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Who is the greatest general ever?

Lone Wolf

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Ranvir Rising Star

Ranvir

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Hari Singh Nalwa deserves a mention. 
He is known for his role in the conquests of Kasur, Sialkot, Attock, Multan, Kashmir, Peshawar and Jamrud.

 

Hari Singh Nalwa, part of the illustrious Uppal family,relied on ingenious tactics and unparalleled courage to defeat much larger armies.His life span is from 1791-1837 also he was the commander-in-chief of the Sikh Empire’s army. There was alot of ups and downs that he has faced in his life.Besides that he became the only man in history to take the Khyber Pass – the mountain path that connects Afghanistan and Pakistan.

 

It is because of him that half of old Afghanistan is part of Pakistan today.

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Lone Wolf Grand Master

Lone Wolf

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14 hours ago, Ranvir said:

Hari Singh Nalwa deserves a mention. 
He is known for his role in the conquests of Kasur, Sialkot, Attock, Multan, Kashmir, Peshawar and Jamrud.

 

Hari Singh Nalwa, part of the illustrious Uppal family,relied on ingenious tactics and unparalleled courage to defeat much larger armies.His life span is from 1791-1837 also he was the commander-in-chief of the Sikh Empire’s army. There was alot of ups and downs that he has faced in his life.Besides that he became the only man in history to take the Khyber Pass – the mountain path that connects Afghanistan and Pakistan.

 

It is because of him that half of old Afghanistan is part of Pakistan today.

Yes Great Sikh General...  Period did saw rise of brilliant tactical brains from India.  Something that we severely lacked in 4-5 centuries ago.  After Nalwa I found Dogra General Zorawar Singh as next best from the land in the given time period.  Conquered frontiers of Hunza Baltistan Skardu..  Captured entire Ladakh from Tibetans with a small infantry...  Marched till Ngari perfecture in Tibet.  Farthest any Indian general had ever gone. Alarming even the Chinese Imperial court.   Indian Army & Chinese army still follows his tactics along those unhospitable heights.  Stretching India's boundaries like never before. 

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Lone Wolf Grand Master

Lone Wolf

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9 hours ago, speedheat said:

King dhananand

Didn't faced anyone outside India...  Nor was able to stop his public uprising which led to Maurya usurping him in few years.  Falls in Raja Dahir category,  Prithviraj level.  That's poor Military generals list 101.  Although he held a powerful military with lot of war elephants.  Still nothing special.  Even Samudragupta didn't make the list who imo is best ever Indian general. 

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Lone Wolf Grand Master

Lone Wolf

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15 hours ago, Yoda-esque said:

Don't see anyone greater than Chhatrapati who fought the Adilshahi Qutubshahi nizamshahi and Mughals with a few peasents and turned into a empire.Also had the foresight to built a great Navy.

Great mind but wasted in a wrong era.  Exchange him with Prithviraj & Ghori would be 100% defeated. 

Dude is still miles behind the list of great Indian generals in Samudragupta,  Lalitaditya & others.  These guys are top of the shelf in Indian history. 

 

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kepler37b Rising Star

kepler37b

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For me greatest ever general is Hannibal.

 

The Dude marched his army over Stone cold Alps in perfect discipline and terrorized Rome like no other.  Ingenious and courageous. 

 

And I would add Aetius(Built and alliance and thrashed huns), Robert Clive(An ingenious ingenious strategy to thrash Siraj-u-Daullah), Banda Singh Bahadur, Chatrapathi Shivaji, Hanz Guderian(The legendary Panzer General).

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kepler37b Rising Star

kepler37b

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On 3/21/2022 at 9:35 AM, Lone Wolf said:

When u go through Western history they point out Caesar & Napoleon. 

As far as geenrals go neither Generals would make the top 10 worlds best generals if you look at it pragmatically and do extensive research but of the two I would favor Ceasar since he lost way less wars then Napoleon just because he was brave and a gambler probably also a miscalculator doesn't make him the better general. He was obviously more war happy compared to Ceasar who was the more calculated guy of the two.

 

Let me give you a top 10 based on extensive research

 

You really cannot miss Hannibal. 

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Vijy Grand Master

Vijy

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On 5/14/2022 at 7:01 PM, Lone Wolf said:

He is in my Top 12 for sure.  Praised his heroics in the thread as well.   Had to include a Indian somewhere & I went for Malik Kafur.  Hannibal was indeed one of a kind. 

he was one of a kind for sure, but was a bit too unorthodox. sometimes you have to play it more conservatively - I understand that he was hampered by being far from home, not having enough funds and supplies, etc but some of his actions were still a bit rash. this is why I think scipio africanus is slightly better than Hannibal, who is an ATG himself.

 

as for indians, I would have samudragupta over mailk (kafeer)

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Lone Wolf Grand Master

Lone Wolf

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3 hours ago, Vijy said:

he was one of a kind for sure, but was a bit too unorthodox. sometimes you have to play it more conservatively - I understand that he was hampered by being far from home, not having enough funds and supplies, etc but some of his actions were still a bit rash. this is why I think scipio africanus is slightly better than Hannibal, who is an ATG himself.

 

as for indians, I would have samudragupta over mailk (kafeer)

Samudragupta was by far the greatest Hindu/Indian King/general this country ever graced.

Kafur trumps him in time span,  area & completely demolishing Mongols twice.  All in a extremely short period.  Neither Mughals nor Sultanate after him had anyone like him.  Mughals would have never lost to Safavids of Iran if they had someone like him. 

Samudragupta did beat ferocious Huns but never really managed to wipe out the menace.  They eventually managed to breach the frontiers in North west.  Also His empire at peak is a bit smaller.   

Samudragupta & Lalitaditya Muktapida are gold standard level still in Indian history. 

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Vijy Grand Master

Vijy

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12 hours ago, Lone Wolf said:

Samudragupta was by far the greatest Hindu/Indian King/general this country ever graced.

Kafur trumps him in time span,  area & completely demolishing Mongols twice.  All in a extremely short period.  Neither Mughals nor Sultanate after him had anyone like him.  Mughals would have never lost to Safavids of Iran if they had someone like him. 

Samudragupta did beat ferocious Huns but never really managed to wipe out the menace.  They eventually managed to breach the frontiers in North west.  Also His empire at peak is a bit smaller.   

Samudragupta & Lalitaditya Muktapida are gold standard level still in Indian history. 

agree with you mostly. still think that samudragupta's cumulative achievements are higher although no individual achievement is as high as malik kafur

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Lone Wolf Grand Master

Lone Wolf

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2 hours ago, Vijy said:

agree with you mostly. still think that samudragupta's cumulative achievements are higher although no individual achievement is as high as malik kafur

Yes Mughals had to literally empty their coffers in their expansion westward.  Aurangzeb's expedition in the south & Deccan were too costly.  Shahjahan wasted a lot of his wealth in conflicts with Safavids of Iran.  Only Akbar somehow managed to strike a balance & maintained cordial relations. 

Kafur in literally one go pulled this off in a span of 4-5 years..  Unheard of in Indian history.   Two massive Mongol assaults + Marching into extreme South takes the cake. 

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R!TTER Grand Master

R!TTER

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On 3/21/2022 at 10:53 AM, Lone Wolf said:

this general probably tops them all.

Well you could argue there was this guy Hitler, till he chose to invade Russia! Had he not done that & decided to sink(?) Royal Navy instead of carpet bombing London he could've won the war?

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Lone Wolf Grand Master

Lone Wolf

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46 minutes ago, R!TTER said:

Well you could argue there was this guy Hitler, till he chose to invade Russia! Had he not done that & decided to sink(?) Royal Navy instead of carpet bombing London he could've won the war?

While operation barbossa was a gargantuan failure... His blunders in Dunkirk & battle of Britain make him look like a fool & mediocre at best. 

Look if the German did not stop their advance but they proceeded to eliminate the Dunkirk pocket. This would have eliminated most of the British Royal Army. It would also have eliminated the remnants of the French Army that would later become the Free French forces.

If the Nazis had immediately invaded Great Britain right after Dunkirk. The Royal Army left most of their equipment on the beach at Dunkirk, plus they were in shock.

Also during the Battle Of Britain if the Germans had concentrated their attacks only on the radar facilities, the airfields of the RAF and the power generating and transmission network...  Instead they bombed the sh*** outta London city. 

 

Even then they were just modes of longtime survival.  Soviets had planned a invasion of Germany before getting shocked themselves. 

The entry of big daddy US brought enormous manpower & resources.

Hitler did had a eye on Russian oil for his mighty army...  But he could have focused on middle east & invested a lot more in North Africa to make a dash into Suez Canal a lot less costly affair than invading USSR.  

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kepler37b Rising Star

kepler37b

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On 5/22/2022 at 4:43 PM, R!TTER said:

Well you could argue there was this guy Hitler, till he chose to invade Russia! Had he not done that & decided to sink(?) Royal Navy instead of carpet bombing London he could've won the war?

Hitler was a very mediocre general. He was emotional, ideological and impulsive. All are characteristics of a BAD leader, leave alone general.

 

 

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Vijy Grand Master

Vijy

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On 5/22/2022 at 5:28 PM, Lone Wolf said:

While operation barbossa was a gargantuan failure... His blunders in Dunkirk & battle of Britain make him look like a fool & mediocre at best. 

Look if the German did not stop their advance but they proceeded to eliminate the Dunkirk pocket. This would have eliminated most of the British Royal Army. It would also have eliminated the remnants of the French Army that would later become the Free French forces.

If the Nazis had immediately invaded Great Britain right after Dunkirk. The Royal Army left most of their equipment on the beach at Dunkirk, plus they were in shock.

Also during the Battle Of Britain if the Germans had concentrated their attacks only on the radar facilities, the airfields of the RAF and the power generating and transmission network...  Instead they bombed the sh*** outta London city. 

 

Even then they were just modes of longtime survival.  Soviets had planned a invasion of Germany before getting shocked themselves. 

The entry of big daddy US brought enormous manpower & resources.

Hitler did had a eye on Russian oil for his mighty army...  But he could have focused on middle east & invested a lot more in North Africa to make a dash into Suez Canal a lot less costly affair than invading USSR.  

yes, he was pretty mediocre and foolish when it came to military leadership. didn't know diddly squat about these things

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