Surely you will be surprised to learn that the richest person in human history is an African, which has always been considered a dry and poor continent.
A special king of the Mali empire
Who is the richest man in human history? No, it’s not Jeff Bezos or Bill Gates. It’s not Carnegie, Rockefeller, or even Augustus Caesar – though our ancient Roman Emperor also comes in second.
Richest man of all time
The man richer than Augustus Caesar was the richest man who ever lived on Earth. He was so rich that when he spent his money, the whole economy of Medieval Egypt was immediately disrupted.
With his meaningless wealth, this man gave gold and silver to all the poor and destitute people he met. Unfortunately, that kindness caused the gold market in Egypt and the whole Middle East to plummet without stopping for 12 years.
Surely you will be surprised to know who is the richest man in human history.
We are talking about Mansa Musa, king of the Mali Empire, who ruled West Africa from 1312 until his death in 1337. During his reign on the throne, Musa amassed a fortune. so large that even historians cannot understand.
Musa I (c. 1280 – k. 1337) was the 10th Mansa (meaning “king of kings” or “emperor”) of the wealthy Mali Empire. At the time of Mansa Musa’s accession to the throne, the Mali Empire controlled the territories formerly belonging to the Empire of Ghana and Melle (Mali) and the surrounding land. Musa holds many titles, including: Emir of Melle, Lord of the Wangara Mines, Conqueror of Ghanata, Futa-Jallon, and a dozen others.
History records Mansa Musa as the richest person of all time with a net worth equivalent to $400 billion (converted to current value), a huge number that exceeds the combined wealth of 3 billionaires Bill Gates. , Warren Buffett and Amancio Ortega combined.
Although more than 700 years have passed, in terms of wealth and influence, no one can match Mansa Musa.
So far, no one has been able to compare with Mansa Musa.
Mansa Musa comes from royal lineage, he is a cousin of King Abubakari Keita II and was appointed to be the administrator of the country during the king’s absence. Later, he inherited the throne when King Abubakari, who had always dreamed of exploring the Atlantic Ocean personally led 2,000 ships on a journey of discovery that was forever never returned, just because he did not return. news that 199 ships that I sent before had mysteriously disappeared in a large whirlpool in the ocean and only 1 ship left at the end of the group returned to report the news.
Mansa Musa ascended the throne in 1312, while Mali was already a powerful Empire and controlled important trade routes. At that time, Mali was the largest supplier of gold in the world, even half of the gold and salt in the world had to go through Mali.
In order to expand the influence of the Mali Empire, Mansa Musa took control of more lands, including Timbuktu and large parts of Western Sudan. Trade routes through the Sahara at that time were concentrated in the city of Timbuktu, the center of the trade in gold, salt, ivory, kola nuts and even slaves. This is not only an extremely important economic and cultural center in Africa, but also the focus of Muslim countries.
Under the rule of Mansa Musa, the city of Timbuktu increasingly developed and became a meeting place for writers, scholars, and artists of the Middle East.
There are many scholars, architects and artists from Arabia who also followed Mansa Musa back home.
Mansa Musa ascended the throne in 1312, while Mali was already a powerful Empire and controlled important trade routes.
Although only in office for 25 years, the achievements that Mansa Musa created for the economy and culture of the Mali Empire have always been a bright spot in African history and made him a great king in history. history of this continent.
Mansa Musa was a devout king who believed that Islam was the gateway to the cultural world of the Eastern Mediterranean, so he worked hard to develop Islam on the way back to the land. St. Pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324, the most resounding activity of his time in office.
Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage is considered to be the most lavish and grandiose trip of an emperor. All 60,000 of the king’s entourage, including 12,000 slaves, 500 emissaries in silk robes, and a long line of camels had to carry gold bars or bags filled with gold so that Mansa Musa could easily distribute them. for any poor people he encountered along the way.
It was this that made him known as a generous and generous king. People even stood along the streets leading to Mecca to wait for the arrival of Mansa Musa. Someone even revealed, 12 years after Mansa Musa appeared in Cairo, millions of people here still sing songs in praise of the great king of the Mali Empire.
Although he always focused on developing Islam, in his rule, Mansa Musa established a freedom of religion and belief.
During stops in Cairo (Egypt) or Medina (Saudi Arabia), Mansa Musa spent too much gold and inadvertently damaged the economies of those areas. Gold and silver flooded the market, causing prices to climb and inflation to drag on for the next decade.
Then, to correct his mistake, Mansa Musa bought back gold from loan sharks in Cairo. This is perhaps the first and only time in history up to this point that an individual can control the price of gold and silver across the vast Mediterranean region.
After his pilgrimage to Mecca, King Mansa Musa began to build many great mosques, along with huge libraries, royal palaces, and Islamic schools throughout his Empire.
Although he always focused on developing Islam, in his rule, Mansa Musa established a freedom of religion and belief. Some Muslim scholars visiting Mali were surprised to see how colorful the locals dress, even women here don’t need to wear veils.
Education under Mansa Musa was completely free and received many incentives, the rich king also founded the prestigious Sankore Madsarah university. It is these things that have attracted people from all over the world to come here to cultivate knowledge.
Mansa Musa is still considered one of the most powerful people in history.
By the 14th century, the name of Mansa Musa and the Mali Empire had spread throughout the Arab world and attracted the attention of cartographers in Europe, so much so that in the map published in In 1375, Mansa Musa appeared in the middle of West Africa with an image of sitting on a throne and holding a gold bar in his hand as if to symbolize his wealth.
To this day, Mansa Musa is still considered one of the most powerful people in history, as well as the richest person in the world.
