Over in the Romans vs. Mongols thread, a debate has arise over who had the largest empire interms of land area. Pepperlandgirl says it was the Mongols, with their vast European and Asian holdings. I say it was the British Empire, with Australia, India, the African colonies and what-not. I may be wrong (and Pepperland girl has found some sources which have me on the defensive), but I am making a final appeal to our British posters. I figure y’all can probably lay your hands on some good jingoistic, rah-rah-for-the-Empire stats. Anyone have some good info on this topic?
At first glance, it looks like the Mongol Empire may have been larger. However, flat maps are skewed such that countries in the northern latitudes (like Russia) appear much larger than they are. When you take that into account, it looks like it could be a close call.
Here are some more sites backing me up http://members.tripod.com/boroo/Conquerors.html
*
*Chingis Khan established Mongol Empire, the greatest land empire of world hisory in
thirteenth century.
Chingis Khan (1162-1227)-----4,860,000
2. Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.)-----
2,180,000
3. Timurlame (1336-1405)-----2,145,000
4. Cyrus the Great (600-529 B.C.)-----2,090,000
5. Attila (406-453)-----1,450,000
6. Adolf Hitler (1889-1945)-----1,370,000
7. Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821)-----720,000
8. Mahmud of Ghazni (971-1030)-----680,000
9. Francisco Pizarro (1470-1541)-----480,000
10. Hernando Cortes (1485-1547)-----315,000
Here’s another set of stats. I can keep them coming.
Around 1200, the grandson of Genghis Khan,
Kubilai, governed about 70% of the known land. It
has never existed someone with greater power.
Kubilai’s dominances spread from Japan to Venice,
and from the cold Siberia to the Large African lakes.
Ok, here is the last site I found. It convinced me. http://www.angelfire.com/mo/QBranch/Empire.html
And what I previously posted:
*
*Chingis Khan established Mongol Empire, the greatest land empire of world hisory in
thirteenth century.
1. Chingis Khan (1162-1227)-----4,860,000 *
The British Empire-4 Million
The Mongolian Empire- 4.8 Million
The Winner?
** THE MONGOLS **
The last site you linked may convince you, but it doesn’t convince me. The map of the Mongol Empire in that link actually shows a land area which wouldn’t come close to that of the British Empire.
And this business of the Mongol Empire stretching to Venice??? Please.
It appears that the estimates of the size of the Mongol Empire are all over the map, so to speak. The maps you and I have linked do not appear to be in agreement on the issue. I still say that even with the most generous (to the Mongols) map, the British Empire is still larger.
I also notice that a couple of your links seem to hedge by using the phrase “the largest land empire.” What does that mean, I wonder? The largest Empire conquered over land? The largest contiguous empire? Why didn’t they just say the largest empire ever, if that’s what they meant?
I think maybe that when some of your sources talk about empires, they are talking about ancient empires, and aren’t even taking the British into account.
I guess our British friends are sleeping at this hour. Maybe some will check in to help us by tomorrow.
pepperlandgirl,
You came up with some hard numbers while I was composing my last post. Being stubborn, though, I will not admit defeat. I still think there’s enough doubt about the extent of the Mongol Empire to leave the question open.
"*Chingis Khan established Mongol Empire, the greatest land empire of world hisory in thirteenth century.
Chingis Khan (1162-1227)-----4,860,000"
Look, all the people you cited are individuals. Chingis may have been the man, but the ‘English’ Empire was establish more through policy then any one person. Canada alone is 3.6 million square miles, India 1.8, Australia 2.9, And Africa is 11.2 to which I say they owned half…so The Brits owned 13.9 million square miles, not including The Isles themselves, their holdings in South America, and Islands scattered all over the Pacific and Atlantic including New Zealand. Pepperlandgirl, find some source that says the Mongols ruled 13.9 mil. sqr. miles at ANY time.
The italics didn’t make this easy to clearly read, but once I took them out you can see that the source is only talking about the expansion of the British Empire in a 30 year period. By 1870 the Brits already controlled vast overseas territory, including Canada, Australia, some of India, much of Africa and parts of Asia.
Even without the might of Benny Hill, the Brits can be pretty fearsome (I think there’s some media stereotype that plays against this though). They didn’t conquer their empire by sitting around offering each other tea and scones and wearing puffy white wigs. Ever see their soccer fans?
How about counting all the territory us Brits controlled over a couple of centuries? Presumably the Mongol hordes might have lost control of some places, while conquering others.
This would give us an extra country or two (yes, of course I mean America!)
Also, what do you mean by ‘control’? We had taxation (without representation!), governers etc.
The map of the Mongol Empire in that link actually shows a land area which wouldn’t come close to that of the British Empire.