By 1180 it had even subjugated Wagadou forcing the Sonink to pay tribute. As a result of this the empire fell. It is unknown from whom he descended; however, another emperor, Mansa Maghan Keita III, is sometimes cited as Mansa Mahmud Keita I. [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]. Historians who lived during the height and decline of the Mali Empire consistently record its standing army peaking at 100,000, with 10,000 of that number being made up of cavalry. [60] The anglicised version of this name, Sunjata, is also popular. He left Kanku Musa, a grandson of Sunjata's brother Mande Bori, in charge during his absence. Some Rights Reserved (2009-2023) under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license unless otherwise noted. They tell of his hardships as a boy before he came to the throne. The bow figured prominently in Mandinka warfare and was a symbol of military force throughout the culture. Mansa Musa was the great nephew of Sundiata Keita, who was founder . Oral tradition states that he had three sons who fought over Manden's remains. [16] However, al-Umari gives Mali as the name of the capital province and Ibn Khaldun refers to Mali as a people, with each giving different names for the capital city itself. Musa embarked on a large building program, raising mosques and madrasas in Timbuktu and Gao. [136] While it was as good as gold in the north, it was even better in the south. The Mansa led the second expedition himself, and appointed Musa as his deputy to rule the empire until he returned. The Venetian explorer Alvise Cadamosto and Portuguese traders confirmed that the peoples of the Gambia were still subject to the mansa of Mali. He ruled between 707-732/737 according to the Islamic calendar (AH), which translates to 1307-1332/1337 CE. His generous gifts to Mamluk Egypt and his expenditure of gold caused significant inflation in Egypt. 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. The only real requirement was that the mansa knew he could trust this individual to safeguard imperial interests. These oral stories . Extensive archaeological digs have shown that the area was an important trade and manufacturing center in the 15th century, but no firm evidence of royal residence has come to light. Musa not only gave to the cities he passed on the way to Mecca, including Cairo and Medina, but also traded gold for souvenirs. [58] This area was composed of mountains, savannah and forest providing ideal protection and resources for the population of hunters. Sundiata Keita is the first ruler for which there is accurate written information (through Ibn Khaldun). The new Songhai Empire conquered Mema,[93] one of Mali's oldest possessions, in 1465. Before Dankaran Touman and his mother could enjoy their unimpeded power, King Soumaoro set his sights on Niani forcing Dankaran to flee to Kissidougou.[60]. His descendants migrated to the land of Mali and established the Mandinka clan of Keita. Konkodougou Kamissa Keita, named for the province he once governed,[70] was crowned as Mansa Mari Djata Keita II in 1360. [107] The Gambia was still firmly in Mali's control, and these raiding expeditions met with disastrous fates before Portugal's Diogo Gomes began formal relations with Mali via its remaining Wolof subjects. Mansa Musa Keita's crowning achievement was his famous pilgrimage to Mecca, which started in 1324 and concluded with his return in 1326. "[65], It is recorded that Mansa Musa traveled through the cities of Timbuktu and Gao on his way to Mecca, and made them a part of his empire when he returned around 1325. It wasn't long before the new kingdom of Great Fulo was warring against Mali's remaining provinces. Mansa Musa (Musa I of Mali) was the king of the ancient empire of Mali in West Africa. The "Qur'an" had a great importance to Mansa Musa as it states "God loves the charitable" (Document D). A legend claims that Sunjata transformed into a hippopotamus. Mali's Timbuktu was known for its schools and libraries. [27] The date of Musa's birth is unknown, but he still appeared to be a young man in 1324. The city's water supply was a leading cause to its successes in trade. Gold dust was used all over the empire, but was not valued equally in all regions. 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. Ibn Battuta had written that in Taghaza there were no trees and there is only sand and the salt mines. [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. After unsuccessful attempts by Mansa Mama Maghan to conquer Bamana, the Bamana in 1670 sacked and burned the capital, and the Mali Empire rapidly disintegrated and ceased to exist, being replaced by independent chiefdoms. They also used flaming arrows for siege warfare. In 1330, the kingdom of Mossi invaded and conquered the city of Timbuktu. Trade was Mali's form of income, and wealth. The Mali Empire covered a larger area for a longer period of time than any other West African state before or since. Malink, also known as Mande, Mali, or Melle, was founded around 1200 CE, and under Mansa Musa's reign . [86] As Fajigi, Musa is sometimes conflated with a figure in oral tradition named Fakoli, who is best known as Sunjata's top general. [70], The number and frequency of conquests in the late 13th century and throughout the 14th century indicate the Kolonkan mansas inherited and/or developed a capable military. [123] Either as a counter-attack or simply the progression of pre-planned assaults against the remnants of Mali, the Bamana sacked and burned Niani in 1670. 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]. [142][143] Numerous sources attest that the inland waterways of West Africa saw extensive use of war canoes and vessels used for war transport where permitted by the environment. "LEAD: International: The History of Guinea-Bissau", "Four People Who Single-handedly Caused Economic Crises", "Lessons from Timbuktu: What Mali's Manuscripts Teach About Peace | World Policy Institute", "Mossi (12501575 AD) DBA 2.0 Variant Army List", "The history of Africa Peul and Toucouleur", "Africa and Slavery 15001800 by Sanderson Beck", "How the Mali Empire in the 12th century revolved levels of governance", Trade, Transport, Temples, and Tribute: The Economics of Power, "Gold, Islam and Camels: The Transformative Effects of Trade and Ideology", "Power and permanence in precolonial Africa: a case study from the central Sahel", "Recherches sur l'Empire du Mali au Moyen Age", "Expansion and Contraction Patterns of Large Polities: Context for Russia", "East-West Orientation of Historical Empires", Metropolitan Museum Empires of the Western Sudan: Mali Empire, Ibn Battuta: Travels in Asia and Africa 13251354, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mali_Empire&oldid=1142808910, Identification disputed; possibly no fixed capital, Yantaar or Kel Antasar: Located in the vicinity of the, Tn Ghars or Yantar'ras: Correspond to the modern, This page was last edited on 4 March 2023, at 13:53. Musa went on hajj to Mecca in 1324, traveling with an enormous entourage and a vast supply of gold. Bowmen formed a large portion of the field army as well as the garrison. [93], In 1477, the Yatenga emperor Nassr made yet another Mossi raid into Macina, this time conquering it and the old province of BaGhana (Wagadou).[109]. [125] Farin was a general term for northern commander at the time. In 1645, the Bamana attacked Manden, seizing both banks of the Niger right up to Niani. Mali is the Fula form of the word. By the end of Mansa Musa's reign, the Sankor University had been converted into a fully staffed university with the largest collections of books in Africa since the Library of Alexandria. He made his wealth and that of Mali known through a long and extravagant pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324, the 17th year of his reign as emperor of Mali. Musa was a very successful military leader. [5] In c. 1285 Sakoura, a former royal court slave, became emperor and was one of Mali's most powerful rulers, greatly expanding the empire's territory. So lavish was the emperor in his spending that he flooded the Cairo market with gold, thereby causing such a decline in its value that the market some 12 years later had still not fully recovered. During the 17th century, the Mali Empire faced incursions from the Bamana Empire. Gao had already been captured by Musa's general, and Musa quickly regained Timbuktu, built a rampart and stone fort, and placed a standing army to protect the city from future invaders.[70]. The Camara (or Kamara) are said to be the first family to have lived in Manding, after having left, due to the drought, Ouallata, a region of Wagadou, in the south-east of present-day Mauritania. By the time of his death in 1337, Mali had control over Taghazza, a salt-producing area in the north, which further strengthened its treasury. "[42], Early European writers such as Maurice Delafosse believed that Niani, a city on what is now the border between Guinea and Mali, was the capital for most of the empire's history, and this notion has taken hold in the popular imagination. 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. Mansa Musa's pilgrimage to Mecca happened between 1324 and 1325. Running a website with millions of readers every month is expensive. That same year, after the Mandinka general known as Sagmandir put down yet another rebellion in Gao,[93] Mansa Musa came to Gao and accepted the capitulation of the King of Ghana and his nobles. In this lesson, students read one recent blog post about Musa I of Mali's wealth, followed by two historical documents from the fourteenth-century, to answer the question: Was Mansa Musa the richest person ever? Mansa Musa Family Tree | Empire of Mali Server Costs Fundraiser 2023 Running a website with millions of readers every month is expensive. [115] The breakup of the Wolof Empire allowed Mali to reassert authority over some of its former subjects on the north bank of the Gambia, such as Wuli, by 1576. His name was Mansa Musa, and he was a devout Muslim. [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. The Manding languages were spoken in the empire. [123] Segou, defended by Bitn Coulibaly, successfully defended itself and Mama Maghan was forced to withdraw. Very little is known about the life of Mansa Musa before 1312. Mama Maghan, mansa of Kangaba, campaigned against the Bamana in 1667 and laid siege to SegouKoro for a reported three years. Mansa Mahmud Keita II's rule was characterised by more losses to Mali's old possessions and increased contact between Mali and Portuguese explorers along the coast. In 1324, while staying in Cairo during his hajj, Mansa Musa, the ruler of the Mali Empire, told an Egyptian official whom he had befriended that he had come to rule when his predecessor led a fleet in an attempt to cross the Atlantic Ocean and never returned. Any interactives on this page can only be played while you are visiting our website. 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. However, Al-Nasir Muhammad returned Musa's earlier show of generosity with gifts of his own. Musa and his entourage arrived at the outskirts of Cairo in July 1324. While Mansa Musa's grandfather, Abu-Bakr, was a nephew of Sundiata Keita, the founder of the Malian Empire, neither he nor his descendants had a strong claim to the throne. He recruited scholars from the wider Muslim world to travel to Mali, such as the Andalusian poet Abu Ishaq al-Sahili, and helped establish Timbuktu as a center of Islamic learning. Mansa Mari Djata, later named Sundiata Keita, saw the conquest of several key locals in the Mali Empire. The 1375 Catalan Atlas portrayed a "city of Melly" (Catalan: ciutat de Melly) in West Africa. [60] Other scholars whom Musa brought to Mali included Maliki jurists. [122] This campaign gutted Manden and destroyed any hope of the three mansas cooperating to free their land. Musa Keita I (c. 1280 - c. 1337), or Mansa Musa, was the ninth Mansa of the Mali Empire, one of the most powerful West African states. The Black emperors great civility notwithstanding, the meeting between the two rulers might have ended in a serious diplomatic incident, for so absorbed was Mansa Ms in his religious observances that he was only with difficulty persuaded to pay a formal visit to the sultan. The kingdom of Mali was relatively unknown outside of West Africa until this event. 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]. As founded by Mari Djata, it was composed of the "three freely allied states" of Mali, Mema and Wagadou plus the Twelve Doors of Mali.[60]. According to Ibn Battuta who visited Mali in the mid-14th century, one camel load of salt sold at Walata for 810 mithqals of gold, but in Mali proper it realised 2030 ducats and sometimes even 40. Imperial Mali is best known through three primary sources: the first is the account of Shihab al-'Umari, written in about 1340 by a geographer-administrator in Mamluk Egypt. Cairo and Mecca received this royal personage, whose glittering procession, in the superlatives employed by Arab chroniclers, almost put Africas sun to shame. Ms I is widely considered the wealthiest man in history. Much of the history is oral, given by professional "historians". If you have questions about licensing content on this page, please contact ngimagecollection@natgeo.com for more information and to obtain a license. [e] After the loss of the first expedition, Muhammad led the second expedition himself. He brought a large entourage with him which impressed people everywhere they went. [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.