The city's water supply was a leading cause to its successes in trade. However, from 1507 onwards neighboring states such as Diara, Great Fulo and the Songhai Empire chipped away at the outer borders of Mali. The second account is that of the traveller Ibn Battuta, who visited Mali in 1352. The empire taxed every ounce of gold, copper and salt that entered its borders. Also, Sundiata divided the lands amongst the people assuring everyone had a place in the empire and fixed exchange rates for common products[127]. Kankoro-sigui Mari Djata, who had no relation to the Keita clan, essentially ran the empire in Musa Keita II's stead. In the interregnum following Sunjata's death, the jomba or court slaves may have held power. This style is characterised by the use of mudbricks and an adobe plaster, with large wooden-log support beams that jut out from the wall face for large buildings such as mosques or palaces. He built mosques and large public buildings in cities like Gao and, most famously, Timbuktu. [14], Medieval sources are divided over whether Mali is the name of a town or a region. En route, he spent time in Cairo, where his lavish gift-giving is said to have noticeably affected the value of gold in Egypt and garnered the attention of the wider Muslim world. The audio, illustrations, photos, and videos are credited beneath the media asset, except for promotional images, which generally link to another page that contains the media credit. When he did finally bow, he said he was doing so for God alone. In the 17th year of his reign (1324), he set out on his famous pilgrimage to Mecca. Timbuktu became a major Islamic university center during the 14th century due to Mansa Musas developments. [3] During the 11th and 12th centuries, an empire began to develop following the decline of the Ghana Empire, or Wagadu, to the north. [86] As Fajigi, Musa is sometimes conflated with a figure in oral tradition named Fakoli, who is best known as Sunjata's top general. [79] Some oral traditions agree with Ibn Khaldun in indicating that a son of Sunjata, named Yerelinkon in oral tradition and Wali in Arabic, took power as Sunjata's successor. 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 Mali Empire (Manding: Mand or Manden; Arabic: , romanized: Ml) was an empire in West Africa from c. 1226 to 1670. He has sometimes been called the wealthiest person in history. Gold dust was used all over the empire, but was not valued equally in all regions. This is the first account of a West African kingdom made directly by an eyewitness; the others are usually second-hand. [92] Furthermore, it is difficult to meaningfully compare the wealth of historical figures such as Mansa Musa, due to the difficulty of separating the personal wealth of a monarch from the wealth of the state and the difficulty of comparing wealth in highly different societies. The Sankor University was capable of housing 25,000 students and had one of the largest libraries in the world with roughly 1,000,000 manuscripts.[100][101]. The ton-tigi belonged to an elite force of cavalry commanders called the farari ("brave men"). Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. What is evident is that there is no steady lineage governing the empire. The exact date of Musa's accession is debated. 24 June, 2022. More than sixty years after the reign of Sundiata Keita, one of his descendants rose to become the King of Mali. [40], Various sources cite several other cities as capitals of the Mali Empire, some in competition with the Niani hypothesis and others addressing different time periods. The family tree of Mansa Musa. [50] Such impermanent capitals are a historically widespread phenomenon, having occurred in other parts of Africa such as Ethiopia, as well as outside Africa, such as in the Holy Roman Empire.[51]. [43] In 1324, while in Cairo, Musa said that he had conquered 24 cities and their surrounding districts.[44]. The emperor was so overjoyed by the new acquisition that he decided to delay his return to Niani and to visit Gao instead, there to receive the personal submission of the Songhai king and take the kings two sons as hostages. He did however, maintain contacts with Morocco, sending a giraffe to King Abu Hassan. [62] According to one account given by Ibn Khaldun, Musa's general Saghmanja conquered Gao. Ms I of Mali, Ms also spelled Musa or Mousa, also called Kankan Ms or Mansa Musa, (died 1332/37? He left Kanku Musa, a grandson of Sunjata's brother Mande Bori, in charge during his absence. Thank you for your help! 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. At the local level (village, town and city), kun-tiguis elected a dougou-tigui (village-master) from a bloodline descended from that locality's semi-mythical founder. [16], Al-Yafii gave Musa's name as Musa ibn Abi Bakr ibn Abi al-Aswad (Arabic: , romanized:Ms ibn Ab Bakr ibn Ab al-Aswad),[17] and Ibn Hajar gave Musa's name as Musa ibn Abi Bakr Salim al-Takruri. Traveling separately from the main caravan, their return journey to Cairo was struck by catastrophe. They also used flaming arrows for siege warfare. The other major source of information comes from Mandinka oral tradition, as recorded by storytellers known as griots.[5]. [39] Her jamu (clan name) Konte is shared with both Sunjata's mother Sogolon Konte and his arch-enemy Sumanguru Konte. [43] Perhaps because of this, Musa's early reign was spent in continuous military conflict with neighboring non-Muslim societies. In Mali he promoted trans-Saharan trade that further increased the empires wealth. At its peak, Mali was the largest empire in West Africa, widely influencing the culture of the region through the spread of its language, laws and customs. Bukar professed his support, but believing Mahmud's situation to be hopeless, secretly went over to the Moroccans. Mansa Musa was an important ruler of the golden age of the Malink kingdom, based on the upper Niger River in Mali, West Africa. Sandaki likely means High Counsellor or Supreme Counsellor, from san or sanon (meaning "high") and adegue (meaning counsellor). [45] He would have spent much time fostering the growth of the religion within his empire. The Malian and Moroccan armies fought at Jenne on 26 April, the last day of Ramadan, and the Moroccans were victorious thanks to their firearms and Bukar's support, but Mahmud was able to escape. [46] Kangaba became the last refuge of the Keita royal family after the collapse of the Mali Empire, and so has for centuries been associated with Sundiata in the cultural imagination of Mande peoples. [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 new Songhai Empire conquered Mema,[93] one of Mali's oldest possessions, in 1465. In search of a status discourse for Mande". In their own country they use only slave women and men for transport, but for long journeys such as pilgrimages they have mounts. The date of Mansa Musa's death is not certain. Musa expanded the borders of the Mali Empire, in particular incorporating the cities of Gao and Timbuktu into its territory. [60] In return for their submission, they became "farbas", a combination of the Mandinka words "farin" and "ba" (great farin). The most common measure for gold within the realm was the ambiguous mithqal (4.5grams of gold). His reign saw the first in a string of many great losses to Mali. The fame of Mansa Musa and his phenomenal wealth spread as he traveled on his hajjto Mecca. The organization and smooth administration of a purely African empire, the founding of the University of Sankore, the expansion of trade in Timbuktu, the architectural innovations in Gao, Timbuktu, and Niani and, indeed, throughout the whole of Mali and in the subsequent Songhai empire are all testimony to Mansa Mss superior administrative gifts. All of them agree that he took a very large group of people; the mansa kept a personal guard of some 500 men,[94] and he gave out so many alms and bought so many things that the value of gold in Egypt and Arabia depreciated for twelve years. But more reasoned analysis suggests that his role, if any, was quite limited. While in Cairo during his hajj, Musa befriended officials such as Ibn Amir Hajib, who learned about him and his country from him and later passed on that information to historians such as Al-Umari. [60] The anglicised version of this name, Sunjata, is also popular. Manuscript of Nasir al-Din Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn al-Hajj al-Amin al-Tawathi al-Ghalawi's Kashf al-Ghummah fi Nafa al-Ummah. Mansa Mss prodigious generosity and piety, as well as the fine clothes and exemplary behaviour of his followers, did not fail to create a most-favourable impression. [90][91] His reign is considered the golden age of Mali. [d], Musa's father was named Faga Leye[12] and his mother may have been named Kanku. The House of Saud is ruled by the descendants of King Abdulaziz, who founded and unified Saudi Arabia in 1932. [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. [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. 6. During his reign, Mali was one of the richest kingdoms of Africa, and Mansa Musa was among the richest individuals in the world. Mali was thriving for a long time, but like other west African kingdoms, Mali began to fall. Musa stayed in Cairo for three months, departing on 18 October[k] with the official caravan to Mecca. There is some ambiguity over the identity of the mansa responsible for the voyages. [72] In contrast, al-Umari, writing twelve years after Musa's hajj, in approximately 1337,[73] claimed that Musa returned to Mali intending to abdicate and return to live in Mecca but died before he could do so,[74] suggesting he died even earlier than 1332. The Portuguese decided to stay out of the conflict and the talks concluded by 1495 without an alliance.[110]. [22] Oral tradition, as performed by the jeliw (sg. Musa's reign is often regarded as the zenith of Mali's power and prestige. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita (c. 1214 - c. 1255) and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa (Musa Keita). [93] It is during his reign that Fula raids on Takrur began. When Mansa Musa was giving gold away, he was following 2 . The Keitas retreated to the town of Kangaba, where they became provincial chiefs. [120], The old core of the empire was divided into three spheres of influence. The architectural crafts in Granada had reached their zenith by the fourteenth century, and its extremely unlikely that a cultured and wealthy poet would have had anything more than a dilettante's knowledge of the intricacies of contemporary architectural practice. Some Rights Reserved (2009-2023) under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license unless otherwise noted. He belonged to the Keita Dynasty and came to power after Abu-Bakra-Keita II left on an expedition to explore the Atlantic Ocean, leaving Musa as his deputy and never returned. Most West African canoes were of single-log construction, carved and dug out from one massive tree trunk.[144]. Mansa Musa, one of the wealthiest people who ever lived - Jessica Smith TED-Ed 7.1M views 7 years ago The history of Nigeria explained in 6 minutes (3,000 Years of Nigerian history) Epimetheus. Muhummed's three wivesMarva Barfield, Laura Cowan, and Adrienne Easterwere also sexually assaulted, beaten, and imprisoned; Barfield participated in the children's abuse at Muhummed's instruction, and Cowan has also been accused of participating in the abuse. [92] He was one of the first truly devout Muslims to lead the Mali Empire. Ibn Battuta comments on festival demonstrations of swordplay before the mansa by his retainers including the royal interpreter. The family tree of Mansa Musa. Mansa Musa (died 1337), king of the Mali empire in West Africa, is known mostly for his fabulous pilgrimage to Mecca and for his promotion of unity and prosperity within Mali. [13][12] In the Manding languages, the modern descendants of the language spoken at the core of the Mali Empire, Manden or Manding is the name of the region corresponding to the heartland of the Mali Empire. . 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.
