List of state leaders in 1491

This is a list of heads of state, government leaders, and other rulers in the year 1491.

Africa

• Adal Sultanate – Muhammad ibn Azhar ad-Din (1488–1518)
• Kingdom of Bamum - Monjou, Mfon of Bamum (1461–1498)
• Benin Empire – Ozolua, Oba of Benin (1480–1504)
• Bornu Empire – Ali Gazi, Mai of Bornu (1465–1497)
• Buganda – Kiggala, Kabaka of Buganda (1474–1501)
• Ethiopian Empire – Eskender (1478–1494)
• Jolof Empire – Birayma Kuran Kan (1488–1492)
• Sultanate of Kano – Muhammad Rumfa (1463–1499)
• Kilwa Sultanate – Ibrahim ibn Muhammad (1490–1495)
• Kingdom of Kongo – Nzinga a Nkuwu, Manikongo (1470–1509)
• Mali Empire – Mahmud II, Mansa of Mali (1481–1496)
• Kingdom of Mutapa – Changamire, Mwenemutapa (1490–1494)
• Kingdom of Nri - Eze Nri Anyamata (1465–1611)
• Kingdom of Nungu – Gima, Nunbado (1470–1520)
• Kingdom of Rwanda – Cyirima I (1482–1506)
• Shilluk Kingdom - Nyikaangø (1490–1517)
• Songhai Empire – Sonni Ali (1464–1492)
• Warsangali Sultanate - Garaad Omar (1487–1495)

Americas

• Aztec Empire – Ahuitzotl (1486–1502)
• Boriken - Agüeybaná I (–1510)
• Inca Empire – Tupac (1471–1493)
• Kaqchikel –
  • Oxlahuh-Tz'i', Ahpo Sotz'il of Iximche (–1508)
  • Kablahuh-Tihax, Ahpo Xahil of Iximche (1488–1509)
• Muisca Confederation
  • zipa - Nemequene (1490–1514)
  • zaque - Quemuenchatocha (1490–1538)
• Texcoco – Nezahualpilli, King of Texcoco (1472–1515)
• Kingdom of the Zapotec - Cosijoeza (1487–1529)

Asia

• Ahmadnagar Sultanate – Ahmad Nizam Shah I (1490–1509)
• Ahom Kingdom – Suhenphaa (1488–1493)
• Astrakhan Khanate – Abdal-Karim Khan Astrakhani (1490–1504)
• Ava Kingdom – Minkhaung II (1481–1502)
• Ayutthaya Kingdom –
  1. Borommaracha III (1488–1491)
  2. Ramathibodi II (1491–1529)
• Bahmani Sultanate – Mahmood Shah Bahmani II (1482–1518)
• Bengal Sultanate – Shamsuddin Muzaffar Shah (1490–1494)
• Berar Sultanate – Fathullah Imad-ul-Mulk (1490–1504)
• Bhaktapur – Raya Malla (1482–1519)
• Bijapur Sultanate – Yusuf Adil Shah (1490–1510)
• Bruneian Empire – Bolkiah (1485–1524)
• Cambodia – Sri Sukonthor (1486–1512)
• China (Ming dynasty) – Hongzhi Emperor (1487–1505)
• Sultanate of Cirebon – Sunan Gunungjati (1479–1568)
• Đại Việt – Lê Thánh Tông (1460–1497)
• Delhi Sultanate – Sikandar Lodi (1489–1517)
• Gajapati Kingdom – Purushottama Deva (1466–1497)
• Gujarat Sultanate – Mahmud Begada (1458–1511)
• Hanthawaddy Kingdom – Dhammazedi (1471–1492)
• Sultanate of Herat – Husayn Mirza Bayqara (1470–1506)
• Japan (Muromachi period)
  • Monarch – Emperor Go-Tsuchimikado (1464–1500)
  • Ashikaga shogunate – Ashikaga Yoshitane (1490–1493)
• Joseon (Korea) – Seongjong (1469–1494)
• Kantipur – Ratna Malla (1482–1520)
• Kashmir Sultanate – Fatehshah (1486–1495)
• Kazakh Khanate – Burunduk Khan (1480–1511)
• Kedah Sultanate – Muhammad Jiwa Zainal Adilin I (1472–1506)
• Kengtung - Ai Lao (1474–1501)
• Kingdom of Kotte – Parakramabahu VIII (1484–1508)
• Lan Na – Yotchiangrai (1487–1495)
• Lan Xang – Laasaenthai Bouvanaat (1485–1495)
• Majapahit (Rajasa dynasty) – Girindrawardhana (1478–1498)
• Malacca Sultanate – Mahmud Shah (1488–1511)
• Maldives Sultanate –
  1. Hassan IV (1485–1491)
  2. Hassan VI (1491–1492)
• Malwa Sultanate – Ghiyath Shah (1469–1500)
• Kingdom of Manipur – Senbi Kiyamba (1467–1508)
• Marwar (Rathore dynasty) – Rao Satal (1489–1492)
• Mewar (Sisodia dynasty) - Rana Raimal (1473–1509)
• Moghulistan – Mahmud Khan (1487–1508)
• Kingdom of Mrauk U – Min Dawlya (1482–1492)
• Multan – Husseyn Langah I (1456–1502)
• Sultanate of Pahang – Ahmad Shah I (1475–1495)
• Qasim Khanate –
  1. Nur Daulat ibn Haji Girai (1486–1491)
  2. Satylghan ibn Nur Daulat (1491–1506)
• Ryukyu Kingdom – Shō Shin (1477–1526)
• Samudera Pasai Sultanate – Muhammad Syah II (1474–1495)
• Khanate of Sibir – Ibak Khan (1468–1495)
• Sindh Sultanate – Jam Nizamuddin II (1461–1508)
• Sunda Kingdom – Sri Baduga Maharaja (1482–1521)
• Sultanate of Sulu – Kamalud-Din (1480–1505)
• Sutiya Kingdom - Purnadhabnarayan (1480–1500)
• Sultanate of Ternate – Zainal Abidin (1486–1500)
• Uyghurstan – Ahmad Alaq (1487–1503)
• Vijayanagara Empire –
  1. Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya(1486–1491)
  2. Narasimha Raya II (1491–1505)

Europe

• Andorra –
  • Pere de Cardona, Bishop of Urgell and Co-Prince of Andorra (1472–1515)
  • Catherine of Navarre, Co-Princess of Andorra (1483–1516)
• Kingdom of Aragon – Ferdinand II (1479–1516)
• Castile – Isabella I (1474–1504)
• Crimean Khanate – Meñli I Giray (1478–1515)
• Kingdom of Denmark and Norway – Hans (1481–1513)
  • Duchy of Schleswig – Frederick I (1490–1533) and John I (1481–1513) in condominial rule
• Kingdom of England – Henry VII and Lord of Ireland (1485–1509)
• Kingdom of France – Charles VIII (1470–1498)
• Holy Roman Empire – Frederick III (1452–1493)
  • Anhalt-Dessau - Ernest I (1474–1516) and Rudolph IV (1474–1487), coregents
  • Anhalt-Köthen – Waldemar VI (1471–1508)
  • Duchy of Bavaria - Albert IV (1463–1508)
  • Duchy of Bavaria-Landshut - George the Rich (1479–1503)
  • County of Burgundy and Duchy of Burgundy –
    • Duke - Philip IV, the Fair (1482–1506)
    • Regent – Maximilian I, King of the Romans (1482–1594)
  • Duchy of Holstein – Frederick I (1490–1533) and John I (1481–1513) in condominial rule
  • Principality of Mindelheim – Georg von Frundsberg (1478–1528)
  • Principality of Orange – John IV (1475–1502)
• Kingdom of Hungary – Ulászló II (1490–1516)
• Khanate of Kazan - Möxämmädämin (1487–95)
• Grand Duchy of Lithuania – Casimir IV (1440–1492)
• Principality of Moldavia – Stephen III the Great (1457–1504)
• Grand Duchy of Moscow – Ivan III, Grand Prince of Moscow (1462–1505)
• Kingdom of Naples – Ferdinand I (1458–1494)
• Kingdom of Navarre – Catherine (1483–1516)
• Ottoman (Turkish) Empire – Bayezid II, Ottoman Sultan (1481–1512)
• Papal States – Pope Innocent VIII (1484–1492)
• Kingdom of Poland – Casimir IV (1447–1492)
• Kingdom of Portugal and the Algarves – John II (1477–1495)
• Principality of Ryazan – Ivan IV of Ryazan (1483–1500)
• Marquisate of Saluzzo – Ludovico II, Marquess of Saluzzo (1475–1504)
• Kingdom of Scotland (House of Stuart) - James IV (1488–1513)
• Kingdom of Sweden – Sten Sture the Elder, Regent (1470–1497)
• Republic of Venice – Agostino Barbarigo, Doge of Venice (1486–1501)

Middle East and North Africa

• Aq Qoyunlu – Baysonqor bin Yaqub (1490–1491)
• Kingdom of Fez – Abu Zakariya Muhammad al-Saih al-Mahdi (1472–1504)
• Ifriqiya – Abu Yahya Zakariya of the Hafsid Dynasty (1490–1494)
• Greater Khorasan - Shamsuddin Mohammed III (1480–1495)
• Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt – Qait Bay (1468–1496)
  • Sharifate of Mecca - Malik ul-Adil ibn Muhammed ibn Barakat (1455–1497)
• Morocco – Abu Abd Allah al-Sheikh Muhammad ibn Yahya of the Wattasid dynasty (1472–1504)
• Sultanate of Oman – Omar al Sharif (1490–1500)
• Emirate of Ramadan – Gıyâseddîn Halil Bey (1485–1510)
• Shirvan – Farrukh Yassar, Shirvanshah (1465–1500)
• Sistan – Shams al-Din Muhammad, Mihrabanid malik (1480–1495)
• Kingdom of Tlemcen – Abu Abdallah IV (1468–1504)