The forbes list with the richest people in the world is headed by Elon Musk, with 219 billion dollars. Others stand out, such as Jeff Bezos, Bernard Arnault, Bill Gates and more, many more. But all of them would pale in the presence of Mansa Muse, considered as the richest person… in history.
Musa I of Mali, Musa Keita or simply Mansa Musa (Mansa means king, or king of kings), was an African leader who lived between the years 1280 and 1337. When Europe was close to leaving the Middle Ages, Musa’s domains in Africa were vast and his wealth limitless.
His empire spanned some 3,000 kilometers, in present-day Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, and Chad.
Mansa Musa’s rise to power
Mansa Musa ascended the throne in 1312, succeeding Kankan Musa, the first king of the Laye line. He was the first devout Muslim to lead the empire, and after his pilgrimage to Mecca, North Africa and Europe had the first news about him.
He headed a very luxurious caravan, with thousands of servants and pack animals, and distributed gold in abundance in the cities and towns he visited.
According to Business Insider, on his stop in Cairo he spent so much gold and donated so much money to the poor, “that it caused massive inflation. It would take years for the city to fully recover from the currency crisis.”
The economic base of Mansa Musa’s empire was gold, salt and copper. And in the known world, while Europe was mired in religious and civil wars, life in Musa’s lands was much calmer.
Only the annexation of Timbuktu and the restoration of power in Gao, in addition to some minor conflicts in the extension of the empire, caused problems. But the economy continued to rise.
Timbuktu became a dream city, with mosques, universities and more establishments. It was the axis of the commercial routes of Africa at the time.
The death of the king and the decline of the Mali Empire
His death in 1337 dealt a heavy blow to the Mali Empire, which would last at least until the 15th century, when civil wars ravaged the area.
Mansa Musa’s life is little known, but in 2018 it was said that Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan, perhaps inspired by the success of Black Panther, they would produce a film about the character. Nothing has come true yet.
However, it can be played with in Civilization VI: Gathering Storm, at the head of the Malian civilization.