Top 10 Greatest Warriors in History

In History, countless Great Warriors came but few emerged as one of the greatest of all time. This is the complete list of Top 10 Greatest Warriors in History. Criteria should be established based on (1) Warrior's level of Bravery, Valor, Determination and Combat skills against enemies in battles (2) Trail of successes should also be checked by single combat between warriors during battles (3) and most importantly his distinguish as one of the greatest warriors should be judged either as an undefeated military commander or even as an undefeated warrior in a series of hand-to-hand combat despite his prolonged military career of constant wars.  

10. Hannibal Barca:
Hannibal Barca (247-183 CE), Carthaginian general and terror of the Romans. Despite his least resources and inexperienced troops, his personal level of bravery coupled with generalship, endure his troops to remain formidable in the face of Romans. His famous military feat had occurred, when he and his troops crossed the Alps while carrying his African war elephants into Italy through the notorious terrains. He was one of the first toughest opponents that Romans have faced.

9. Richard I the Lionheart:  
Richard I (1157-1199 CE) was the king of England for almost 10 years. At the age of 16, he had taken command of his own army and putting down rebellion against his father. Later on, he joined the Third Crusader against the Saracens and defeated Ayyubid Sultan Saladin on two major Battles (Battle of Arsuf & Battle of Jaffa) and restores much of the Christian lands around the eastern Mediterranean, which endure for another century. He was the first-ever person who decisively gains victories over Muslims since the rise of Islam in the early 7th century. His courage, bravery, and generalship inspire many legends, even the famous Muslim chronicler Ibn al-Athir praises Richard's great personality by saying that "For courage, Shrewdness, energy, and patience, the king (Richard) was the outstanding man of his times" (Ibn al-Athir, p. 387). Currently, he is an enduring iconic figure both in England & in France. 

8. Alexander the Great:
Alexander III of Macedon, famously known as Alexander the Great, king of the ancient Greek kingdom called Macedon. For 13 years of his ruling life, he conquered almost half of the known world of his time despite facing outnumbered enemies in battles and widely considered to be an undefeated military commander. He was an extremely brave warrior and front line commander in almost every battle. In his age of mid-twenties, he successfully fought against the lion and killed with his spear.

7. Attila the Hun:
Attila the Hun (406-453 CE) one of the most ruthless warriors of all time, invaded both eastern and western Europe numerous times and spread great terror. If Tamerlane (Taimur) is the Scourge of Asia then Attila is the Scourge of Europe. His rapid movement of horse archers and cavalry was a major part of the Hunnic strength and he defeated both eastern and western Roman Empire several times. He plunders and massacres the huge population in the conquered cities of Europe and left a tale of terror across the western world. Only death can stop his continuous barbarity. 

6. Bayezid Yildirim:
Bayezid Yildirim "Thunderbolt" was the fourth Ottoman sultan and real founder of the Ottoman Empire who for the first time ever consolidated and centralized the Ottoman administration and leads towards an unprecedented scale of Ottoman territorial expansion. Bayezid ascended to the throne during the Battle of Kosovo (1389 CE) when his father was assassinated by the Serbians. In this turbulent time period and lack of military leadership, Bayezid took the command of his army, defeated the Serbians and conquered their empire, ending their sovereignty (Serbian King Lazar also died in this battle). A highly intrepid and skillful warrior, Bayezid earns the title Yaldrim "Thunderbolt" because of his rapid maneuverability on the battlefield against any foe. From 1390 to 1395, he launches military campaigns both in the east (against Anatolian Beyliks) and in the west (against Bulgaria, Greece, and Romania) in which he successfully conquered the Turkish Beyliks of Aydin, Saruhan, and Menteshe in Anatolia and Bulgarian Empire and northern Greece in the west, although campaigns against Romania were not quite successful. As a result of his rapid conquest and besieged of Constantinople (reducing the Byzantine Empire to its capital), the pope organized a Crusade against the Turks in 1396 (almost every major western European countries participated in this battle). With an enormous European army of Crusaders, under the command of Sigismund, king of Hungary and Croatia arrived at the plains of Nicopolis, northern Bulgaria. Bayezid Yaldrim decisively defeated the Crusaders army and reaching as far as the borders of Vienna in central Europe (It was widely regarded by many historians as the last large scale military Crusade against Muslims). He even made the Byzantine Empire brink of his collapse, only relieved from this total collapse, when Tartar warlord Timur invaded the domains of the Ottoman Empire, culminated in the Battle of Ankara (1402). Bayazid's valor and combat skills were exceptional, despite Timur's successful military strategy of diverting the water channel of Cubuk plains of Ankara to starve the Ottoman army from water and creating the desertions among Ottoman troops in the form of black Tartars who joined the Timurid forces in the midst of battle, Bayezid and his Soldiers were still capable enough to give him (Timur) the toughest battle of his life (along with the Battle of Terek River). Both thirsty and tired, Bayezid took few hundred horsemen to the nearby mountains and fight them till sunset while the Timurid army already surrounded the mountains from all four corners. Heavily outnumbered Timurid forces finally captured him. When Bayezid came in front of Timur with pride (not having any remorse fear); Timur smiled while seeing him. In response to this act Bayezid angrily replied to him by saying that "It doesn't fair to smile on those people whose conditions have wrecked by God (Allah)", Timur (while replying) said, "I smiled not because of it that I defeated you in battle, I smiled because of it that what kind of wisdom lies in this matter by God (Allah) that He gave the ownership of this world to such a lame like me (Timur) and such a one-eyed blind like you (Bayezid)" (Tamerlane the Earth Shaker by Harold Lamb). Imagine his own worthiness is even accepted by the greatest conqueror and military campaigner, Timur the Great; who admired him as the most worthy opponent while he was personally fought more than 40 years of his constant wars and defeated the armies of more than half of the known world without losing any of his single pitched battles and in the process also conquered more than one-third of the entire known earth.    
             

5. Aurangzeb Alamgir:
Aurangzeb Alamgir (1618-1017 CE) was the last great king of the powerful Mughal Empire of India. He rose to prominence as a warrior at the age of 14, when he was fighting against the mad war elephant who stampeded through the Mughal Imperial encampment. He rode against the elephant and struck its trunk with a lance and successfully defended himself from being crushed. After that, he received the title Bahadur (Brave) from his father Mughal king Shah Jahan. He ruled almost the entire Indian Subcontinent for nearly half a century (1658-1707 CE) and his military career spanned 7 decades (1636-1707 CE), the longest in entire known military history. He was an accomplished administrator, military leader, and warrior, constantly engaged in wars despite his old age around ninety years. Nobody could be able to stand up against Aurangzeb Alamgir as long as he lived on, whether Marathas, Sikhs, Jats, Rajputs and Pashtuns from the inside or whether colonial British, Portuguese and Dutch from the outside and there is no question about foreign invaders like Nader Shah or Ahmed Shah. He ruled over a quarter of the world's population and its wealth. 

4. Zahir-ud-din Muhammad:
Zahir-ud-din Muhammad (1483-1530 CE), famously known as Babur Badshah (Lion King) was the founder of the Mughal Empire in India and its first ruler. A descendant of Timur on his father's side and Genghis Khan on his mother's side, Babur was fearless in battle, excellent in horsemanship, and refine in archery. He was a physically very strong and tall man who could run on a rampart holding two men in his arms. He swam across several rivers in northern India such as Ganges and Yamuna Rivers. He could ride on a horse for eighty miles without any break. As a general, he was an extremely successful and brilliant commander. In numerous times, he defeated the outnumbered enemies in battles whether in Central Asia against the Uzbeks or whether in northern India against the Afghans and Rajputs. He spent 30 years of his life (out of 47 years) in exile with hardships. He is no doubt one of the toughest and bravest warriors in history.

3. Timur bin Taraghay Barlas:
Timur (1336-1405 CE) was one of the most fearsome and powerful warriors of all time. His constant involvement in a battlefield kept motivated his 100,000 troops. He is the only warrior who nearly reached the point of world domination in such a manner that has never been fully done by any other. Lame in his right leg and crippled in his right hand (injuries sustained from arrows) but in spite of all these facts, nobody could be able to stop him to become a ruler of an empire that eventually ruled over half of the known world. Timur simultaneously fighting with two swords (before his injuries) and use multiple weapons at the same time on a battlefield. In a close encounter, he even used both ax and a sword at the same time with two hands and a tie-down bow on the neck and if he sees the enemy is far away then he shows the brilliance of his archery. He is generally frontline commander on almost every battlefield and he was not wearing an armored suit at the old age. Sometimes he personally attacks hard on a center column of an enemy or sometimes he bait the enemies into a trap by ambush or sometimes he comes from the flank or rear side of the enemy to give them a surprise attack. This undefeated warrior and military commander died in 1405 before permanently settling his affairs with the Chinese once it for all.        

2. Khalid bin al-Waleed:
Khalid bin al-Waleed (592-642 CE) also known as Sayf Allah al-Maslul (the Drawn Sword of God), was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم). Under his military leadership Arabia for the first time united. He remained undefeated in more than 100 battles against numerically superior forces of Byzantine Roman Empire and Sassanian Persian Empire, even in Ridda Wars against Arab tribes in the Arabian Peninsula as well as in numerous single duels against the best warriors of the Arabs (in Arabian Peninsula), Persians (in the Mesopotamia) and Romans (in the Levant). Khalid was the inventor of most of the early Muslim military dogmas, he was a precursor to almost every main tactic that Muslims used during early Islamic conquest. One of Khalid's major accomplishments in this context was using the individual skills of Arab Bedouin warriors to a larger scale. He is considered to have created them into an almost regular unit called Mubarizun (Champions), who would issue personal challenges to the enemy officers. These were extremely qualified and proficient swordsmen, whom Khalid used effectively to slay as many enemy officers as feasible, giving a psychological blow to enemy self-confidence. 

1. Ali bin Abi Talib:

Ali bin Abi Talib (601-661 CE) was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم). He was also the second last Rashidun Caliph (656-661 CE). Ali remained undefeated in both series of single combat as well as military commander (except the Battles of Uhad and Saffin, which ended in stalemate). He distinguished himself as a warrior during the first battle of the Islamic world (Battle of Badr). He killed one of Mecca's fiercest warriors Walid bin Utba (an Umayyad champion) during single combat and also killed in between 20 to 35 Meccan soldiers out of 70 during the Battle of Badr. During the battle of Uhad, despite he was seriously wounded 16 times, he killed 8 standard bearers alone, won hand-to-hand combat against Talhah ibn Abu Talha, show unmatched valor and art of skills during the time of Muslim's turmoil, fear, and flight from the battlefield. As per Sir John Glubb in his book The Great Arab Conquest (1963) "Ali ibn Abu Talib pressed on undismayed into the enemy ranks – it was Badr again; the Muslims were invincible". He proved again by killing one of the most fearsome warriors of the Meccans, Amr ibn wod al ameree during combat (who was thought to be equivalent to 1000 men). As a commander and warrior, his greatest victory would occur in the Battle of Khayber in which he conquered the richest and powerful castle of the Jews and killed his most formidable commander Marhab during the duel. He participated in every battle of the Prophet Muhammad (except the Battle of Tabuk) as a standard-bearer or commander of the Muslim army. After Muhammad, Ali bin Abi Talib stayed in Medina for almost 25 years (during the Rashidun period of the first three Caliphs). His military career resumed after his appointment as a fourth Rashidun (Rightly Guided) Caliph and he fought three major pitched battles. In spite of his old age (mid-fifties), he displays unprecedented bravery like a thunderbolt on the battlefield. His bloodiest battle occurred in the Battle of Siffin in which he fought tirelessly for three days and inflict heavy casualties on enemy fronts. Due to the enormous loss of Muslim lives, Ali offered a duel to Mauwiya but he declines to put up a fight against him. In Gibbon's words, "Ali generously proposed to save the blood of the Muslims by single combat; but his trembling rival declined the challenge as a sentence of inevitable death". Muhammad gave him the title of Asadullāh (Lion of Allah) and acknowledged him as the Greatest Warrior of all time.  

  

      

Untold Military History of Indian Subcontinent

Indian Subcontinent has long military history comparable to Sumerians and Egyptians; archaeological excavations around the Indus valley proved the existence of military activities around Bronze Age besides their economy plays a paramount role in Asian and African societies for millenniums.

Military Accomplishments:

Indians have acquired unusual military achievements from the time of the Vedic Period (1500-500 BC) until the fall of the Maratha Empire by the British Empire during the Third Anglo-Maratha War (1808). Especially from the 1^st century to the early 18th-century, history saw the Indians as the preeminent force on the planet earth, controlling over roughly more than one-quarter of the world’s population and its wealth. In recorded history, there are several unique military achievements of Indians, which have scarcely discussed by any: 

• The first significant rise of the Indians occurred during the leadership of Chandragupta Maurya. He defeated Alexander’s general Seleucus Nicator (305-303 BC) and taken eastern satrapies of the Seleucid Empire. Even in that contemporary period, Alexander’s campaign in India could also be taught as a disaster. Currently, the prevailing idea regarding Alexander’s campaign in India is that he successfully defeated the Porus army at the Battle of Hydaspes. After the battle, Alexander was so inspired by the bravery and valor of Porus that he appointed him again the ruler of his own kingdom plus he also gave him the territory of king Ambhi of Texila. However, some modern historians are not considered as a victory for Alexander. David J. Lonsdale, a lecturer in Strategic Studies at the University of Hull, writes that “Alexander’s invasion of India and Napoleon’s invasion of Russia both appear heedless and pointless from a strategic standpoint. Therefore, perhaps they can both be explained by the pure naked aspiration of the two commanders”. Famous Soviet commander Georgy Zhukov said (regarding Alexander’s campaign in India) “Following Alexander’s failure to gain a position in India and the defeat of his successor Seleucus Nicator, relationships among the Indians and the Greeks or Romans (Later), was primarily under the trade and diplomacy. The Greeks and other ancient people did not see themselves as in any way uppermost, only separate”. But one thing is true that all this information about the victory of Alexander against Porus was described by only Greek historians and famous Greek Geographer, Strabo frequently contradicts the ideas of Greek historians regarding Alexander’s campaign in India. According to me, the Battle of Hydaspes is disputed; we need to rely on science (Archaeological excavations or other scientific means) plus authentic verification of ancient textbooks with different sources (not only from Greek sources) to come up with plausible results that coherent with reality. Alexander’s campaign in India seems dubious to me. In most cases, highly possible that Greek historians distort history and exaggerated Macedonian’s success e.g. like the strength of Persian soldiers which they often faced, described them as 250,000 to 1,000,000 soldiers, much-overstated figure. Modern historians reject those figures mostly and gave a figure (50,000 to 100,000 Persian Soldiers) which most likely possible that the Macedonians faced. Nevertheless, even we accept that Alexander defeated Porus in battle but this is the actual fact which nobody doubts; (1) Alexander unable to invade India and his army has no will to face the ultimate threat i.e. Nanda Empire of Magadha and Gangaridai of Bengal, which were more powerful than Porus kingdom and (2) under the command of Chandragupta Maurya of Magadha, Indians defeated Alexander’s general Seleucid Nictor and recovered all of his eastern territories which has previously occupied by Macedonians/Greeks and (3) they (Greeks) did no different than the rest of the others like Persians, Arabs and Mongols by occupying only the slightest part of India i.e. Northwestern parts of India (circumscribed to the Indus valley region). Eventually, they were all defeated and India remained intact.
• Chandragupta Maurya was the founder of the Maurya Empire in India, an empire that encompasses the almost entire Indian subcontinent under his grandson Ashoka the Great. Maurya Empire became the largest entity ever existed in the Indian subcontinent, covered 5 million km² at its zenith. It remained powerful for one and a half-century.

• Later on, Chandragupta I founded the Gupta Empire upon the demise of the Maurya dynasty and particularly his son Samudragupta carried the expansionist policy of his father and conquered the Kushan Empire, which was established by Yuezhi people whose root traces back to a western Chinese province called Gansu. Before his death, he had conquered 20 kingdoms. Chandragupta II, son of Samudragupta conquered 21 kingdoms, in which he defeated the Parasikas (Persians), then the Hunas (Huns) and the Kambojas (Indo-Iranians) tribes. One of the descended of Chandragupta I, Skandagupta (455-467) defeated and successfully repelled the Hun invasions. However, Huns successfully penetrated into India after Skandagupta’s death and ruled Northwestern parts of India for some time until they were finally defeated by King Thanesar of Harsha Empire and permanently drove them out of India.
• Chola Empire (848-1279 CE) established during the medieval period by Viyayalaya Chola. Under Rajaraja Chola I and his successors, the dynasty became a military, economic and cultural power in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Rajaraja Chola expanded his traditional Chola territory to embraced (or occupied) parts of Northern India, two-thirds of Srilankan territory, Maldives, and parts of East Asia, between 985 and 1014 CE. His son and successor Rajendra Chola I emerged as the greatest of all Chola kings and completed the entire conquest of Srilanka and successfully invaded the domains of Srivijaya in Malay, Sumatra, Southern Thailand, Java in Southeast Asia and exacted tribute from the kingdom of Thailand and Khmer of Cambodia. In addition to it, he emerged victorious over the Bengali Pala king Mahipala of Gauda kingdom. Under his reign, the Chola Empire has emerged as the most dominant maritime sea power in the world.

• In the medieval period, the two most successful empires emerged from the deserts of Arabia and Gobi to rule much of the known earth. First, the Islamic caliphate of Arabia (Rashidun Caliphate, 632-661 CE), united by his leader and Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم). Inspired by the Koran’s instructions and Muhammad’s teachings, they burst out of the Arabian Peninsula and knock out the two superpowers (Byzantine Romans & Sassanian Persians) within just two decades. Caliphate reached his height under the Omayyad dynasty, spreading from Spain/southern France to the borders of China. Second, the Mongol Empire of Tartars/Mongols united by famous conqueror Genghis Khan in 1206 CE and then embarked on a series of conquest that eventually stretches from the Sea of Japan to the Danube River. Both Arabs (712-740 CE) and Mongols (1221 to 1327) invaded numerous times in the Indian Subcontinent but almost every time defeated by Indians and their invasions were permanently repulsed. In the end, the Achaemenid, Macedonian, Omayyad, and Mongol Empires restricted to the modern area of today called Pakistan and never able to conquer India despite their several invasions, even later on Indians also took the area around the Indus valley regions from the Persians, Macedonians/Greeks, Arabs and Mongols/Tartars.

• In between the Arab & Mongol invasions, there were also Turkic Afghan invasions came in the form of Mahmud of Ghazni and Shahabuddin Ghori, before the establishment of Delhi Sultanate which united northern and central India for three centuries (1206-1526 CE). During the time of Mahmud Ghaznavi, Northern India was comprised of petty and weak Indian states which mostly quarrel with each other, and southern India comprised of two powerful empires Chalukyas and particularly Cholas. This kind of situation (in Northern India) creates an opportunity for this Turkic conqueror, who invaded 17 times in northern India just for the sake of plunder and to loot the enormous wealth of northern India. Lack of unity among Hindu states and rivalry among themselves creates a power vacuum and provides an opportunity for the Mahmud to play divide and rule policy, for example, in 1021 CE he supported Kannauj king against Chandela Ganda, who was defeated. However, he never invaded southern India where ultimate Hindu power resides at that time, even in northern India despite all these facts Lohara (Kashmiri origin) dynasty of Srinagar inflicted two major defeats on Mahmud during his siege of Lohara fort in Tosa Maidan (1003 & 1021 CE) and also won a battle against the reconnaissance army of Mahmud (1014 CE) by the hand of Lohara king Samgramaraja (1003-28 C.E). Like predecessors, Ghaznavid ruled was also limited to the modern state called Pakistan and the rest of all India remained independent (except the Mahmud’s period in which most of the Hindu states in northern India remained internally independent but as a vassal to the Ghaznavid rule).
  After that, another Turkic invader made encroachments into northern India whose name is Muhammad of Ghor, famously known as Shihab ad-Din Ghori. He was the first Muslim ruler who permanently established his rule throughout northern India, but even his journey towards northern India was not simple. During his first campaign against an Indian ruler, he suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Kayadara (1178 CE) by the hand of Mularaja (r. 1175 – 1178 CE). Both from Muslim and Indian accounts, the Battle of Kayadara was considered disastrous for Shihab ad-Din Ghori. After this defeat, he never came in Gujarat again to give up another fight. 
  He was again defeated in the First Battle of Tarain but prevailed in the Second Battle of Tarain and captures Delhi at the Battle of Chandwar. The Second Battle of Tarain was one of the most famous battles in history; it starts the Muslim rule and expansion over northern India. 
• Genuinely, Timur (Tamerlane) founder of the Timurid Empire & Timurid Dynasty was the first conqueror/military commander who successfully prevailed over northern India even without a single loss of a battle and finally broke the invincibility of Indian war elephants during the Battle of Delhi (1398). Sultan Mahmud Tughluq and the army of Mallu Iqbal had war elephants armored with chain mail and poison on their tusks. As his army of Tartar was feared by the elephants, Timur commanded his men to dig a trench in front of their sites. Timur then loaded his camels with as much wood and hay as they could carry and when the war elephants charged, Timur set the hay on fire and prodded the camels with iron sticks, causing them to charge at the elephants howling in pain; Timur had understood that elephants were easily panicked. Faced with the strange spectacle of camels flying straight at them with flames leaping from their backs, the elephants turned around and stampeded back toward their own lines. Timur also mined the field with caltrops (a four-headed spike, with one spike always upward). These all kinds of ingenious strategies proved successful and Tughluk forces routed easily. 

• After Tamerlane, the Age of Gunpowder was spread across the world and the Indian military gradually declines. One of the most successful Timurid general of all time, named Babur whose success in India was also one of the reasons that he possessed excellent firearms and artillery weapons. Due to this fact, the Rana Sanga of Mewar defeated in battle against Babar (founder of the Mogul Empire) despite superior in strength. But Indian destiny was still not gone. The introduction of Gunpowder weapons into the Indian Subcontinent by Moguls made India still a dominant force on earth. From Akbar to Aurangzeb (1556-1707 CE), India enjoys great prosperity and military might for 150 years, spreading his kingdom from the borders of Uzbekistan in the north to the borders of Burma in the south, ruled over one-quarter of the world’s population, and its wealth.

• The decline of the Moguls in the early 18^th century was happened due to the internal struggles between Mogul princes for the throne, eventually gave not only rise to new powers in India such as Marathas and Sikhs but also foreign invaders like Nader Shah of Persia and Ahmed Shah of Afghanistan to gain the wealth of the crumbling Mogul Empire. Finally, the empire reduced to nothingness and confined to the fort of Delhi until it was dissolved by the British East India Company after the War of Independence (1857). 
• The Indian subcontinent was divided into weak insignificant states in the early 19th century. Colonial British Empire was the major benefactor of this turmoil and starts to occupy India after the Battle of Plassey (1757). But Indians were beyond admiration for their resilience and determination against British rule. Even at that time, they were weak and divided among themselves, still capable enough to inflict several defeats on the British army during this time and even won initial wars against the British; First Anglo-Mysore War, Second Anglo-Mysore War, and First Anglo-Maratha War was the best example. Internal dissensions and wars between Indian states primarily lead British colonization and supremacy over India, suppose if Mogul Empire remained intact like a Global Power just like during the period of Aurangzeb than British or even any other colonial force unable to occupy India. Child’s War (1686-1690) was the best example when the Mogul Empire was at height of his power and ruled over almost the whole Indian subcontinent; Aurangzeb Alamgir inflicted a disastrous defeat on the British Empire and the company’s envoys had to prostrate themselves before Aurangzeb, pay a large indemnity, and promise better behavior in the future.

• The Third Anglo-Maratha War saw the ultimate end of the Indian military and economic might. All Indian territories were finally occupied by the British Imperialists, ending the Indian Glory. Nevertheless, India is still one of the major forces on earth who won all of his wars except the First Sino-Indian War (1962) and contains 7.45 % (2017) share of the world’s GDP (PPP).
• Indians were the only nation on earth that has both highest undefeated military commanders and naval admirals in history (Second highest undefeated military commanders are from Egyptian Pharaohs i.e. Ahmose I, Thutmose I, Thutmose III, Seti I, and Ramesses II and second-highest undefeated naval commanders are from Korea i.e. Yi Sun-sin and Jang Bogo).

10 Undefeated Indian Military Commanders in History

Sudas: Indian King of 15th century BC, victor in the battle of Ten Kings. 

Chandragupta Maurya: Mauryan king (4th century BC), conquered the Nanda Empire, defeated Alexander's general Seleucus I Nicator of the Seleucid Empire and recovered all of his eastern territories around the Indus valley region from the Greeks and successfully prevailed over the Eudemus and Sophytes of Punjab, Peithon of the Indus, and various Indian kingdoms.

Samudragupta: Gupta king of the 4th century, against over 20 Indian, Scythian and Kushan kingdoms. 

Chandragupta II: Gupta king of the 4th century, victor against 21 kingdoms, including the Parasikas (Persians), Yavanas (Greeks), Hunas, Kambojas, Kinnaras, and Kiratas.

Lalitaditya Muktapida: Kashmiri king of the 8th century, conquered Kalinga, Gauda, Karnata, Konkana, Uttarapatha, Strirajya, Uttarakuru and defeated the Omayyad Arabs several times (even once Abbasids).

Devapala: Pala king of Bengali origin (9th century), victor against the Utkalas, Assamese, Hunas, Kambojas, Gurjara Pratiharas, and Dravidas.

Zafar Khan: Famous Muslim Indian general, who won numerous battles against Mongols during their invasions of northern India in the 13th century.

Ashoka the Great: Ancient Indian king of Mauryan dynasty who ruled almost all Indian Subcontinent from c. 268 to 232 BC.

Kumbha of Mewar: ruler of Mewar kingdom of western India. He successfully expanded his kingdom against the combined forces of the Gujaratis, Malawians, Marwaris, and Nagauris. He remained undefeated 35 years of his total reign. 

Akbar: Third Mogul king, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. A figure with a strong personality and successful military leadership, Akbar gradually expanded the Mogul Empire to include nearly all Indian Subcontinent north of the Godavari River. 

3 Undefeated Indian Admirals in History

Rajaraja I: He defeated the fleet of Chera king and also Pandian king Amarabujangan during Kandalur War. 

Defeated the Mahinda V of Sri Lanka (during naval engagement) and conquered North-East Sri Lanka. 

Captured the regions of Gangapadi, Nolambapadi and Tadigaipadi defeated the Western Chalukyas. In addition to it, he defeated the Hoysalas and led his successful final expedition against the Maldives.

Rajendra Chola I: He launches the successful naval campaigns against Rashtrakutas and Western Chalukyas. Completed the entire conquest of Srilankan island. 

Defeated the Pala king Mahipala, last ruler of the Kamboja Pala dynasty Dharmapala of Dandabhukti and Govindachandra of the Chandra dynasty. 

He led successful naval expeditions into Southeast Asia against the Srivijaya kingdom (Indonesia) of Sangrama Vijayatunggavarman, the Tambralinga Kingdom in Southern Thailand, and the Langkasuka Kingdom in modern Malaysia. After this, the Chola Empire conquered large portions of the Srivijaya Empire including its ports of Ligor, Kedah, and Tumasik (current-day Singapore).

Kanhoji Angre: Kanhoji (August 1669 – 4 July 1729) fought against the British, Dutch, and Portuguese naval interests on the coasts of India for 40 years. Despite the several efforts from the British and Portuguese to subdue Angre, he maintained his undefeated naval career until his death. 

What really happened to China if Timur (Tamerlane) never died?

Nobody could be able to precisely describe what happened if he invades China. But most likely possible that he would finally conquer the whole Ming Empire.

Reasons:

1. Emir Timur (Tamerlane) was an undefeated warlord in over 45 years (1360–1405) of his military career, despite facing outnumbered enemies, harsh terrain, and formidable enemies like Ottoman Turks, Egyptian Mumlukes, Tartar Golden Horde, and Delhi Sultanate. 

2. As there is no doubt, he is a military genius and brilliant strategist; he overcame every odd and remained unchecked by any military of his time. He is the greatest conqueror of all time. He conquered the entire landmass from Mongolia in the east to Turkey in the west and from Russia in the north to India in the south.

3. His hordes overrun all the parts of the former Mongol Empire and united all Mongols/Tartars under his banner and prepared with 200,000 soldiers to conquer the Ming Empire. However, Ming Chinese too assembled an army of nearly a million soldiers to counter Timur. Besides, Ming Chinese also fortified and increase the size of the Great Wall of China to protect from his invasion. 

4. After the death of Timur, his general and protégé Buyensher (famously known as Oljei Temur Khan) defeated the Ming army (1409), even in that time Tamerlane wasn’t there but still Northern Yuan Dynasty capable enough to inflict a defeat on the punitive expedition of the Chinese army, particularly 44 years later after Timur's death, the Oirat leader Esen Taishi defeated the 500,000 soldiers of strong Chinese army led by Ming Emperor Zhengtong at the Battle of Temu (1449) with just 20,000 cavalry and even captured the Chinese emperor in battle, if suppose Timur with his incredible personality could invade China together with his all Mongols (Yuan, Chagatai, Il-Khanate, and Golden Horde), which were previously subdued by Timur, then obviously odds were in his favor. 

However, there is no doubt that the encounter between these two giants would bring a titanic struggle. But I think it was most likely plausible that Tamerlane would finally emerge as victorious. Even the invasion of China never happened because he died from fever at Otrar, in Kazakhstan but he left his fear on Chinese, even after his death because of this sheer fact, his son and successor Shah Rukh gained nominal suzerainty over China (even India as well).

  

Top 10 Greatest Armies in History

In recorded history, countless successful armies came from the time of mighty Sumerians (4th millennium BC) until the current sole superpower of the World (United States).
Criteria (for being one of the greatest armies) should be established based on an achievements and achievements can be determined in the form of (1) Conquest (How much lands they occupied from the inhabitant part of the region of the earth), (2) Victories (Most importantly decisive victories/victories which were turning point in history worth counted), (3) Durability of their success rate (It can be judged in the form of a timeline), (4) victories against Superpower Empires worth counted (It is a bonus point if they conquered/submitted them successfully), (5) level of influence in conquered societies/territories (6) what type of level of odds they overcame e.g. like tough terrain, harsh weather environment and well-resourced, outnumbered, robust enemies. 
Any army is going to be scrutinized under these patterns with their level of degree.  
     

10) Hunnic Army:

Hunnic hordes roamed across western and eastern Europe from the 4^th to 5^th centuries and caused great havoc. They relied on their high mobility and a shrewd sense of when to attack and when to withdraw. They often created loud noises during the war to amplify the psychological element of fear into the hearts of their enemies. They contain excellent horsemanship and their archers' fire arrows even if they were back of their horse with great speed. However, they were not entirely good at pitched battles. Christopher Kelly claims that Attila sought to avoid losses “as far as possible, large scale engagements with the Roman army”. An important part of their strategy was to pretend their opponent that they were retreating and then turning back and attacked the disordered enemy units. They have preferred to defeat their enemies by deceit, surprise attack, and cutting off their supplies. Especially under Attila the Hun (known as Scourge of God), Hunnic hordes devastated most of Europe and taken tens of thousands of lives. However, their hordes were not entirely powerful enough to conquer the capitals of both the eastern and western Roman Empire. Their conquest was short-lived with barren results. 

9) Macedonian army:

The army of Macedon was among the greatest military forces of the ancient world. It was created under the guidance of King Philip II and made them formidable in the face of the earth. Later on, his son Alexander the Great led his invincible phalanxes to conquer each state from the Adriatic Sea to Indus River. Macedonian heavy infantry primarily consists of foot champions, Hypaspists, and Greek hoplites, and light infantry consists of Peltasts and Cretan archers. Companion cavalry (heavy cavalry unit) considered to be one of the finest cavalries in the ancient world. However, the short-lived Macedonian Empire left a lasting legacy of its army and Alexander’s military tactics and strategy still teach in military academies across the globe.  

8) Soviet/Red Army:

Soviet army (1917-1991 AD) was one of the most dominant forces on a global theater during and after World War 2. During the War, the Red Army won a decisive victory over the Germans at Stalingrad (which was the turning point in the history of World War 2), overran entire Eastern Europe, captured Berlin (at the Battle of Berlin) and ending the Nazi Germany. In addition to it, Soviet ground forces (together with his ally North Vietnam) able to defeat US-led South Vietnam during the Vietnam War (1955-1975) and converted entire Vietnam into a friendly communist regime. 

7) Russian Imperial/Czar Army:

For 180 years (1721-1900), the Russian Empire was considered as the world’s superpower because of its rapid advancement and modernization of its army, which eventually able them to conquer entire Northern Asia (Siberia), Central Asia and almost entire Eastern Europe. People’s Militia (Irregular Troops), Hussar, Ulan, and Imperial Guard are among the prominent features of the Imperial Russian Army. Russian army (1721-1917 AD) plays a decisive role in defeating and conquering the First French Empire of Napoleon Bonaparte. Alexander Suvorov was considered among the most famous commander of the imperial army and also one of the greatest military commanders of all time.

6) American/United States Army:

American army (1775-Present) was established during the revolutionary wars of independence from the British and gradually start to grow by absorbing the native Red Indian population and Spanish territories in west America. During the Spanish-American War (1898), the US (United States) became a global power after defeating Spanish. The entry of the US army in World War 1 (1917) was instrumental in defeating the German forces and gave victory to Allies. In World War 2, the American army was fighting on both German and Japanese front. US army has only forced on planet earth that successfully conquered the Japanese island while no other foreign nation in the history of Japan able to occupy this remote obscure island. After World War 2, the United States along with the Soviet Union emerged as Superpower of the world; start an armed race and proxy wars against each other to spread their ideologies (Capitalism/Socialism), in which US army prevailed as a result of their successful covert operations in Soviet-Afghan war and USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) collapsed and the USA left as a sole superpower up to the present day.

5) Ottoman/Turkish Army:

For 230 years (1453-1683 AD), Ottoman Empire was considered a trans-continental hyperpower. Thanks to his elite Janissaries, powerful artillery, canons, firearms, etc, the Ottoman army was truly a gun powder force; their use and adoption of such weapons were so rapid that they surpass both Europeans and middle eastern opponents. In most cases, the Ottoman combination of using both Janissary/firearm units and artillery/canons were proved to be decisive in many battles. Perfect adoption in gun powder weapons and excellent technique of using those weapons endures the legacy of the Ottoman Empire for centuries. 

4) Roman/Byzantine Army:

The Roman army was one of the most durable armed forces in human history; it lasted from 753 BC to 1453 AD. They managed to defeat numerous European, Asian, and African forces, created a well-disciplined and trained military unit. It overwhelmed the Carthaginian forces, hold the barbaric invasions of Huns, successful counter-attacks against Sassanian Persians after losing most of his territory (during Byzantine-Sassanian Wars in 602-628 AD), survive the onslaught of Arabs (by defeating them twice during the siege of Constantinople in 674-678 & 717-718 AD), and his impenetrable walls of Constantinople survived every single attack from the outside world {except the Conquest of Constantinople by Crusaders (1204) and Ottoman Turks (1453)} besides ruled over vast swathes of Europe, Eastern Mediterranean, and Northern Africa for centuries. Augustus (founder of the Roman Empire), created the elite force of formidable legions and alongside Auxilia, a regular troops with a similar number with legions, recruited from the non-citizen inhabitants of the empire. However, the Roman army was evolved with needs; develop a method of tactics and strategy that able to surpass any other force on the planet earth. 

3) Achaemenid/Persian Army:

Achaemenid Persian army was the greatest force of the ancient world. They arose from southwestern Iran under the command of his greatest ancient conqueror and ruler Cyrus the Great, famously known as King of the four corners of the world, a legendary figure describes by Koran & Bible (Old Testament) as Dhul-Qarnayn (Arabic: ذو القرنين‎ - Owner of the Two Horns; symbolizes his two kingdoms i.e. Persis and Media). Persian infantry consists of Immortals, Sparabara, and Takabara. Immortals were among the most fearsome unit of Achaemenids and Sparabara as well (famous for fighting with enemy hand-to-hand single combat) and also Takabara one of the tough ones. Persians heavily relied on archery (Composite Bow). Most importantly their armored heavy cavalry units and chariots were the deadliest ones. As per the Herodotus “The armored Persian horsemen and their death-dealing chariots were invincible. No man dared to face them". With 120,000 soldiers (according to Xenophon), the Persian Achaemenid army ruled more than 2/3 of the entire known earth and controlled 1/3 of the entire world's population.

2) Mongol/Tartar Army:

For two centuries (1206-1405 AD), from Mongol Genghis Khan to Tartar Tamerlane (Taimur), Mongol/Tartar army dominated and conquered most of the Eurasian landmass and created the largest empire in human history. Their rapid mobility of mounted horse archers and cavalry was part of his major strength that no other force on the planet earth could wield. Their military achievements were vastly outnumbered by any other nations in terms of conquest. Mongols didn’t much influence the societies/territories which they conquered; instead, they assimilated into their cultures, resulted in losing the durability of their own empire. However, the stupendous fighting force of Mongols made them capable enough to unite all lands from the Pacific Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea. More than half of the Mongol troops primarily composed of light cavalry and horse archers and the rest of the others were heavily armored units. Like Arabian horses, Mongol horses have excellent stamina; able to survive in tough weather conditions with little care and providing excellent mileage. Mongol/Tartar hordes were the most ferocious and fearsome force in entire military history. They appeared from the Mongolian and south Siberian forest steppes and slaughtered 50 million people (from 1206 to 1405 AD) through his conquest. But this is not the only case Tartars did, they also brought up with them a biological weapon that they even not know i.e. Bubonic Plague (Black Death); it spreads from Central Asia to Europe, taken 75 to 200 million lives because Tatars slaughtered the huge population in conquered cities (particularly during the siege of Kaffa in Crimea), facilitated the disease to spread across Europe. If we have taken into account all of their brutality and bloodbath, resulted from their conquest, it surpasses any other nations on the planet earth.

Mongol army invaded the entire Asia (except Arabian Peninsula), Eastern and Central Europe (except The Novgorod Republic ) in which they successfully conquered the entire regions of Mongolia, Central Asia, China, Korea, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Transcaucasia, Southwestern Turkey, Northwestern Pakistan, Southern Siberia and most of the Eastern Europe. However, their invasions failed in South Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Europe, Syria, and Japan despite several incursions.
Tamerlane the Great (Taimur) united the Mongols/Tartars once again, restores all the remnants of former Mongol Empire and created the Tartar (Timurid) Empire which ultimately ruled over half of the known world. But Taimur’s death signifies the end of Mongol’s glory and eventual demise.  

1) Rashidun/Arab Army:

Rise of Islam traces went back to history where Rashidun (Rightly Guided) army (632-661 AD) plays an important role in the early establishment and expansion of the caliphate to its largest extent (from the Atlantic Ocean to the borders of China). The early strategy of Rashidun soldiers was to exploit every single weakness of enemies with minimum losses. Despite low-standard army in terms of military equipment and strength as compared to Sassanian Persians and Byzantine Romans, Rashidun force able to defeat both of these two superpowers and conquered the entire Sassanian Persian Empire and 3 quarters of the entire Byzantine Empire. These all accomplishments came as an outcome of their finest strategies by capable commanders such as Khalid Bin Al-Waleed, Abu Ubaidah Ibn Jarrah, Saad Bin Abi Waqas and Amr Ibn Alas, etc, supreme administration of conquered territories by caliphs, and inspiration/motivation came from the Holy Book (Koran) and teachings of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم). In all of the Rashidun Commanders, Khalid bin Al-Waleed was among the most successful commander, under his command Muslims defeated all Bedouin rivals in Arabia and united them under a single political entity called Caliphate. After that, he and his army defeated the numerically superior forces of Byzantine Empire (379,300 & 100,000 Soldiers, according to American historians Treadgold and Walter Emil Kaegi respectively) and Sassanian Empire (100,000 to 130,000 Soldiers, according to recent archaeological evidence on campaign bases near the Great Wall of Gorgan), eventually paved the way for ultimate conquest. Rashidun army used his greatest advantage as strength against both Persians and Romans i.e. Mobility, which latter both these armies didn’t have. Their army was mostly composed of camel mounted soldiers and with the help of light cavalry, they were able to engage and disengage enemy units at any time and attacks from the flank or rear. Their special unit was called Mubarizun (one who gives offer), famously known as champions, an effective force of infantry which demoralizes any enemy force by killing their champions. The total strength of Rashidun soldiers was very few in numbers from 13,000 to 41,000 during the first Caliph Abu Bakr (632-634 AD), but despite all of these facts, they conquered the entire Arabian Peninsula and further went on to clash with two existing superpowers. In all the wars against Byzantine Romans and Sassanian Persians, the Caliphate Mujaheddin faced outnumbered and well-equipped soldiers of Persians and Romans. At one time, they faced the combined power of both Byzantines and Sassanians (ten times greater than Muslims) at the Battle of Firaz (634).

In history, no one’s army created such influence like Rashidun/Orthodox Caliphate’s army created as a result of their military achievements. They brought up Islam into the entire regions of the Middle East, Northern Africa and parts of Central and South Asia in a manner of just two decades. Later on, all Persian, Turkic, Mongol, and Berber dynasties fell under their influence and adopted Islam (as well as their state religion) and carried the Islamic legacy up to the 20^th century. Rashidun Caliphate was a precursor to the next Arab caliphates such as Omayyad (661-750 AD) and Abbasid (750-1258 AD). This Orthodox Caliphate left lasting footprints on the Islamic World and their Soldiers (Mujaheddin) provides the central role (along with just and wise administration of their Caliphs) for altering the landscapes of the entire earth from Northern Africa to Central Asia.