[17] Whether Mali originated as the name of a town or region, the name was subsequently applied to the entire empire ruled from Mali. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. 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. [102] The text of Ibn Khaldun says "Gao, at this time is devastated". [43] Perhaps because of this, Musa's early reign was spent in continuous military conflict with neighboring non-Muslim societies. Hamana (or Amana), southwest of Joma, became the southern sphere, with its capital at Kouroussa in modern Guinea. [61], According to the Tarikh al-Sudan, the cities of Gao and Timbuktu submitted to Musa's rule as he traveled through on his return to Mali. Mali borrowed the practice to stem inflation of the substance, since it was so prominent in the region. This led to inflation throughout the kingdom. In Ibn Khaldun's account, Sundjata is recorded as Mari Djata with "Mari" meaning "Amir" or "Prince". Much of the history is oral, given by professional "historians". [86] As Fajigi, Musa is sometimes conflated with a figure in oral tradition named Fakoli, who is best known as Sunjata's top general. [82], Musa is less renowned in Mand oral tradition as performed by the jeliw. Under his leadership, Mali conquered new territories and trade with North Africa increased. [d], Musa's father was named Faga Leye[12] and his mother may have been named Kanku. The final incarnation of the Gbara, according to the surviving traditions of northern Guinea, held 32 positions occupied by 28 clans. The video and its description text are provided by Youtube. According to Burkinab writer Joseph Ki-Zerbo, the farther a person travelled from Niani, the more decentralised the mansa's power became. Mansa Musa also ran out of gold on the hajj to Mecca but was not concerned because he knew he had enough gold back in Mali to pay back everyone he owed money to. By 1180 it had even subjugated Wagadou forcing the Sonink to pay tribute. Although this time in the kingdom was prosperous, Mali's wealth and power soon declined. UsefulCharts, . In 1534, Mahmud III, the grandson of Mahmud II, received another Portuguese envoy to the Mali court by the name of Pero Fernandes. [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. Mansa Musa returned from Mecca with several Islamic scholars, including direct descendants of the prophet Muhammad and an Andalusian poet and architect by the name of Abu Es Haq es Saheli, who is . These oral stories . This region straddles the border between what is now southern Mali and northeastern Guinea. Mansa Musa (Musa I of Mali) was the king of the ancient empire of Mali in West Africa. However, the legendary oral tradition that surrounds Keita suggests that he never turned away from his native religion. [59] Those not living in the mountains formed small city-states such as Toron, Ka-Ba and Niani. If the mansa didn't believe the dyamani-tigui was capable or trustworthy, a farba might be installed to oversee the province or administer it outright. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Scholars have located the capital in Niani, or somewhere on the Niger, or proposed that it changed several times, that there was no true capital, or even that it lay as far afield as the upper Gambia River in modern-day Senegal. [12][h] Ibn Battuta, who visited Mali during the reign of Musa's brother Sulayman, said that Musa's grandfather was named Sariq Jata. The entire nation was mobilised, with each clan obligated to provide a quota of fighting-age men. [57][58] Having run out of money, Musa and his entourage were forced to borrow money and re-sell much of what they had purchased while in Cairo before the hajj, and Musa went into debt to several merchants, such as Siraj al-Din. [108], Despite their power in the west, Mali was losing the battle for supremacy in the north and northeast. At the height of its power, Mali had at least 400 cities, and the interior of the Niger Delta was very densely populated. He had first-hand information from several sources, and from a second-hand source, he learned of the visit of Mansa Musa. [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. Running a website with millions of readers every month is expensive. Khalifa would shoot arrows at his subjects, so he was overthrown and killed. Corrections? The area was famous as a hunting ground for the large amount of game that it sheltered, as well as its dense vegetation. They are descendants of. [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. Al-Umari, who wrote down a description of Mali based on information given to him by Abu Said 'Otman ed Dukkali (who had lived 35 years in the capital), reported the realm as being square and an eight-month journey from its coast at Tura (at the mouth of the Senegal River) to Muli. Ibn Battuta comments on festival demonstrations of swordplay before the mansa by his retainers including the royal interpreter. Ibn Battuta mentions that the value of salt increased fourfold when transported between Oualata and the Malian capital. The Portuguese decided to stay out of the conflict and the talks concluded by 1495 without an alliance.[110]. Mansa Ms, whose empire was one of the largest in the world at that time, is reported to have observed that it would take a year to travel from one end of his empire to the other. The Mali Empire (Manding: Mand[3] or Manden; Arabic: , romanized:Ml) was an empire in West Africa from c. 1226 to 1670. 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. [69] The Kangaba province, free of Sonink influence, splintered into twelve kingdoms with their own maghan (meaning prince) or faama. With trade being disrupted by wars, there was no way for the economy to continue to prosper. By the 6th century AD, the lucrative trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt and slaves had begun, facilitating the rise of West Africa's great empires. [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. He was deposed in 1389, marking the end of the Faga Laye Keita mansas. He made a famous pilgrimage to Mecca from 1324 to 1326. The University of Sankore in Timbuktu was restaffed under Musa's reign with jurists, astronomers, and mathematicians. In search of a status discourse for Mande". harvnb error: no target: CITEREFKi-ZerboNiane (, sfn error: no target: CITEREFLevztionHopkins2000 (. [93] Musa may have brought as much as 18 tons of gold on his hajj,[94] equal in value to over US$957million in 2022. [19], Much of what is known about Musa comes from Arabic sources written after his hajj, especially the writings of Al-Umari and Ibn Khaldun. [120] Each ruler used the title of mansa, but their authority only extended as far as their own sphere of influence. Evidence of cavalry in terracotta figures suggest the empire's prosperous economy as horses are not indigenous to Africa. [93] In 1514, the Denianke dynasty was established in Tekrour. Ibn Battuta, who visited the capital city from 1352 to 1353, called it Mali. We all know of Mansa Musa, possibly the richest man to ever exist. [27] His list does not necessarily accurately reflect the actual organization of the Mali Empire,[28] and the identification of the listed provinces is controversial. The conquest of Sosso in c. 1235 gave the Mali Empire access to the trans-Saharan trade routes. [39] Her jamu (clan name) Konte is shared with both Sunjata's mother Sogolon Konte and his arch-enemy Sumanguru Konte. His elaborate pilgrimage to the Muslim holy city of Mecca in 1324 introduced him to rulers in the Middle East and in Europe. Mansa Musa developed cities like Timbuktu and Gao into important cultural centers. Its first meeting, at the famous Kouroukan Fouga (Division of the World), had 29 clan delegates presided over by a belen-tigui (master of ceremony). The Mali Empire reached its largest area under the Laye Keita mansas. Still, when Ibn Battuta arrived at Mali in July 1352, he found a thriving civilisation on par with virtually anything in the Muslim or Christian world. It was reported that he built a mosque every Friday. Abu Bakr was the first and only mansa to inherit through the female line, which has been argued to be either a break from or a return to tradition. The voyage is often incorrectly attributed to a Mansa Abu Bakr II, but no such mansa ever reigned. [20] Additional information comes from two 17th-century manuscripts written in Timbuktu, the Tarikh Ibn al-Mukhtar[c] and the Tarikh al-Sudan. While the accounts are of limited length, they provide a fairly good picture of the empire at its height. [46] Ms I is widely considered the wealthiest man in history. Nelson, 1971. Only sofa were equipped by the state, using bows and poisoned arrows. by Spanish cartographers, shows West Africa dominated by a depiction of Mansa Musa sitting on a throne, holding a nugget of gold in one hand and a golden staff in the other. One of the five pillars of Islam states that Muslims should embark on a pilgrimage known as Hajj, to the holy city of Mecca.. Grades 5 - 8 Subjects Geography, Human Geography, Social Studies, Ancient Civilizations, World History Image Timbuktu, Henrich Barth Painting The fame of Mansa Musa and his phenomenal wealth spread as he traveled on his hajj to Mecca. He's especially famous for his hajj to Mecca, during which he sponsored numerous mosques and madrases, and supposedly spent so much gold along the way that the metal was severely devalued, which for many people was not a very good thing. [51] Musa made a major point of showing off his nation's wealth. The Cairo that Mansa Ms visited was ruled by one of the greatest of the Mamlk sultans, Al-Malik al-Nir. He was crowned under the throne name Sunidata Keita becoming the first Mandinka emperor. The identification of Niani as imperial capital is rooted in an (possibly erroneous) interpretation of the Arab traveler al Umari's work, as well as some oral histories. Barring any other difficulties, the dyamani-tigui would run the province by himself collecting taxes and procuring armies from the tribes under his command. In 1330, the kingdom of Mossi invaded and conquered the city of Timbuktu. Mansa Musa ruled over the Mali empire in the 14th Century, and his incredible access to gold made him arguably . Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. The Catalan Atlas, created in 1375 C.E. . Mansa Musa returned from Mecca with several Islamic scholars, including direct descendants of the prophet Muhammad and an Andalusian poet and architect by the name of Abu Es Haq es Saheli,. At each halt, he would regale us [his entourage] rare foods and confectionery. He also made Eid celebrations at the end of Ramadan a national ceremony. [131] Mansa Musa placed a heavy tax on all objects that went through Timbuktu. By the beginning of the 14th century, Mali was the source of almost half the Old World's gold exported from mines in Bambuk, Boure and Galam. It is known from the Tarikh al-Sudan that Mali was still a sizeable state in the 15th century. ", "Recherches sur l'Empire du Mali au Moyen Age", "Towards a New Study of the So-Called Trkh al-fattsh", World History Encyclopedia Mansa Musa I, History Channel: Mansa Moussa: Pilgrimage of Gold, Caravans of Gold, Fragments in Time: Art, Culture, and Exchange across Medieval Saharan Africa, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mansa_Musa&oldid=1142573327, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Mansa Musa was portrayed in two games in the, Mansa Musa was portrayed in the episode ", This page was last edited on 3 March 2023, at 05:05. [3] During the 11th and 12th centuries, an empire began to develop following the decline of the Ghana Empire, or Wagadu, to the north. [6] The early history of the Mali Empire (before the 13th century) is unclear, as there are conflicting and imprecise accounts by both Arab chroniclers and oral traditionalists. Around 1550, Mali attacked Bighu in an effort to regain access to its gold. Duties of the farba included reporting on the activities of the territory, collecting taxes and ensuring the native administration didn't contradict orders from Niani. The buildings were constructed from slabs of salt and roofed with camel skins. Mansa Musa Keita was succeeded by his son, Maghan Keita I, in 1337. 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. [89][85] Contemporary Arabic sources may have been trying to express that Musa had more gold than they thought possible, rather than trying to give an exact number. 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]. [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]. [77] Alternatively, it is possible that the four-year reign Ibn Khaldun credits Maghan with actually referred to his ruling Mali while Musa was away on the hajj, and he only reigned briefly in his own right. At its peak, Mali was the largest empire in West Africa, widely . 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. [15], Musa ascended to power in the early 1300s[i] under unclear circumstances. No single Keita ever ruled Manden after Mahmud Keita IV's death, resulting in the end of the Mali Empire. [89] This claim is often sourced to an article in CelebrityNetWorth,[89] which claims that Musa's wealth was the equivalent of US$400 billion. [10], Mali, Mand, Manden, and Manding are all various pronunciations of the same word across different languages and dialects. [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. [22], Genealogy of the mansas of the Mali Empire up to Magha II (d.c.1389), based on Levtzion's interpretation of Ibn Khaldun. Sarah Appleton, National Geographic Society. 1996 - 2023 National Geographic Society. [15] Leo Africanus said that the capital city was called Melli. In the early 15th century, Mali was still powerful enough to conquer and settle new areas. [45] Those animals included 80 camels which each carried 23136kg (50300lb) of gold dust. World History Encyclopedia. Bukar professed his support, but believing Mahmud's situation to be hopeless, secretly went over to the Moroccans. Mansa Ms left a realm notable for its extent and richeshe built the Great Mosque at Timbuktubut he is best remembered in the Middle East and Europe for the splendour of his pilgrimage to Mecca (1324). . It is not known if this was an attempt to correct the depreciation of gold in the area due to his spending,[7] or if he had simply run out of the funds needed for the return trip. In his attempt to justify the importance of the Keita and their civilisation in early Arabic literatures, Adelabu, the head of Awqaf Africa in London, coined the Arabic derivatives K(a)-W(e)-Y(a) of the word Keita which in (in what he called) Arabicised Mandingo language Allah(u) Ka(w)eia meaning "Allah Creates All" as a favourable motto of reflection for Bilal Ibn Rabah, one of the most trusted and loyal Sahabah (companions) of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, whom he described (quoting William Muir's book The Life of Muhammad) as 'a tall, dark, and with African feature and bushy hair'[64] pious man who overcame slavery, racism and socio-political obstacles in Arabia to achieve a lofty status in this world and in the Hereafter.[65].