Osei Tutu I
c. 1660 – 1717 · 57 years · Kumasi · Africa
United the Akan states and founded the Ashanti Empire with its capital at Kumasi; by legend the Golden Stool became the symbol of the nation.
Wikipedia (English) · 17th century
Contemporaries around the world
Europe
- Isaac Newton — English physicist and mathematician, 17 years older
- Louis XIV — King of France, the Sun King, 22 years older
- Johann Sebastian Bach — German composer and organist, 25 years younger
- Voltaire — French Enlightenment writer, 34 years younger
- Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz — German philosopher and mathematician, 14 years older
- Queen Anne — last Stuart monarch, under whom Great Britain was created, 5 years younger
Eastern Europe & Russia
- Peter the Great — first Emperor of Russia, 12 years younger
- Vitus Bering — Danish explorer in Russian service, 21 years younger
- Catherine I — first Russian empress, widow of Peter the Great, 24 years younger
- Anna — empress who tore up the Conditions; era of Biron's dominance, 33 years younger
- Alexis the Most Quiet — tsar of the 1649 Law Code and the church schism, 31 years older
- Leonhard Euler — Swiss mathematician, 47 years younger
Middle East
- Ahmed III — sultan of the 'Tulip Era', 13 years younger
- Nader Shah — Shah of Iran and conqueror, 28 years younger
- Mustafa II — sultan who signed the Treaty of Karlowitz, 4 years younger
- Ahmed II — sultan who lost the Battle of Slankamen, 17 years older
- Mehmed IV the Hunter — sultan of the Köprülü era and the siege of Vienna, 18 years older
- Suleiman II — sultan who retook Belgrade after 39 years in the 'cage', 18 years older
Africa
- Moulay Ismail — Sultan of Morocco, 15 years older
- Kimpa Vita — Kongolese prophet, 24 years younger
Asia
- Kangxi Emperor — Qing emperor of China, 6 years older
- Tokugawa Tsunayoshi — the 'Dog Shogun' who outlawed cruelty to animals, 14 years older
- Aurangzeb — Mughal emperor, 42 years older
- Matsuo Bashō — Japanese poet, 16 years older
- Tokugawa Yoshimune — reforming shogun who allowed Western books, 24 years younger
- Shivaji — founder of the Maratha state, 30 years older
Americas
- Benjamin Franklin — American scientist and statesman, 46 years younger
- Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz — Mexican poet and nun, 12 years older
The world in their lifetime
- 1662 Last sighting of the dodo — aged 2, Africa
- 1676 Leeuwenhoek sees microbes — aged 16, Europe
- 1682 Accession of Peter the Great — aged 22, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1683 Battle of Vienna — aged 23, Europe
- 1687 Newton's Principia — aged 27, Europe
- 1688–1689 Glorious Revolution — aged 28, Europe
- 1703 Founding of Saint Petersburg — aged 43, Eastern Europe & Russia
- 1709 Battle of Poltava — aged 49, Eastern Europe & Russia