Mansa Musa's Hajj of 1324 1325

The Effects of Mansa Musa and His Hajj in 1324-1325

Mansa Musa was Mali’s ruler from 1312 CE to 1337 CE, during whose reign, Mali was one of the richest African regions. To date, he is still considered as one of the richest persons on the face of Earth even when compared to current times’ wealthiest people on the planet. The following paper aims at assessing the strength of sources used for the research proposal that highlighted the effects of Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage and his wealth in 1324-1325.

Part 1

The research paper aims to analyze four primary and two secondary sources used for the research proposal. The sources’ strengths and weaknesses would be evaluated so that the research could be viewed as reliable and authentic. The thesis is about Mansa Musa’s role during hi Hajj in 1324-1325 that had lasting effects on Islam’s spread. It opened doorways to European trade connections, and the immense wealth that he distributed over there in the form of gold devalued the worth of gold in Mecca, Medina, and Cairo for the next ten years.

The primary source documents that have been sued in the research proposal are the accounts of the people that belonged to those times when Mansa Musa was present. These sources provide verification of his wealth and the pilgrimage details. The sources are in the form of accounts of people related to him, people who traveled to his region, or those who knew him or have witnessed him in real life. These primary sources offer proof of his wealth and the sources from where he found it. It was even certified that he was rich and did not put a false show when he visited for pilgrimage. This is again confirmed by the primary sources and accounts of people who valued his wealth in actual weight and measurement scales, such as “500 mithqals of gold”[footnoteRef:1]. Many of these sources are eye-witnesses of those times and the king himself, which implies these primary sources’ strength. There is no such weakness except the slight inclination that some of the primary sources are written in the 1700s, including people’s accounts from those times. These prices of information that were written later might be subjective as they were written after a few decades. [1: Melanie Lund, Unit 3: Mansa Musa primary source analysis, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpdGGei_18k, October 22, 2020]

The background of the under discussion sources is that they are from the times when Mansa Musa, the greatest and wealthiest emperor of Mali in 1312-1337, visited Mecca from the pilgrimage. His visit had prominent effects on the economics of the places he journeyed, including Medina and Cairo. The gold he brought to these places devalued the gold’s worth but opened European trade links that flourished these places’ business and industries. The primary sources indicate that he had a fortune in abundance, which the eye-witnesses verify. Even the drawings of that era specify this king’s true picture by the details and miniature demonstrations on the illustrations[footnoteRef:2]. Despite being a rich man, his personality traits were detailed by people who met other people who were present at the time of his arrival in Egypt. He was a humble king and prioritized his Pilgrimage visit as he only wanted to perform his Holy duty first and did not want to meet any other emperor or kiss his court ground[footnoteRef:3]. He was even true to his Muslim roots despite all the wealth and did not show any pride. He did not tolerate stealth, corroborated by Ibn e Batuta’s written accounts of the Negro governor in Mansa Musa’s times[footnoteRef:4]. He stated that the king had a white man who tried to steal his gold and run away; however, the king caught him and handed him over to the cannibals. [2: Abraham Cresques, \"Mansa Musa (Catalan Atlas-detail)\", Majorcan Cartographic School, Spain, 1375] [3: Al-Umari, Kingdom of Mali Primary Sources: Primary Source Document, 1981] [4: Ibn e Batuta, Ibn e Batuta travels to Mali, 1352]

The secondary sources used in the research proposal verify the same findings of the West African king’s wealth and his compose about his high position that created an aura when he entered Cairo with his 100 camels, 135 kilos of gold dust, and 500 slaves[footnoteRef:5]. His lavish spending created a problem for gold value in Egypt for several coming years[footnoteRef:6]. [5: Mark Cartwright, Mansa Musa I, 26 February, 2019, https://www.ancient.eu/Mansa_Musa_I/ ] [6: Margari Hill, The spread of Islam in West Africa: Containment, mixing and reform from the eighth to the twentieth century, January 2009, https://spice.fsi.stanford.edu/docs/the_spread_of_islam_in_west_africa_containment_mixing_and_reform_from_the_eighth_to_the_twentieth_century ]

Part 2

Various levels of connectivity have been seen in the selected sources, which would be discussed by three major themes of the research paper outlined below.

Mansa Musa’s wealth

Mansa Musa’s wealth and its verification have been given numerous times in all the selected sources. All of the sources show a similarity in this very theme since Mansa Musa primarily became rich from the salt and gold trade afterward. This fact has been mentioned in Cartwright and Hill’s sources. However, the wealth that he brought to the pilgrimage has been quantified by primary sources a well. For instance, the YouTube source mentions that primary accounts tell that he brought 60,000 men, 5000 slaves, and 500 mithqals of gold that he has seen with his own eyes. Again, this has been supported by the fact which is mentioned in Al-Umari’s account that he flooded the emperors and holders of royal office with gifts, gold, and money, and this buying and selling depressed gold’s value and its price fell.

Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage visit and its effects

It has been mentioned in YouTube’s primary source that his reason for pilgrimage was his killing of his mother by mistake. He did not want to be punished by God, and hence, he wanted to escape the wrath by giving alms and resolving too fast for the rest of his life. Further, a Muslim scholar at that time suggested that he must find peace from the Messenger of God, to which he deicide to visit Mecca for pilgrimage. The same primary source cited the amount of wealth he gathered and traveled with to Mecca, which is substantiated by Cartwright’s secondary source. His depiction of wealth has even been upheld by the drawing from famous illustrators of that time in which persona is shown in “black” color with a crown. The same representation has been supported again in secondary source by Margari Hill since he made his mark in European trade because of his lavish spending in the area. This lavish spending could be attributed to the alms for which his pilgrimage’s purpose was mentioned earlier in the primary source. Another fact has been verified in the primary and secondary sources that he made Islam his state religion. All the people, including himself, followed its teaching strictly, supported by Ibn e Batuta’s accounts that he did not tolerate stealth.

His actual wealth or pretense

The confirmations of his actual wealth have been given by the eye-witnesses of his pilgrimage time since primary source in YouTube video told that in the 1300s, when Mansa Musa came to Egypt with his people, their money was infinite. Another primary source in the same video gave the exact quantifications of the gold dust, slaves, and men that the king brought with him. Also, the main source of his wealth has been mentioned as the gold mines in Mali that the king was now in control of. It has been confirmed in other sources such as Abraham Cresques drawing illustration and Al-Umari primary documents.

Similarities and contrast in sources

The sources’ similarities have been discussed in the above section related to the research paper’s three identified themes. However, the contrasts are few. The abundance of information in some sources is high and in the others is very low. For instance, if in one source it is mentioned that he was the wealthy king of Mali, the other source explains all the types of wealth he has in his kingdom like the army of men he had established, the number of horses he owned, the empire’s details and gold mining descriptions.

Another indication that is about his being a staunch Muslim, he showed his religious principles by making Islam his state religion and showing the same values when he visited Egypt by not accepting to kiss the grounds of their emperor’s court. He did not stand theft, cited in Ibn e Batuta’s writings, and refused to bow in Egypt’s sovereign’s court when he was cited in Al-Umari’s primary source. Another demonstration of being a faithful Muslim was giving alms that he bestowed in Egypt in the form of unlimited gold. The only contradiction here is the amount of information presented in both sources. Ibn e Batuta’s writing is limited, while Al-Umari’s writing is a full explanation of the incident with Mansa Musa’s own explicit words.

Changes over time in African society

More autonomy was brought into African society when a wealthy Muslim ruler like Mansa Musa took Mali’s power. It was surprisingly enlightening that Africans flourished in almost all major trades and industries in the region with all the gold mining. It has even been stated that the control that Mali has gained over the years under Musa’s rule could not have been possible during the reigns of all of the subsequent rulers. The vast lands that had been under his control and best administration were not observed in later years. The states’ economy could be examined by the tax systems, trading policies in the region, and regulation of copper and gold mines so that people of all tribes could thrive happily and could have stable living standards. The primary sources confirmed these details but did not find any contradiction in information since some of the sources mentioned this prosperity in a few words. In contrast, the others explained the situation comprehensively.