Mansa Musa, The Richest Man Who Has Ever Set Foot on Earth
The king of kings of Mali was a generous businessman who brought splendour to his territories.
Who is the wealthiest man in history?
How much money did Mansa Musa's fortune amount to?
How did Mansa Musa die?
Neither Bill Gates, Rupper Murdock, nor Rockefeller, the wealthiest man in history, was an African king of the Middle Ages, Musa I of Mali, better known as Mansa Musa.
He came to power in 1307, and once seated on the throne, he dedicated himself to consolidating the royal authority.
And maintaining what his predecessors had achieved.
So that under his rule, the Mali Empire experienced its most splendid.
Mansa Musa's kingdom extended to Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Chad, and Nigeria.
Today I will tell you a little about the wealthiest man who ever lived.
His name Mansa Musa means King of Kings or Emperor.
The beginnings of Mansa Musa I
Emperor Mansa Musa, I ascended to the throne of the Malian Empire by unorthodox means.
Before venturing on a long and moderately arduous pilgrimage to Mecca (known as Hajj by Muslims), Emperor Abubakari II temporarily delegated his role to Musa.
An "interim" emperor was a relatively common occurrence in the history of the Empire.
It was a position that in our day would be equivalent to the post of vice president.
This arrangement worked as planned until Abubakari set out to discover the far side of the Atlantic Ocean and never returned from the trip.
Thus, Musa was left in charge of the throne since he got delegated by the emperor.
However, Musa was a nobody either: he was the nephew of Sundiata Keita, who had founded the Malian Empire.
As countless entrepreneurship courses mention, there are many ways to accumulate wealth.
Musa established as his main economic activity the trade of gold and salt.
That got found in abundance in West Africa.
He also used the money to strengthen the nation's cultural centres, particularly Timbuktu, which got annexed in 1324.
Mansa Musa's Hajj to Mecca.
When Musa undertook his Hajj to Mecca — a relevant ritual in the Muslim religion, which is widely scattered in the area at this point in history — the rest of the world became aware of his extensive wealth.
Musa is known to have met with the Mamluk sultan, An-Nassir Muhammad of Egypt, in July 1324.
Since he had plenty to spend, the caravan that accompanied him through Cairo, Medina, and Mecca consisted of more than 60,000 people, dozens of animals, and lots of gold.
Along the way, Musa gave gold to the people he met in the streets.
He also bought a lot of stuff, so much stuff that, incredibly, he ruined the global economy for a short time: the gold he spent began to circulate, and at a certain point, there was so much in circulation that its price collapsed.
This disorganization eventually evened out because Mansa Musa borrowed from Cairo lenders (despite the high-interest rates) and unilaterally controlled the price of gold in the Mediterranean.
Last days of his reign
During his long voyage back from Mecca in 1325, Musa heard the news of the recapture of Gao by his armies.
Sagmandia, one of his generals, led the offensive.
The city of Gao had been part of the imperium since before the reign of Sakura.
And as relevant, though often unruly, commercial centre.
Musa stopped and visited the city, where he received the two sons of the king of Gao, Ali Kolon and Suleiman Nar, as prisoners.
He returned to Niani with the two young men and subsequently educated them at his court.
When Mansa Musa returned, he brought numerous Arab scholars and architects.
Mansa Musa, the philanthropist
What did Mansa Musa do with all his fortune besides giving it away to people on the street and buying a lot of stuff?
He used most of it to build mosques and madrasas in Timbuktu and Gao (legend has it that during his reign, one got built every Friday), among the most famous being the Djingureber Mosque.
He also ordered the building of universities in his kingdom — several of which, like the mosques, are still standing today, almost seven centuries later.
Among the most famous is the madrasa, or the University of Sankore, erected during his reign.
At Niani, he built the Audience Hall, connected by an inner gate to the royal palace.
It was an admirable monument covered by a dome and decorated with arabesques of striking colours.
The windows on the upper floor were covered with wood and framed in silver leaf.
Those on the lower floor were also covered with wood and framed in gold.
Like the grand mosque, a contemporary and large structure in Timbuktu, the Hall got a built-in cut stone.
An advanced urbanistic level was observed in Mali's leading centres during this period.
Mansa Musa put himself (and his imperium) on the map when he undertook this journey — maps from Italian cartographers, which were made during his reign, depicted him holding a nugget of gold.
He extended the reach of his trading ports and became one of the most powerful governors of his time — if not the most powerful in history.
According to most historical estimates, Musa's rule spanned 25 years: he is believed to have died in 1332 when he inherited the throne from his son.
Like many other extremely wealthy people who become supporters of philanthropic causes, you will appreciate that Mansa Musa also outperforms contemporary billionaires such as Bill Gates or Warren Buffett in such actions.
Influence in Timbuktu
It was documented that Mansa Musa travelled to Timbuktu and Gao on his journey to Mecca, making them part of his imperium when he returned around 1325.
He brought architects from Andalusia, Spain.
And Cairo constructed his grand palace in Timbuktu and the great mosque of Djingareyber, which still stands.
Timbuktu soon became a commercial, cultural, and Islamic centre. Markets brought traders from Nigeria, Egypt, and different African kingdoms.
A university was founded in the city, just like in the Malian cities of Djenné and Ségou.
And Islam spread in the markets and the university, making Timbuktu a new area for the preaching and study of Islam.
News of the wealth of the imperial city of Mali crossed the Mediterranean to southern Europe, and merchants from Venice, Grenada, and Genoa soon added Timbuktu to their cartography to trade manufactured goods for gold.
During Musa's reign, Timbuktu's Sankore University was equipped with new staff, with jurists, astronomers, and mathematicians added to its team.
The university transformed into a centre of learning and culture, attracting Muslim scholars and academics from all over Africa and the Middle East to Timbuktu.
In 1330, the Mossi Kingdom invaded and conquered the city of Timbuktu. Gao has already got captured by Musa's general.
And Musa soon recaptured Timbuktu, building a stone wall and fort basing a standing army in the town to protect it from future invaders.
While Musa's palace has disappeared, the university and mosque still stand in present-day Timbuktu.
Death
The death of Mansa Musa has been the subject of intense debate among modern historians and Arab scholars who recorded the history of Mali.
From a comparison of the reigns of his successors, both his son Mansa Maghan (whose rule has recorded between 1332 and 1336) and his elder brother Mansa Suleyman (whose regency has recorded between 1336 and 1360)
And the 25 recorded years of Musa's reign, the date of his death, be placed at approximately 1332.
Other records state that Musa had planned to abduct the throne in favour of his son Maghan but died shortly after returning from Mecca in 1325.
Furthermore, according to an account by Ibn-Khaldun, Mansa Musa was alive when the city of Tlemcen in Algeria got conquered in 1337 since he sent representatives to Algeria to congratulate the conquerors on their victory.
The richest in history.
For inflation adjusting, it estimated that Mansa Musa's fortune amounted to US$ 400 billion.
The only person close to Musa's wealth is John D. Rockefeller, to whom economists have estimated a fortune amounting to US$ 336 billion.
Rockefeller was not only in the oil business but virtually the oil business.
And Bill Gates is several hundred billion below Musa with US$ 136,000, according to the latest estimates.
However, what has Gates built that can last for the next 700 years?
In the end, historians and economists find Mansa Musa's legacy of wealth not in how much money he had but in how he used it.
His name is still remembered.
If he was the wealthiest man in the world, why hasn't his name prevailed in history?
Kathleen Bickford of the Block Museum of Art explained it in 'BBC':
"Colonialism played a major role in this; Europeans and Americans perceive Africa and Africans. Today's view of the continent and Islam does not match the magnificence of Timbuktu, where hundreds of universities got built, and people came to study."
At least in Africa, it has not been erased from memory because of the fiftieth anniversary of Mali's independence.
On September 22, 2010, the Mansa Moussa commemorative gold coin got launched.
Sources:
https://wellnessalbertamag.com
https://www.bbc.com
http://herodotohistoriant.blogspot.com
https://steemit.com
https://www.eluniverso.com
https://es.wikipedia.org
Thanks for reading!
Rocio Becerra