There was one individual whose wealth eclipsed all the rest -Mansa Musa, whose name translates to Musa the Sultan, was not only the richest man in Mali, he was the richest person in human history. Details of Musa are somewhat scarce because he lived during the 14th century, but a few facts are certain. First of all, he wasn’t born royalty, He appointed deputy when Melanie’s King Abu Bakar left for a religious pilgrimage along the Atlantic Ocean and never returned. According to the laws of their kingdom, Musa was their de facto King he ascensed throne in 1312.
This was also a very important time in history. The late Middle Ages were marked by population decline and unrest in Europe, the entire continent was suffering from famine, the black plague and political revolution. At the same time, North Africa was becoming a hub for commerce and industry. At this time, Musa came to power and took advantage of the economic stability in his region. He had inherited a country that was rich in natural reserves – Salt and gold in particular.
During his time as Mansa he traded his gold all across Africa and Asia, establishing Timbuktu as the epicenter for commerce in the region. Before his involvement. Timbuktu was barely established as a permanent settlement. But after his renovation, the city had a constant stream of camels passing through each laden with more than 200 pounds of either salt or gold.
In addition to the economic gains, Musa oversaw the construction of Timbuktu’s most iconic landmark The Great Mosque of D’jenné.
The mosque is made entirely from Adobe, and is considered by many architects to be one of the greatest achievements of the sudano sahelian architectural style. Musa brought in architects from southern Spain and across the Muslim world to complete the project.
Musa was also know for expanding the Melanie’s Empire to include modern day Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria, Nigeria and Chad. He only rules for 25years and his empire more than tripled. Many of the territories join Mali willingly because of the relatively high quality of life afforded to its citizens. When necessary, Musa was not afraid to use force as his fortunes afforded him a massive and well equipped military, which he used in conquering 24 major cities in his lifetime. Musa never lost a battle in his life.
It was on 1324 that the world learned exactly how wealthy he was. As a Muslim, he was obligated to pilgrimage to Mecca present day Saudi Arabia. The Quran states that all able bodied practitioners of Islam should visit the holy site at least once in their lifetime. Though it was a treacherous route to travel and such a long journey in the 1300s Musa was determined to make the journey. He didn’t travel alone, he arranged for the most impressive caravan in human history to accompany him on his journey. Musa made his pilgrimage between 1324 and 1325. His precession reportedly included 60,000 men all wearing ricotta and Persian silk, 12,000 slaves, who each carried four pounds of gold bars, and Harold’s dressed in silks, who bore gold staffs organized horses and handled bags. Everything he needed for his journey was provided. He had enough to feed the entire company of men and animals. Those animals included at cannibals which each carried 50 to 300 pounds of gold dust.
Musa gave arms to the poor he met along his route Moosa gave to the cities he passed on the way to Mecca, including Cairo and Medina.
He also traded gold for souvenirs. It was reported that he built a mosque every Friday. These numbers have been corroborated by eyewitnesses who were in odd his wealth in generosity for Moosa. This was the trip of a lifetime, and he spared no expense and attendant was later interviewed by a Melanie’s historian. He claimed that at each halt he would regale us with where foods and confectionery his equipment and furnishings were carried by 12,000 private slave women wearing gowns of brocade and Yemeni silk.
He was passing through Cairo on his way to Mecca, and that he had no business with the king. Historians speculated that Musa was hesitant to meet the Egyptian King because this meeting would involve a ritual in which all visitors would be forced to kiss on the king’s feets. Of course, this was well beneath Musa. he adamantly refused a meeting as Alistair sent constant stream of messengers to his caravan. This continued until he agreed, Musa was taken to meet the King.
circumstance surrounding their meeting wasn’t friendly so it took the both men to get along but in the end, Musa made a powerful ally and trade partners. The king gave Musa departing gifts and, in turn he left a piece of his incomprehensible wealth in Egypt.
Though Musa’s trip was intended only for religious purposes, it offered great business advantages in areas where he didn’t usually travel. Musa gave gift of gold throughout his journey as a gift to the poor and those who accommodated him and gave a highly concentrated amount during his stay in Cairo. However, Musa’s generous actions inadvertently devastated the economies of the region through which he passed in the cities of Cairo, Medina and Mecca. The sudden influx of gold devalued for the next decade, prices on goods were greatly inflated to rectify the gold market. On his way back from Mecca, Musa borrowed all the gold he could carry from moneylenders in Cairo at high interest. –This is the only time recorded in history that one man directly controlled the price of gold in the Mediterranean.
Upon reaching Mecca, Musa was singularly focused on his religious faith. While his attendance and slaves continued to distribute his wealth. He spent weeks in prayer and formal ceremonies across the city. This part of his life is marked by discipline.
During his long returned journey from Mecca around 1325. Musa heard news that his army had recaptured the strategically important city of Gao the city had been within the Empire since before his predecessors’ reign. It wasn’t important though often rebellious trading center,
Musa made visited the city he had invaded and he took hostages, the two sons of the Gao King- Ali colada and Salima Nagar. He returned home with the two boys and later educated them at his core. When Mansa Musa returned he brought back many Arabian scholars and architects. All these helped cement his reputation as fearless and invincible leader and his legacy continued as he began to focus on education.
Upon his return, the University of Suncor in Timbuktu was restaffed with jurists, astronomers and mathematicians. The university became a center of learning and culture drawing Muslim scholars from around Africa and the Middle East to Timbuktu by the end of month he had converted it into a fully staffed university with the largest collection of books in Africa since the Library of Alexandria, the Suncor University was capable of housing 25,000 students and had one of the largest libraries in the world with roughly 1 million manuscripts.
At this point. Musa was by far the most famous individual in West Africa. So it came as no surprise when his picture was included in 1375 as one of the most Rich and important personality across Africa and Asia.
But unfortunately for Musa, his amazing success was envied. Upon discovering the vast wealth that Mali had accrued, a race began across Europe to invade and conquer the Empire.
It was first invaded by Portugal in 1444, When soldiers lined the coast and diplomats tried to commit slaves to rebel on their masters, the Melanie’s Empire put up a good fight and prevented Portugal from conquering them entirely. But after years of sustained warfare, Portugal colonized several important trade centers on the Melanie’s coast, cutting it off from the world base colonization continued for hundreds of years in Mali eventually became a French colony. The French exploited Mali for its natural resources and forced its inhabitants into poverty.
No one has even come close to breaking his record, and he still stands as the wealthiest person in human history.