Mansa Musa - The Richest Man in Human History

Mansa Musa was the ruler of the Mali Empire in West Africa from 1312 to 1337 controlling territories rich in gold and copper and monopolizing trade between the North and interior of the continent Mali grew extremely wealthy Mansa Musa was said to have spent so much gold in Cairo that the value of bullan crashed by 20% a Muslim like his Royal predecessors Mana Musa brought back Architects and Scholars from his pilgrimage to Mecca who would build mosques and universities that made such cities as Timbuktu internationally famous mansam musa's 1324 stopover in Cairo though would spread mali's Fame even further and onto Europe where Tall Tales of this king's fabulous wealth in Gold began to stir the interest of Traders and explorers the Mali Empire 1240 1645 the largest and richest Empire yet seen in West Africa was founded by sundata k aka sunnd J 1230 1255 the Mali Capital was niani and the most important trading city was Timbuktu near the river Niger and located where major waterways and land routs converged immense wealth was gained from acting as a trade Hub between the interior and southern coast of West Africa and North Africa across the Sahara desert's Caravan routes salt was a major commodity traded from the north while gold and ivory came from the south the Empire event ually included Ghana Walla Tad Mecca and the kingdom of sonai and ultimately stretched to the Atlantic coast indigenous rulers adopted Islam from their contact with Arab merchants and the marlei Empire would thus play a significant part in the spread of Islam across West Africa locals or at least Urban ones were converted which created communities that then attracted Muslim clerics from the north strengthening the religion's grip on the region local leaders would even perform pilgrimages to Islamic holy sites like Mecca including their greatest ever ruler Mansa Musa Mansa Kum Musa took power in 1312 and inherited an already prosperous Mali Kingdom he would Reign until 1337 Mansa was the traditional Mali title meaning King and Musa was the Grand nephew of the founder sundata Mana Musa gained the throne after his predecessor Mansa abub Bakr II sailed out into the Atlantic with a large Fleet of ships and was never seen again exploration loss was Marley's gain and Mansa Musa nominated to rule while Abu Baka II satisfied his curiosity as to what lay over the horizon would become one of the greatest rulers in the entire history of Africa with an army numbering around 100,000 men including an armored Cavalry Corp of 10,000 horses and with the talented General Saran mandian man samusa was able to extend and maintain mali's vast Empire doubling its territory and making it second in size only to that of the Mongol Empire at the time Mali controlled lands up to The Gambia and lower senagal in the West in the north tribes were subdued along the whole length of the western Sahara border region in the East control spread up to GA on the Niger River and to the South the buay region and the forests of what became known as the Gold Coast came under Mali oversight this latter region was left semi-independent because gold production had always been much higher when more autonomy was granted there the mallei Empire would never control such large territories or natural resources under any of its subsequent rulers to better govern this vast expanse of land containing a multitude of tribes and ethnic groups manam Musa divided his empire into provinces with each one ruled by a governor farba appointed personally by him the administration was further improved with greater records kept and sent to the centralized government offices at Nani the wealth of the state increased thanks to taxes on trade the Mali controlled copper and gold mines and the imposition of tribute from conquered tribes Mansa Musa thus became extremely wealthy perhaps even the richest person in history Mansa Musa like many other devout marlei rulers before and after set off for a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 but when he arrived in Cairo in July of that year on Route he caused an absolute sensation the Mali ruler's camel Caravan had crossed the Sahara and when he arrived in Egypt even the sultan was astounded by the wealth this West African king had brought with him in some accounts each of the 100 camels carried 135 kilos or 300 lb of gold dust while 500 slaves each brandished a two .7 kilo gold staff in addition there were hundreds of other camels loaded down with food stuffs and textiles horse riders waving the huge red and gold banners of the king and an impressive human Entourage of servants and officials that numbered in the tens of thousands in an extreme gesture of laress mansam Musa would give away so much gold and his entage spent so much shopping in the markets of the city that the value of gold Diner in Cairo crashed by 20 % it would take 12 years for the flooded gold market to recover the merchants of Egypt in particular were delighted with all these naive tourists suddenly Milling about their markets and they took full advantage raising their prices and relieving the Shoppers of their gold at any opportunity indeed Mansa Musa and his people so overspent that they left the city in debt a factor which contributed to later Egyptian investment within the marlei Empire so that the the merchants could recoup some of the value of the goods they had given on credit the king of marlei had given 50,000 gold dins to the Sultan of Egypt merely as a first meeting gesture the sultan was rather ignoble in return and insisted that Mansa Musa kissed the ground in homage in all other respects though this ruler from Africa's mysterious interior was treated like the royalty he was given a palace for his three-month stay and lorded wherever he went the impression mansam Musa had made indicates that news of his Cairo visit eventually reached Europe in Spain a map maker was inspired to create Europe's first detailed map of West Africa created in 1375 the map part of the Catalan Atlas has Mansa Musa sitting regally on a throne wearing an impressive gold crown and holding a golden staff in one hand and somewhat gleefully a huge nugget or orb of gold in the other it was such Tales of gold that would Inspire later European explorers to Brave disease warlike tribes and inhospitable terrain to find the fabled riches of Timbuktu the Golden City of the desert that nobody quite knew where to place on the map even in the 18th century after Cairo mansam Musa would travel on to Arabia where he purchased land and houses so that Pilgrims from Mali who followed in his footsteps might have a place to stay the King was inspired by the the holy sites he saw there and on his return to Mali he built a dazzling audience chamber at niani and mosques at GAO and Timbuktu these included the great mosque in the latter City also known as Jinger or Jinger the buildings were designed by the famous architect ishak Alin of gold slaves and a s of land along the Niger River the mosque was completed by 1330 and Alin lived the rest of his life in Marley a Royal Palace or Mugu was built in the capital city and Timbuktu along with fortification walls to protect the latter City against raids by the Tuareg the nomads of the Southern Sahara due to the lack of stone in the region Mali buildings were typically constructed using beaten Earth Bano reinforced with wood which often sticks out in beams from the exterior surfaces Mansa Musa was also inspired by the universities he had seen on his pilgrim Ag and he brought back to Mali both books and Scholars the king greatly encouraged Islamic learning especially at Timbuktu which with its mosques universities and many quranic schools became not only the holiest city in the Sudan region of Western Africa but also an internationally famous center of culture and religious study in addition Mansa Musa sent native religious Scholars to Fez in Morocco to learn what they could and then return to Mali as teachers with these Ed education links there were two diplomatic ones with Arab states as well as the flow of investment into Mali as Egyptian Traders and others sought access to the lucrative movement of goods across West Africa Mansa Musa was succeeded first by his son Mansa Magan the first 1337 1341 who had also ruled as Regent while his father had been on his famous pilgrimage and then by his brother Mansa suan 1341 to 1360 that man dr's Reign lasted only 4 years and his place was taken by his uncle would suggest Foul Play but concrete evidence is lacking Mana sulan did continue his brother's promotion of Islam and the Mali Empire would Prosper for another Century or so before new trade routes were opened up by the Portuguese the discovery of new goldfields and access to the southern coast of West Africa meant that by the mid-5th century Marley no longer monopolized trade in the region significantly the Mali mansers were also guilty of fighting amongst themselves as civil wars racked the Empire as a consequence first the tware attacked Mali cities like Timbuktu and then the burgeoning sonai kingdom ruled by King Sunni Ali R 1464 to 1492 definitively took over most of the marlei territories in the 1460s [Music]