Population Control, Marauder Style

[LurkerBaba]

An interesting article from NYT


Population Control, Marauder Style

Published: November 5, 2011

Last week, the United Nations announced that the world's population had reached seven billion, but there have been times when it headed in the opposite direction, and not in pleasant ways. The savagery of the Mongol conqueror Genghis Khan may have culled the global population by about 11 percent; two bloody upheavals in China — the An Lushan Rebellion and the collapse of the Xin Dynasty — each may have felled about 6 percent of humanity. Those are but 3 of the 100 worst atrocities in history, as cataloged by Matthew White in "The Great Big Book of Horrible Things," an amusing (really) account of the murderous ways of despots, slave traders, blundering royals, gladiators and assorted hordes. Estimating the tolls from such horrors is an inexact science, given war's nature and the mysteries of antiquity. The deadliest "multicides" are more plentiful in recent centuries, given that there were more people to kill and better ways to kill them on a grand scale. Even so, killings as a percentage of all humanity are probably declining. Here is a look at the sweep of human brutality presented in a timeline

 

[LurkerBaba]

View the full graphic: http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images...ties_timeline/06atrocities_timeline-popup.jpg

 

[LurkerBaba]

Figures relevant to India.

Over all Rank., Event Description, No. of people killed

4. Famines in British India, 24 million
9. Timur, 17 million
23. Aurangzeb, 4.6 million
40. Bengali genocide, 1.5 million
70. Bahmani-Vijaynagara War, 0.5 million
70. Parition of India, 0.5 million

 

[civfanatic]

Figures relevant to India.

Over all Rank., Event Description, No. of people killed

4. Famines in British India, 24 million
9. Timur, 17 million
23. Aurangzeb, 4.6 million
40. Bengali genocide, 1.5 million
70. Bahmani-Vijaynagara War, 0.5 million
70. Parition of India, 0.5 million

Interesting figures. I'm assuming the 17 million killed by Timur is the cumulative total for all of his conquests, and not just North India?

I'm also surprised at the Bahmani-Vijayanagar War. Even though my ancestors fought in that war, my family has never emphasized it as much as Malik Kafur's conquest of the Kakatiya Kingdom, which is considered a major tragedy in our history. Maybe its because the Kakatiya rulers were of the same gotra

 

[Singh]

Await the global agricultural collapse. Eat as much as you can today, for in the future we all have to survive on a mere fistful. Indian starvation gene ftw.

 

[LurkerBaba]

Interesting figures. I'm assuming the 17 million killed by Timur is the cumulative total for all of his conquests, and not just North India?

Yeah, 17 million is the cumulative figure, just like 40 million for Genghis Khan.

 

[Singh]

I'm also surprised at the Bahmani-Vijayanagar War. Even though my ancestors fought in that war, my family has never emphasized it as much as Malik Kafur's conquest of the Kakatiya Kingdom, which is considered a major tragedy in our history. Maybe its because the Kakatiya rulers were of the same gotra

o/t

could you please give me any links, documentaries, books on the subject ?

 

[civfanatic]

Await the global agricultural collapse. Eat as much as you can today, for in the future we all have to survive on a mere fistful. Indian starvation gene ftw.

The world's population growth will be parabolic in nature IMO.

 

[civfanatic]

o/t

could you please give me any links, documentaries, books on the subject ?

Which subject? Bahmani-Vijayanagar War?