History Lesson of the Day: Mansa Musa

Often known as the "richest man who ever lived," Musa Keita (better known as Mansa Musa) would put Bill Gates to shame. Today, Gates is worth around $90B while Mansa Musa was worth around $400B in his prime. Although likely not truly the richest man to ever live, he comes pretty damn close!

Mansa Musa came to rule the Mali Empire by strange means. His predecessor, a man named Mansa Abubakari Keita II believed there was land across the Atlantic Ocean rich in natural resources. He sent a fleet of 200 ships to explore and report back to him. However, after some time only one ship returned, claiming that the others had been swallowed by an enormous whirlpool. Abubakari did not believe them and decided to personally lead the next expedition; one which he would never return from (although I like to think he was just chilling with the Iroquois). He chose a promising young man named Musa Keita to rule while he was gone.

Mansa Musa was all about image. He was carried on a large throne made of ebony and adorned with two massive elephant tusks as you can see here. This guy even had his own theme music played by drums, tusk horns, and a type of xylophone called a bula everywhere he went. He never addressed crowds directly. Instead, he whispered statements to a personal messenger called a jeli who then spoke to the crowd (maybe our current president could take a page out of his playbook). Everywhere he went, he would be accompanied by hundreds of slaves, diplomats, warriors, and 24 subordinate kings. And like Goldmember, "He loved goooooold." Visitors to Mali said that they used gold for everything: gold weapons, gold instruments, gold chairs, gold hats, hell they even had gold dog collars. Mali was lucky enough to be sitting on three MASSIVE gold mines. In fact, a huge percentage of the raw material for gold coins used throughout Europe during this period originated in Mali.

Mansa Musa, a devout Muslim, planned on making his Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca a truly royal affair for which all the world would remember and would glorify his empire. He spent nine months organizing a convoy of 60,000 men including 12,000 slaves, 100 camels, and 30,000 pounds of gold. The journey was an 8,000 mile trek, mostly through desert. Along the way, he gave gold to the poor as a show of charity and to improve his image. Every Friday, Mansa had a new mosque constructed with whatever materials were available (often easier said than done!). Although charitable, this guy was no saint. He frequently sent those he didn't like to nearby cannibal tribes. We know this because a white European explorer met this fate and lived to tell the tale. The reason he wasn't eat: the cannibals believed his white skin meant that he wasn't ripe yet. (You can't make this shit up.)

Mansa Musa's arrival in Mecca was an affair unlike any other. He gave away all of the gold brought from the mines of Mali. So much gold was given away that considerable deflation resulted in a regional recession in countries along the Mediterranean. Mansa would not go home empty-handed and convinced four of Mohammed's supposed descendants to come back to Mali with him. Despite having lost all of his gold, nearly getting captured by Bedouin raiders, and nearly dying of thirst after getting lost in the Arabian desert, Mansa Musa made it home to Mali in CE 1325. (BTW I love this picture. Like what the fuck is that bat in armor doing? And how about that giant scorpion???)

Perhaps the most important acquisition of his pilgrimage was the architect Abu Ishaq al Sahili. Al Sahili was renowned for his construction of mosques, libraries, and palaces in Moorish-occupied Spain. Upon arriving back in Mali's capital of Timbuktu, he constructed numerous buildings for Mansa Musa including a massive domed palace that has been lost to history. His most famous construction is the Sankore Madrash (University of Sankore) that still stands in Timbuktu. Mansa Musa died in CE 1337 and those that followed him were unable to continue his popularity or success. Eventually, the Mali empire fell victim to a successful rebellion that started the Songhai empire.

Thanks for reading, folks. I'm a current history teacher that wants to spend more time talking about the things in history that actually interest me and not just what I'm required to teach. Please give me feedback! Also, I'm thinking about starting a podcast so I can just talk about whatever the hell I want. Lemme know what you think.