In their own country they use only slave women and men for transport, but for long journeys such as pilgrimages they have mounts. [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. By the 6th century AD, the lucrative trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt and slaves had begun, facilitating the rise of West Africa's great empires. [60] The anglicised version of this name, Sunjata, is also popular. And so the name Keita became a clan/family and began its reign.[70]. . What did Ms I do when he returned to Mali? Certainly, his descendants were Muslim, and many went on pilgrimage to Mecca (hajj), and Keita's most famous descendent, Mansa Musa, dazzled Egypt and the Islamic world on his lavish pilgrimage east. The mansa also made a successful hajj, kept up correspondence with Morocco and Egypt and built an earthen platform at Kangaba called the Camanbolon where he held court with provincial governors and deposited the holy books he brought back from Hedjaz. Gold, copper, and salt were a major source of income in the 12th century and the empire happened to be blessed with it, even more as it expanded. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. [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. His 25-year reign (1312-1337 CE) is described as "the golden age of . [81] The territory of the Mali Empire was at its height during the reigns of Musa and his brother Sulayman, and covered the Sudan-Sahel region of West Africa. 4. [124] Following this disastrous set of events, Mansa Mama Maghan abandoned the capital of Niani. He brought a large entourage with him which impressed people everywhere they went. [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. Mansa Ms left a realm notable for its extent and richeshe built the Great Mosque at Timbuktubut he is best remembered in the Middle East and Europe for the splendour of his pilgrimage to Mecca (1324). 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. Oral tradition states that he had three sons who fought over Manden's remains. [98], The wealth of the Mali Empire did not come from direct control of gold-producing regions, but rather trade and tribute. The Mali Empire covered a larger area for a longer period of time than any other West African state before or since. [49] It has been suggested that the name given in the Arabic sources for the capital of Mali is derived the Manding word "bambi", meaning "dais", and as such refers to the "seat of government" in general rather than being the name of a specific city. The Songhai Empire had fallen to the Saadi Sultanate of Morocco eight years earlier, and Mahmud sought to take advantage of their defeat by trying to capture Jenne. They founded the first village of the Manding, Kirikoroni, then Kirina, Siby, Kita. [17] Whether Mali originated as the name of a town or region, the name was subsequently applied to the entire empire ruled from Mali. Mansa Musa, also known as Musa Keita I of Mali, was the tenth Sultan of the Mali Empire. 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. Much of the history is oral, given by professional "historians". 24 June, 2022. [42] Another source of income for Mali during Musa's reign was taxation of the copper trade. This enabled him to rule over a realm larger than even the Ghana Empire in its apex. [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. Mansa Souleyman Keita died in 1360 and was succeeded by his son, Camba Keita. In the 17th year of his reign (1324), he set out on his famous pilgrimage to Mecca. It was common practice during the Middle Ages for both Christian and Muslim rulers to tie their bloodline back to a pivotal figure in their faith's history, so the lineage of the Keita dynasty may be dubious at best,[62] yet African Muslim scholars like the London-based Nigerian-British cleric Sheikh Abu-Abdullah Adelabu have laid claim of divine attainments to the reign of Mansa Mousa: "in Islamic history and its science stories of Old Mali Empire and significance of Mansa Mousa by ancient Muslim historians like Shihab al-Umari, documenting histories of African legendaries like Mansa Kankan Musa did actually exist in early Arabic sources about West African history including works of the author of Subh al-a 'sha one of the final expressions of the genre of Arabic administrative literature, Ahmad al-Qalqashandi Egyptian writer, mathematician and scribe of the scroll (katib al-darj) in the Mamluk chancery in Cairo[63] as well as by the author of Kitab al-Masalik wa al-Mamalik (Book of Highways and Kingdoms) Ab Ubayd Al-Bakri, an Arab Andalusian Muslim geographer and historian emboldened Keita Dynasty", wrote Adelabu. From the Mamma Haidara Commemorative Library, Timbuktu. It was this pilgrimage that awakened the world to the stupendous wealth of Mali. [59], On his return journey, Musa met the Andalusian poet Abu Ishaq al-Sahili, whose eloquence and knowledge of jurisprudence impressed him, and whom he convinced to travel with him to Mali. [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. Musa stayed in Cairo for three months, departing on 18 October[k] with the official caravan to Mecca. [20] For the later period of the Mali Empire, the major written primary sources are Portuguese accounts of the coastal provinces of Mali and neighboring societies.[21]. Malink, also known as Mande, Mali, or Melle, was founded around 1200 CE, and under Mansa Musa's reign . He made a pilgrimage to Mecca during the reign of Mamluk Sultan An-Nasir Muhammad (r. 12981308), but died on his voyage home. Musa's name Kanku Musa means "Musa son of Kanku", but the genealogy may not be literal. A very large number of families that make up the Mandinka community were born in Manding. [114] However, the Songhai do not maintain their hold on the Malian capital. He could read and write Arabic and took an interest in the scholarly city of Timbuktu, which he peaceably annexed in 1324. His religious devotion contributed to the spread of Islam across West Africa. Kangaba, the de facto capital of Manden since the time of the last emperor, became the capital of the northern sphere. [83] He is criticized for being unfaithful to tradition, and some of the jeliw regard Musa as having wasted Mali's wealth. 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. 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]. Rulers of West African states had made pilgrimages to Mecca before Mansa Ms, but the effect of his flamboyant journey was to advertise both Mali and Mansa Ms well beyond the African continent and to stimulate a desire among the Muslim kingdoms of North Africa, and among many of European nations as well, to reach the source of this incredible wealth. Most notably, the ancient center of learning Sankore Madrasah (or University of Sankore) was constructed during his reign. [citation needed]. [61], According to the Tarikh al-Sudan, the cities of Gao and Timbuktu submitted to Musa's rule as he traveled through on his return to Mali. Gold dust had been weighed and bagged for use at least since the time of the Ghana Empire. Umari also describes the empire as being south of Marrakesh and almost entirely inhabited except for few places. [73], Prince Sundjata was prophesied to become a great conqueror. [117], The swan song of the Mali Empire came in 1599, under the reign of Mansa Mahmud IV. 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. [122] This campaign gutted Manden and destroyed any hope of the three mansas cooperating to free their land. This is the least known period in Mali's imperial history. Dates: 4001591 C. E.", "Is Mansa Musa the richest man who ever lived? Mansa Musa's reign itself was 25 years long. [29] Al-Umari, who visited Cairo shortly after Musa's pilgrimage to Mecca, noted that it was "a lavish display of power, wealth, and unprecedented by its size and pageantry". The Twelve Doors of Mali were a coalition of conquered or allied territories, mostly within Manden, with sworn allegiance to Sundiata and his descendants. It is known from the Tarikh al-Sudan that Mali was still a sizeable state in the 15th century. ", "Recherches sur l'Empire du Mali au Moyen Age", "Towards a New Study of the So-Called Trkh al-fattsh", World History Encyclopedia Mansa Musa I, History Channel: Mansa Moussa: Pilgrimage of Gold, Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mansa_Musa&oldid=1142573327, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Mansa Musa was portrayed in two games in the, Mansa Musa was portrayed in the episode ", This page was last edited on 3 March 2023, at 05:05. Forty years after the reign of Mansa Musa Keita I, the Mali Empire still controlled some 1,100,000 square kilometres (420,000sqmi) of land throughout Western Africa.[103][9]. Under his leadership, Mali conquered new territories and trade with North Africa increased. It was during Suleyman's 19-year reign that Ibn Battuta visited Mali. [69] The university became a center of learning and culture, drawing Muslim scholars from around Africa and the Middle East to Timbuktu. [89][85] Contemporary Arabic sources may have been trying to express that Musa had more gold than they thought possible, rather than trying to give an exact number. [123] Segou, defended by Bitn Coulibaly, successfully defended itself and Mama Maghan was forced to withdraw.
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