Musa I or Mansa Musa, or King Mansa Musa was the Emperor of Mali through the fourteenth century. Ranked the richest man of all time he’s well-known for his pilgrimage to Mecca which showcased his wealth to the cities he visited.
King Mansa Musa facts
Here are fascinating details about Mansa Musa whose empire coated modern-day Ghana, Timbuktu, and Mali in West Africa.
1. “King of Kings” Musa
Mansa I of Mali was identified by quite a few names throughout his life together with Emir of Melle, Lord of the Mines of Wangara, Conqueror of Ghanata, Lion of Mali, and Kankan Musa.
In the west, he’s common by the name Mansa Musa. Musa is a Muslim name whose biblical equal could be Moses whereas Mansa means “King of Kings”. Her partner was Inari Kunate and the problem was Maghan Musa.
2. The tenth ruler of the Empire of Mali
Mansa Musa’s grandfather was the brother of Sundiata Keita, the founding father of the Mali Empire.
It was widespread in Malian Empire that when the king undertook a journey, often a pilgrimage to Mecca, he appointed a deputy to care for the empire after which the deputy was declared as his inheritor.
Mansa Musa was declared deputy by Emperor Abu Bakr II when he went to discover the bounds of the Atlantic Ocean. Abu Bakr II by no means returned and in 1307 Mansa Musa grew to become the tenth ruler of the Malian Empire.
3. King Mansa Musa dominated for 25 years
Musa I (c. 1280 – c. 1337), or Mansa Musa, was the tenth Mansa (an army title that means “conqueror” or “emperor”) of the Mali Empire, an Islamic West African state. He has been described because of the wealthiest particular person in all human history. He reigned for 25 years (c.1312– c.1337).
4. Many names
King Mansa Musa is mostly known as “Mansa Musa” in Western manuscripts and literature. His name additionally seems as “Kankou Musa”, “Kankan Musa”, and “Kanku Musa”.
Other names used for King Mansa Musa embrace “Mali-Koy Kankan Musa”, “Gonga Musa”, and “the Lion of Mali”. He was a patron of science, the humanities, literature, and structure and the empire flourished culturally throughout his reign.
5. King from a Deputy
Mansa Musa got here to the throne via a follow of appointing a deputy when a king goes on his pilgrimage to Mecca or another endeavor, and later naming the deputy as inheritor.
According to major sources, Musa was appointed deputy of Abubakari Keita II, the king before him, who had reportedly launched into an expedition to discover the bounds of the Atlantic Ocean, and by no means returned.
6. Pilgrimage to Mecca
Mansa Musa is most well-known for his pilgrimage to Mecca which he undertook in 1324, the seventeenth year of his reign.
Such was the wealth that he displayed through the journey that eyewitnesses have been awestruck and there are a number of references to it in journals, oral accounts, and histories. It was this pilgrimage that showcased the intense wealth of Mali to the world and made King Mansa Musa a well-liked determine.
7. King Mansa Musa had a big convoy
King Mansa Musa made his pilgrimage between 1324 and 1325.
His procession reportedly included 60,000 males, all carrying brocade and Persian silk, together with 12,000 slaves, who every carried 1.8 kg (four lb) of gold bars, and heralds wearing silks, who bore gold staffs, organized horses, and dealt with baggage.
Musa offered all requirements for the procession, feeding all the firm of males and animals.
Those animals included 80 camels which every carried 23–136 kg (50–300 lb) of gold mud. Musa gave the gold to the poor he met alongside his route.
Musa not solely gave to the cities he handed on the best way to Mecca, together with Cairo and Medina, but in addition, traded gold for souvenirs. It was reported that he constructed a mosque each Friday.
8. Musa conquered 24 cities in its lifetime
King Mansa Musa conquered 24 cities, together with their surrounding districts. During Musa’s reign, Mali could have been the most important producer of gold on the planet, and Musa has been thought of as one of the many wealthiest historic figures.
However, modern commentators comparable to Time journal have concluded that there isn’t a correct technique to quantify Musa’s wealth.
9. Spent lavishly
Mansa Musa’s caravan consisted of 60,000 males together with 12,000 slaves wearing Persian silk. Musa rode on horseback with 500 slaves carrying gold-adorned workers straight previous him.
He additionally took together with him 80 camels which carried 300 pounds of gold every. Musa spent lavishly throughout his journey distributing gold to people and exchanging it for souvenirs within the cities he crossed on his technique to Mecca together with Cairo and Medina.
When historian Chihab al-Umari visited Cairo twelve years later, the residents have been nonetheless singing Musa’s reward.
10. Rise of Islam
King Mansa Musa was a religious Muslim, and his pilgrimage to Mecca made him well-known throughout northern Africa and the Middle East. To Musa, Islam was “an entry into the cultured world of the Eastern Mediterranean”. He would spend a lot of time fostering the growth of the faith inside his empire.
11. Inflation in the Mediterranean
The gold and items that Musa distributed lavishly upset their worth out there within the cities he had visited. The sudden inflow of gold within the cities of Cairo, Medina, and Mecca precipitated a decline within the worth of the metal.
This precipitated tremendous inflation with the worth of products skyrocketing. Later Musa took back a number of the gold at high curiosity from cash lenders in Cairo to regulate its worth.
Even twelve years after his pilgrimage the markets couldn’t recuperate absolutely. This is the one occasion in history when one man managed the worth of gold within the Mediterranean.
11. Constructed well-known structure
After his return from Mecca, King Mansa Musa undertook to construct initiatives. Many mosques and academic facilities have been inbuilt in Timbuktu and Gao.
He introduced architects from Spain and Cairo who constructed his grand palace and the well-known Djinguereber Mosque. The great University of Sankore was additionally constructed throughout his reign.
Musa’s grand palace now not exists however the college and mosque nonetheless stand in Timbuktu. Another well-known construction constructed throughout Musa’s reign was the Gao mosque wherein burnt bricks have been used for the first time in West Africa.
12. Timbuktu grew to become a business hub
King Mansa Musa introduced back a number of discovered males from Egypt whom he met throughout his journey. The University of Sankore in Timbuktu grew to become a middle of studying drawing Muslim students from throughout Africa and even the Middle East.
Due to his pilgrimage the world grew to become conscious of Mali’s wealth and this in flip made Timbuktu a middle of commerce the place retailers from a number of cities together with Venice, Granada, and Genoa traded items for gold.
13. Mali grew among largest empires on the planet
The Mali Empire flourished throughout Mansa Musa’s reign and it prolonged to incorporate a number of areas just like the cities of Timbuktu and Gao.
Moroccan traveler and author Ibn Batuta, who visited Mali 12 years after Musa’s dying, famous that it took him four months to journey from the northern to the southern border of Musa’s empire.
He additionally wrote that he discovered ‘complete and general safety in the land’. Mansa Musa’s empire was one of many largest on the planet throughout his time and he stays one of many biggest statesmen within the history of Africa.
14. A middle of the economy
It is recorded that Mansa Musa traveled via the cities of Timbuktu and Gao on his technique to Mecca, and made them part of his empire when he returned around 1325.
King Mansa Musa introduced architects from Andalusia, an area in Spain, and Cairo to construct his grand palace in Timbuktu and the great Djinguereber Mosque that also stands right this moment.
15. Role in Education
The University of Sankore in Timbuktu was restaffed underneath Musa’s reign with jurists, astronomers, and mathematicians.
The college grew to become a middle of studying and tradition, drawing Muslim students from around Africa and the Middle East to Timbuktu.
In 1330, the dominion of Mossi invaded and conquered the city of Timbuktu.
Gao had already been captured by Musa’s normal, and Musa shortly regained Timbuktu, constructed a rampart and stone fort, and positioned a standing military to guard the city against future invaders.
16. College and mosque in Timbuktu stand still
By the top of Mansa Musa’s reign, the Sankoré University had been transformed into a completely staffed University with the most important collections of books in Africa for the reason that Library of Alexandria.
The Sankoré University was able to housing 25,000 college students and had one of many largest libraries on the planet with roughly 1,000,000 manuscripts.
17. The richest individual in history
In 2012 Celebrity Net Worth took out an inventory of the world’s 25 wealthiest people of all time after adjusting for inflation and Mansa Musa was positioned on top of the listing above names like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett.
It was calculated that Musa had a personal internet price of $400 billion at the time of his death. The Rothschild Family, who was positioned at quantity two, had $50 billion much less.
The major motive behind Musa’s extraordinary wealth was that Mali was accountable for more than half of the world’s salt and gold provide.
18. One of the best rulers of West Africa
There is confusion in regards to the year wherein Mansa Musa died because of contradictory accounts however it’s probably that he died in 1332.
According to fourteenth-century North African scholar, Ibn Fadl Allah al-Omari, of all of the Muslim rulers of West Africa Mansa Musa was ‘the most powerful, the richest, the most fortunate, the most feared by his enemies and the ablest to do good to those around him’.
19. King Mansa Musa Death
The dying date of Mansa Musa is extremely debated amongst modern historians and the Arab students who recorded the history of Mali.
When in comparison with the reigns of his successors, son Mansa Maghan (recorded rule from 1337 to 1341) and older brother Mansa Suleyman (recorded rule from 1341 to 1360), and Musa’s recorded 25 years of rule, the calculated date of dying is 1337.
Other data declare Musa deliberately abdicate the throne to his son Maghan, however, he died quickly after he returned from Mecca in 1325.
According to an account by Ibn-Khaldun, King Mansa Musa was alive when the city of Tlemcen in Algeria was conquered in 1337, as he dispatched a consultant to Algeria to congratulate the conquerors on their victory.
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