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Probably not as many as you think.
A lot of people SAY it was 40–60 million, but what is that actually based on?
0:00 40–60 million?
1:48 Historical demography
5:56 McEvedy & Jones isn't reliable
6:40 Iran
9:49 China
11:15 Unlike McEvedy, I actually read Durand
11:48 Origin of the myth in Chinese census numbers
14:28 Unreliability of medieval Chinese censuses
20:06 Reported numbers for Song and Yuan periods
22:19 Mongol numbers unreliable for 4 reasons
22:38 1. Incomplete geographic coverage
23:44 2. No increase in southern population from refugees
26:24 3. Erratic variations in numbers
27:17 4. Unusually low reported household size
29:59 Extraordinary claims require some kind of evidence
32:09 Sometimes we just don't get to know
