Mansa Musa explored as possibly the richest person in history

Mansa Musa, the 14th-century ruler of the Mali Empire, is widely considered the wealthiest person in history. Inheriting the throne in 1312, he expanded his empire across 2,000 miles, controlling vast gold resources that accounted for nearly half of the Old World's supply. His legendary pilgrimage to Mecca with a caravan of 60,000 people famously destabilized Cairo's economy, causing an estimated $1.5 billion in losses. Musa used his wealth to establish Timbuktu as a major educational and cultural hub before his empire eventually fractured after his death in 1337.

Mansa Musa historical wealth

• ▪Mansa Musa inherited the Mali Empire in 1312 after his brother, Mansa Abu-Bakr, abdicated to lead an Atlantic Ocean expedition from which he never returned.
• ▪Jacob Davidson, writing for Money.com in 2015, described the 14th-century Malian king Mansa Musa as being richer than anyone could describe.
• ▪Rudolph Butch Ware, an associate professor of history at the University of California, stated that contemporary accounts of Mansa Musa's wealth are so extreme that it is difficult to grasp his actual wealth and power.
• ▪Mansa Musa, the 14th-century ruler of the Mali Empire who lived from 1280 to 1337, is widely believed to be the richest person in history.

Mali Empire gold resources

• ▪Under Mansa Musa's rule, the Mali Empire expanded significantly by annexing 24 cities, including Timbuktu, and stretched approximately 2,000 miles from the Atlantic Ocean to modern-day Niger.
• ▪Kathleen Bickford Berzock of the Block Museum of Art at Northwestern University stated that Mansa Musa had almost unlimited access to gold, the medieval world's most highly valued source of wealth.
• ▪According to the British Museum, the Mali Empire accounted for almost half of the Old World's gold during the reign of Mansa Musa.

Mecca pilgrimage caravan

• ▪The Mecca pilgrimage caravan of Mansa Musa included 100 camels, with each camel carrying hundreds of pounds of pure gold, and all participants clad in gold brocade and Persian silk.
• ▪Mansa Musa embarked on a pilgrimage to Mecca with a caravan of 60,000 men, including his royal court, soldiers, entertainers, merchants, and 12,000 slaves.

Cairo gold market crash

• ▪During his three-month stay in Cairo, Mansa Musa handed out gold so lavishly that he caused the price of gold to plummet in the region for 10 years.
• ▪Lucy Duran of the School of African and Oriental Studies stated that Malian griots historically avoided praising Mansa Musa because they believed he wasted local gold resources outside the empire.
• ▪The technology company SmartAsset.com estimated that the depreciation of gold caused by Mansa Musa's pilgrimage resulted in approximately $1.5 billion in economic losses across the Middle East.
• ▪On his return journey from Mecca, Mansa Musa attempted to assist Egypt's economy by borrowing gold back from Egyptian lenders at high interest rates, though some accounts suggest he had simply run out of gold.

Timbuktu educational institutions

• ▪Mansa Musa returned from Mecca with Islamic scholars and the Andalusian architect Abu Es Haq es Saheli, whom he paid 200 kilograms of gold to design the Djinguereber Mosque in 1327.
• ▪Mansa Musa funded literature, schools, libraries, and mosques, transforming Timbuktu into an educational hub where people traveled to study at Sankore University.

Mali Empire fragmentation

• ▪Lisa Corrin Graziose, director of the Block Museum of Art, and Rudolph Butch Ware noted that the medieval history of Mali remains little known because history is often written from a Western perspective.
• ▪Following the death of Mansa Musa in 1337 at age 57, his sons inherited the Mali Empire but could not hold it together, leading to smaller states breaking off and the empire crumbling.