Khalid bin al Walid or Subutai?

Khalid bin al Walid or Subutai?

  • Khalid bin al Walid

    Votes: 6 33.3%
  • Subutai

    Votes: 12 66.7%

  • Total voters
    18
Khalid bin al Walid or Subutai?

Khalid bin al Walid and Subutai were two of the greatest generals in military history. Both led huge campaigns of conquest and achieved massive victories. When comparing Khalid and Subutai who do you think was the better commander? Whose victories seem more impressive? What battles best illustrate their prowess? Were either of these commanders victories due more to their armies skill than their own ability?

Khalid is said to have fought around a hundred battles, both major battles and minor skirmishes as well as single duels, during his military career. Having remained undefeated, he is claimed by some to be one of the finest military generals in history.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khalid_ibn_al-Walid

Subutai directed more than twenty campaigns in which he conquered thirty-two nations and won sixty-five pitched battles, during which he conquered or overran more territory than any other commander in history.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subutai

Thanks.:)
 
This is very subjective and also very foggy, as the evidence for Khalid ibn Walid is very fantastical and much of which is to be taken skeptically.

Khalid ibn Walid is famous in Islam for being the famed warrior to have defeated the Muslim armies at Uhud who later converted to Islam and led the Muslim armies in various engagements, most famously at Yarmouk and in Zahl or in other battles in Mesopotamia.

Khalid was a truly fearsome opponent, no doubt, however being so loved by Muslim, who wrote his history, his fame is enlarged beyond what he deserves and the political situation that he was given to become great in.

1. As a general Khalid was fierce, however as a political force, he was a lightweight and relied heavily on the overall momentum of the Islamic force which was filled with experienced warriors and generals. Umar ibn al-Kattab notably one of them was an extremely prudent and powerful ruler, which facilitated Khalid's power. As well, the presence of Ali ibn Talib and other experienced and famed warriors gave Khalid expertise he otherwise wouldn't of had or generals who covered him at various areas to the point that for the most part Khalid only commanded the mobile cavalry unit.

2. Khalid ibn Walid faced an easy set of opponents who was one either a paper tiger or one that actively fought a war of attrition.

- the Sassanid empire by this point as proven by Maurice, Heraclus and later the Rashidun, was a serious paper tiger. Khalid ibn Walid achieved, with the help of a major set of generals and warriors fresh off the Riddah wars, what Maurice and Heraclus had done before. Sassanid forces began to collapse early and failed to utilize their natural defenses and was ill prepared just as it was in years past. It's conquest while an enormous feat, was in my opinion, less than that of his contemporary Heraclus.

- then Khalid faced the Byzantines, a tired yet fearsome stage. The battles of Ajnadayn and Yarmouk were incredible victories, most surely. However, the Byzantines, one forgets, denied the Muslim armies, wholesale and almost as much as they did the Sassanids years earlier. While the wars would continue, the Byzantines waged a war of attrition by which land that was near impossible to defend, just as it was years before during the reign of Phocas, was taken, yet the strongholds of the Byzantine state remained. The real threat to the Byzantine empire sold come during the successive waves of Umayyad armies which proved more fierce and ferocious in their attack than the Rashidun, especially at sea.

In conclusion, Khalid ibn Walid whilst being a phenomenal general and one of the greatests, was in my opinion, less than Heraclus in his own period.

In short, I would rank Sabutai higher, as his invasions often where without heavy backbones and with substantial disadvantages in terms of logistics, whereas, Khalid had logistics on his side in both of his major campaigns except in the Riddah Wars, where he was often criticized by Abu Bakr for his temper and lack of foresight.
 
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