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Mansa Musa Influence

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While Europe was plagued with diseases and constant warfare, Islamic kingdoms in Africa were prospering. After the fall of the Kingdom of Ghana, the Mali Empire rose to dominate Western Africa. It became one of the most prominent states in the Islamic world, in large part due to Musa Keita I. Considered to be one of the richest people to ever live, he has been credited with making the Mali Empire a cultural center in the Islamic world. Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca, which not only was one of the grandest journeys in history but also had a significant influence on numerous kingdoms and the spread of Islam in Africa. Mansa Musa began his rule in 1312 after his uncle didn’t return from a voyage into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean. Unlike most …show more content…

The wealth of the Emperor was essential to the journey and its grandness. It took years and involved the work of thousands, but in 1324 Mansa Musa began his one year pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, thus becoming the first ruler in West Africa to make the four thousand mile journey. The caravan assembled in the city of Niani from where the journey began. His entourage included tens of thousands of soldiers, civilians and slaves, five hundred heralds bearing gold staffs and dressed in fine silks, and many camels and horse bearing an abundance of gold bars. The caravan stretched as far as the eye could see. Everywhere Mansa Musa went, he gave away gold. He gave it away as gifts, as charity to the poor and hungry, and spent it generously at markets. Stories of his altruism spread around the kingdoms of Africa, and legends were told of the great Empire of Mali. Showering people with gold wasn’t Musa’s only objective during his pilgrimage. As a devout Muslim, he made it his goal to spread Islam. If the day Mansa Musa’s caravan stopped to rest happened to be Friday, he would pay for a mosque to be built in the

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604 Words | 3 Pages

Well definitely not for religious purposes. Mansa Musa took the difficult journey here strictly to trade lots of gold for salt and set up a trading bond for future trading. If the city Taghaza had so much salt and Mansa Musa had more gold than he knew what to do with and not a lot of salt, it was the perfect trade bond for Mansa Musa. This was the perfect trade bond since salt was worth its weight in gold and used for many things, and Mansa Musa had tons of

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284 Words | 2 Pages

There are 5 pillars of Islam, one being a Hajj to Mecca, that Muslims take part in to prove that they are good Muslims. Mansa Musa went on a Hajj for his religion, but he had other intentions for participating in this journey. Mansa Musa was a very wealthy leader of Mali who decided to go on this pilgrimage to Mecca to complete one of the 5 pillars of Islam, and he gave some of his gold to people who lived in the cities along the way where salt was abundant and gold was very valuable. Mansa Musa went to Mecca for his religion, but had other motivating factors. Mansa Musa could have gone through Timbuktu, but instead he decided to go the longer route, through Taghaza and Walata.

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807 Words | 4 Pages

In Africa during the Post-Classical era, 600-1450 CE, the Saharan was no longer a barren wasteland hardly suitable for travel, but, an essential part of both North African and Sub-Saharan West African societies. Camels and caravans allowed for quicker and more effective traveling. With trading becoming increasingly popular in this area, it provided the resources to build new and larger political structures. During this era, Africa’s economy began to change and the western part of Sub-Saharan was no different. With the Trans-Saharan trade routes ability to increase with the help of wealthier Islamic states, it allowed for the spread of religious and political ideas such as larger empires and the Islamic faith in which both greatly influenced

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557 Words | 3 Pages

The key figure in Natalie Zemon Davis’ Trickster Travels: A Sixteenth-Century Muslim Between Worlds is Leo Africanus, who was born al-Hasan al-Wazzan in Islamic Granada, Spain around 1486-88 to a relatively well-off Muslim family. Soon after his birth, his family moved to Muslim governed Fez, Morocco—where he learned to recite Qur’an by heart and attended school. His personal prowess and political connections allowed him to travel extensively (possibly as far as Timbuktu) on diplomatic missions for the sultan of Fez and in the entourage of Muhammad al-Burtuqali. During one of his voyages across the Mediterranean, in 1518, the well-educated al-Wazzan was captured by Christian pirates and was given to Pope Leo X, due to his exceptional intelligence—swiftly

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666 Words | 3 Pages

Trading between the Arabs and the Africans made numerous Africans along the Sahara convert to Islams. This spread Islamic ideology over western and northern Africa. It soon would integrate to everyday life for the Africans of these kingdoms. (ii) Who was the West African ruler that attempted to cross the Atlantic and reach the Americas before Columbus? Why did he fail?

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947 Words | 4 Pages

The societies of West Africa, Europe, and North America exhibited similarities and differences in their religious beliefs, values, and government systems. These contrasts and similarities were further made apparent during European expansion across the Atlantic and the subsequent new cross cultural interactions that were created. One way in which the societies of West Africa, Europe, and North America diverged was in their belief systems. Unlike Europe and North America, West Africa gradually adopted Islam in addition to its traditional religions. Islam diffused through the trans-Saharan trade with North Africa and by the 1200’s was assimilated into the Mali and Songhai Empire.

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Introduction: The Abbasid Caliphate, who ruled the Islamic world after the Ummayads, portrayed the golden era of the Islamic civilization. The Abbasid’s ruled the Islamic civilization from 750 to 1258 AD, causing it to be one of the greatest, most powerful, and most leading Islamic dynasties that ever existed. The Abbasid’s early history shows how it was one of the biggest empires ever established as it spread all the way from Far East to far west. This allowed the Abbasids to capture some of the important values and traditions of those cultures that they dominated.

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234 Words | 1 Pages

The African leaders Sundiata and Mansa Musa accomplished many achievements during their rules. A ruler named Samanguru killed Sundiata’s eleven brothers. Luckily, Sundiata made it out of the attack and survived to have a successful war against Samanguru. This war, called the Battle of Kirina, led to Sundiata becoming the king of Mali.

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Why did Islam spread Quickly? - Trade The Islamic religion spreaded quickly because of trade. Based on the fact, that Islam had trade over many empires. Corresponding to the map on Document A, “ Adding from the profits of caravans was a brisk pilgrimage trade, for Mecca was the site of Arabia 's holiest shrine.

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1185 Words | 5 Pages

Wallerstein described how Cairo’s “economic crisis was accompanied by a breakdown of its monetary system.” The dramatic drop in the value of gold, which people majorly depended on as currency, showed that the economy there had clearly declined tremendously due to Musa’s distribution of gold in Egypt. Just as Alkhateeb stated, “the effect that Mansa Musa’s visit had on Egypt clearly shows the wealth and importance of the Mali Empire, even when it encountered far-off lands.” By the end of the fourteenth century CE, the economy in Egypt experienced a depreciation due to the substantial decline of the currency system. Although Mansa Musa set out on the Hajj in order to help others in need by generously giving out bountiful amounts of gold, the results ironically turned out to have a significantly negative impact that lasted for as long as 12 years—over an entire decade—until the Egyptian economy could gradually and finally recover from the damage Mansa Musa had

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506 Words | 3 Pages

Mansa Musa was a Medieval African emperor who ruled over Mali from 1312-1337. He is most well-known for his pilgrimage to Mecca that happened in 1324. He was the first Muslim African ruler to make the pilgrimage. Mansa Musa doesn’t have a lot of information on his childhood. I do know that he was born into the Keita Dynasty and his parents were Fage and Laye.

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1199 Words | 5 Pages

Before the 1500 ce Africa had many trades, cultures, and also some encounters with Islam. In 1000 ce Islam invaded the West African State, in Dr. Mayers, 2012 study of Africa he stated that the spread of Islam revealed the power of the religion, commercial, and also the military qualities. Many civilizations were being change without being close to at least one Islamic statement. Islam had spread so much in Africa that Islamization had served to connect with Africa and connected more with the outside world through trade, religion, and

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483 Words | 2 Pages

Mansa Musa, king of the Malian empire, in specific was a large influence on the religion of the population. Other pieces of Muslim architecture, such as the great Mosque of Djenne, are evidence of the religion’s dominance in Sub-Saharan Africa. Along the Indian Ocean trade routes, we also see Islam as a dominant religion, but there is much more of a variety. Evidence of Islam in Eastern Africa can be found in the language itself. Swahili, the dominant language of the region, is influenced heavily by Arabic.

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1476 Words | 6 Pages

Mansa Musa helped Islam spread by leaving to pilgrimage and introduced the empire to the Islamic World. He encouraged learning to read the Arabic language to read the Qur’an. He hired architects to build mosques as well. Another example is the Songhai empire. Songhai leaders were Muslims as well.

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571 Words | 3 Pages

In History of Africa, Shillington focuses on many aspects of African culture and factors that made Africa to be the continent that it is today. Chapter 5 primarily focuses on the Northern region of Africa and how empires took over and spread their ideology technology, and culture all through out the region. Even today some remnants of the Roman and Greek empire live on to this day (Shillington, 69.) Despite many people getting the impression that Northern Africa is only influenced by Arabic and Islam, these empires and their conquests are best understood through topics like intricate trading routes, farming, and the spread of religion. Shillington provides an in depth analysis of how many of these conquests affected Northern Africa centuries ago and today.

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