[Hugin]

I agree, Genghis Khan has to rate #1. He conquered more terrirtory and people, sacked more cities, destroyed more armies and empires than any other general in history. He never lost a battle, and only stopped from conquering western Europe because it was too remote to bother with. Plus he did it without modern technology and an army of only about 100,000 men. Then he set about creating an enlightened (at least for the time) civil service to administer it all. An amazing individual.

[John H K]

Yep, it's critical to recognize that the Mongols were severely outnumbered in pretty much every battle they ever fought. Perhaps the most disciplined military force ever created, and the greates non-firearm military force in history.

The idea that there were millions of them was historical spin by the various people that got their asses kicked by them; hence the Mongol military term "Horde" now inaccurately means "a lot of people" in the West.

[Restorer]

Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan were both political leaders, not military men. At least GK was by the time the great conquests got rolling. KK was never really a general.