Genghis Khan, also known as Chinggis Khan, founder and first Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, (1162?-1227)
No one seriously disputes that in recorded history that any world leader slaughtered more people than the Great Khan.
The great of wave of the Black Death that took out an estimated one third of the population of Europe killed about 25 million. That’s not even close to the Genghis Khan’s record—and diseases don’t count because they are not a person. The 1918 pandemic of influenza, commonly called the Spanish Flu, killed about 50 million—closer to the Khan, but again—not a person. Worldwide deaths from COVID aren’t even close—estimated under seven million.
It is believed that up to 85 million people died in World War II, but that’s a lot of different people killing a lot of different people.
Some mass murders like Stalin are not even in the running. At most, Joseph Stalin was responsible for the deaths of about 20 million, including everything from political executions and wars to indirectly as a result of policies like mass starvation and the deportations.
Let’s compare all this to the Khan’s carnage.
How many people did Genghis Khan kill? Have seen estimates of cumulative deaths from the Khan’s military campaigns at 40-50 million. He may, for example, have killed three-fourths of modern-day Iran’s population during his war with the Khwarezmid Empire. All told, scholars estimate that the Mongol attacks under Genghis Khan may have reduced the entire world population by as much as 11 percent. Some argue this changed the global climate.
Did Genghis Khan kill the most people in one hour? There is a claim the Khan’s army killed almost two million people in one hour. This is impossible to verify. This incident occurred at Persian city of Nishapur in 1221. If true, the Khan’s army would have had to put over 29,000 people a minute to the sword. Grim Stuff.
