A chakravarti is an ideal universal ruler, in the history, and religion of India. The concept is present in Indian subcontinent cultural traditions, narrative myths and lore. There are three types of chakravarti: chakravala chakravarti, an emperor who rules over all four of the continents ; dvipa chakravarti, a ruler who governs only one of those continents; and pradesha chakravarti, a monarch who leads the people of only a part of a continent, the equivalent of a local king. Dvipa chakravarti is particularly one who rules the entire Indian subcontinent. The first references to a Chakravala Chakravartin appear in monuments from the time of the early Maurya Empire, in the 4th to 3rd century BCE, in reference to Emperor Ashoka.