It's 1312. As Abubakari II's great fleet sails west
into the Atlantic, one man watches them Disappear into the sunset. This vizier will serve as regent
for the great explorer king managing the state while his master
sails the ocean that encircles the earth and when the great king fails to return, this regent will take the throne the next year
under the name Musa Keita. History will remember him as Mansa Musa. (music) Mansa Musa is often remembered
for being the richest person in history And he was. By a wide margin. In fact, his wealth was so inconceivably vast that there is no accurate way of comparing it
to modern standards. Jeff Bezos has like a fraction of the wealth
Mansa Musa possessed. Europe at the time was not doing so great. The whole region was reeling from an economic crisis
driven by plummeting gold and silver production. Meanwhile, Mali was drowning in the stuff. But Mansa Musa wanted Mali
to be more than an economic superpower. He wanted it to be a great state
recognized the world over. He spent the early years of his reign
further consolidating the administration of the kingdom and developing the Empire's trade routes. He greenlit a military campaign
to expand the empire east with an eye toward capturing
the trade cities of Timbuktu and Gao. Then he turned his attention
toward international matters, which also meant religion. Musa was a devout Muslim. In fact, probably more devout than his predecessors. But he was not above using religion
as a political tool. Islam had made inroads
with royalty in Sub-Saharan Africa specifically because it gave them access
to things that made the state more efficient, like Arabic writing, religious law
and Middle Eastern administrative practices, and of course,
Mali's lucrative trans-Saharan trade was only possible because it was a Muslim nation
like its trade partners. But despite economic might and religious prestige, Mali was something of a second class power treated as lesser than
the kingdoms of its trade partners in North Africa. And that is something Mansa Musa could not abide. It was time Mali took its rightful place
among the Muslim kingdoms. So, 17 years into his rule in 1324, Mansa Musa set off on the most extravagant Hajj,
or pilgrimage to Mecca, in the history of humanity. It was a trip calculated to attract the world's attention
and put Mali on the map. Two other mansas had made the Hajj before
but that was during a more chaotic time when the resources and ambitions of rulers
were diverted to surviving war and famine. Musa's pilgrimage would be
part religious journey, part publicity stunt. It was a statements to the Islamic world
that the Mali Empire was thriving, devout and powerful. It was said that his glittering procession
put even the Sun to shame. Wealth beyond dreams. Riches beyond imagination. Camels for days. Literally. Some accounts claim it took over a day
for his opulent Caravan to pass. One account claims
his retinue included over 60,000 people at its head were 500 heralds carrying gold staffs and a personal retinue of 12,000 servants
dressed in silk and carrying gold bars. A baggage train of 600 camels followed
each one carrying 300 pounds of gold dust. Musa brought along his wife
and her 500 servants. And that was just the showy part. They took a baggage train with enough pack animals
to carry provisions for the entire crew. At every step of the way, the well-dressed, generous
and pious group made a favorable impression. Too favorable impression, in fact. To fulfill his religious duty
to share his wealth for the poor, Musa gave handfuls of gold dust
to beggars and passers-by. Some accounts claimed
he built a mosque every Friday, and he spent months in the Cairo bazaars
buying souvenirs at absurdly inflated prices. In fact, the emperor spent and gave away so much gold
in Cairo, Medina and Mecca that he flooded the market
crashing the metals value. Although Musa attempted to rectify this by quote: "borrowing gold from money lenders in Cairo"
at an astronomical Interest, the value of gold still took over a decade
to recover in the Middle East. Just think about that for a second. Mansa Musa was so rich
that he caused a financial crisis by buying too many souvenirs
on his religious roadtrip. But he had come all this way to make an impression
and boy oh boy, did he achieve that. Centuries later, residents of Cairo were
still telling stories of his pilgrimage train and their reports filtered to Europe
through the traders of Venice. By 1375, European cartographers
were producing world maps that featured Mali represented by Mansa Musa inspecting a gold nugget. But this gratuitous display wasn't just to show off. It was also to attract talent. On his return trip from Mecca, Mansa Musa brought
Arab scholars, bureaucrats and architects with him in hopes of building Mali
into an Islamic cultural and religious center. On his way back home,
Mansa Musa took a different route. Through Timbuktu and Gow, which his armies
had invaded and conquered while he had been away. And, let's just stop to think about that too Mansa Musa was so powerful
that he could traipse off on a sweet pilgrimage party leaving the kingdom in the hands of his son
with armies in the field for over a year and not get deposed. Historically speaking, that is pretty incredible. So, on his way back,
he stopped at these new trading centers not just to bask in his new conquests,
but to assess his new assets. Now, in addition to
his Saharan trade centers in the west, he had two in the east
that also sat on the Niger River. It was a good position for trade.
But he wanted more. Timbuktu in particular would become a project of his and there he would put
all of those new architects and scholars to work. Together they designed numerous buildings
for the emperor including a new palace, mosques,
libraries, universities and the Great Djinguereber Mosque at Timbuktu,
which still stands today. This resulted in a boom of Islamic education in Mali and the influx of trained minds, artists and artisans
brought increased commerce, and made Timbuktu a leading City the Islamic world And this was at a time when the most advanced nations
in the world were Muslim from Spain to central India. Mali became the center for Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa
missionizing its neighbors. It was said that while gold came from the south
and salt from the north, knowledge came from Timbuktu. Because of its unique location
near the Sahara Desert and on the Niger River, it was a melting pot and a hub of
Intellectual and cultural exchange. Books were not only written in Timbuktu,
but also imported from all over. There was an advanced book-copying industry there. And at a time when books were luxury goods,
that were difficult and expensive to produce. And all of this was sparked by Mansa Musa's leadership
in growing his empire. But while the Islamic accounts tell of
Mansa Musa's great wealth and prestige, there was another perspective. local storytellers, the griots,
who kept the oral history of Mali spoke of a different king: a foolish one who wasted
the imperial treasury and coveted Islamic things abandoning the traditions of his people. So, perhaps, it's no accident that shortly after his death,
the Mali Empire began it's slow collapse. (music)
