Mansa Musa
Learn about Mansa Musa — the Mali emperor whose legendary wealth made him the richest person in history and put West Africa on the medieval world map.
Mansa Musa (r. c. 1312–1337 CE) was the emperor of the Mali Empire and, by many accounts, the wealthiest individual in human history. His famous hajj to Mecca in 1324–1325 was so lavish — involving a caravan of tens of thousands of people and reportedly tons of gold — that it depressed gold markets across the Mediterranean and put West Africa on European maps for the first time.
Musa's wealth derived from Mali's control of the trans-Saharan gold trade. The empire sat atop some of the richest gold deposits in the world, and its position at the southern terminus of the trans-Saharan trade routes allowed it to tax the commerce that connected West Africa to the Mediterranean world. Under Musa, Timbuktu became a major center of Islamic learning, with the University of Sankore attracting scholars from across the Muslim world.
Mansa Musa's pilgrimage was not merely a display of wealth — it was a strategic diplomatic exercise. By demonstrating Mali's riches and piety, Musa raised his empire's profile in the Islamic world, attracted scholars and architects to his court, and established commercial relationships that enriched Mali for generations. The Catalan Atlas of 1375 depicts him holding a gold nugget, enthroned in the heart of Africa — an image that shaped European perceptions of the continent for centuries.