Reasons For The Journey Of Mansa Musa

In 1324 CE Mansa Musa embarked on one of the greatest journeys in history. The motives for his journey are obscure. He could’ve been trying to find atonement for the murder of his mother, or he could've been on a journey to elevate the position of the Mali empire on the world stage. One thing is for certain Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage was a turning point in the course of Mali’s influence over West Africa and the rest of the world. His hajj moved Mali into an Islamic state and using his newfound religious power and his vast resources he increased Mali’s influence over West Africa and integrated Mali into the wider world system.

Mansa Musa’s Hajj was a pathway to the integration of Islam into Mali’s religious system. This change launched mali

The reason for this influx of power was Mansa Musa’s connections to Islam. According to Michael A. Gomez one of the primary reasons for Mansa Musa hajj was to elevate “Māli's profile on the world stage, leveraging influence relative to North Africa by effecting closer relations with the central Islamic lands”(pg 34). And his goal was certainly realized, an example would be his acquisition of Gao. Ta’rīkh al-sūdān, a West African chronicle written in Arabic by the chronicler of Timbuktu, al-Sa'di, stated: “the mansā became the first ruler to “take possession of it...”(pg 50) Gomez adds “As was true of Gao, there is no hint of hostilities”(pg 50) and he justifies that it was not “military might alone that Gao acquiesced, but also to the newfound spiritual authority Mūsā wielded” (pg 50). Along his journey, Mansa Musa picked up a form of religious authority that could quell a nation, which speaks to the influence that he was able to gain from his hajj and Islam. With Mansa Musa’s newfound religious power, he influenced the rise of Timbuktu which “attracted merchants from all over the Muslim world, especially Egypt and the Maghrib, reaching a point at which they filled the city “to overflowing” (pg 50). His presence catapulted Timbuktu’s publicity and economy, attesting to his newfound and vast influence over the rest of West

In The Catalan Atlas by Abraham Cresques (c. 1375), Mansa Musa is depicted with a gold crown, holding a gold scepter and a golden egg. He is also depicted as the largest character on the map, emphasizing his importance on the global stage. And the importance of gold in his image conveys the importance of his gold to the world. The Catalan Atlas was used all over the known world. To have his influence stretch so far is remarkable. The atlas goes on to say, “the king is the richest and most distinguished ruler of this whole region, on account of the great quantity of gold that is found in his land” ( The Trans-Saharan Trade Network According to the Catalan Atlas) Here he has developed an image of wealth and power, making him a player in the worldwide system. Evidence of this is also present in his journey to Maghrib, which at the time was a major player in West Africa “that rose to power in the Maghrib and al-Andalus in about 1062.”(pg 23). According to al-'Umarī, Mansa Musa was bestowed a “royal robe of honour”, which bore the insignia of al-Nāşir, meaning Mansa Musa was not just a person of eminence, but something much more than that. This great honor is the moment in which Mansa Musa was thought of as an equal to even a great civilization like the