The Early Islamic Conquests

600,000

estimated total dead

Each dot below represents 1,000 human lives. Scroll to watch the scale unfold.

Military Dead

400,000 soldiers killed in combat, from wounds, or from disease. Each = 1,000 lives.

The Caliphate (Rashidun & Umayyad) — 120,000 military dead

Byzantium, Persia & Their Neighbours — 280,000 military dead

Civilian Dead

200,000 civilians killed — from violence, famine, disease, and displacement. Wars are not fought only by soldiers.

Civilian dead — 200,000

Deadliest Engagements

The Second Arab Siege of Constantinople95,000

incl. 5,000 civilians

Battle of Yarmouk45,000

The First Arab Siege of Constantinople32,000

incl. 2,000 civilians

Battle of Nahavand25,000

Battle of al-Qadisiyyah20,000

The Conquest of Egypt20,000

incl. 5,000 civilians

Battle of the Masts20,000

Battle of Talas20,000

For Perspective

How Islamic Conquests's dead compare to other conflicts and events.

Islamic Conquests — total dead600,000

Byzantine dead at Yarmouk (est.)40,000

Umayyad army lost at Constantinople (717–18)80,000

Years to conquer an empire (Atlantic to Indus)120

Total military dead, all sides (est.)400,000

Milestones of Loss

120 dead

In roughly 120 years the conquests built the largest empire the world had yet seen — a feat of expansion unmatched in history for its speed and scale, though its precise human cost can only be estimated.

40,000 dead

Yarmouk (636) was one of history's most decisive battles: the destruction of Heraclius's great army permanently detached Syria and Palestine from the Roman Empire after seven centuries.

80,000 dead

The failed siege of Constantinople in 717–718 destroyed the vast majority of the huge Umayyad army and fleet — one of the worst military catastrophes of the age and a decisive check on the expansion of Islam.

All figures are historical estimates and vary across sources. The true human cost of war is impossible to fully quantify — these numbers represent the best scholarly consensus. Each number was a person with a name, a family, and a life unlived.