassinated within six months of assuming the throne, in a coup orchestrated by his wife, who became Empress in her own right and ruled as Catherine the Great (both Peter and Catherine were descended from the House of Rurik). Following the confused successions of the descendants of Peter the Great, Catherine's son Paul I established clear succession laws which governed the rules of primogeniture over the Imperial throne until the fall of the Empire in 1917.

See List of leaders of Russia for the continuation of leadership.

Pretenders to the Russian throne since 1917
See Line of succession to the Russian throne
 * Cyril Vladimirovich, Grand Duke of Russia (1924–1938) of the Alexandrovichi Branch
 * Vladimir Cyrillovich, Grand Duke of Russia (1938–1992) of the Alexandrovichi Branch
 * Maria Vladimirovna, Grand Duchess of Russia (1992 – present) of the Vladimirovichi branch
 * Grand Duke George Mikhailovich of Russia, heir apparent and son of Maria Vladimirovna, of the Vladimirovichi branch.
 * Nicholas Romanov, Prince of Russia (1992 – 2014) of the Nikolaevichi branch
 * Prince Dimitri Romanovich of Russia (2014 – present) of the Nikolaevichi branch
 * Prince Andrew Andreevich (born 1923)