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[34][35] Nonetheless, the possibility of such a voyage has been taken seriously by several historians. According to Musa's own account, his predecessor as Mansa of Mali, presumably Muhammad ibn Qu,[31] launched two expeditions to explore the Atlantic Ocean (200 ships for the first exploratory mission and 2,000 ships for the second). [63] Both of these accounts may be true, as Mali's control of Gao may have been weak, requiring powerful mansas to reassert their authority periodically.[64]. His equipment furnishings were carried by 12.000 private slave women (Wasaif) wearing gown and brocade (dibaj) and Yemeni silk []. It was cut into pieces and spent on goods with close to equal buying power throughout the empire. [24] The empire's total area included nearly all the land between the Sahara Desert and coastal forests. His reign saw the first in a string of many great losses to Mali. Musa is reported to have reigned for 25 years, and different lines of evidence suggest he died either. The Mali Empire expanded through conquest or annexation. Mali Emperors Family Tree | Mansa Musa - The Richest Man in World History 71,113 views Nov 27, 2019 1.8K Dislike Share Save UsefulCharts 1.08M subscribers Watch the map animation on From. It was this pilgrimage that awakened the world to the stupendous wealth of Mali. [108] Alvise Cadamosto, a Venetian explorer, recorded that the Mali Empire was the most powerful entity on the coast in 1454. By the end of Mansa Musa's reign, the Sankor University had been converted into a fully staffed university with the largest collections of books in Africa since the Library of Alexandria. Updates? World History Encyclopedia, 17 Oct 2020. Al-Umari reported that Mali had fourteen provinces. At Taghaza, for example, salt was exchanged; at Takedda, copper. 05 Mar 2023. In 1645, the Bamana attacked Manden, seizing both banks of the Niger right up to Niani. After the victory, King Soumaoro disappeared, and the Mandinka stormed the last of the Sosso cities. The conquest of Sosso in c. 1235 gave the Mali Empire access to the trans-Saharan trade routes. Kangaba, the de facto capital of Manden since the time of the last emperor, became the capital of the northern sphere. The 1375 Catalan Atlas portrayed a "city of Melly" (Catalan: ciutat de Melly) in West Africa. [133], There was no standard currency throughout the realm, but several forms were prominent by region. Editing: Jack Rackam. The new Songhai Empire conquered Mema,[93] one of Mali's oldest possessions, in 1465. The last son of Maghan Keita I, Tenin Maghan Keita (also known as Kita Tenin Maghan Keita for the province he once governed) was crowned Mansa Maghan Keita II in 1387. "Mansa Musa Family Tree | Empire of Mali." She or he will best know the preferred format. After the publication of this atlas, Mansa Musa became cemented in the global imagination as a figure of stupendous wealth.After his return from Mecca, Mansa Musa began to revitalize cities in his kingdom. [12][h] Ibn Battuta, who visited Mali during the reign of Musa's brother Sulayman, said that Musa's grandfather was named Sariq Jata. [32] When he did not return, Musa was crowned as mansa himself, marking a transfer of the line of succession from the descendants of Sunjata to the descendants of his brother Abu Bakr. The Royal Kingdoms of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay: Life in Medieval Africa By Patricia McKissack, Fredrick McKissack Page 60, "The richest person who ever lived had unimaginable wealth. [12] However, these hypotheses have been rejected by locals and are inconsistent with the apparent cognate status of Mali and Mand.[19]. Musa conquered more than 20 major cities in his lifetime. After a mere nine months of rule, Mansa Camba Keita was deposed by one of Maghan Keita I's three sons. Furthermore, his hajj in 1324 was in some ways an act of solidarity that showed his connection to other rulers and peoples throughout the Islamic world. At both Gao and Timbuktu, a Songhai city almost rivalling Gao in importance, Mansa Ms commissioned Ab Isq al-Sil, a Granada poet and architect who had travelled with him from Mecca, to build mosques. At each halt, he would regale us [his entourage] rare foods and confectionery. [17] Whether Mali originated as the name of a town or region, the name was subsequently applied to the entire empire ruled from Mali. [123] Either as a counter-attack or simply the progression of pre-planned assaults against the remnants of Mali, the Bamana sacked and burned Niani in 1670. From at least the beginning of the 11th century, Mandinka kings known as faamas ruled Manden from Ka-ba in the name of the Ghanas.[68]. In search of a status discourse for Mande". Ibn Khaldun recorded that in 776 A.H or 1374/1375 AD he interviewed a Sijilmasan scholar named Muhammad b. Wasul who had lived in Gao and had been employed in its judiciary. He built mosques and large public buildings in cities like Gao and, most famously, Timbuktu. [86], The name "Musa" has become virtually synonymous with pilgrimage in Mand tradition, such that other figures who are remembered as going on a pilgrimage, such as Fakoli, are also called Musa. Mansa Ms, either the grandson or the grandnephew of Sundiata, the founder of his dynasty, came to the throne in 1307. Afterward, he put himself and his kingdom, West Africa's Mali, on the map, literally. He ruled the nation for nearly 25 years until his death in 1337 and is . With trade being disrupted by wars, there was no way for the economy to continue to prosper. [122] Their forces marched as far north as Kangaba, where the mansa was obliged to make a peace with them, promising not to attack downstream of Mali. Not only do we pay for our servers, but also for related services such as our content delivery network, Google Workspace, email, and much more. Mansa Musa was a smart, powerful, competent Islamic autocrat who ruled over and expanded the Malian empire. [46] Kangaba became the last refuge of the Keita royal family after the collapse of the Mali Empire, and so has for centuries been associated with Sundiata in the cultural imagination of Mande peoples. He intended to abdicate the throne and return to Mecca but died before he was able to do so. [113], In 1544 or 1545,[f] a Songhai force led by kanfari Dawud, who would later succeed his brother Askia Ishaq as ruler of the Songhai Empire, sacked the capital of Mali and purportedly used the royal palace as a latrine. Arabic sources omit Faga Leye, referring to Musa as Musa ibn Abi Bakr. The organization and smooth administration of a purely African empire, the founding of the University of Sankore, the expansion of trade in Timbuktu, the architectural innovations in Gao, Timbuktu, and Niani and, indeed, throughout the whole of Mali and in the subsequent Songhai empire are all testimony to Mansa Mss superior administrative gifts. [42] Another source of income for Mali during Musa's reign was taxation of the copper trade. At its peak, Mali was the largest empire in West Africa, widely . [93], Following Musa Keita III's death, his brother Gbr Keita became emperor in the mid-15th century. [3] During the 11th and 12th centuries, an empire began to develop following the decline of the Ghana Empire, or Wagadu, to the north. [75] It is possible that it was actually Musa's son Maghan who congratulated Abu al-Hasan, or Maghan who received Abu al-Hasan's envoy after Musa's death. [40], Musa was a young man when he became mansa, possibly in his early twenties. [115] The breakup of the Wolof Empire allowed Mali to reassert authority over some of its former subjects on the north bank of the Gambia, such as Wuli, by 1576. However, from 1507 onwards neighboring states such as Diara, Great Fulo and the Songhai Empire chipped away at the outer borders of Mali. Musa took out large loans from money lenders in Cairo before beginning his journey home. He left Kanku Musa, a grandson of Sunjata's brother Mande Bori, in charge during his absence. The earliest document mentioning the mosque is Abd al-Sadi's Tarikh al-Sudan, which gives the early history, presumably from the oral tradition as it existed in the mid seventeenth century. Mansa Mahmud Keita II came to the throne in 1481 during Mali's downward spiral. The area was famous as a hunting ground for the large amount of game that it sheltered, as well as its dense vegetation. [86] Qu was succeeded by his son Muhammad, who launched two voyages to explore the Atlantic Ocean. He was crowned under the throne name Sunidata Keita becoming the first Mandinka emperor. [110] Meanwhile, Songhai seized the salt mines of Taghazza in 1493. Captivation History summarizes Mansa Musa's story from his ancestors to his descendants as they reigned over the Mali Empire beginning in the 1300s. [92] He was one of the first truly devout Muslims to lead the Mali Empire. He brought back with him descendants of Mohammed, Islamic scholars, and architect Abu Es Haq es Saheli, who went on to create the Djinguereber mosque. Despite this disunity in the realm, the realm remained under Mandinka control into the mid-17th century. Mansa Musa turned the kingdom of Mali into a sophisticated center of learning in the Islamic world.Mansa Musa came to power in 1312 C.E., after the previous king, Abu Bakr II, disappeared at sea. [129] The county level administrators called kafo-tigui (county-master) were appointed by the governor of the province from within his own circle. [142][143] Numerous sources attest that the inland waterways of West Africa saw extensive use of war canoes and vessels used for war transport where permitted by the environment. Under Mansa Ms, Timbuktu grew to be a very important commercial city having caravan connections with Egypt and with all other important trade centres in North Africa. [97] Though this has been described as having "wrecked" Egypt's economy,[85] the historian Warren Schultz has argued that this was well within normal fluctuations in the value of gold in Mamluk Egypt. That same year, Mahmud II sent another envoy to the Portuguese proposing alliance against the Fula. This trend would continue into colonial times against Tukulor enemies from the west.[121]. Mansa Musa (Musa I of Mali) was the king of the ancient empire of Mali in West Africa. Dates: 4001591 C. E.", "Is Mansa Musa the richest man who ever lived? Mansa Musa Family Tree | Empire of Mali Server Costs Fundraiser 2023 Running a website with millions of readers every month is expensive. The Songhai kingdom measured several hundreds of miles across, so that the conquest meant the acquisition of a vast territory. He had first-hand information from several sources, and from a second-hand source, he learned of the visit of Mansa Musa. However, Al-Nasir Muhammad returned Musa's earlier show of generosity with gifts of his own. The empire began as a small Mandinka kingdom at the upper reaches of the Niger River, centered around the Manding region. The Venetian explorer Alvise Cadamosto and Portuguese traders confirmed that the peoples of the Gambia were still subject to the mansa of Mali. A legend claims that Sunjata transformed into a hippopotamus. [42] Among these preparations would likely have been raids to capture and enslave people from neighboring lands, as Musa's entourage would include many thousands of enslaved people; the historian Michael Gomez estimates that Mali may have captured over 6,000 people per year for this purpose. CREDITS: Chart/Narration: Matt Baker. At the height of its power, Mali had at least 400 cities, and the interior of the Niger Delta was very densely populated. [86] After Sakura's death, power returned to the line of Sunjata, with Wali's son Qu taking the throne. Several of the names are spelled in a variety of ways in different manuscripts. According to the records of Ibn Battuta,[138][139] copper which traded in bars was mined from Takedda in the north and traded in the south for gold. While in Cairo, Mansa Musa met with the Sultan of Egypt, and his caravan spent and gave away so much gold that the overall value of gold decreased in Egypt for the next 12 years. [93] Only at the state or province level was there any palpable interference from the central authority in Niani. The Black emperors great civility notwithstanding, the meeting between the two rulers might have ended in a serious diplomatic incident, for so absorbed was Mansa Ms in his religious observances that he was only with difficulty persuaded to pay a formal visit to the sultan. [70] Little is known of him except that he only reigned two years. An army was required to guard the borders to protect its flourishing trade. King of Kings in the Mandinka language a reference to a great ruler in the Mali Empire of ancient Africa. The "Qur'an" had a great importance to Mansa Musa as it states "God loves the charitable" (Document D). What made this possible was the decentralised nature of administration throughout the state. so the name Kanku Musa means "Musa, son of Kanku", although it is unclear if the genealogy implied is literal. He belonged to the Keita Dynasty and came to power after Abu-Bakra-Keita II left on an expedition to explore the Atlantic Ocean, leaving Musa as his deputy and never returned. Duties of the farba included reporting on the activities of the territory, collecting taxes and ensuring the native administration didn't contradict orders from Niani. UsefulCharts, . The fame of Mansa Musa and his phenomenal wealth spread as he traveled on his hajjto Mecca. By the beginning of the 14th century, Mali was the source of almost half the Old World's gold exported from mines in Bambuk, Boure and Galam. The Portuguese decided to stay out of the conflict and the talks concluded by 1495 without an alliance.[110]. In Niani, Musa built the Hall of Audience, a building communicating by an interior door to the royal palace. [6] The early history of the Mali Empire (before the 13th century) is unclear, as there are conflicting and imprecise accounts by both Arab chroniclers and oral traditionalists. Mansa Musa Keita's crowning achievement was his famous pilgrimage to Mecca, which started in 1324 and concluded with his return in 1326. Swords were drawn, but before the situation escalated further, Musa persuaded his men to back down. A dknsi performed the same function except with slave troops called sofa ("guardian of the horse") and under the command of a farimba ("great brave man"). The Mali Empire covered a larger area for a longer period of time than any other West African state before or since. Available from http://incompetech.com. Scholars who were mainly interested in history, Qurnic theology, and law were to make the mosque of Sankore in Timbuktu a teaching centre and to lay the foundations of the University of Sankore. Grades 5 - 8 Subjects Geography, Human Geography, Social Studies, Ancient Civilizations, World History Image Timbuktu, Henrich Barth Painting The fame of Mansa Musa and his phenomenal wealth spread as he traveled on his hajj to Mecca. Mansa Mss prodigious generosity and piety, as well as the fine clothes and exemplary behaviour of his followers, did not fail to create a most-favourable impression. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media. Robert Smith, "The Canoe in West African History", harvnb error: no target: CITEREFBourgeois1987 (, Learn how and when to remove these template messages, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Kitab al-Masalik wa al-Mamalik (Book of Highways and Kingdoms) Ab Ubayd Al-Bakri, "The Empire of Mali, In Our Time BBC Radio 4", "Tracing History in Dia, in the Inland Niger Delta of Mali -Archaeology, Oral Traditions and Written Sources". [45] He would have spent much time fostering the growth of the religion within his empire. During the 17th century, the Mali Empire faced incursions from the Bamana Empire. Still, when Ibn Battuta arrived at Mali in July 1352, he found a thriving civilisation on par with virtually anything in the Muslim or Christian world. It was this pilgrimage that awakened the world to the stupendous wealth of Mali. [102] The text of Ibn Khaldun says "Gao, at this time is devastated". Trade was Mali's form of income, and wealth. The Mandinka went on to form the powerful and rich Mali Empire, which produced the richest Black man who ever lived, King Mansa Musa. The value of the salt was chiefly determined by the transport costs. Umari also describes the empire as being south of Marrakesh and almost entirely inhabited except for few places. Timbuktu was a place of trade, entertainment, and education. ), mansa (emperor) of the West African empire of Mali from 1307 (or 1312). In oral tradition and the Timbuktu Chronicles, Musa is known as Kanku Musa. Much of the history is oral, given by professional "historians". During his reign, Mali was one of the richest kingdoms of Africa, and Mansa Musa was among the richest individuals in the world. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita (c. 1214 - c. 1255) and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa (Musa Keita). Ibn Battuta mentions that the value of salt increased fourfold when transported between Oualata and the Malian capital. [147][148], The Sudano-Sahelian influence was particularly widely incorporated during the rule of Mansa Musa I, who constructed many architectural projects, including the Great Mosque of Gao and Royal Palace in Timbuktu, which was built with the assistance of Ishaak al-Tuedjin, an architect brought by Musa from his pilgrimage to Mecca. He is the resurrected spirit of Masuta the Ascended, the second boss in the first elite dungeon, Temple of Aminishi . [51] Musa made a major point of showing off his nation's wealth. Each individual farariya ("brave") had a number of infantry officers beneath them called kl-koun or dknsi. They also used flaming arrows for siege warfare. Al-Umari, who wrote down a description of Mali based on information given to him by Abu Said 'Otman ed Dukkali (who had lived 35 years in the capital), reported the realm as being square and an eight-month journey from its coast at Tura (at the mouth of the Senegal River) to Muli. [93] Musa may have brought as much as 18 tons of gold on his hajj,[94] equal in value to over US$957million in 2022. It then seized Timbuktu from the Tuareg in 1468 under Sunni Ali Ber. [70][141] With the help of the river clans, this army could be deployed throughout the realm on short notice. Musa I (known more commonly as Mansa Musa) was the tenth Mansa (a Mandinka word for "emperor") of the Mali Empire. He also made Eid celebrations at the end of Ramadan a national ceremony. [70] However, once Sundiata did gain use of his legs he grew strong and very respected. The date of Mahmud's death and identity of his immediate successor are not recorded, and there is a gap of 65 years before another mansa's identity is recorded. In 1542, the Songhai invaded the capital city but were unsuccessful in conquering the empire. Upon his return in 1324, Ms Is pious pilgrimage inspired him to commission two enormous mosques in Timbuktu and Gao. [18], In the Songhai language, rulers of Mali such as Musa were known as the Mali-koi, koi being a title that conveyed authority over a region: in other words, the "ruler of Mali". The entire nation was mobilised, with each clan obligated to provide a quota of fighting-age men. While on the hajj, he met the Andalusian poet and architect es-Saheli. [75] This victory resulted in the fall of the Kaniaga kingdom and the rise of the Mali Empire. Gold dust had been weighed and bagged for use at least since the time of the Ghana Empire. [119], It would be the Mandinka themselves that would cause the final destruction of the empire. [62] According to one account given by Ibn Khaldun, Musa's general Saghmanja conquered Gao. It may have been located close to modern Kangaba. It spanned the modern-day countries of Senegal, southern Mauritania, Mali, northern Burkina Faso, western Niger, the Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, the Ivory Coast and northern Ghana. These oral stories . Very little is known about the life of Mansa Musa before 1312. [72], According to Niane's version of the epic, during the rise of Kaniaga, Sundiata of the Keita clan was born in the early 13th century. He made a pilgrimage to Mecca during the reign of Mamluk Sultan An-Nasir Muhammad (r. 12981308), but died on his voyage home. The House of Saud is ruled by the descendants of King Abdulaziz, who founded and unified Saudi Arabia in 1932. [77] Alternatively, it is possible that the four-year reign Ibn Khaldun credits Maghan with actually referred to his ruling Mali while Musa was away on the hajj, and he only reigned briefly in his own right. [122] This campaign gutted Manden and destroyed any hope of the three mansas cooperating to free their land. Mansa Musa's personal name was Musa (Arabic: , romanized:Ms), the Arabic form of Moses. Stories of his fabulous wealth even reached Europe. [22] Oral tradition, as performed by the jeliw (sg. Provinces picked their own governors via their own custom (election, inheritance, etc.). His skillful administration left his empire well-off at the time of his death, but eventually, the empire fell apart. From the Mamma Haidara Commemorative Library, Timbuktu. He did however, maintain contacts with Morocco, sending a giraffe to King Abu Hassan. The ancient kingdom of Mali spread across parts of modern-day Mali, Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Mauritania, and Burkina Faso. Mansa Musa's pilgrimage to Mecca happened between 1324 and 1325. In 1324, while staying in Cairo during his hajj, Mansa Musa, the ruler of the Mali Empire, told an Egyptian official whom he had befriended that he had come to rule when his predecessor led a fleet in an attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean and never returned. He stopped in Cairo along the way, and his luxurious spending and gift giving was so extensive that he diluted the value of gold by 10 to 25 percent and impacted Cairos economy for at least 12 years afterward. [70] These men had to be of the horon (freemen) caste and appear with their own arms. Lange, Dierk (1996), "The Almoravid expansion and the downfall of Ghana", Der Islam 73 (2): 313351. Mansa Musa came from his country with 80 loads of gold dust (tibr), each load weighing three qintars. The Manding languages were spoken in the empire. Then, in 1630, the Bamana of Djenn declared their version of holy war on all Muslim powers in present-day Mali. [40] Seemingly contradictory reports written by Arab visitors, a lack of definitive archaeological evidence, and the diversity of oral traditions all contribute to this uncertainty. [115], Mali's fortunes seem to have improved in the second half of the 16th century. This thread is archived [d], Musa's father was named Faga Leye[12] and his mother may have been named Kanku. [79][80], Musa's reign is commonly regarded as Mali's golden age, but this perception may be the result of his reign being the best recorded by Arabic sources, rather than him necessarily being the wealthiest and most powerful mansa of Mali. Mama Maghan, mansa of Kangaba, campaigned against the Bamana in 1667 and laid siege to SegouKoro for a reported three years. Mansa Musa returned from Mecca with several Islamic scholars, including direct descendants of the prophet Muhammad and an Andalusian poet and architect by the name of Abu Es Haq es Saheli,. He encouraged his subjects immersion in scholarship, the arts, and the Qurn. A Golden Age: King Mansa Musa's Reign. [15] He is also called Hidji Mansa Musa in oral tradition in reference to his hajj. Musa stayed in Cairo for three months, departing on 18 October[k] with the official caravan to Mecca. Despite the faama of Niani's wishes to respect the prophecy and put Sundiata on the throne, the son from his first wife Sassouma Brt was crowned instead. While in Mecca, conflict broke out between a group of Malian pilgrims and a group of Turkic pilgrims in the Masjid al-Haram. published on 17 October 2020. So lavish was the emperor in his spending that he flooded the Cairo market with gold, thereby causing such a decline in its value that the market some 12 years later had still not fully recovered. Musa's reign is often regarded as the zenith of Mali's power and prestige. It is implausible that Abu Bakr was Musa's father, due to the amount of time between Sunjata's reign and Musa's. [114] However, the Songhai do not maintain their hold on the Malian capital. However, it went through radical changes before reaching the legendary proportions proclaimed by its subjects. This is the first account of a West African kingdom made directly by an eyewitness; the others are usually second-hand. Emperors and Empresses from Around the (Non-Roman) World Quiz, Armand-Jean du Plessis, cardinal et duc de Richelieu, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Musa-I-of-Mali, World History Encyclopedia - Mansa Musa I, Musa - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up). Mansa Abu Bakr II had departed on a large fleet of ships to explore the Atlantic Ocean, and never returned.Mansa Musa inherited a kingdom that was already wealthy, but his work in expanding trade made Mali the wealthiest kingdom in Africa. Mansa Musa developed cities like Timbuktu and Gao into important cultural centers. Ibn Battuta observed the employment of servants in both towns. [50] Such impermanent capitals are a historically widespread phenomenon, having occurred in other parts of Africa such as Ethiopia, as well as outside Africa, such as in the Holy Roman Empire.[51].