The Human Cost
17,000,000
disputed broad estimate
The commonly cited figure of 17 million deaths (~5% of the world's population) is a modern estimate derived from demographic decline data and chronicle reports. Medieval chroniclers routinely inflated army sizes and massacre figures, and census declines combine death, flight, and administrative collapse. The true toll is unrecoverable but was certainly catastrophic.
Each dot below represents 1,000 human lives. Scroll to watch the scale unfold.
Working allocation: 3,000,000 soldiers killed in combat, from wounds, or from disease. Each = 1,000 lives.
14,000,000 civilians killed — from violence, famine, disease, and displacement. Wars are not fought only by soldiers.
incl. 200,000 civilians
incl. 90,000 civilians
incl. 70,000 civilians
incl. 30,000 civilians
incl. 20,000 civilians
How Timur's Conquests's dead compare to other conflicts and events.
200,000 dead
The Delhi figures include the reported massacre of ~100,000 prisoners before the battle and subsequent civilian deaths during the sack. These are chronicle reports, not verified counts.
17,000,000 dead
The 17 million total is a widely cited modern estimate but relies on medieval chronicles with rhetorical casualty figures and on demographic decline that includes flight and economic collapse as well as direct killing. The true scale was catastrophic but unrecoverable.