Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Military Leaders & Strategists

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Nadir Shah

نادر شاه افشار

Safavid Empire

1688 – 1747 (58 years old)

Founder of the Afsharid Dynasty of Iran celebrated as the 'Sword of Persia' and 'Napoleon of Persia', who liberated Iran from Afghan occupation and seized the Peacock Throne and Koh-i-Noor diamond in Delhi.

Mashhad (Khorasan), Iran

1 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

2

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Baji Rao I

बाजीराव बल्लाळ

Maratha Empire

1700 – 1740 (39 years old)

Peshwa (Prime Minister) of the Maratha Empire who never lost a battle across forty-one engagements, renowned for lightning cavalry warfare and expanding Maratha rule to the gates of Delhi.

Raverkhedi (Madhya Pradesh), India

2 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

2

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Peshwa Baji Rao I (The Undefeated)

श्रीमंत पेशवे बाजीराव बल्लाळ

Maratha Empire (India)

1700 – 1740 (39 years old)

7th Peshwa of the Maratha Empire who fought in 41 major battles without suffering a single defeat, transforming the Marathas into the preeminent power in India.

Raverkhedi (Khargone), India

2 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

4

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Claude Louis Hector, Duke of Villars

Claude Louis Hector de Villars, duc de Villars

Kingdom of France

1653 – 1734 (81 years old)

Marshal General of France who saved the realm of Louis XIV during the War of the Spanish Succession with his Pyrrhic defense at Malplaquet and victory at Denain.

Paris, France

4 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

4

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Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé (The Grand Condé)

Louis II de Bourbon, prince de Condé

Kingdom of France

1621 – 1686 (65 years old)

First Prince of the Blood and French military prodigy who destroyed the invincible Spanish tercios at Rocroi at age 21 and won Lens and Seneffe.

Vallery (Yonne), France

4 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

3

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Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Viscount of Turenne

Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne

Principality of Sedan (France)

1611 – 1675 (63 years old)

Marshal General of France under Louis XIV praised by Napoleon as the greatest French military genius, master of operational maneuver and the Winter Campaign of 1674.

Paris, France

3 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

2

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Lachit Borphukan

লাচিত বৰফুকন

Ahom Kingdom

1622 – 1672 (49 years old)

Ahom generalissimo who defended the independence of Assam against the mighty Mughal Empire, famously defeating Ram Singh I's imperial armada at the naval Battle of Saraighat on the Brahmaputra River in 1671.

Hoolungapara (Jorhat, Assam), India

2 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

3

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Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong)

鄭成功 / 國姓爺

Japan

1624 – 1662 (37 years old)

Ming loyalist general and maritime lord who waged war against the Qing dynasty, defeated the Dutch East India Company, and founded the Kingdom of Tungning in Taiwan.

Tainan, Taiwan

3 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

3

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Miyamoto Musashi

宮本 武蔵 (新免武蔵藤原玄信)

Azuchi-Momoyama Japan

c. 1584 CE – 1645 (61 years old)

Japan's greatest swordsman and 'Sword Saint' (Kensei), who remained undefeated across sixty-one mortal duels, founded the two-sword Niten Ichi-ryu school, and authored The Book of Five Rings.

Kumamoto, Japan

3 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

7

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Malik Ambar (Chapu)

मलिक अंबर / مَلِك عَمْبَر

Ethiopia

1 – 1626 (78 years old)

Ethiopian-born military commander and Prime Minister of the Ahmadnagar Sultanate who pioneered guerrilla warfare (Bargi-giri) to repeatedly repel the Mughal Empire.

Khuldabad (Aurangabad), India

7 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

4

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Sanada Yukimura (Sanada Nobushige)

真田幸村 / 真田信繁

Japan

1 – 1615 (48 years old)

Legendary Sengoku period samurai general hailed as 'The Number One Warrior in Japan' and 'The Crimson Demon of War' for his heroic defense of Osaka Castle.

Osaka, Japan

4 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

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Honda Tadakatsu

本多 忠勝

Sengoku Japan

1548 – 1610 (62 years old)

Fabled Japanese samurai warrior and general of Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of the 'Four Heavenly Kings of the Tokugawa', who fought in over fifty-seven battles without ever receiving a significant wound.

Kuwana (Mie), Japan

1 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

2

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Maharana Pratap

महाराणा प्रताप सिंह

Kingdom of Mewar

1540 – 1597 (56 years old)

Thirteenth king of Mewar celebrated as the supreme hero of Rajput resistance, who refused to submit to Mughal Emperor Akbar and fought the epic Battle of Haldighati in 1576 with his loyal horse Chetak.

Udaipur (Rajasthan), India

2 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

2

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Alvaro de Bazan

Álvaro de Bazán y Guzmán, Marqués de Santa Cruz

Kingdom of Spain

1526 – 1588 (61 years old)

Greatest admiral in Spanish history who never lost a battle across a fifty-year naval career, commanded the reserve galleys at the Battle of Lepanto, and conquered the Azores at Ponta Delgada.

Viso del Marques (Ciudad Real), Spain

2 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

3

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Qi Jiguang

戚继光

Ming Dynasty

1528 – 1588 (59 years old)

Ming dynasty military general and strategist who eradicated the Wokou pirate scourge along China's southeastern coast, invented the Mandarin Duck military formation, and refortified the Great Wall.

Penglai (Shandong), China

3 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

5

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Qi Jiguang (General Qi)

戚繼光

Ming Dynasty (China)

1528 – 1588 (59 years old)

Ming dynasty general and military engineer who eradicated wokou coastal piracy, invented the Mandarin Duck tactical formation, and reinforced the Great Wall.

Penglai (Yantai), China

5 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

5

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Turgut Reis (Dragut Rais)

Turgut Reis / Dragut

Ottoman Empire (Turkey)

1 – 1565 (80 years old)

Ottoman admiral, privateer, and Bey of Tripoli described by contemporaries as 'a living drawn sword', who captured Tripoli and commanded at the Great Siege of Malta.

Tripoli, Libya

5 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

5

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Hayreddin Barbarossa (Khizr Reis)

بارباروس خير الدين باشا / Barbaros Hayreddin Paşa

Ottoman Empire (Greece)

1 – 1546 (68 years old)

Grand Admiral (Kapudan Pasha) of the Ottoman Navy who defeated the Holy League at the Battle of Preveza, establishing Ottoman naval supremacy across the Mediterranean.

Beşiktaş (Istanbul), Turkey

5 Full Record →