Mansa Musa Accomplishments

4. Mansa Musa took over 14 provinces and 24 cities during his 25 year reign and he had the largest army which consisted of 100,000 troops and 10,000 cavalrymen.

Abdallah Ibn Battuta was one of the most recognized of medieval travelers. His Rihla, or book of travels tells the story of his travels throughout Africa, Indonesia, Central Asia, India, the Middle East, Russia, and China between 1325 and 1354. Said Hamdun and Noël King have translated those portions of the Rihla, that tells of Ibn Battuta’s travels to East Africa in 1329 or 1331 and his extended travels and visits in West Africa between 1352 and 1354. This small part of his Rihla, solidifies his influence and presents the only written account we have of the East African city-states or the empire of Mali in the fourteenth century.

Muslims controlled the trade routes in Mali which made it easier for Battuta in order to maneuver around the empire because of the fact that he is also a Muslim and traveled throughout the Islamic world. Some Malians would use salt as a medium of exchange even though gold and silver were used mostly everywhere else. Gold, copper, salt, kola nuts, and spices were immensely crucial to the Malian economy, its gold is very important around the world. Battuta explains on the occasion of former king of Mali Mansa Musa went to Cairo two years prior before him and the king “flooded Cairo with his kindness” which would upset their gold market for many years. Social inequality was an issue in Mali, prisoners that were capture were made into slaves, especially women, they were gathers and served as concubines for example, Battuta illustrates how women servants and slaves girls are practically naked in front of everyone including Mansa Suleyman daughters. Men either hunt or maintain the structure of the house. Battuta also expressed his dislike of the way Malian’s were not ritually slaughtering their animals. However he praises how clean the natives are in the mosque on Fridays and memorizing the Quran by

Under Mansa Musa, Mali became the the largest and one of the most renown kingdoms in Africa. Gold was abundant and the empire was prosperous; what more could one ask for? Though as it turns out fame and prosperity can be fleeting. The empire

Muhammad a prophet for our time is written by Karen Armstrong. This book is like a diary that tells the life of Muhammad and how he played a big role in the Islamic religion. Muhammad was born in the year 570 ce and died in 623 ce. Muhammad was a man who did not have much going for him, he couldn’t read and lived in a cave with his wife at the time. When Muhammad was reached down upon by Allah he did not know what was happening and why it was happening. “ he knew that some people expected the imminent arrival of an Arab prophet, but it never occurred to him that he would be the one entrusted with the mission.” (p.10). Muhammad was 40 years old when this happened and he lived in Mecca. Mecca at the time had many different civilizations and was a big trading center. Arabs at the time did not like this and kept moving from places to place to get something stable. Some of the Arabs even had settled in urban areas around Mecca. Society in Mecca was based on laws and traditions that even though Allah is the main god

The popular legend of Joaquin Murrieta is that of a peace loving man driven to seek revenge and equality in the time of the Gold Rush Era. While getting caught up in poverty in his old home land he immigrated to California from Sonora in 1849 in hopes of mining for gold and becoming successfully rich. However,what he encountered instead was extreme racism and strong competition from the individuals at the mining camps. Coming into the 1850s the Mexican/American war was thrust upon the people and Mexicans experienced blatant remarks and criticisms from society. Upon experiencing such behavior Mexicans were forced to take matters into their own hands, which later on, Joaquin Murrieta came to see. Prior to acknowledging this fact, his family had been brutally attacked while mining one day because other miners were becoming

Following this major change in faith, Muhammad tried to gain a following among the Arab people. This proved unsuccessful at first, so Muhammad and his friends journeyed to the area of Yathrib, which he renamed Medina and established himself as the ruler. The journey of Muhammad is now know as the Hijrah and is used by Muslims to date their

The History of Africa is very interesting. They had many trade routes and many resources such as salt and gold, their most popular resource was gold. Mansa Musa was their leader and had gone on the Haji as a duty and made their empire known throughout other countries. After that journey the empire had expanded even more that from the start of when their empire first rose up. As you could tell Mansa Musa was a good leader because of the choices he had made to create africa today. In Medieval Africa, Mansa Musa had an Economic impact on Africa because of the duty of islam and the value of gold.

Mali: Gold and Salt trade; reached its peak in 14th century; Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca; Islam

The journey of Mansa Musa on his hajj made everyone wonder if he went on the journey simply for his religion, or if there were other underlying factors for his journey. Mansa Musa traveled along his journey through Africa for his religion. Mansa Musa was a muslim Mali empire who went on a trek through Africa to complete one of the five pillars, which his religion obligated him to do.

Like a dog does tricks for food, Mansa Musa did a variety of activities to spread word of his fame. Mansa Musa, an ancient ruler of the kingdom Mali in Western Africa, ruled from 1312-1337 BCE. While Mali was under his rule, Mansa Musa, expanded gold-salt trade, built a large standing army, as well as took part in one of the 5 Pillars of Faith, a holy pilgrimage known as the hajj. Although the hajj is a religious event, Musa used it as a tool to do much more than show his devotion to Allah. Through his need to prove his importance, going out of his way, and creating impressions, Mansa Musa’s main intention while going on his hajj was to spread his fame.

The author Maryse Conde has based the story of Segu on real life events and practices of the late 18th and early 19th century. The author has tried to bring out the tensions that existed in Africa at that time by using the four brothers of the Traore family,Tiekoro, Siga, Naba and Malobali as scapegoats. She talks about each of these characters in depth to show us their influences on the city. She shows how traditional religion and Islam impact each character in the story.

Sundiata: an Epic of Old Mali was written by D.T. Niane and translated by G.C. Pickett. D.T. Niane was a historian who received this version of Sundiata’s epic from Djeli Mamoudou Kouyaté, a griot. In fact, there is not a true author for this epic due to the fact that it has been transmitted orally for many years. This epic justly showed the type of culture Africa had at the time taken place and has defined the type of people who use to reside there. Sundiata: an Epic of Old Mali withholds many themes, but only some of importance: the transmission of the epic, politics, religion, and destiny.

The sacred traditions, customs, and beliefs of ancient Mali is a story of epic proportions. To retrieve the great lineage of the First Kings of Mali and learn the history behind certain rituals told by an exquisite narrative that is perfectly woven together through different stories. The legend of Sundiata stresses the importance of understanding and respecting one’s history. In D. T. Niane’s “Sundiata An Epic of Old Mali,” the African history of Mali is presented through tribal customs, honor, and jealousy between brothers.

“We’re here?” I question, seeing a large trading town a mile away. We’ve traveled 500 miles in one month by the way. Mansa Musa replies, “Yes.” “I’ve heard of this town, it’s an Oasis town.” adds the muslim scholar. We are in silence for the short mile, and once we reach the town the camels stop, having reached their 100-mile limit for the day. The town is bustling with trading activities, I smell fruit, meat, salt, and smoke from the cooking around the trading stalls. My mouth is watering, for we have only been eating bread for the whole trip whilst the Mansa has been feasting. I pull a gold coin I packed for my trip and go to trade for a couple of apples. I ask for apples and the trader gives me five apples, split into halves, and I hand