Mansa Musa (I of Mali) Summary
Mansa Musa (also known as Musa I of Mali) From 1312 CE to 1337 CE, presided over the Mali empire. Mansa Musa was one of the wealthiest people in the world and Mali was one of the greatest countries in Africa during his rule. A portion of what is now Mali, Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Mauritania, and Burkina Faso once belonged to the old Mali kingdom. Mansa Musa transformed towns like Gao and Timbuktu into significant cultural hubs. In order to create new structures for his towns, he also imported architects from the Middle East and other parts of Africa. Mali’s kingdom was transformed by Mansa Musa into an advanced Islamic centre of study.
Following the disappearance of the preceding king, Abu Bakr II, at sea in 1312 CE, Mansa Musa assumed the throne. In order to explore the Atlantic Ocean, Mansa Abu Bakr II had left on a huge fleet of ships, but he never came back. Mali became the richest monarchy in Africa under Mansa Musa’s leadership despite inheriting an already prosperous kingdom. His wealth derived from the Mali kingdom’s large salt and gold deposits. Another significant source of riches was ivory from elephants.
Mansa Musa History
The biggest challenge to have a more detailed description of the Mali Empire and Mansa Musa’s rule is the lack of sources. There is a small number of works in Arabic of the historian Ibn Khaldun, the traveler Ibn Battuta and the geographer al-Umari. In the 16-17th centuries some of the oral memories and traditions narrated by griots, equivalent to bards in Mali, had been written down as well. In the 15th century, the Portuguese explorers and adventurers mentioned Mali here and there, but the best source available to us is Ibn Khaldun, which is still helpful in reconstructing the history of the Mali Empire and Mansa Musa’s reign.
The story of the Mali Empire is told to us by the Epic of Sundiata. According to the Epic, Sundiata Keita was the son of the King of the Mandinka people. Upon the death of his father, his brother became the new king, while Sundiata was exiled to the court of King of Mema. But when the Mandinka people asked Sundiata for help to repel the invasion by the Sosso Empire, 18-year old Sundiata raised an army from Mema and defeated the Sosso in around 1235 at the Battle of Kiriana, paving the way to the establishment of the Mali Empire and Sundiata Keita becoming its first Mansa (Emperor, King).
The Mali Empire was ruled by the Mansa, but the emperor’s rule was balanced with Gbara, a type of entity, which reminds of the upper chamber of parliaments. Gbara united almost 30 clans, with each assigned with their own task ranging from participation and leadership in military campaigns to expertise in religious matters. Gbara voted on Kurugan Fuga, collection of laws, a proto-constitution of Mali. The Kurugan Fuga determined the roles of clans, called for humane treatment of slaves, established social organization of the subjects of the Mali Empire and stipulated economic rules.
Resource
The Empire of Mali was very rich in resources. It contained three large gold mines, which all belonged to the Mansa. At its apex, the Mali Empire owned almost half of the known gold reserves of the world. Mali also enjoyed a large supply of salt and copper, which was extracted through slave labour, essentially making the Mali Empire a slaveowner state. With Europe still short of its global appeal and power of the Roman period, the major trade partners of Mali were the Middle Eastern trade cities and states.
This was the context, to which Musa came to power. He was initially a deputy of the Emperor Muhammad ibn Qu (others dispute that it was Abubakari II), who dreamed of finding new lands across the Atlantic. Sometime around 1311 he embarked on the expedition with 2000 ships and left leaving the reign to his deputy Musa, who became Mansa, since Muhammad ibn Qu never returned.
Mansa Musa Pilgrimage to Mecca
In 1324 CE, Mansa Musa travelled to Mecca on a trip (hajj), and his passage through Egypt generated considerable controversy. Up until this point, little was known about the country of Mali outside of West Africa. He reportedly travelled with a posse of tens of thousands of people, dozens of camels, and each one bearing 136 kilogrammes (300 pounds) of gold, according to Arab writers of the era. Mansa Musa spent and gave away so much gold while in Cairo visiting the Sultan of Egypt, and as a result, the worth of gold in Egypt fell for the following 12 years.
Even Europe heard about his incredible riches. The West African region is dominated by a representation of Mansa Musa seated on a throne and holding a gold nugget in one hand and a golden staff in the other in the Catalan Atlas, which was produced in 1375 CE by Spanish cartographers. Mansa Musa’s reputation as a man of incredible wealth was cemented after the release of this atlas.
Mansa Musa started bringing towns in his kingdom back to life after his trip to Mecca. In towns like Gao and, most notably, Timbuktu, he constructed mosques and sizable public structures. Mansa Musa’s innovations led to Timbuktu’s growth during the 14th century into a significant Islamic academic hub. Mansa Musa expanded the prestige of the Mali kingdom by welcoming scholars and architects from all over the Islamic world. Around the same time, the Mali kingdom expanded to its fullest potential and became a thriving, prosperous nation under Mansa Musa’s growth and rule.
Economic Crisis in Egypt
Mansa Musa flooded the Sultan, his court, the city of Cairo, and its poor with gold. So much gold that this most valuable commodity of that age had seen the decrease of its price due to high supply causing an economic crisis in Egypt for over a decade. Overall, Musa’s generosity during the pilgrimage actually hurt the region of the Middle East economically. The US-based technology company SmartAsset estimates that due to the depreciation of gold, Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage led to about $1.5bn of economic losses across the Middle East. Some state that when Mansa Musa found out about the impact of his travel through Egypt, he tried to remove as much gold as possible from circulation in Egypt by buying the very gold he generously gifted to the people there. Lucy Duran of the School of African and Oriental Studies in London informs that Musa gave away so much of the Malian gold that the local griots are unhappy with him: “He gave out so much Malian gold along the way that griots don’t like to praise him in their songs because they think he wasted local resources outside the empire.” But despite inadvertently causing an economic crisis in the Middle East, Mansa Musa managed to bring Mali to the attention of the Middle Eastern and European countries by demonstrating the immense wealth of his realm during the pilgrimage. Probably, that is why there are more sources and information on Musa’s post-pilgrimage reign.
Expansion of the Empire
During Musa’s reign, the Mali Empire expanded. On the way back from the pilgrimage in 1325, he added the region of Gao with an important trading city of Timbuktu into the Empire, but sources do not really inform us on how it happened. Regardless of how it happened, Timbuktu became an important part of Mansa Musa’s realm. Mali’s wealth allowed Musa to embark on a massive construction effort throughout the Empire, particularly Timbuktu. During Mansa Musa’s reign the world-famous Djinguereber Mosque, which was built from mud brick and wood and is still standing, was constructed in Timbuktu. Another important construction project was the University of Sankore of the Sankore Madrasah, which became one of the greatest centers of Islamic learning in the world. Law, astronomy, medicine, religion, and other disciplines were taught there. It is said that Musa brought scholars on the way back from the pilgrimage, who helped to establish the academic foundation of this university. An Andalusian poet and architect named Abu Es Haq es-Saheli, who is believed to be responsible for the design of the Djinguereber Mosque, was among this group. By the end of Musa’s reign, the University of Sankore is said to have almost 25k students with one of the largest libraries in the world in possession of 800k manuscripts, according to Casely-Hayford.
End of The Empire
Gao and Timbuktu were not the only regions and cities captured by Mansa Musa. He is said to annex 24 cities in total during his reign. By the end of his reign, the Mali Empire stretched for approximately 2k miles from the shore of the Atlantic to the modern-day Niger, possessing lands of modern-day Mali, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Mauritania, and Burkina Faso.
Mansa Musa’s impact made his Empire known to Europe and the Middle East. In 1375, the Catalan Atlas map added the Mali Empire with a drawing of an African king sitting on the golden throne in Timbuktu with a piece of gold in his hand. Musa’s reign ended sometime between 1332 and 1337 when he died. He was succeeded by his son, who was said to be a bad and profligate Mansa. He was succeeded by his brother Mansa Suleiman, who helped to rebuild the Empire’s treasury and put it back on track of development. Later Mansas were less successful and from 1389 onwards the Mali Empire entered the state of disintegration. This shows that mere wealth was not enough to keep a huge empire like Mali together, hinting at Mansa Musa’s good administration skills as well. But how rich was Mansa Musa exactly?
We know that Mansas – the Emperors of the Mali Empire owned all the gold in the country. We are not aware of any sudden or drastic increase in gold production in Mali or the discovery of new gold mines during Musa’s reign, which would potentially make him richer than his predecessors or successors. So we can claim that all other major emperors of Mali were arguably as rich as Musa, but unlike the others, Musa had been able to put himself and Mali on the map thanks to his pilgrimage, amazing people in the Middle East with all his gold, glamour and generosity and making historians write about him.
There are different descriptions of his wealth. The history professor of the University of Michigan says: “Imagine as much gold as you think a human being could possess and double it, that’s what all the accounts are trying to communicate. This is the richest guy anyone has ever seen”. Rudolph Butch Ware of the University of California argues that “Contemporary accounts of Musa’s wealth are so breathless that it’s almost impossible to get a sense of just how wealthy and powerful he truly was”. Some have tried to come up with a figure, with 400 billion dollars being a popular estimate adjusted for inflation. But probably the best way to explain.
Mansa Musa Death
After Mansa Musa passed away in 1337, his kids took over. At the time of his death, the empire was prosperous thanks to his astute leadership, but it ultimately crumbled. Mansa Musa continued to be viewed as a representation of extravagant riches long after he passed away. However, his wealth is only one aspect of his heritage; he is also renowned for his support for Mali’s arts and culture as well as for his commitment to Islam.
