WEBVTT - Mansa Musa and the World Map 0:00:00.800 --> 0:00:04.440 Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio 0:00:04.640 --> 0:00:08.480 and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey listener discretion advised. 0:00:11.560 --> 0:00:14.320 Hey guys, this is Danishwards, the host of the podcast 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:17.639 Noble Blood. First, just thank you so much for listening. 0:00:17.720 --> 0:00:21.040 Before the episode, just a few quick announcements. I have 0:00:21.120 --> 0:00:24.920 a book coming out in February called Immortality a Love Story. 0:00:25.200 --> 0:00:28.480 It's a sequel to my last book, Anatomy a Love Story, 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:30.720 which is about a young woman who's a surgeon in 0:00:30.840 --> 0:00:33.559 eighteen hundred Scotland. And if you like this podcast, I 0:00:33.600 --> 0:00:36.720 really think you would like it, check it out, and please, 0:00:36.800 --> 0:00:40.960 if you're at all interested, pre order Immortality a Love Story. 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:44.400 All the links are in the episode description, along with 0:00:44.479 --> 0:00:48.479 links to official Noble Blood merch and the Noble Blood Patreon, 0:00:48.560 --> 0:00:51.839 where I post episode scripts and have access to monthly 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:55.360 bonus episodes. But as always, the best support is just 0:00:55.640 --> 0:00:59.040 listening to the show. I am so grateful we've officially 0:00:59.400 --> 0:01:02.480 made a hundred episodes of the show and it just 0:01:02.600 --> 0:01:06.080 feels so surreal. So thank you so much for your 0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:09.000 interest in history and for joining me on this journey, 0:01:09.040 --> 0:01:23.560 and let's do a hundred more. In July of the 0:01:23.680 --> 0:01:28.720 year thirteen twenty four, the citizens of Cairo were waiting. 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:33.240 For weeks. Conversation in the city had been dominated by 0:01:33.280 --> 0:01:37.559 the imminent arrival of one man, though by this point 0:01:37.920 --> 0:01:42.319 man heartily seemed inadequate enough term to encompass a figure 0:01:42.400 --> 0:01:48.840 as impressive as the fabled Melian Sultan Mansa Musa. Tales 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:53.520 of his exploits had started as simple rumor singular whispers 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:58.600 carried over desert roads by merchants and scholars, each story 0:01:58.800 --> 0:02:04.320 eventually stitched together in ports of trade until their subject 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:08.720 became more myth than man. He was said to be 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:12.400 passing through Cairo on his way to complete Hajj, or 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:16.680 pilgrimage to Mecca, as required by the Islamic faith. This 0:02:16.800 --> 0:02:22.040 typically would have been news enough, though oddly speculation surrounding 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:25.640 his arrival had much less to do with his destination 0:02:26.320 --> 0:02:29.360 and more to do with the methods in which he 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:33.799 decided to travel. Had you been walking through Cairo's market 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:37.959 place that summer, as you examined the countless wares from 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:42.400 all over the continent or even beyond, each vendor likely 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:45.480 would have regaled you with their own sliver of gossip 0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:48.440 that they had gleaned from their time on the road. 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:53.799 I hear he travels with ten thousand men, One of 0:02:53.840 --> 0:02:57.160 the vendors might have said, only for another merchant across 0:02:57.200 --> 0:03:00.040 the way to cut in ten No. I heard it 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:05.080 was at least fifty, if not sixty thousand to others. 0:03:05.120 --> 0:03:08.480 The size of his party likely mattered little compared to 0:03:08.520 --> 0:03:12.000 the treasures said to have made the trip along with him. 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:15.880 Upwards of eighty camels were rumored to have been brought 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:20.320 for the sole purpose of transporting a combined total of 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:26.880 seventeen tons or over thirty four thousand pounds of gold. This, 0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:30.960 of course, was in addition to the five hundred enslaved 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:34.920 workers who were each tasked with carrying a gold staff 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:39.000 for the duration of the over four thousand mile trek 0:03:39.280 --> 0:03:42.720 from Molly on the western coast of Africa to Mecca 0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:47.040 in what is today Saudi Arabia. Now, when considering the 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:50.320 vast distance Mansa Musa had to travel in order to 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:53.120 complete the Hajj, it makes sense that he and his 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:57.680 party would need ample resources and manpower to reach their destination. 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:01.280 But at the same time, you and hardly reason that 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:05.440 the transport of eighty camel loads of gold and sixty 0:04:05.560 --> 0:04:10.440 thousand men were for the sole purpose of practicality, and 0:04:10.720 --> 0:04:14.400 just as the resources Musa acquired for his journey were 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:19.039 not necessarily essential to complete the journey. If the whispers 0:04:19.080 --> 0:04:22.080 in the streets of Cairo were anything to go by, 0:04:22.279 --> 0:04:25.960 his hajj was likely not the sole reason for his 0:04:26.080 --> 0:04:32.360 pilgrimage across the African continent. Religious piety may have been 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:35.880 the impetus for his travels, but it's clear through the 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:39.520 level of extravagance by which he chose to travel then 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:44.640 Mansa Musa's much anticipated stay in Cairo had one goal 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:50.279 above all else. He wanted to make a statement, and 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:54.440 so as the iconic red silk banners of monts A 0:04:54.480 --> 0:04:59.640 Musa's caravan finally crested the western horizon, the citizens of 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:03.760 Kai Eurow waited with bated breath and a gold hungry 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:07.600 glint in their eyes to see exactly what type of 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:14.200 statement he would make. I'm Dani Schwartz and this is 0:05:14.240 --> 0:05:22.800 noble blood. Now, before we get started, I want to 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:25.520 take a moment to speak to the importance of oral 0:05:25.680 --> 0:05:29.240 histories in the African tradition. Today, when we tend to 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:32.400 think of history, our minds are often pulled toward images 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:36.719 of dusty libraries filled top to bottom with heavy leather 0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:41.120 bound tons. But the truth is this image is something we, 0:05:41.360 --> 0:05:45.240 as a largely Eurocentric culture, have been conditioned to believe 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:50.040 is the quote right way to record history. It's true 0:05:50.120 --> 0:05:53.440 that there are not many written records of monts Amusa's reign, 0:05:53.880 --> 0:05:57.919 at least not from medieval West African sources, but that 0:05:58.160 --> 0:06:01.480 is largely because the history of West Africa was passed 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:05.839 down through oral tradition rather than written tradition. There's a 0:06:05.880 --> 0:06:10.360 harmful misconception that quite honestly, was likely perpetuated by many 0:06:10.400 --> 0:06:13.680 of the institutions behind a fair number of the subjects 0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:17.559 of this podcast that histories passed down through spoken word 0:06:17.680 --> 0:06:23.880 are quote inferior or less civilized than that of written record. 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:28.200 But it simply isn't true. In fact, in West Africa, 0:06:28.680 --> 0:06:33.719 oral historians were often prized scholars also known as griots, 0:06:33.720 --> 0:06:38.880 who were expressly forbidden from physically recording historical moments so 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:42.440 as to prove their intellect when recalling the moment back 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:46.280 to be passed down for future generations. And if for 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:49.800 some reason you need further proof that oral traditions are 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:54.560 not some signifier of quote uncivilized culture. Just think of 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:57.640 the Odyssey or the Iliad, both of which were passed 0:06:57.680 --> 0:07:01.400 down through oral tradition for hundreds of years before ever 0:07:01.520 --> 0:07:04.320 being put to paper. Or if you want a more 0:07:04.360 --> 0:07:08.880 relevant example, this very podcast and by extension, podcasting as 0:07:08.880 --> 0:07:12.520 a whole, could be considered a certain kind of oral history. 0:07:12.920 --> 0:07:15.720 All this is to say, though these oral histories may 0:07:15.800 --> 0:07:19.240 lack specificity in terms of dates and times the way 0:07:19.240 --> 0:07:22.840 we might expect from written history, I think it's important 0:07:22.880 --> 0:07:26.280 to analyze the lens by which we've traditionally been taught 0:07:26.320 --> 0:07:29.120 to understand events from the past in the first place. 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:33.800 It's also important to recognize the benefits to oral histories 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:38.040 that written histories often lack. In the case of Mansa, Musa, 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:41.880 the inherent mythos around the Hajjs you went on, as 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:46.240 well as his empire's incredible riches, would, for better or worse, 0:07:46.560 --> 0:07:50.520 go on to shape Molly for generations after Musa's passing. 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:57.560 Now back to our story. It's unclear exactly when Mussa 0:07:57.720 --> 0:08:00.680 was born or the specific year he him into power, 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:06.280 but historian degree, he became Manta or sultan around thirteen twelve, 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:10.160 likely when Musa was in his early to mid twenties. 0:08:10.720 --> 0:08:15.000 Though perhaps more interesting than his age was the circumstances 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:18.080 by which Musa was given the throne in the first place. 0:08:18.680 --> 0:08:22.240 In an account recorded by the scholar al Umari, Musa 0:08:22.280 --> 0:08:24.360 made it clear that he was never meant to have 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:28.080 inherited the throne. When he did, his unlikely rise was 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:33.560 thanks to a previous sultan's interest in exploration. Quote. The 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:36.280 king who was my predecessor did not believe that it 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:39.960 was impossible to discover the furthest limits of the Atlantic Ocean. 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:42.840 The sultan is quoted saying to the governor of Cairo, 0:08:43.720 --> 0:08:47.959 well before the couplet in Columbus sailed the ocean Blue, 0:08:48.040 --> 0:08:52.199 ever came into relevance leaders around the world, we're already 0:08:52.280 --> 0:08:55.920 looking to the horizons off their coastlines, ready to discover 0:08:56.080 --> 0:09:00.480 possible worlds unknown. This is evidenced by the ex lauration 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:04.280 of figures like the Chinese mariner Janghay, who, under the 0:09:04.320 --> 0:09:07.480 guidance of the Ming dynasty in the late fourteenth and 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:11.960 early fifteenth centuries, would travel as far as East Africa. 0:09:12.200 --> 0:09:17.320 It's also evidenced by Arab, Indian and East African explorers. However, 0:09:17.520 --> 0:09:22.760 unlike Janghay, or Christopher Columbus for that matter. Montsa, Musa's predecessor, 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:27.359 would never be highlighted in history for his maritime exploration. 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:32.360 In his first attempt, Musa's predecessor sent out two hundred 0:09:32.400 --> 0:09:35.800 ships into the Atlantic with enough gold and provisions to 0:09:36.040 --> 0:09:40.280 last years and directions quote not to return until they 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:43.000 reached the end of it or their provisions and water 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:46.800 gave out end quote in the end. Out of the 0:09:46.880 --> 0:09:51.199 two hundred ships, only one returned, stating that the rest 0:09:51.200 --> 0:09:53.960 of the ships had gone on without them. But this 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:58.080 answer did not satisfy the Sultan. In fact, the loan 0:09:58.240 --> 0:10:03.400 surviving ship inspired Musa's predecessor to prepare an additional two 0:10:03.480 --> 0:10:06.480 thousand ships, half of which were to be filled with 0:10:06.520 --> 0:10:09.920 provisions for their travels and the other to carry the men, 0:10:10.640 --> 0:10:14.520 this time with the Sultan himself among their ranks. Though 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:17.840 before he was set to depart, the Sultan appointed Musa 0:10:17.960 --> 0:10:21.240 to lead while he was out at sea. Quote, he 0:10:21.440 --> 0:10:24.439 left me to deputize for him, and embarked upon the 0:10:24.480 --> 0:10:28.400 Atlantic Ocean with his men Mantsa. Musa would eventually recount 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:31.800 to the Governor of Cairo quote that was the last 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:34.360 we saw of him and all those men who were 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:37.120 with him, And so I became king in my own 0:10:37.240 --> 0:10:41.640 right end quote. To this day, no one knows for 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:46.600 sure exactly what happened to Musa's predecessor. Many historians assume 0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:50.960 he simply got lost at sea, though some revisionist historians 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:55.319 believe he could have potentially made it to the America's Regardless, 0:10:55.400 --> 0:10:59.720 the fact remained that Musa's predecessor never returned to Molly, 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:04.760 therefore bestowing Musa himself with the title history would forever 0:11:04.840 --> 0:11:10.160 remember him by Manza Musa. As a young ruler, Montsa 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:14.640 Musa had inherited a similarly young empire. He was only 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:18.720 the ninth Manza to take the throne, and as such 0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:22.360 he was eager to establish not only himself but Molly 0:11:22.480 --> 0:11:26.400 as a nation on a global scale. And so, with 0:11:26.520 --> 0:11:30.560 a young empire under his command, and which surely must 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:33.480 have felt like the eyes of the entire world watching 0:11:33.520 --> 0:11:38.079 his next move, Mantsa Musa chose to give those watching 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:46.120 him something to look at. If the eighty cameloads of 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:50.840 gold and sixty thousand person traveling party or any indicator, 0:11:51.160 --> 0:11:53.880 it should come as no surprise that the Hajj of 0:11:53.960 --> 0:11:57.920 Montsa Musa was by far the defining moment of his reign, 0:11:58.679 --> 0:12:02.000 though it should be noted an undertaking of this magnitude 0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:07.640 wasn't accomplished overnight. In reality, most historians agree Musa likely 0:12:07.720 --> 0:12:10.400 began planning for the Hajj not long after he was 0:12:10.440 --> 0:12:13.760 put on the throne, meaning he would have been orchestrating 0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:17.080 this truck for at least a decade before ever setting 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:21.680 foot on the road. Historian Michael A. Gomez estimates quote, 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:26.239 if ten years are allowed for preparations, some six thousand 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:29.880 persons would have been captured per annum for this purpose 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:33.520 end quote, a statement that is supported by the scholar 0:12:33.559 --> 0:12:37.280 Alumari saying of Montsa Musa quote, the king of this 0:12:37.400 --> 0:12:41.440 country wages a permanently holy war on the pagans of 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:45.800 the Sudan, who are his neighbors end quote. On top 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:50.080 of the quote, slaving campaigns Musa orchestrated in order to 0:12:50.200 --> 0:12:53.200 create an infrastructure by which to support the Hajj she 0:12:53.320 --> 0:12:57.000 was determined to complete. The eighty camel's worth of gold 0:12:57.360 --> 0:13:01.800 didn't appear overnight by the time Manta Musa reached Cairo. 0:13:02.440 --> 0:13:06.320 Rumors as to where exactly the gold came from had 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:09.840 fully taken on lives of their own. The most common 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:15.360 fallacy was the rumored gold plant, which, separate from Musa, 0:13:15.440 --> 0:13:18.920 had been circulating as early as the tenth century during 0:13:18.960 --> 0:13:23.560 the reign of the Ghanaian Empire. The gold plant varied 0:13:23.600 --> 0:13:27.200 in description depending on the source, one source saying it 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:31.760 quote grows in the sand as carrots do and quote well, 0:13:32.080 --> 0:13:35.600 Musa himself spread the notion it grew quote in the 0:13:35.720 --> 0:13:42.840 spring and blossomed after the rains in open country and quote. Unfortunately, 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:46.720 as thrilling as the discovery of a medieval West African 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:51.880 gold plant would no doubt be for geologists and jewelers everywhere, 0:13:52.280 --> 0:13:55.760 the reality of the gold's origin is likely a little 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:59.080 less exciting. Well, there's no way to tell for sure 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:02.920 where exactly gold came from. Most historians pose it the 0:14:02.920 --> 0:14:06.400 production and export of copper, as well as the trade 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:09.199 of salt, could have been the source of the majority 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:13.560 of Musa's fortune. And for those confused as to why 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:17.439 anyone would trade copper or let alone salt for something 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:20.760 as valuable as gold, I think it's important to remember 0:14:21.080 --> 0:14:25.600 gold as a metal has significantly less useful properties than copper, 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:29.600 which could be made into a variety of tools or salt, 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:34.680 which is quite literally necessary for human survival. Meanwhile, gold's 0:14:34.760 --> 0:14:38.960 primary uses were either as a type of cosmetic adornment or, 0:14:39.440 --> 0:14:43.840 more importantly, for Mansa Musa, a form of currency. And 0:14:43.960 --> 0:14:46.600 even though Mussa did not shy away from the lower 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:50.760 that in Mali, gold basically grew on trees or in 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:54.480 the ground like carrots. For him to amass as much 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:58.800 wealth as he did was no small feet. Considering the 0:14:58.960 --> 0:15:03.720 substantial time and energy reserved solely for the preparations for 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:08.440 the Hajj, it's worth asking why Mansa Musa chose to 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:12.120 pursue a traveling caravan of this scale in the first place. 0:15:12.560 --> 0:15:15.520 Had he purely been wanting to complete the pilgrimage for 0:15:15.560 --> 0:15:18.680 the sake of his own religious practice, he could have 0:15:18.760 --> 0:15:22.640 easily traveled with a much smaller party that required a 0:15:22.720 --> 0:15:28.040 fraction of the resources. But clearly Musa had ulterior motives 0:15:28.080 --> 0:15:32.280 when preparing for his journey. The first motive might have 0:15:32.320 --> 0:15:35.160 had to do with Mansa Musa's claim to the throne. 0:15:35.720 --> 0:15:39.800 The line of succession for the early Malian Empire remains 0:15:39.880 --> 0:15:44.000 a point of contention with medieval West African historians. There 0:15:44.120 --> 0:15:47.280 was no clear path of inheritance the way we've become 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:52.440 familiar with inheritance within the context of European monarchies. This 0:15:52.520 --> 0:15:56.040 could have been for a host of different reasons, though 0:15:56.080 --> 0:15:58.760 I think one of the most important to consider would 0:15:58.760 --> 0:16:01.760 be the simple fact that the Malian Empire as a 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:05.720 whole was, for lack of a better term, young, and 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:10.440 considering the untraditional methods by which Musa himself was left 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:13.760 with a kingdom in his charge, he likely chose to 0:16:13.920 --> 0:16:16.640 use the Hajj as a way to exhibit his power 0:16:16.880 --> 0:16:22.200 and solidify his possibly precarious hold on the throne. In 0:16:22.240 --> 0:16:26.720 addition to securing his power as Molly's ruler, the Hajj 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:31.440 also offered Musa ample opportunity to expand Molly's borders and 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:36.280 influence far beyond the reaches of West Africa. It's clear 0:16:36.440 --> 0:16:39.760 through the preparations made for his journey, Mussa meant to 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:42.880 project a certain image as he made his way across 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:48.280 the African continent, though in all likelihood, the seventeen tons 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:52.280 of gold eighteen tons of you include the gold staffs 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:55.600 held by the enslaved workers in his caravan spoke for 0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:59.880 themselves as citizens of the cities he passed through Gaul. 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:04.320 At his overt displays of wealth, it should be noted 0:17:04.400 --> 0:17:08.040 that while the impressive caravan was no doubt used to 0:17:08.080 --> 0:17:12.800 bolster his reputation, it did serve a practical purpose as well. 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:18.200 After over a decade spent acquiring enough manpower and gold 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:21.560 to make the impact he was seeking. When Montsa Musa 0:17:21.720 --> 0:17:25.080 finally began the Hajj in earnest, he used a fair 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:29.160 amount of his gold and manpower to erect mosques as 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:33.359 he went before all else. Monts A Musa was a 0:17:33.400 --> 0:17:37.120 devout Muslim and sought to spread the teachings of Islam 0:17:37.320 --> 0:17:39.399 as he set out to complete the Hajj he had 0:17:39.480 --> 0:17:43.520 so long prepared for. In this way, a good portion 0:17:43.680 --> 0:17:46.919 of the young Sultan's funds and slave labor went to 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:51.280 the construction of mosques, which is also why reports as 0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:55.080 to exactly how many people and how much gold he 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:59.520 brought on his journey very so wildly. It's likely that 0:17:59.640 --> 0:18:03.280 Musa began his pilgrimage with far more resources than he 0:18:03.440 --> 0:18:06.320 ended it with, but then again that was by design. 0:18:07.440 --> 0:18:11.440 The construction of mosques on Musa's truck across the African 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:15.520 continent not only served as a way to parade his affluence, 0:18:15.800 --> 0:18:20.040 but more importantly, as a non violent expansion of his empire. 0:18:21.080 --> 0:18:25.080 Dissimilar to his slaving campaigns. Even for those who did 0:18:25.080 --> 0:18:28.240 not practice Islam, the mosques were more than just a 0:18:28.320 --> 0:18:32.760 space for religion. As Montsa Musa continued his travels, word 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:36.439 began to spread about the wealth and prosperity of the 0:18:36.440 --> 0:18:42.119 Malayan Empire. As such, the mosques attracted scholars and merchants 0:18:42.200 --> 0:18:46.800 from outside Molly's borders, making what began as villages and 0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:53.520 towns evolve into urban marketplaces, ultimately stimulating Molly's economic growth. 0:18:54.640 --> 0:18:57.280 And as the chain of mosques left in the wake 0:18:57.359 --> 0:19:01.800 of his pilgrimage grew, word about the wildly rich and 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:06.800 powerful Mansa Musa continued to spread east across the African 0:19:06.840 --> 0:19:13.720 continent until July thirteen, twenty four, when, finally, after weeks 0:19:13.760 --> 0:19:18.600 of waiting, the fabled Malian Sultan approached the city of Cairo. 0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:23.360 Even after funding a trail of mosques behind him, Musa 0:19:23.440 --> 0:19:26.720 still had plenty of gold and men to make the 0:19:26.800 --> 0:19:33.240 impact he wanted in Cairo. Upon his entrance in the city, 0:19:33.600 --> 0:19:38.840 monts AMusA immediately began spending exorbitant amounts of gold, resupplying 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:43.200 his provisions, but also undoubtedly trying to flex his abundance 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:47.720 to the dazzled crowd. One scholar is quoted as saying, quote, 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:51.399 when monts AMusA first arrived in Cairo, he and his 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:55.160 followers bought all kinds of things. They thought their money 0:19:55.400 --> 0:20:00.240 was inexhaustible, and quote so extravagant was his spend ending 0:20:00.440 --> 0:20:04.520 that in the end, Mansamusa would inevitably cause such mass 0:20:04.640 --> 0:20:08.720 inflation within Cairo that their economy would need a decade 0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:12.199 before it could fully recover. As the city attempted to 0:20:12.280 --> 0:20:16.960 gain some control over Musa's runaway inflation, the Malaean Sultan 0:20:17.080 --> 0:20:20.760 would leave Cairo to continue on to Mecca to complete 0:20:20.840 --> 0:20:25.320 his Hajj. It wouldn't be until Monsa Musa eventually returned 0:20:25.320 --> 0:20:28.720 to Cairo on his way home that the Sultan would 0:20:28.760 --> 0:20:33.480 be faced with a seemingly impossible truth. The money that 0:20:33.600 --> 0:20:37.840 he had once spent as if it were inexhaustible was gone, 0:20:38.760 --> 0:20:42.040 and he now had no means of funding his return home. 0:20:45.320 --> 0:20:48.320 When Mansa Musa met the city limits of Cairo for 0:20:48.359 --> 0:20:52.400 the second time, his reception was far more subdued than 0:20:52.440 --> 0:20:57.119 the parade his initial arrival. Had been. One scholar reported 0:20:57.119 --> 0:21:00.840 that after reaching Mecca and completing his pilgrimage, when he 0:21:00.880 --> 0:21:04.639 attempted to begin the journey back to Molly quote, many 0:21:04.680 --> 0:21:08.359 of his followers and camels perished from cold, so that 0:21:08.480 --> 0:21:11.400 only a third of them arrived in Cairo with him 0:21:11.520 --> 0:21:16.160 end quote. After a few wrong turns proved fatal for 0:21:16.240 --> 0:21:20.679 a significant portion of Musa's traveling party. The sultan was 0:21:20.760 --> 0:21:26.879 left not just shorthanded, but underfunded as well. In the 0:21:26.920 --> 0:21:31.720 wake of the Sultan's extreme spending that had essentially flooded 0:21:31.800 --> 0:21:35.959 Cairo's market with gold, Montsa Musa suddenly found himself with 0:21:36.080 --> 0:21:39.720 empty pockets, while the straits he had paraded down just 0:21:39.880 --> 0:21:43.720 months before glittered with the riches once carried by his 0:21:44.240 --> 0:21:49.800 now significantly smaller caravan. In order to return home, Mussa 0:21:49.920 --> 0:21:52.399 was forced to take out loans in the market that 0:21:52.520 --> 0:21:57.560 he himself had caused to massively inflate. Despite the Sultan's 0:21:57.720 --> 0:22:01.600 sudden hardships, Cairo's money unders were more than happy to 0:22:01.680 --> 0:22:05.520 extend lines of credit to the now penniless monts AMusA 0:22:06.040 --> 0:22:09.840 with steep interest rates. Of course, now, due to the 0:22:09.920 --> 0:22:13.240 nature of the sources surrounding these stories, there are some 0:22:13.359 --> 0:22:18.440 discrepancies as to if or when these loans were repaid. 0:22:19.160 --> 0:22:22.439 Some claim Montsa AMusA basically cheated the lenders in Cairo 0:22:22.560 --> 0:22:25.520 out of the substantial interest his loan would have, no 0:22:25.640 --> 0:22:28.920 doubt accrued by paying back everything he owned in its 0:22:29.080 --> 0:22:32.040 entirety as soon as he stepped back on mille and soil, 0:22:32.560 --> 0:22:35.880 while other sources claim that they never received any sort 0:22:35.920 --> 0:22:40.119 of repayment at all. It's impossible to say exactly what 0:22:40.359 --> 0:22:42.679 happened to the money after he left Cairo for the 0:22:42.720 --> 0:22:46.920 second time, but the fate of his loans ultimately made 0:22:46.920 --> 0:22:50.480 a little difference to the whole of monts Amusa's legacy. 0:22:51.040 --> 0:22:55.280 Even though Mussa's reign would end just thirteen years after 0:22:55.359 --> 0:22:59.000 his hajj and thirteen thirty seven, the ripple effects of 0:22:59.040 --> 0:23:02.720 his actions as Molly Sultan would be felt for countless 0:23:02.760 --> 0:23:08.080 generations to come. To this day, Montsa Musa is estimated 0:23:08.119 --> 0:23:12.000 to be the richest person to have ever lived, with 0:23:12.119 --> 0:23:17.200 a roughly estimated net worth of over four hundred billion dollars. 0:23:17.920 --> 0:23:21.800 I should note that due to the discrepancies and exactly 0:23:21.880 --> 0:23:24.720 how much gold he had, as well as the not 0:23:24.920 --> 0:23:29.000 exactly linear methods used to translate his supply of gold 0:23:29.080 --> 0:23:34.520 into inflation adjusted dollar amounts. This figure is far from 0:23:34.560 --> 0:23:39.280 what I would consider a solid number, but regardless, Montsa 0:23:39.359 --> 0:23:43.600 Musa's wealth did not carry clout just because of whatever 0:23:43.680 --> 0:23:47.400 dollar amount we place on it. The mosques he erected 0:23:47.440 --> 0:23:51.160 across his pilgrimage spread the practice of Islam, but they 0:23:51.200 --> 0:23:55.720 also worked to attract scholars and merchants from beyond Molly's borders, 0:23:56.119 --> 0:24:01.320 making urban centers of education and trade available in previously remote, 0:24:01.400 --> 0:24:06.560 isolated villages. Though Mousa may have ultimately lacked the funds 0:24:06.600 --> 0:24:10.359 for his return home, his initial display of power and 0:24:10.440 --> 0:24:14.800 affluence not only achieved his initial goal to solidify his 0:24:14.880 --> 0:24:18.880 place on the Malian throne, but secured his legacy far 0:24:18.960 --> 0:24:23.040 beyond the borders of West Africa. This is perhaps best 0:24:23.119 --> 0:24:27.159 exemplified in one of the prime examples of medieval map making, 0:24:27.440 --> 0:24:32.879 the Catalan Atlas, completed in thirteen seventy five. The Catalan 0:24:32.960 --> 0:24:37.120 Atlas was created by a Jewish map maker, Abraham Crescis, 0:24:37.520 --> 0:24:40.080 who had been commissioned by King John the First of 0:24:40.160 --> 0:24:43.160 Arragon to create the map as a gift for King 0:24:43.240 --> 0:24:46.600 Charles the fifth of France. When looking at the Atlas 0:24:46.680 --> 0:24:50.439 from Afar. One of the most striking elements about the 0:24:50.440 --> 0:24:54.480 piece is the amount of color used, and not just color, 0:24:55.080 --> 0:24:59.640 but the all too familiar warm sheen of gold from 0:24:59.680 --> 0:25:04.000 the MPUs on the first panel to flags denoting different nations. 0:25:04.600 --> 0:25:08.240 Your eyes can't move a few inches before being caught 0:25:08.480 --> 0:25:13.560 by the rich metallic adornment. However, the map's most interesting 0:25:13.680 --> 0:25:16.720 use of gold is down at the bottom of the 0:25:16.760 --> 0:25:20.439 first panel, where the image of a dark skinned royal 0:25:21.000 --> 0:25:25.359 sits on a throne. A gold crown is painted atop 0:25:25.480 --> 0:25:28.439 his head, while the man is holding a scepter in 0:25:28.520 --> 0:25:32.640 one hand and a golden orb in the other. When 0:25:32.680 --> 0:25:36.880 Mansa Musa inherited the throne, Molly was a thriving empire 0:25:36.960 --> 0:25:40.120 in its own right, but its borders held itself back 0:25:40.200 --> 0:25:43.879 from the rest of the world. Musa's inclusion in the 0:25:43.920 --> 0:25:47.920 Catalan Atlas, a piece that was created over fifty years 0:25:48.000 --> 0:25:53.280 after his legendary Hajj on an entirely different continent, exemplifies 0:25:53.359 --> 0:25:57.679 the reach his rain had on a global scale. Considering 0:25:57.760 --> 0:26:01.399 the lengths Massa Musa went to wire, the materials and 0:26:01.560 --> 0:26:05.679 manpower to complete his Hajj, it almost makes sense that 0:26:05.800 --> 0:26:16.879 Musa essentially put himself on the global map. That was 0:26:16.920 --> 0:26:20.000 the story of Mansa Musa and his legendary hajj. But 0:26:20.119 --> 0:26:23.320 stick around after a brief sponsor break to hear how 0:26:23.359 --> 0:26:37.919 his legend continues to persist in popular culture today. In 0:26:37.960 --> 0:26:41.840 these seven hundred years since his pilgrimage. Outside of Sid 0:26:41.920 --> 0:26:46.760 Meier's Civilization video game franchise, Mansa Musa's name has largely 0:26:46.800 --> 0:26:50.960 been kept out of our public consciousness. That is, unless 0:26:51.000 --> 0:26:54.600 you know where to look. Now. There is no official 0:26:54.640 --> 0:26:58.240 confirmation citing the inspiration for the scene, but if you 0:26:58.320 --> 0:27:02.359 remember the beloved ninety ninety two Disney animated film Aladdin, 0:27:02.800 --> 0:27:06.679 you may remember a certain song called Prince Ali. In 0:27:06.760 --> 0:27:10.240 a bid to win the heart of Princess Jasmine, Aladdin 0:27:10.359 --> 0:27:13.400 and the Genie concoct a plan to impress her by 0:27:13.440 --> 0:27:17.320 making Aladdin appear to be a rich and powerful Prince 0:27:17.320 --> 0:27:20.560 Ali a Babwa, a prince who proceeds to enter the 0:27:20.600 --> 0:27:24.840 city of Agriba, a top an elephant led by perhaps 0:27:24.880 --> 0:27:28.639 a familiar type of procession of men clearing the path 0:27:28.760 --> 0:27:33.000 for his arrival. If you haven't connected the dots already, 0:27:33.040 --> 0:27:35.359 allow me to direct you to some of the more 0:27:35.440 --> 0:27:40.280 obvious comparisons such as Aladdin dressing as Prince Ali literally 0:27:40.480 --> 0:27:43.399 flinging handfuls of gold coins from where he sits to 0:27:43.440 --> 0:27:46.960 top his elephant from a seemingly endless pile of money, 0:27:47.119 --> 0:27:50.439 or when Prince Ali's procession sings of all the riches 0:27:50.520 --> 0:27:55.600 he brings, including seventy five golden camels, to which, of 0:27:55.600 --> 0:27:58.680 course we all know Robin Williams as the genie parody 0:27:58.760 --> 0:28:01.880 is being an announcer like get the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, 0:28:02.080 --> 0:28:08.120 saying don't they look lovely? June. Of course, Aladdin's golden 0:28:08.160 --> 0:28:11.960