Who among all people has harmed humanity's development the most over the course of history?
The solution is clear-cut and definite. A gentleman who was born within the boundaries of the known world, who united a nomadic and warlike society, and who, believing himself invested with the divine mission of uniting all that is under heaven, launched himself into a literally apocalyptic war against the rest of the universe, sweeping everything in its path.
Temudjin or Genghis Khan. He started the war, and his offspring would carry it on, killing 60 million people, or one third of humanity. Between Hangzhou and Baghdad, he would destroy everything with ruthless efficiency and a disregard for human decency. It was the closest thing that human civilisation has ever experienced to an alien invasion.
With an impact akin to a nuclear attack, the world's largest cities—Baghdad, Merv, Hangzhou, Bukhara, and Samarkand—were reduced to dust. Vast empires and resilient civilizations would be completely destroyed and degraded. The population losses in Iran, Iraq, and Ukraine are so great that it would take seven centuries to restore them.
The period saw a terrible loss in science. It is reported that during the Baghdad siege, the Tigris River became black from the ink from the books that were thrown into it. At a time when the printing press was nonexistent outside of China, millions of treatises, works, studies, and theses were lost forever. Knowledge hubs that formerly spanned from Damascus to Zhongdu were completely destroyed. Techniques and theories from centuries were wasted
In his short life, Genghis did not reign over 60 million people. However, his descendants carried on his work in the generations that followed. This work would have long-lasting effects and drastically altered the course of human history, costing us a few centuries of advancement.
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