Mansa Musa (1280-1337) was the "King of Kings" or "Emperor" of the wealthy West African empire of Mali.  He was known by many names including Musa I of Mali, Mansa Gonga Musa, Musa Keita, Kankan Musa, and many others.  He came to the throne in 1307, and in 1324 began a pilgrimage -- or hajj -- that would awaken the world to the vast wealth of his kingdom.  Traveling from his capital Niani on the upper Niger River to Mauritania, then on to Algeria, before reaching Cairo, Egypt and ultimately Mecca.  Mansa Musa led an impressive caravan of 60,000 men, including 12,000 slaves, all dressed in brocade and Persian silk.  The Emperor himself rode a horse and was preceded by 500 slaves, each carrying a gold-adorned staff.  He had a baggage train of 100 camels, each carrying 300 pounds of gold.  He was so generous and lavish in his spending that he flooded the Cairo gold market (the world's largest gold market), and caused a decline in its value that was felt for over a decade. Impacting the world's largest market for this precious metal impacted the world's market!  The wealth of Mali had such and effect on the world, that by the end of the 14th Century, 2/3 of the gold in Europe was from there!

 

After conquering the Kingdom of Songhai he made one of its cities, Timbuktu, a major trade hub.  It had caravans connected to Cairo and all other major commercial centers in North Africa.  Aside from commerce, Mansa Musa was concerned with education.  Learning received royal patronage and scholars flooded in from far and wide to make the mosque of Sankore a teaching institution; an institution which laid the foundations of the University of Sankore.  He died in 1337.

References:

Wikipedia 
Blackpast.org
Black History Pages  
Encyclopedia Britannica

 

 

 

 

 

 

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