Who was the ruler of India at the time of the establishment of East India…

To identify who ruled India during a particular historical event, match the event's date against the chronological reign spans of the Mughal emperors: Babur (1526–1530), Humayun (1530–1540, restored 1555–1556 after the Sur interregnum), Akbar (1556–1605), Jahangir (1605–1627), Shah Jahan (1628–1658), and Aurangzeb (1658–1707).

The English East India Company was established under a Royal Charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I on 31 December 1600. Locating this date on the Mughal timeline places it inside Akbar's reign of 1556–1605, so Akbar held the Mughal throne when the Company was founded.

Checking the reign of each remaining ruler against the year 1600 rules them out:

• Sher Shah Suri's Sur-dynasty rule had already ended by around 1545, well before 1600, and Mughal rule had already been restored under Humayun by 1555.

• Jahangir's reign began only in 1605, five years after the Company's charter was granted.

• Aurangzeb's reign began in 1658, nearly six decades after the Company's founding.

Only Akbar's reign (1556–1605) contains the year 1600, confirming Akbar as the answer.