Mansa Musa Makes His Hajj, Displaying Mali's Wealth in Gold and Becoming the First Sub-Saharan African Widely Known Among Europeans | Research & Encyclopedia Articles

Mansa Musa Makes His Hajj, Displaying Mali's Wealth in Gold and Becoming the First Sub-Saharan African Widely Known Among Europeans

Overview

Though the modern nation of Mali is a landlocked country that, like much of Africa, suffers under extreme poverty, the medieval empire of Mali was quite a different place. Not only was its location along the Atlantic coast to the southwest of present-day Mali, it enjoyed considerable wealth, power, and prestige. The greatest of Mali's emperors was Mansa Musa, a devout Muslim who in 1324 made a pilgrimage to the Islamic holy city of Mecca. Along the way, he stopped in the Egyptian capital of Cairo and spent so much gold that he nearly wrecked the Egyptian economy. As tales of his wealth spread, he became the first sub-Saharan African leader to gain notoriety among western Europeans—some of whom later came southward, spurred by visions of gold in West Africa.

Background

Mali is not the only African geographical term that needs some clarification. Likewise, the Sudan is not to be confused with the modern nation of Sudan: the Sudan is an arid region of some 2 million square miles (3.2 million square km), about the size of the United States west of the Mississippi River.

Mansa Musa Makes His Hajj, Displaying Mali's Wealth in Gold and Becoming the First Sub-Saharan African Widely Known Among Europeans article

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