What is List of monarchs by time?
{{Multiple image | image1 = Hassanal Bolkiah, October 2021.jpg | image2 = | caption2 = | alt2 = | footer = [[Hassanal Bolkiah]] is the longest-reigning current monarch. }} A [[monarch]] is the [[Head of state|head]] of a [[monarchy]], a form of government in which a state is ruled by an individual who normally rules for [[Life tenure|life]] or until [[abdication]], and typically [[Inheritance|inherits]] the throne by birth.<ref>{{cite web |title=Monarch |publisher=CollinsDictionary.com. Collins English Dictionary – Complete & Unabridged 11th Edition. |url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/monarch |access-date=22 September 2012}}</ref> Monarchs may be [[Autocracy|autocrats]] (as in all [[Absolute monarchy|absolute monarchies]])<ref>{{cite book |last=Herb |first=Michael |title=All in the family: absolutism, revolution, and democracy in the Middle East |publisher=SUNY Press |year=1999 |location=New York |page=235 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i6hd9w64lcgC |isbn=978-0-7914-4168-8}}</ref> or may be [[Traditional authority|ceremonial]] [[figurehead]]s, exercising only limited or no [[reserve power]]s at all, with actual authority vested in a [[legislature]] and/or [[executive cabinet]] (as in many [[Constitutional monarchy|constitutional monarchies]]).<ref>{{cite book |last=Spellman |first=W. M. |title=Monarchies 1000–2000 |publisher=Reaktion Books |year=2001 |location=London |pages=22–23 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MRbExiEuYPsC| isbn=978-1-86189-087-0}}</ref> In many cases, a monarch will also be [[Divine right of kings|linked]] with a [[state religion]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Harris |first=Nathanial |title=Systems of Government: Monarchy |publisher=Evans Brothers |year=2009 |location=London |page=38 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o5SKJanyblIC| isbn=978-0-237-53932-0}}</ref> Most states only have a single monarch at any given time, although a [[regent]] may rule when the monarch is a [[Minor (law)|minor]], [[Absent