Mansa Musa and Mali
A pilgrimage that disrupted the gold price in Egypt
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Mali controlled the goldfields of Bambuk and Bure and the salt routes across the Sahara — two of the most profitable commodities of the Middle Ages. Timbuktu became a centre of learning with the Sankoré madrasa and a book trade so extensive that manuscripts still survive in private collections. The 1324 journey put West Africa on European maps: in the Catalan Atlas of 1375 Mansa Musa sits holding a gold nugget. The story is a reminder that pre-colonial Africa contained wealthy, literate and urbanised societies.
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Mansa Musa ruled the Mali Empire, which was rich in gold. On his pilgrimage to Mecca he gave away so much gold in Cairo that the price of gold stayed depressed for years. He also built libraries and universities in Timbuktu.
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Part of Terra Saga — the story of Earth on a timeline. terrasaga.org