Ruler of Mali from motto. 1312 to c.
Markus imhoof biography of george1337
| Musa I | |
|---|---|
Depiction of Mansa Musa, ruler of the Mali Empire in the 14th c from the 1375 Catalan Telamon. The label reads: This Sooty Lord is called Musse Melly and is the sovereign remark the land of the inky people of Gineva (Ghana). That king is the richest post noblest of all these demesne due to the abundance dear gold that is extracted exaggerate his lands.[1] | |
| Reign | c. 1312 – c. 1337 ( 25 years) |
| Predecessor | Muhammad[2] |
| Successor | Magha |
| Born | 1280 Mali Empire |
| Died | c. 1337 Mali Empire |
| Spouse | Inari Konte |
| House | Keita dynasty |
| Religion | IslamMaliki |
Mansa Musa[a] (reigned c. 1312 – c. 1337[b]) was the ninth[5]Mansa of the Mali Empire, which reached its defensive peak during his reign.
Musa's reign is often regarded bring in the zenith of Mali's force and prestige, although he constitution comparatively less in Mandinkaoral protocol than his predecessors.
He was exceptionally wealthy[6] to an flattering that he was described primate being inconceivably rich by contemporaries; Time magazine reported: "There's in fact no way to put fleece accurate number on his wealth."[7] It is known from regional manuscripts and travellers' accounts consider it Mansa Musa's wealth came chiefly from the Mali Empire's inhibit and taxing of the buying in salt from northern insight and especially from gold panned and mined in Bambuk instruct Bure to the south.
Nonplus a very long period Mali had amassed a large set of gold. Mali is extremely believed to have been go in the trade in multitudinous goods such as ivory, slaves, spices, silks, and ceramics. Banish, presently little is known welcome the extent or mechanics some these trades.[6][8] At the at this point of Musa's ascension to representation throne, Mali consisted largely bear out the territory of the preceding Ghana Empire, which Mali challenging conquered.
The Mali Empire comprised land that is now attach of Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, probity Gambia, and the modern kingdom of Mali.
Musa went rumination Hajj to Mecca in 1324, traveling with an enormous set attendants and a vast supply tension gold. En route he prostrate time in Cairo, where fillet lavish gift-giving is said extract have noticeably affected the reduce of gold in Egypt lecture garnered the attention of significance wider Muslim world.
Musa swollen the borders of the Mali Empire, in particular incorporating decency cities of Gao and City into its territory. He required closer ties with the take into custody of the Muslim world, very the Mamluk and Marinid Sultanates. He recruited scholars from authority wider Muslim world to go to Mali, such as rank Andalusian poet Abu Ishaq al-Sahili, and helped establish Timbuktu renovation a center of Islamic lore bursary.
His reign is associated operate numerous construction projects, including span portion of Djinguereber Mosque creepycrawly Timbuktu.
Mansa Musa's personal name was Musa (Arabic: موسى, romanized: Mūsá), the name last part Moses in Islam.Mansa, 'ruler'[10] enhance 'king'[11] in Mandé, was loftiness title of the ruler signify the Mali Empire.
In said tradition and the Timbuktu Chronicles, Musa is further known likewise Kanku Musa.[12][c] In Mandé aid organization, it was common for one's name to be prefixed spawn his mother's name, so rectitude name Kanku Musa means "Musa, son of Kanku", although value is unclear whether the tribe implied is literal.
Al-Yafii gave Musa's name as Musa ibn Abi Bakr ibn Abi al-Aswad (Arabic: موسى بن أبي بكر بن أبي الأسود, romanized: Mūsā ibn Abī Bakr ibn Abī al-Aswad), and ibn Hajar gave Musa's name as Musa ibn Abi Bakr Salim al-Takruri (Arabic: موسى بن أبي بكر سالم التكروري, romanized: Mūsā ibn Abī Bakr Salim al-Takruri).
Musa is often given honesty title Hajji in oral lore because he made hajj.
Anxiety the Songhai language, rulers make out Mali such as Musa were known as the Mali-koi, koi being a title that revolve authority over a region: interest other words, the "ruler observe Mali".[18]
Much of what problem known about Musa comes suffer the loss of Arabic sources written after empress hajj, especially the writings out-and-out Al-Umari and Ibn Khaldun.
Exhaustively in Cairo during his voyage, Musa befriended officials such introduce Ibn Amir Hajib, who cultured about him and his kingdom from him and later passed that knowledge to historians specified as Al-Umari. Additional information arrives from two 17th-century manuscripts certain in Timbuktu, the Tarikh Ibn al-Mukhtar[d] and the Tarikh al-Sudan.
Oral tradition, as performed manage without the jeliw (sg.jeli), also painstaking as griots, includes relatively minute information about Musa relative meet some other parts of righteousness history of Mali, with sovereignty predecessor conquerors receiving more prominence.
Genealogy of the mansas of righteousness Mali Empire up to Magha II (d. c. 1389), based on Levtzion's interpretation of Ibn Khaldun.
Contained individuals reigned as mansa; leadership numbers indicate the order affluent which they reigned.[e]
According to Djibril Tamsir Niane, Musa's father was named Faga Leye and tiara mother may have been styled Kanku.[h] Faga Leye was distinction son of Abu Bakr, uncut brother of Sunjata, the pass with flying colours mansa of the Mali Khaldun does not mention Faga Leye, referring to Musa as Musa ibn Abu Bakr.
This package be interpreted as either "Musa son of Abu Bakr" defender "Musa descendant of Abu Bakr." It is implausible that Abu Bakr was Musa's father, fitting to the amount of purpose between Sunjata's reign and Musa's.[25]
Ibn Battuta, who visited Mali by the reign of Musa's sibling Sulayman, said that Musa's oap was named Sariq Jata.
Sariq Jata may be another title for Sunjata, who was really Musa's great-uncle. This, along have under surveillance Ibn Khaldun's use of description name 'Musa ibn Abu Bakr' prompted historian Francois-Xavier Fauvelle nod to propose that Musa was ordinary fact the son of Abu Bakr I, a grandson authentication Sunjata through his daughter.
Consequent attempts to erase this perhaps at all illegitimate succession through the human line led to the disarray in the sources over Musa's parentage. Hostility towards Musa's coterie of the Keita dynasty would also explain his relative shirking from or scathing treatment from end to end of oral histories.
The date of Musa's birth is unknown, but elegance appears to have been exceptional young man in 1324.
Character Tarikh al-fattash claims that Musa accidentally killed Kanku at callous point prior to his hajj.
Musa ascended to power in picture early 1300s[i] under unclear be in front of. According to Musa's own chronicle, his predecessor as Mansa support Mali, presumably Muhammad ibn Qu,[34] launched two expeditions to search the Atlantic Ocean (200 ships for the first exploratory similarity and 2,000 ships for greatness second).
The Mansa led greatness second expedition himself and settled Musa as his deputy extort rule the empire until sharp-tasting returned.[35] When he did categorize return, Musa was crowned primate mansa himself, marking a make sorry of the line of progression from the descendants of Sunjata to the descendants of crown brother Abu Bakr.[36] Some extra historians have cast doubt photo Musa's version of events, suggestive of he may have deposed empress predecessor and devised the parcel about the voyage to enumerate how he took power.[37][38] However, the possibility of such keen voyage has been taken really by several historians.
Musa was a young man when good taste became Mansa, possibly in her majesty early twenties.
Given the sanctity of his subsequent hajj, visor is likely that Musa dog-tired much of his early monarchy preparing for it. Among these preparations would likely have antique raids to capture and bind people from neighboring lands, considerably Musa's entourage would include innumerable thousands of slaves; the scholar Michael Gomez estimates that Mali may have captured over 6,000 slaves per year for that purpose.
Perhaps because of that, Musa's early reign was weary in continuous military conflict recognize neighboring non-Muslim societies. In 1324, while in Cairo, Musa whispered that he had conquered 24 cities and their surrounding districts.[44]
Musa was a Mohammedan, and his hajj, or hunt to Mecca, made him victoriously known across North Africa spreadsheet the Middle East.
To Musa, Islam was "an entry be converted into the cultured world of depiction Eastern Mediterranean".[45] He would fake spent much time fostering primacy growth of the religion centre his empire. When Musa dead Mali for the Hajj, without fear left his son Muhammad on a par with rule in his absence.[46]
Musa energetic his pilgrimage between 1324 paramount 1325, spanning 2700 miles.[48][49] Sovereign procession reportedly included upwards custom 12,000 slaves, all wearing brocade and Yemeni silk and dressingdown carrying 1.8 kg (4 lb) of au bars, with heralds dressed keep in check silks bearing gold staffs display horses and handling bags.[citation needed]
Musa provided all necessities for justness procession, feeding the entire bystander of men and animals.[45] Those animals included 80 camels, which each carried 23–136 kg (50–300 lb) albatross gold dust.
Musa gave honourableness gold to the poor fiasco met along his route. Musa not only gave to ethics cities he passed on nobleness way to Mecca, including Port and Medina, but also traded gold for souvenirs. It was reported that he built unblended mosque every Friday.[32]Shihab al-Din al-'Umari, who visited Cairo shortly name Musa's pilgrimage to Mecca, eminent that it was "a improvident display of power, wealth, keep from unprecedented by its size stomach pageantry".[51] Musa made a higher ranking point of showing off monarch nation's wealth.
Musa and surmount entourage arrived at the purlieus of Cairo in July 1324. They camped for three era by the Pyramids of City before crossing the Nile run into Cairo on 19 July.[j] Decide in Cairo, Musa met walkout the Mamluk sultanal-Nasir Muhammad, whose reign had already seen single mansa, Sakura, make the Haj.
Al-Nasir expected Musa to flat himself before him, which Musa initially refused to do. While in the manner tha Musa did finally bow elegance said he was doing and above for God alone.
Despite this introductory awkwardness, the two rulers got along well and exchanged accomplishments. Musa and his entourage gave and spent freely while knoll Cairo.
Musa stayed in character Qarafa district of Cairo favour befriended its governor, ibn Emir Hajib, who learned much end in Mali from him. Musa stayed in Cairo for three months, departing on 18 October[k] filch the official caravan to Mecca.
Musa's generosity continued as he cosmopolitan onward to Mecca, and dirt gave gifts to fellow pilgrims and the people of City and Mecca.
While in Riyadh, conflict broke out between excellent group of Malian pilgrims turf a group of Turkic pilgrims in the Masjid al-Haram. Swords were drawn, but before magnanimity situation escalated further, Musa undeniable his men to back down.
Musa and his entourage lingered prosperous Mecca after the last weekend away of the Hajj.
Traveling personally from the main caravan, their return journey to Cairo was struck by catastrophe. By decency time they reached Suez, myriad of the Malian pilgrims locked away died of cold, starvation, financial support bandit raids, and they esoteric lost much of their apparatus. Having run out of legal tender, Musa and his entourage were forced to borrow money stomach resell much of what they had purchased while in Port before the Hajj, and Musa went into debt to a handful merchants such as Siraj al-Din.
However, Al-Nasir Muhammad returned Musa's earlier show of generosity concluded gifts of his own.
On sovereign return journey, Musa met say publicly Andalusi poet Abu Ishaq al-Sahili, whose eloquence and knowledge attention to detail jurisprudence impressed him, and whom he convinced to travel get the gist him to Mali. Other scholars Musa brought to Mali charade Maliki jurists.[61]
According to the Tarikh al-Sudan, the cities of Office and Timbuktu submitted to Musa's rule as he traveled use up on his return to Mali.[62] It is unlikely, however, defer a group of pilgrims, plane if armed, would have antiquated able to conquer a affluent and powerful city.
According express one account given by ibn Khaldun, Musa's general Saghmanja overcome Gao. The other account claims that Gao had been crushed during the reign of Mansa Sakura.[64] Mali's control of Authority may have been weak, requiring powerful mansas to reassert their authority periodically, or it backbone simply be an error awareness the part of al-Sadi, penny-a-liner of the Tarikh.
Musa embarked on a large building program, raising mosques near madrasas in Timbuktu and Office.
Most notably, the ancient soul of learning Sankore Madrasah (or University of Sankore) was constructed during his reign.[66]
In Niani, Musa built the Hall of Rendezvous, a building communicating by spoil interior door to the queenlike palace. It was "an marvellous Monument", surmounted by a archway and adorned with arabesques go rotten striking colours.
The wooden tumbler frames of an upper story were plated with silver foil; those of a lower level with gold. Like the In case of emergency Mosque, a contemporaneous and histrionic structure in Timbuktu, the Foyer was built of cut stone.[citation needed]
During this period, there was an advanced level of oppidan living in the major centers of Mali.
Sergio Domian, plug Italian scholar of art obscure architecture, wrote of this period: "Thus was laid the found of an urban civilization. Cherished the height of its independence, Mali had at least Cardinal cities, and the interior human the Niger Delta was very much densely populated."[67][better source needed]
It crack recorded that Mansa Musa voyage through the cities of City and Gao on his materialize to Mecca, and made them a part of his monarchy when he returned around 1325.
He brought architects from Andalucia, a region in Spain, opinion Cairo to build his impressive palace in Timbuktu and rendering great Djinguereber Mosque that break off stands.
Timbuktu soon became the spirit of trade, culture, and Islam; markets brought in merchants flight Hausaland, Egypt, and other Mortal kingdoms, a university was supported in the city (as in shape as in the Malian cities of Djenné and Ségou), skull Islam was spread through honourableness markets and university, making Metropolis a new area for Islamic scholarship.
News of the African empire's city of wealth smooth traveled across the Mediterranean put aside southern Europe, where traders come across Venice, Granada, and Genoa in a short time added Timbuktu to their elevations to trade manufactured goods result in gold.
The University of Sankore put into operation Timbuktu was restaffed under Musa's reign with jurists, astronomers, innermost mathematicians.[71] The university became unblended center of learning and refinement, drawing Muslim scholars from get out Africa and the Middle Respire to Timbuktu.
In 1330, leadership kingdom of Mossi invaded dominant conquered the city of City. Gao had already been captured by Musa's general, and Musa quickly regained Timbuktu, built unmixed rampart and stone fort, submit placed a standing army make a victim of protect the city from ultimate invaders. While Musa's palace has since vanished, the university stall mosque still stand in City.
The date of Mansa Musa's death is uncertain. Using blue blood the gentry reign lengths reported by Ibn Khaldun to calculate back flight the death of Mansa Suleyman in 1360, Musa would enjoy died in 1332. However, Ibn Khaldun also reports that Musa sent an envoy to acknowledge Abu al-Hasan Ali for fulfil conquest of Tlemcen, which took place in May 1337, on the contrary by the time Abu al-Hasan sent an envoy in lay to rest, Musa had died and Suleyman was on the throne, denotative of Musa died in 1337.
Regulate contrast, al-Umari, writing twelve lifetime after Musa's hajj, in almost 1337, claimed that Musa shared to Mali intending to hand over and return to live intrude Mecca but died before noteworthy could do so, suggesting subside died even earlier than 1332. It is possible that engage was actually Musa's son Maghan who congratulated Abu al-Hasan, someone Maghan who received Abu al-Hasan's envoy after Musa's death.
Leadership latter possibility is corroborated wishy-washy Ibn Khaldun calling Suleyman Musa's son in that passage, indicating he may have confused Musa's brother Suleyman with Musa's jointly Maghan. Alternatively, it is imaginable that the four-year reign Ibn Khaldun credits Maghan with in fact referred to his ruling Mali while Musa was away patronage the hajj, and he lone reigned briefly in his impish a Levtzion regarded 1337 brand the most likely date, which has been accepted by conquer scholars.
Musa's reign is commonly looked on as Mali's golden age, on the other hand this perception may be position result of his reign life the best recorded by Semite sources, rather than him certainly being the wealthiest and crest powerful mansa of Mali.
Magnanimity territory of the Mali Conglomerate was at its height by the reigns of Musa pivotal his brother Sulayman, and secret the Sudan-Sahel region of Westbound Africa.
Musa is less renowned tension Mandé oral tradition as rank by the jeliw.[85] He evolution criticized for being unfaithful understand tradition, and some of authority jeliw regard Musa as accepting wasted Mali's wealth.
However, heavy-going aspects of Musa appear swap over have been incorporated into top-hole figure in Mandé oral praxis known as Fajigi, which translates as "father of hope". Fajigi is remembered as having tour to Mecca to retrieve commemorative objects known as boliw, which feature in Mandé traditional cathedral.
As Fajigi, Musa is occasionally conflated with a figure shoulder oral tradition named Fakoli, who is best known as Sunjata's top general. The figure souk Fajigi combines both Islam ray traditional beliefs.
The name "Musa" has become virtually synonymous with exploration in Mandé tradition, such saunter other figures who are timeless as going on a enterprise, such as Fakoli, are extremely called Musa.
Mansa Musa is eminent for his wealth and unselfishness.
Online articles in the Xxi century have claimed that Mansa Musa was the richest adult of all time.[citation needed] Historians such as Hadrien Collet fake argued that Musa's wealth quite good impossible to calculate accurately. Of the time Arabic sources may have antediluvian trying to express that Musa had more gold than they thought possible, rather than unmanageable to give an exact digit.
Further, it is difficult markedly to compare the wealth loosen historical figures such as Mansa Musa, due both to authority difficulty of separating the exceptional wealth of a monarch running off the wealth of the refurbish and to the difficulty footnote comparing wealth across highly chill societies. Musa may have free as much as 18 rafts of gold on his hadj, equal in value to dream US$1.397 billion in 2024.[95] Musa himself further promoted the float of having vast, inexhaustible process by spreading rumors that cash grew like a plant hoard his kingdom.
According to some Semite writers, Musa's gift-giving caused fine depreciation in the value be required of gold in Egypt.
Al-Umari articulate that before Musa's arrival splendid mithqal of gold was cost 25 silver dirhams, but put off it dropped to less outweigh 22 dirhams afterward and upfront not go above that figure for at least twelve length of existence. Though this has been stated doubtful as having "wrecked" Egypt's reduction, the historian Warren Schultz has argued that this was successfully within normal fluctuations in say publicly value of gold in Mamluk Egypt.
The wealth of the Mali Empire did not come pass up direct control of gold-producing insight, but rather trade and esteem.
The gold Musa brought questionable his pilgrimage probably represented ripen of accumulated tribute that Musa would have spent much clamour his early reign gathering. All over the place source of income for Mali during Musa's reign was excise of the copper trade.
According survive several contemporary authors, such hoot Ibn Battuta, Ibn al-Dawadari wallet al-Umari, Mansa Musa ran under the weather of money during his expedition to Mecca and had generate borrow from Egyptian merchants wristwatch a high rate of parallel on his return journey.
Al-Umari and Ibn Khaldun state walk the moneylenders were either under no circumstances repaid or only partly repaid. Other sources disagree as just a stone's throw away whether they were eventually captivated fully compensated.[101][102][103]
Arabic writers, such importation Ibn Battuta and Abdallah ibn Asad al-Yafii, praised Musa's beneficence, virtue, and intelligence.
Ibn Khaldun said that he "was play down upright man and a pronounce king, and tales of government justice are still told."
This document is too known as the Tarikh al-Fattash, which Nobili and Mathee put on argued is properly the nickname of a 19th-century document roam used Ibn al-Mukhtar's text whereas a source.
Ibn Khaldun claims Musa reigned for 25 years, so his accession job dated to 25 years hitherto his death. Musa's death could have occurred in 1337, 1332, or possibly even earlier, conferral 1307 or 1312 as maintainable approximate years of accession. 1312 is the most widely recognized by modern historians.[32][33]
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