1600–1699
The 17th century
Whose working lives fell in the 17th century. Books are measured from 1800 and readers from 2015, so for this period we can say who lived then, not who was talked about then.
Lived then
The most notable people whose working lives fell in the 17th century, ranked where Wikipedia coverage and readership agree.
#PersonIn print, 1800–2019Echoed
- 1
Aurangzeb1618–1707 · 🇮🇳 India · Historical Figures20 decades - 2
Mumtaz Mahal1593–1631 · 🇮🇳 India · Writers9 decades - 3
Shivaji1627–1680 · 🇮🇳 India · Historical Figures14 decades - 4
Jahangir1569–1627 · 🇮🇳 India · Historical Figuresnot measured— - 5
Sambhaji1657–1689 · 🇮🇳 India · Writers11 decades - 6
Bahadur Shah I1643–1712 · 🇮🇳 India · Historical Figures0 decades - 7
Dara Shukoh1615–1659 · 🇮🇳 India · Writers4 decades - 8
Tukaram1608–1650 · 🇮🇳 India · Writers15 decades - 9
Jahanara Begum1614–1681 · 🇮🇳 India · Writers0 decades - 10
Jahandar Shah1661–1713 · 🇮🇳 India · Politicians5 decades - 11
Guru Hargobind1595–1644 · 🇮🇳 India5 decades - 12
Joseph Vaz1651–1711 · 🇮🇳 India · Religious Figures1 decades - 13
Jijabai1598–1674 · 🇮🇳 India1 decades
- 14
Keladi Chennamma1671–1696 · 🇮🇳 India · Politiciansnot measured— - 15
Vemana1652–1730 · 🇮🇳 India · Writers5 decades - 16
Abd al-Hamid al-Lahoridied 1654 · 🇮🇳 India · Writersnot measured— - 17UPUmaru Pulavarborn 1642 · 🇮🇳 India · Writersnot measured—
- 18
Shahar Banu Begumborn 1663 · 🇮🇳 Indianot measured— - 19
Shah Badakhshi1592–1661 · 🇮🇳 India · Writersnot measured—
How this is measured
- Placing people in time. Each person belongs to the century in which they were most active — around age 35, and never after their death.
- Who ranks highest. Within a century, people are ranked where two independent signals agree: how many of the world’s Wikipedia language editions cover them, and how many people actually read about them. Article counts alone can be lifted by a person’s own circle; readers cannot.
- Fame in print. The curves count how often a name appears in Google Books from 1800 to 2019, as a share of all the words printed each year, in the person’s own language wherever that corpus exists. Those decades are over, so each measurement is made once and kept.
- What is left out. A lifetime is measured only from 1820, when there is enough print to judge; the five years after a death are skipped as obituaries; and a name shared with someone equally notable is credited to neither.