Samraat (Sanskrit: samrāṭ or सम्राज् samrāj) is an Ancient Indian title sometimes translated into modern English as "Emperor". The title of empress is Samrãjñī. This word has been used as an epithet of various Vedic deities, like Varuna, and has been attested in the Holy Rig Veda.
Typically, in the later Vedic age, a Hindu king (Maharajah) was only called Samrāṭ after performing the Vedic Rajasuya sacrifice, enabling him by religious tradition to claim superiority over the other kings and princes. Another word for emperor is sārvabhaumā. The title of Samrāṭ has been used by only two rulers of the Indian subcontinent as claimed by the Hindu mythologies. In proper history, most historians call Chandragupta Maurya the first samrāṭ of the Indian subcontinent, because he ruled the whole Indian-Subcontinent. Mauryan Emperor'sChandragupta Maurya and Ashoka are more well known as Samraat Chandragupta Maurya and Samraat Ashoka Maurya because of the vastness of their empire.
In 1556, the Hindu king, Hem Chandra Vikramaditya also called Hemu, established Hindu Raj in north India after defeating Akbar's forces in Agra and Delhi. By virtue of winning 22 battles continuously in the entire North India, from Punjab to Bengal without losing any, Hemu was bestowed the title of "Samrat" and was addressed at the time of Rajbhangsi or coronation at Purana Quila, New Delhi on 7 October 1556 as "Samrat Hem Chander Vikramaditya. In Kerala the highest authority on the Namboodiri Brahmins is known as the Azhavanchery Samrat.
The generations of the Akkineni film family of Andhra Pradesh are sometimes nicknamed samrats. Natasamrat is the nickname for Nageswara Rao Akkineni, the first generation of the Akkineni family in films. Yuva Samrat is the nickname for Nagarjuna Akkineni, son of Nageswara. Nava Yuva Samrat is the nickname for Naga Chaitanya Akkineni, son of Nagarjuna.