Who do you think was the greatest general in history? Why?

[candy321wolf]

This is my first post. I would like to know who you think was the greatest general in history. Also please state why. Thank you.

 

[blackeyes90]

Tamerlane.
Genghis Khan.
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk

Take your pick.

 

[Hamza913]

No Timur? I'm insulted lol.

Anyway, I'd have to pick Khalid Ibn Walid (may Allah be pleased with him). Sayf Allah was unstoppable and turned the weak Arab tribals into a military force unmatched in mobility.

 

[Safriz]

General Zia-Ul-Haq
General Musharraf
General Raheel Sharif.

 

[YeBeWarned]

Khalid Ibn Walid ..

 

[hussain0216]

You cant really ask that question

What you can however have is categories of competence
Battles won
Difficulty of opponents
Cunning
Innovation
Etc

Then list the great men of history and see how they fared in each category

 

[Jf Thunder]

yah ataturk would def earn top place in top british agents along with jinnah

reported

 

[Crystal-Clear]

Khalid bin Waleed (R.A) . he assembled an army of arab tribes from zero and messes with super power of that time ( roman & persian) .

 

[Hamza913]

reported

Lmao learn to handle an alternative opinion. Jinnah was just a person like any other, he can be criticised if someone desires to do so.

The only ones who are off-limits are the Prophets (peace be upon them), their companions (may Allah be pleased with them), the Salaf, and all other pious figures from the Quran and Hadees.

 

[blackeyes90]

yah ataturk would def earn top place in top british agents along with jinnah

What kind of drugs are you using ?

 

[Awan68]

Khalid ibn waleed and im not saying that cause im muslim. The worth of a general is deciphered by the severity of the challenges faced. Caesar and Alexander for instance had militaries that were way more advanced than their adversaries. Caesar specifically earned his name against half naked barbarians with no concept of a professional army. Khalid ibn Waleed( ra) on the other hand lead outnumbered, ill equipped and untrained armies against the military might of the superpowers of the age. The amount of time in which he reached damascus was astonishing. His victory at Yarmouk is by far the greatest victory in medieval warfare.

 

[El Sidd]

Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh

 

[Awan68]

Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdullāh

One cannot compare the seal of Prophets with trivial human biengs.

 

[El Sidd]

One cannot compare the seal of Prophets with trivial human biengs.

Zulqarnain ?

 

[A.P. Richelieu]

Khalid ibn waleed and im not saying that cause im muslim. The worth of a general is deciphered by the severity of the challenges faced. Caesar and Alexander for instance had militaries that were way more advanced than their adversaries. Caesar specifically earned his name against half naked barbarians with no concept of a professional army. Khalid ibn Waleed( ra) on the other hand lead outnumbered, ill equipped and untrained armies against the military might of the superpowers of the age. The amount of time in which he reached damascus was astonishing. His victory at Yarmouk is by far the greatest victory in medieval warfare.

Yarmok certainly had major impact on the history of the Middle East, and undoubtely he was a good general, but it is not apparant that the victory at Yarmok was due to brilliant generalship.
His disadvantage is of course that the remaining sources are few and far between.

Compare that with the Battle of Hastings, where the Normans could not break the shield wall of the Saxons, but feigned retreat to cause the Saxon to pursue, only to be cut down.
That is generalship. The Normans have ruled the U.K. ever since.

Yarmok hardly compares to the genius shown by Napoleon at the Siege of Toulon, where he defeated the Superpower that was Royal Navy in an unconventional way, and had to fight his superiors even more than the British.

It hardly compares to the idea of the Army Corp used to defeat Austria at Ulm, without even having to do battle. The Austrians just realized that their position was hopeless.

At Austerlitz, Napoleon decided how the battle should be fought and made sure that the enemy commanders followed the plan. Very few generals in the history have done that.