Musa: A look at the richest man that ever lived

AGE OF KINGS AND EMPERORS
Since the days of King Solomon, men have been obsessed with quantifying wealth. Questions about how wealthy people like Jeff Bezos, Carlos Slim and William Gates are, will always arise.

For some others the actual richest men of our generation are corrupt dictators of the present, immediate past and past.

People like Muammar Gaddafi, Saddam Hussein and a host of others.

Before them, there was a man in modern history who really set the pace- John D. Rockefeller. He was said to be the first true billionaire(that is a story for another day).

Taking a couple of steps backwards-a few centuries back, but not so far back as to the time of the great King Solomon, there lived a King in Africa. His wealth stretched from the deserts in the north, to the Atlantic in the West. I heard he was born Musa Keita, but if you do know him, you might know him by the name, Mansa Musa.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Mansa, which means “King of kings” was a name Musa adopted when he became king in 1312. The story about how he became king is a rather interesting one. In those days, it was the norm in the Malian Empire for the king to handover to a deputy when he was away on official assignments. The emperor at that time, Abubakari Keita II was planning on making a pilgrimage to Mecca, and installed him in his place for the first time. (Think vice-president, if you will).

A little while later, Abubakari Keita II set out to explore the Atlantic, and he was never seen or heard from again. Musa Keita inherited the throne naturally, seeing he had been acting in the capacity of a deputy.

Most of Mansa Musa’s wealth, was gotten from trading in gold, ivory, and salt. At a time when Europe was experiencing a drop in gold and silver production, Mansa Musa was literally eating with golden utensils.
He wasn’t just rich, he was a great ruler. He expanded the borders of his empire tremendously, and his kingdom cut across(partially or fully) what is today’s Mali, Nigeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Mauritania, Senegal, Guinea, and Chad (about 2000 miles in total).
New trading posts were built, ensuring the empire became even more powerful.
He annexed the city of Timbuktu and it was rumuoured that he built a mosque every Friday. What we do know for sure is that he did build a lot of schools, mosques and at least one major university. The ancient center of learning, Sankore Madrash was built during his reign.
He also built the historic Djinguereber Mosque in Timbuktu, which is still standing till this day-some 700 years later.

Mansa Musa came to the fore, and his fame spread across the mediterranean like rapid fire in 1324, when he decided to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca, being a devout muslim. It was said that his caravan was at least 60,000 strong, and stretched as far as ones eyes could see. He also had a thousand attendants, 100 camels laden with gold weighing about 137 kilograms each, a host of musicians and about 500 of his servants all held golden staffs weighing four pounds. There was no lack or want for them, as they were spoilt with exotic foods at every stop. His belongings were also carried by 12,000 private slaves who were well dressed in Yemeni silk and brocade.

On getting to Cairo, it was said that he gave so much gold away-to the poor mostly, that he caused mass inflation (a drop of as much as 25%) and ruined their economy for years to come! This naturally stabilised in time.

Such splendor was difficult to maintain, and on his trip back home, he ran out of gold. As a result, he had to take out loans from lenders in Cairo at ridiculously high interest rates, carrying away as much gold as he could carry. In essence, he directly controlled the price of gold in the mediterranean.
This was said to be the only time this has happened in recorded history.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Travelling over 400 miles from Timbuktu to Mecca, this journey would take him over one year to complete.

Mansa Musa ruled for about 25 years, and his son, Maghan I took over from him when he died in 1337.
He and his heirs were unable to sustain the wealth generated by his father, and just two hundred years later, everything was gone-mostly as a result of wars.

Taking inflation rates into consideration, Mansa Musa’s wealth is estimated to had been about $400B. To put this into perspective, Jeff Bezos is worth a mere $118B (who ever thought the day would come, when $118B would be termed “mere”). John D. Rockefeller is estimated to have amassed a $336B fortune.
With the spread of his name also came a change in Europe’s perception of Mali, and the Portuguese began to hatch plans of how to carry out raids against the Malian Empire. These raids would begin in the 15th century.

His wealth and legacy would be visible for generations to come. Till this day, there are mausoleums and libraries that stand as testament to his greatness, and the golden age in Mali’s history can’t be talked about, without the mention of that name, Mansa Musa I.

Interesting fact:
His image could be seen on the 1375 Catalan Atlas, one of the most important world maps of Medieval Europe. (second image)

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