The Human Cost
The Mongol Conquests
35,000,000
estimated total dead
Each dot below represents 1,000 human lives. Scroll to watch the scale unfold.
Military Dead
5,000,000 soldiers killed in combat, from wounds, or from disease. Each = 1,000 lives.
Opposing States & Peoples β 3,000,000 military dead Mongol Empire β 2,000,000 military dead Civilian Dead
30,000,000 civilians killed β from violence, famine, disease, and displacement. Wars are not fought only by soldiers.
Civilian dead β 30,000,000 Deadliest Engagements
The Fall of Samarkand200,000
incl. 150,000 civilians
The Siege of Baghdad200,000
incl. 160,000 civilians
The Mongol Invasions of Japan130,000
Siege of Zhongdu100,000
incl. 60,000 civilians
Battle of Yamen (Conquest of Song)100,000
Battle of the Kalka River30,000
Battle of Ain Jalut20,000
For Perspective
How Mongol Conquests's dead compare to other conflicts and events.
Mongol Conquests β total dead35,000,000
Mongol Conquests (broad est.)35,000,000
An Lushan Rebellion (China)13,000,000
Sack of Baghdad (1258)200,000
Black Death (spread via Mongol routes)75,000,000
Milestones of Loss
200,000 dead
200,000+ β estimated killed in the sack of Baghdad in 1258
13,000,000 dead
13 million β comparable scale to China's An Lushan Rebellion
35,000,000 dead
35 million β common estimate of total deaths across the conquests
All figures are historical estimates and vary across sources. The true human cost of war is impossible to fully quantify β these numbers represent the best scholarly consensus. Each number was a person with a name, a family, and a life unlived.