Public Figures & Cultural Luminaries

Military Leaders & Strategists

3

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Sir ibn Abi Bakr

سير بن أبي بكر اللمتوني

Morocco

c. 1050 – 1114 (~64 years old)

Greatest field commander of Sultan Yusuf ibn Tashfin, whose military campaigns unified fractured Taifa kingdoms and captured Seville, Cordoba, and Badajoz in 1091.

Marrakech, Morocco

3 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

29

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Bohemond I of Antioch

Bohemond de Hauteville

Italy

1 – 1111 (57 years old)

Norman prince and supreme military strategist of the First Crusade who captured Antioch through bribery and routed Kerbogha's relief army to found the Principality of Antioch.

Canosa di Puglia, Italy

29 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

31

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Kilij Arslan I

I. Kılıç Arslan

Sultanate of Rum

1079 – 1107 (28 years old)

Second Sultan of the Seljuk Sultanate of Rum who was the first Muslim commander to face the First Crusade, wiped out the Peoples' Crusade in 1096, and established Konya as the capital of Anatolia.

Silvan (Diyarbakir), Turkey

31 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

26

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Godfrey of Bouillon

Godefroy de Bouillon

Belgium

1 – 1100 (40 years old)

Leader of the First Crusade and first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem who took the title 'Advocate of the Holy Sepulchre' and won the Battle of Ascalon.

Jerusalem, Palestine

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Military Leaders & Strategists

27

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Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar (El Cid)

Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar

Spain

1 – 1099 (56 years old)

Castilian military leader and folk hero of the Reconquista who served both Christian and Muslim lords, never lost a battle, and conquered Valencia.

Burgos, Spain

27 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

30

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Malik Shah I

جلال الدولة معز الدنيا والدين ملكشاه

Seljuk Empire

1055 – 1092 (37 years old)

Third and greatest Sultan of the Great Seljuk Empire whose reign, alongside Grand Vizier Nizam al-Mulk, represented the military and cultural zenith of medieval Islamic civilization.

Isfahan, Iran

30 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

31

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Robert Guiscard (The Cunning)

Robert Guiscard / Robert de Hauteville

France

1 – 1085 (70 years old)

Norman adventurer and conqueror who established the Duchy of Apulia and Calabria, drove Byzantium and Saracens from southern Italy, and sacked Rome.

Venosa, Italy

31 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

28

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Alp Arslan

آلب أرسلان (محمد بن داود)

Seljuk Empire

1029 – 1072 (43 years old)

Second Sultan of the Great Seljuk Empire whose historic victory over Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 opened Anatolia to Turkish settlement.

Merv, Turkmenistan

28 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

31

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Alp Arslan (The Heroic Lion)

آلپ ارسلان / Muhammed bin Davud Çağrı

Seljuk Empire (Turkmenistan)

1029 – 1072 (43 years old)

Second Sultan of the Seljuk Empire whose historic victory over Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 opened Anatolia to Turkish settlement.

Merv, Turkmenistan

31 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

2

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Yahya ibn Umar al-Lamtuni

يحيى بن عمر اللمتوني

Morocco

c. 1015 – 1056 (~41 years old)

First supreme military commander of the Almoravid movement, chosen by spiritual founder Abdallah ibn Yasin, who conquered Sijilmasa and unified the Saharan tribes.

Sijilmasa / Saharan Marches, Morocco

2 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

30

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Gang Gam-chan

강감찬

South Korea

0948 – 1031 (82 years old)

Revered military commander and civil official of the Goryeo Kingdom of Korea who defeated the Khitan Liao Empire's massive invasion at the Battle of Guju in 1019 at age seventy-one.

Gwanak-gu (Seoul), South Korea

30 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

24

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Jawhar al-Siqilli

جوهر الصقلي

Sicily

c. 911 CE – January 28, 992 CE (~81 years old)

Brilliant Fatimid general of Sicilian origin who conquered North Africa and Egypt, founded the royal capital city of Cairo (Al-Qahirah) in 969 CE, and constructed the world-renowned Al-Azhar Mosque.

Cairo, Egypt

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Military Leaders & Strategists

37

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Guo Ziyi (Prince of Fenyang)

郭子儀

China

0697 – 0781 (84 years old)

Legendary Tang dynasty general and Prince of Fenyang who quelled the catastrophic An Lushan Rebellion, recaptured both capitals, and preserved the Tang Empire.

Qianxian (Xianyang), China

37 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

42

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Charles Martel (The Hammer)

Karl Martell / Carolus Martellus

Belgium

0688 – 0741 (53 years old)

Frankish statesman and military commander who defeated the Umayyad Caliphate at the Battle of Tours in 732, laying the foundation for the Carolingian Empire.

Saint-Denis (Paris), France

42 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

33

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Musa ibn Nusayr

موسى بن نصير

🌐 Rashidun Caliphate

c. 640 CE – c. 716 CE (76 years old)

Umayyad governor and military commander who completed the Islamic conquest of the Maghreb and co-directed with Tariq ibn Ziyad the conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom in Hispania (Andalusia).

Al-Ula (near Medina), Saudi Arabia

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Military Leaders & Strategists

34

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Sa'd ibn Abi Waqqas

سعد بن أبي وقاص

Saudi Arabia

1 – 1 (79 years old)

Companion of the Prophet, archer, and supreme commander who crushed the Sasanian Persian Empire at the Battle of al-Qadisiyyah and captured Ctesiphon.

Medina, Saudi Arabia

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Military Leaders & Strategists

30

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Kim Yu-sin

김유신 (태대각간)

Silla Kingdom

0595 – 0673 (78 years old)

Supreme general of the ancient Korean kingdom of Silla, master of the elite Hwarang warrior code, who unified the Three Kingdoms of Korea (Silla, Baekje, and Goguryeo) in the seventh century.

Gyeongju (Gyeongsangbuk-do), South Korea

30 Full Record →

Military Leaders & Strategists

36

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Amr ibn al-As

عمرو بن العاص

Saudi Arabia

1 – 0664 (91 years old)

Master Arab general and statesman who led the Muslim conquest of Egypt, captured Alexandria from the Byzantine Empire, and founded Fustat (Cairo).

Cairo, Egypt

36 Full Record →