Very little is known about the life of Mansa Musa before 1312. The 14th-century traveller Ibn Baah noted that it took about four months to travel from the northern borders of the Mali empire to Niani in the south. [26] Sariq Jata may be another name for Sunjata, who was actually Musa's great-uncle. Mansa Musa (Civ6) | Civilization Wiki | Fandom This region straddles the border between what is now southern Mali and northeastern Guinea. He is believed to be one of the richest individuals to have walked on this planet. The voyage is often incorrectly attributed to a Mansa Abu Bakr II, but no such mansa ever reigned. Umari also describes the empire as being south of Marrakesh and almost entirely inhabited except for few places. 05 Mar 2023. Therefore, Arabic visitors may have assigned the "capital" label merely to whatever major city the mansa was based out of at the time of their visit. The latter told Ibn Khaldun about devastating struggle over Gao between Mali imperial forces against Berber Tuareg forces from Takedda. The entire nation was mobilised, with each clan obligated to provide a quota of fighting-age men. 1312 is the most widely accepted by modern historians. to 1337 C.E. When Musa departed Mali for the hajj, he left his son Muhammad to rule in his absence. 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. Before Dankaran Touman and his mother could enjoy their unimpeded power, King Soumaoro set his sights on Niani forcing Dankaran to flee to Kissidougou.[60]. The Mali Empire consisted of land that is now part of Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, The Gambia, and the modern state of Mali. The fame of Mansa Musa and his phenomenal wealth spread as he traveled on his hajjto Mecca. The other account claims that Gao had been conquered during the reign of Mansa Sakura. [135] Gold nuggets were the exclusive property of the mansa and were illegal to trade within his borders. 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,. [46] While on the hajj, he met the Andalusian poet and architect es-Saheli. [70] These men had to be of the horon (freemen) caste and appear with their own arms. Mansa Musa's reign itself was 25 years long. Another testimony from Ibn Khaldun describes the grand pilgrimage of Mansa Musa consisting of 12,000 slaves: "He made a pilgrimage in 724/1324 []. [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. The Mali Empire reached its largest area under the Laye Keita mansas. [71] However, Ibn Khaldun also reports that Musa sent an envoy to congratulate Abu al-Hasan Ali for his conquest of Tlemcen, which took place in May 1337, but by the time Abu al-Hasan sent an envoy in response, Musa had died and Suleyman was on the throne, suggesting Musa died in 1337. [70] Manden was split in half with the Dodougou territory to the northeast and the Kri territory to the southwest. [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. He also brought architects from the Middle East and across Africa to design new buildings for his cities. If no button appears, you cannot download or save the media. The video and its description text are provided by Youtube. [22], Genealogy of the mansas of the Mali Empire up to Magha II (d.c.1389), based on Levtzion's interpretation of Ibn Khaldun. World History Publishing is a non-profit company registered in the United Kingdom. 1996 - 2023 National Geographic Society. We all know of Mansa Musa, possibly the richest man to ever - reddit However, his riches are only one part of his legacy, and he is also remembered for his Islamic faith, promotion of scholarship, and patronage of culture in 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. He's especially famous for his hajj to Mecca, during which he sponsored numerous mosques and madrases, and supposedly spent so much gold along the way that the metal was severely devalued, which for many people was not a very good thing. 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). The next great unit of exchange in the Mali Empire was salt. [95] When he passed through Cairo, historian al-Maqrizi noted "the members of his entourage proceeded to buy Turkish and Ethiopian slave girls, singing girls and garments, so that the rate of the gold dinar fell by six dirhams.". Mansa Musa even built the Great Mosque of Djenn, one of the most famous mosques in Mali, to recognize his pilgrimage. Included in al-Qalqashandi's quotation of al-'Umari, but not in any manuscript of al-'Umari's text itself, which only list thirteen provinces despite saying there are fourteen. As founded by Mari Djata, it was composed of the "three freely allied states" of Mali, Mema and Wagadou plus the Twelve Doors of Mali.[60]. National Geographic Headquarters 1145 17th Street NW Washington, DC 20036. Historians who lived during the height and decline of the Mali Empire consistently record its standing army peaking at 100,000, with 10,000 of that number being made up of cavalry. [11][b] In Mand tradition, it was common for one's name to be prefixed by their mother's name, so the name Kanku Musa means "Musa, son of Kanku", although it is unclear if the genealogy implied is literal. But more reasoned analysis suggests that his role, if any, was quite limited. Still, by the time of Mansa Musa Keita II's death in 1387, Mali was financially solvent and in control of all of its previous conquests short of Gao and Dyolof. [98] Musa's hajj, and especially his gold, caught the attention of both the Islamic and Christian worlds. The army of the Mali Empire used of a wide variety of weapons depending largely on where the troops originated. 24 June, 2022. A city called Dieriba or Dioliba is sometimes mentioned as the capital or main urban center of the province of Mande in the years before Sundiata, that was later abandoned. The Catalan Atlas, created in 1375 C.E. The tarikh states that a Sultan Kunburu became a Muslim and had his palace pulled down and the site turned into a mosque; he then built another palace for himself near the mosque on the east side. In 1307, Mansa Musa came to the throne after a series of civil wars and ruled for thirty years. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited. Research/Artwork: From Nothing Team. This can be interpreted as either "Musa son of Abu Bakr" or "Musa descendant of Abu Bakr." At Taghaza, for example, salt was exchanged; at Takedda, copper. Alternate titles: Kankan Ms, Mansa Musa, Mousa, Musa. 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. The 1375 Catalan Atlas portrayed a "city of Melly" (Catalan: ciutat de Melly) in West Africa. Is Mansa Musa the richest man who ever lived? - BBC News [9] Upon Leo Africanus's visit at the beginning of the 16th century, his descriptions of the territorial domains of Mali showed that it was still a kingdom of considerable size. [20] Additional information comes from two 17th-century manuscripts written in Timbuktu, the Tarikh Ibn al-Mukhtar[c] and the Tarikh al-Sudan. Heusch, Luc de: "The Symbolic Mechanisms of Sacred Kingship: Rediscovering Frazer". Musa I (known more commonly as Mansa Musa) was the tenth Mansa (a Mandinka word for "emperor") of the Mali Empire. In 1542, the Songhai invaded the capital city but were unsuccessful in conquering the empire. The salt was dug from the ground and cut into thick slabs, two of which were loaded onto each camel where they would be taken south across the desert to Oualata and sold. He never took the field again after Kirina, but his generals continued to expand the frontier, especially in the west where they reached the Gambia River and the marches of Tekrur. [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. He encouraged his subjects immersion in scholarship, the arts, and the Qurn. The mansa could also replace a farba if he got out of control, as in the case of Diafunu. [15] Leo Africanus said that the capital city was called Melli. [93] Emperor Bonga did not appear to hold the area, and it stayed within the Mali Empire after Maghan Keita III's death in 1400. [52][55], Musa's generosity continued as he traveled onwards to Mecca, and he gave gifts to fellow pilgrims and the people of Medina and Mecca. [136] While it was as good as gold in the north, it was even better in the south. Available from http://incompetech.com. However, territories that were crucial to trade or subject to revolt would receive a farba. [41] A particular challenge lies in interpreting early Arabic manuscripts, in which, without vowel markings and diacritics, foreign names can be read in numerous different ways (e.g. The farba could also take power away from the native administration if required and raise an army in the area for defence or putting down rebellions.[130]. Mansa Musa Family Tree | Empire of Mali Server Costs Fundraiser 2023 Running a website with millions of readers every month is expensive. During the 17th century, the Mali Empire faced incursions from the Bamana Empire. 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. Ibn Battuta comments on festival demonstrations of swordplay before the mansa by his retainers including the royal interpreter. 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. Musa made his pilgrimage between 1324 and 1325 spanning 2,700 miles. However, it went through radical changes before reaching the legendary proportions proclaimed by its subjects. [76] After unifying Manden, he added the Wangara goldfields, making them the southern border. [82], Musa is less renowned in Mand oral tradition as performed by the jeliw. [59] Those not living in the mountains formed small city-states such as Toron, Ka-Ba and Niani. Dates: 4001591 C. E.", "Is Mansa Musa the richest man who ever lived? Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
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