Mansa Musa's Hajj: The Gold That Crashed Egypt
The Mali Empire: The Richest Civilization in History — Fexingo HistoryPlay episode
Show notes
We’ve covered the Kouroukan Fouga and the rise of the Wangara traders, but this episode zooms in on the single event that put Mali on the global map: Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324. When he passed through Cairo, his generous distribution of gold didn’t just buy him friends; it flooded the market and depressed the value of the currency for over a decade. We look at the contemporary accounts from al-Umari and Ibn Battuta, who witnessed the spectacle firsthand, describing caravans with thousands of camels carrying raw gold dust. We explore how this act of religious piety accidentally triggered an economic crisis in the Mamluk Sultanate, forcing local officials to scramble to stabilize the mithqal. It was a moment where West African wealth collided with Middle Eastern economics, leaving a paper trail that historians still debate today. #MansaMusa #MaliEmpire #Hajj1324 #CairoGoldCrash #MamlukSultanate #IbnBattuta #AlUmari #WestAfricanHistory #IslamicPilgrimage #GoldDinar #Mithqal #NigerRiver #Timbuktu #Djenne #TradeRoutes #MedievalEconomics #FexingoHistory #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo
