Top 100 Generals

I have enjoyed reading and following the discussions of this thread over the past couple of years; indeed I have frequently utilized it as a primer for at least an overview of significant military figures when reading on a new region of history. As such I wanted to provide some observations of my own to the collective.

-I agree with the ranking of Temujin first. In part, although this point deviates from being a strict military component, he succeeded as completely as anyone in history in raising his people from the periphery of history and civilization to the heights of power within his singular lifespan. The Mongolian people would thereafter remain at the apex of world civilization for the next several centuries (including the presence in Russia, Iran, Turkestan and India during the Mughal Empire). Only Muhammad can be said to rival this feat. Certainly neither Alexander nor any Roman Caesar could be claimed to have achieved so much singularly. Cyrus indeed built an empire, but the Persian people likely enjoyed a much higher quality of life in 559 BCE than did the Arab and Mongolian people in the 7^th and 13^th centuries respectively.

-I further agree with Alexander being ranked 2^nd. Again, deviating from purely tactical military history, it may be worth pointing out the difficulty in overstating Alexander’s historical importance. It has been said that Paul’s messages traveled the roads built by Alexander. Looking at his drive into India, Greek communities persisted in Central Asia into the Common Era and fostered a unique cultural synthesis that produced novelties such as Greco-Buddhism.

-I generally place Timur as 3^rd. Napoleon and Hannibal would both rank very highly, top ten. However, they both lost their respective wars in the end. Timur campaigned nearly constantly for 35 years (1369-1405) and in so doing contested what may well stand as the most impressive roll call of opponents among the great commanders – the Delhi Syultanate of the Tughlaqs, the Mamluk Sultanate, the Golden Horde Mongols and the Ottomans (fresh off of Nicopolis under Bayezid I). Further Timur likely warred over the largest territory of any commander in the ancient/medieval worlds. His shortcomings as an empire builder are well documented but some credit should be given for his inspired direction in producing the golden age of Samarkand.

-A few additional points. Recognizing this to be a list of generals, thus excluding admirals, I would nevertheless be remised in not citing one-time general turned admiral Yi Sun-sin (whom I would rank top 10 all time among all military commanders). His exploits during the Japanese invasions (1592-1598) stand amongst the most courageous national defenses in human history.

-Tran Hung Dao made repeated defenses of Vietnam from the Mongols in the era of Kublai. Rustling an essentially ragtag militia together to repulse the strongest army in the world compels me to place Tran just outside the top 10.

-Scipio I generally rate as the greatest Roman general (of ancient Rome, through to 476 CE). His besting of Hannibal at Zama (202 BCE) I consider the sole battle in history to be contested between two of the all time top 10.

-Belisarius – I concur with his top 10 placing. Certainly the greatest Byzantine commander, and yet so little mentioned even in western histories (likely due to never being an emperor). Considering the purported intent of this list to achieve a sense of equity, the absence of an imbalanced number of Byzantine commanders may be anticipated. I do note the additional presence of Heraclius and Leo III, however I would cite, just for general discussion, the possible inclusions of Basil II, John II Tzimiskes, Nikephoros I Phokas, John Komnenos, Manuel Komnenos, Alexios Komnenos, John Kourkouas.

-It appears that Cyrus has fallen quite precipitously in the listings, and considering he stands as among the earliest historical figures with sound veracity of existence (as opposed to David of Israel) that may well be understandable. I agree in principal with many of the imitations cited concerning Darius. With the Sassanids I note the presence of Shapur I (higher than I would place him actually) but would cite his father Ardashir and more particularly Khosrau I (contemporary of Belisarius) who brought the Persian Empire to its greatest heights even in the age of Justinian.

-I generally cite Baibars as the greatest Muslim commander (Timur aside). His accomplishments in dealing the Mongols their first significant defeat and in tirelessly driving the Crusaders out of the Levant would both reverberate for centuries to come. I would rank him very highly, perhaps just outside of the top 10.

-Stephen III and Skanderbeg are two commanders I knew little of prior to this forum. Both share a similar history in being threats to the Ottoman Empire even as it was enjoying one of its high points in its initial European drive under Mehmed II. Stephen III in particular appears to have triumphed against very long odds, and both are severely underrated among European and even Medieval historians.

-A few points on Indian history. Babur is well placed, as the ultimate founder of the Mughal Empire. I consider Babur one of the most persistent and innovative leaders (military of otherwise) in history. Considering he began his career as a military commander at 12, and suffered more than his share of setbacks (ultimately losing his ancestral homeland of Ferghana to the Uzbeks), resettling in Afghanistan whereupon he would one day launch his fortuitous invasion of India and the subcontinent forever altering South Asian history. Many highly touted military commanders suffered defeats, some irreversibly so; Babur however stands apart in managing to several times over surmount his early life setbacks, even recalibrating his intentions entirely if circumstances dictated (abandoning Turkestan for India). In the end Babur emerged as amongst the wisest and most nuanced of all military leaders able to deal crushing defeats to the Delhi Sultanate and the awaiting Rajput confederacy, establish a dynasty that would (with but one brief interruption) steer to the subcontinent for 200 years and pen a marvelous autobiography (itself a novelty of the time). The placement of Sher Shah Suri just outside the top 100 seems appropriate. Sher Shah I oft times unrecognized for the degree to which Akbar’s administration looked to the Sur Dynasty’s reforms for guidance. Naturally Shivaji ranked highly on the list, perhaps his death prior to the ultimate success of the rebellion held him back from a higher ranking. I would cite Maharana Pratap as a potentially worthy addition – he was the greatest nemesis to the Mughal Empire at the time of Akbar. Baji Rao would be higher ranked on my personal list. In point of fact the entirety of the Mughal era in India might stand as the greatest concentration of great military talent ever assembled when one considers – Babur, Akbar, Man Singh I, Hemu, Sher Shah Suri, Nader Shah (during his invasion), Malik Ambar, Jai Singh II, Aurangzeb, Shivaji, Sambhaji, Baji Rao I, Ahmed Shah Durrani, Mir Jumbla II, Robert Clive, Afonso Albuquerque, Maharana Pratap, Guru Gobind Singh, Ranjit Singh – all with 250 years or so. A remarkable period of history

-With respects to the earlier Hindu age of India, I noted to quite correct addition of Chandragupta and Samudragupta. However it appeared a number of other Hindu kings and military leaders could have gone overlooked (although admittedly the records of some of them are quite sparse) – Chandragupta II, Rajaraja Chola I, Rajendra Chola I, Harsha, Narasimhavarman, Pulakesi II, Dharmapala, Devapala, Mihra Bhoja I, Dhruva Dharavarsha, Govinda III, Veera Ballala II, Veera Ballala III. Additionally, the early Muslim conquerors Mahmud of Ghazni and Muhammad of Ghor are present, but the Sultan Alauddin Khilji ought be considered as well, he defended northern India from several latter-Mongol armies in the early 1300s.

-My particular areas of strength are medieval history and in the national histories of the Arabs, Iranians, Chinese, Indians and Mongolians. I am not as strong in modern history, and European modern history at that (albeit more so the military history than political). Even so I have enjoyed the spirited debate between the Polish and Swedish contributors to this cite. I was able to familiarize myself with parts of Polish and Swedish history some months ago and the intertwined (along with Russia) state of affairs these countries had in the 17^th and 18^th centuries. In particular I was taken with Charles XII of Sweden and Stanislaw Koniecpolski as fascinating figures. I see Jan Karol Chodkiewicz listed in the top 200, however, on Stanislaw Zolkiewski, his victory at the Battle Of Klushino would seem to support his case for inclusion. Polish history across the 17^th century appears littered with tremendous military accomplishments.

I hope my points and inquiries can be of benefit to the site.

                                                                                                                                       GK