Mongol Invasions (1206-1368)

The Mongol conquests from 1206 to 1368 killed an estimated 40 million people—10% of the world's population—depopulating Central Asia and the Middle East. Destroying the Abbasid Caliphate, they erased the Islamic world's intellectual hub. By transporting plague westward along the Silk Road, they created conditions for the Black Death, which killed a third of Europe. This death toll exceeds World War I's 20 million by 50%, and their territorial reach remains unparalleled in pre-modern history.