The Journey Of Mansa Musa Dbq

It is early in the day and I am getting ready to set off on the hajj with Mansa Musa. I’m going to the hajj to offer advice and record observations. I’m packing my journal and my pen to get ready to record my observations. We are heading to the Muslim holy city Mecca. This would spread the African king’s name far and wide. I have brown hair and black eyes. I am 13 years old. I counted and see about 60,000 people going to the hajj, 12,000 slaves who were Mansa Musa’s personal servants, 500 slaves who carry gold, 1000 camels, 80-100 camels who carry gold, 100-300 pounds of gold each camel, and 24000 pounds total amount of gold.

As a matter of fact, Mecca was the crossroads of the lucrative caravan trade. Vast camel trains, bearing spices, perfumes, precious metals, ivory and silk, filed through the town, headed north on the way from Yemen to the markets of Syria, etc. (Doc A). In addition, Doc A, also illustrated on a map that these trade routes lead all across the East, from Arabia, all the way to China proving that Islam had the means to travel rapidly. For instance, on trade routes such as the Silk Roads, traders could spread Islam all the way to China and India, making it easy for Islam to spread large distances. However, this information doesn’t explain why it traveled rapidly along these mentioned trade routes. Certainly, this can be explained by the process of cultural diffusion, in which a group’s cultural beliefs are spread from one group to another. In fact, through cultural diffusion, traders could pick up some Islamic influence, and spread it to the other trade

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.

Mansa Musa is one of the well known leaders as well as the richest person who ever lived but he practiced Islam. Because of this he needed to make his Hajj from Mali to Mecca. He also had other motives he wanted to do along the way.

Document A shows that Mansa Musa brought approximately 24,000 pounds of gold and musicians, royal guard, flag bearers, doctors, and teachers in caravans. A reason why Mansa Musa brought many different types of people with him is because he traveled a large section of land, bringing people with different specialties could have given him an advantage when he visited different types of land. He could show different areas how great his city was and services could have been given in return for Mansa Musa’s crew. To add on, Document B shows the trade route that Mansa Musa most likely took on his journey. When looked at, it intersects many trade routes.

There were about 14 provinces within his empire. Each province was run by a governor. This distribution of his workload was significantly reduced by this system. This type of administration that he formed by having governors allowed him to only worry about the large issues present in his empire. All the small issues would be dealt with by the governors so Mansa Musa would not have to worry as much about everything. However, Mansa Musa was very attentive to any complaints and appeals against oppression by governors. This showed how involved he was within his empire. The next thing that Mansa Musa brought the Mali empire was their strong cavalry. While he was reigning, he was able to bring his forces up to about 100,000 soldiers in size. Mansa Musa put this force to work by guarding the Trans-Sahara Trade route that passed through his empire. This allowed for the Mali empire to control the westernmost Trans-Sahara Trade

They educated him about Muslim culture and traveled back to Mali with him. Because of the educated people Mansa Musa brought back to his empire and the large supply of gold he had, Mali flourish and started to become a site of cultural exchange.

Mansa Musa ruled over one kingdom that had both traditional and Islamic culture. Mansa Musa was the most important of the Muslim Negro Kings. He ruled over many countries that made up his entire empire. Mansa Musa was able to rule over Mali fairly, with both traditional and Islamic Cultures, and still have peace as well.

Trickster Travels delivers an intriguing story of al-Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad al- Wazzan later named as Leo Africanus, a diplomat from Morocco, who was a taken prisoner. Pirates had actualized his capture before he was being baptized by Pope Leo X. He then lived for nine years in Italy before becoming a pioneer European geographer within Africa. The book then focuses on various challenges that he faced in a foreign country while experiencing the constant stare of Arabic culture’s shortage in knowledge. Trickster Travels is an informative book that requires constant thematic attention and understanding of culture in previous eras for its clarity.

Mansa Kankan Musa ascended the throne in 1312 and ultimately revived Mali. He was well known for stimulating Mali in many different ways. Before Mansa Musa’s accession to the throne, Mali was in a period of political instability. He ruled for approximately twenty-five years, which brought wealth and consistency to Mali. This ultimately expanded the empire. Mansa Musa gave away so many gifts of gold that the value of gold fell and did not recover for about twelve years. Although he spent his money generously, he did a lot to strengthen the economy of Mali. This included establishing communications with certain areas, strengthening trade, encouraging new eating habits, and

Mansa Musa knew that by building his relationship with the governor of Old Cairo Ibn Amīr Hājib, he was able to verbally express what Mali had to offer if they were to be introduced to the world stage. He told the governor of Old Cairo a good amount about himself and this is how a friendship and soon a diplomatic relationship was built. The sultan of Mali described in detail the characteristics of the land, the army of Mali that was formed by one-hundred thousand individuals, the resources and livestock, and most importantly the vast amounts of gold that they had to offer. In addition to having all of these resources in their possession, Mansa Musa further impressed Ibn Amīr Hājib by telling him that "by his sword and his armies he had conquered 24 cities each with its surrounding district with villages and estates." (CR 89)

Ghana’s capital is described as a large city with twelve mosques where the kings took an active role in day-to-day affairs.” The common misconception of Africa being underdeveloped is proven untrue by the advanced civilization of Ghana which thrived on trade, was led by intelligent kings, and influenced the spread of the Islamic Religion. The mining and trade of gold, iron, and slaves further prove how Africa was developed as a continent. Ancient Ghana, “...Controlled the flow of goods coming in and going out of the area and managed the export of gold and the import of salt from the north of the Sahara desert.” They did this by creating land routes which they were able to traverse using camels.

To escape persecution Mohammed travelled to Medina, this event is known as hijra and today marks the beginning of the Muslim calendar, during his time in Medina Mohammed united the different tribes under the ‘constitution of Medina’.

Mansa Musa- one of the richest rulers in the world and the ruled the Mali Empire in the 14th century. At the time he was crowned, Europe was in a state of flux and suffering in terms of economic prosperity, however many African nations were thriving. While ruling, Mansa Musa tremendously expanded the borders of his empire and also annexed the city of Timbuktu. His entire nation spanned over 2,000 miles. On his elaborate pilgrimage to Mecca, he sought out Middle Eastern and European rulers to establish better relations with them. While on his way, he traveled with many camels, tens of thousands of soldiers and so much gold that the rest of the world started to know him as one of the richest men of the world. In his stop to Cairo, he gave so much money to the poor and spent so much gold that his efforts almost resulted in mass inflation, which took many years to tone down that economic crisis. Over the time Mansa Musa ruled, he became a rich man and well known throughout Europe and the Middle East. For this course, this ties in Africa’s relevance to Europe and the Middle East. This opens up a door for both trade and war in the future.

Muhammad, who was a merchant in the trading city of Mecca, had begun to preach his beliefs in the cities. This set of beliefs had not only tied in the roots of both Judaism and Christianity, but also cultural qualities of the Arabic people at the time. The syncretism of these religions made this new set of beliefs very appealing. Muhammad had taken good aspects of each culture and blended them together in such a way that it was supported by a number of people. Many eagerly followed Muhammad, eventually forming a bond between nomads under the same religion. They did not know it at the time, but this group of united nomads would soon start a very successful conquest throughout the Middle East and parts of Africa.