Well, this is interesting. My jaws were literally dropped when I discovered this information. The man who holds the record for fathering the largest number of children that can be verified in the history of the world known to men was a Moroccan ruler named Moulay Ismail ibn Sharif (2nd ruler of the Alaouite Dynasty of Morocco), and he fathered 867 children which include 525 boys and 342 girls! (Maybe you’re wondering “then why the hell the title says 1171?!” – well, let me assure you, I haven’t cheated you, I’m getting there)    

image source

Known as the “warrior King” in his country, Ismail was born in 1634 and died in 1727. The time of his reign was from 1672 to 1727.   

The estimated number of his concubines (women who live with a noble man with a status lower than his wife) is 2000! He also had 4 ‘official wives’ – (you can see where all those children came from). According to a report of a research carried out by anthropologists and scientists at the University of Vienna, the sultan had sex on average 0.83 to 1.43 times every day for 32 years of his lifetime!   

Moreover, the number 867 was noted during 1703 while his 700th son was born in 1721.

[portrait of sultan Ismail] image source

I know it sounds confusing, it confused me too – but it turns out that 867 is the ‘verified’ number – the alleged actual number is 1171! (Dominique Busno, the French diplomat, reported this number while visiting Morocco in 1704)  And, the Guinness Book of Record says that he fathered 888 children. – Although, there are arguments about the exact number of offspring, all the experts admit that Sultan Ismail holds the record for fathering the largest number of children.   

After his death in 1727, his surviving sons started to kill each other for the succession of the throne until finally Abu'l Abbas Ahmad II (Ismail’s son born in 1677) won the throne. (It was quite a fight, I guess)  

Sultan Ismail is considered one of the greatest figures of the Moroccan history. He ruled Morocco for the longest time than any other ruler ever to rule the country. He was a skilled warrior who had lead several successful campaigns, and he also was a successful diplomat who maintained quite fruitful relationship with other countries.  

And the last but not the list, the Alaouite dynasty (of which, of course, Sultan Ismail was a ruler) still rules Morocco! 

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info source: wikipedia, livejournal.com