Mansa Musa Essay

When you think of the wealthiest man in world history who comes to your mind? Bill Gates? Mark Zuckerberg? Well, according to an article published by Time Magazine, the richest man to ever walk this earth was the Mansa Musa, the King of Mali. The magnificent 25 year reign over Mali, by Mansa Musa, was one of the most impressive and molding factors that shaped Mali during the 1300s. He made sure that the governments in his different providences operated honestly and effectively. Mansa Musa developed a strong religious present for his people in the Mali Empire. While prospering the economy of his empire and establishing one of the most well respected trading areas in West Africa. The construction of elaborate buildings was one of the things he

began to do after his return from his long trip to Mecca. Educations was gratis and encouraged in Mali, he supported education so strongly he built a university. All in all, Mansa Musa was one of the greatest and well known kings of Mali, and played a major role in the Mali Empire during his 25 year reign.
During Mansa Musa reign, he expanded Mali territory to be equal to the size of Europe.

Controlling all of this kingdom seems like it should have come with a variety of different problems, but Mansa Musa had it under control. The Mali army was a massive army nevertheless “His army is described by al-Umari as "100,000 strong, with 10,000 cavalry troops"” (HAMBLETON, 1999). This played a massive effect in expanding his territory. With an army of that proportion conquering other empire had to come as an ease. The regime of Mali during his time reminds me of the modern day government in the United States. He divided the land into several different providences, then designated different farba to control the areas (Quigley, 2002). The Farbas seem to be like today’s Governors. They make sure order was being kept in the district under their control. However, farbas were chosen by Mansa Musa and not the people, and they could be replaced at any time if he felt that he could not trust to get the task done. When it came down to handling Empire business Mansa Musa, along with his selected advisors took care of

that.
Making a four thousand mile trip to Mecca, one of Islam’s holiest cities, was what Mansa Musa most famous for. He was a devoted Muslim man and wanted to learn as much as he could about Islam, so he could bring it back to Mali and his people. On his return back from Mecca, he made “Timbuktu the international learning center for Islam” (Mali: A Cultural Center). A University was built in Timbuktu, with elaborated Islamic designs, for people interested in learning more about the religion. Mansa Musa was a big Muslim; however, he did not force the religion upon his people. When Muslim scholars visited Mali, they would be shocked by the people clothing, which was nothing like the Islamic clothing. Nevertheless, the travelers always found their host to be delightful.
Mansa Musa was not only one of the most religious kings of Mali, but one of the wealthiest too. He once gave out such a large amount of gold that “the value of gold decrease for over a decade” (Quigley, 2002). You can only image how much gold it had to be to deflate the overall price of it, and never was close to running out of it. Mansa Musa was the owner of one of the biggest gold mines during that time. During his reign “most of the world’s currency was made from gold mines in Mali” (HAMBLETON, 1999). Not only did he have control of a gold mine, but he was the owner of a salt and copper mine as well. Salt was a very vital amenities to the Mali people in the harsh desert area. In warmer climates were perspiration, which mean salt loss, is very common you will need to replace that essential element back in the body. In addition, it was use to give food a better taste and preserve it too. While the copper was the only items that Mansa Musa placed a tax on, additionally it could be traded for gold. With all these items Mali became one of “the greatest trading center in ancient history” (HAMBLETON, 1999). As you can see in the picture I have attached, It looks as if a trader is headed toward Mansa Musa who is holding a piece of gold seating in the heart of Mali(“Module Fourteen, Activity Three”). Traveling across the horrible Sahara desert was worth the while to trade in Mali for the distance traders.
As stated previously, one of the things that Mansa Musa is known for is his long journey to Mecca. Within years of long planning, he developed a plan on how he was going to fulfil is duty as a devoted Muslim and show Africa how rich and powerful of a king he was.
He was accompanied by a caravan consisting of sixty thousand men, including Twelve thousand slaves. The emperor himself rode on horseback and was directly preceded by five hundred slaves, each carrying a staff decorated with gold. In addition, Mansa Musa had a baggage caravan of eighty camels, each carrying three hundred pounds of gold (Haskins, 2005).
Most of the gold that he brought on his journey he gave out through his voyage, which throw off the value of gold.

On his journey back to Mali he ran out of gold, but he was so respected that noble and rulers did not hesitate to lend him gold to make sure he got back home. Nevertheless, having control over 60 thousand people for at least 4 months, which display how powerful he was and how loyal his servants were.

Mansa Musa was such a good king to his people and always represented himself as one too. Every time he left his palace it could be seen as a parade in the kingdom. When leaving “he took about 300 guards, musicians, and acrobats with him” (Mansa Musa the Muslim King of Mali). People would rush to the street just to see the presence that Mansa Musa would bring to streets. He would hand out goods, small gold nuggets, and would give the elders of every town. People had no choice but to love Mansa Musa due to the grace he would bless upon his

people.
Still to this day people recognize Mansa Musa as being one of the greatest rulers of Mali. He did things that most kings would never do. He owner multiple mines that was very essential to the growth and expansion of Mali. This emperor gave hundreds of pounds of gold away throughout his journey, which threw off the value of the gold. Although he was a devoted Muslim, he did not forced his religious beliefs upon his people. Musa was able to expand his territory to the size of Russia. Nevertheless, he will forever be known as the golden king and stories will continue to be told about his reign long after his death