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complete your Early African Civilizations

Booklet

Mansa Musa ruled Mali from 1312 to 1337. He expanded its empire to twice its original

size and also gained control of trade routes throughout Africa. Mali’s two most valuable trade

goods, gold and salt, reached the ends of the continent on these routes. In 1324 Mansa Musa,

who was a Muslim, decided to go on a pilgrimage, or hajj, to Makkah. The king assembled a huge

caravan that traveled with him on his journey. This caravan helped Mansa Musa establish an

important position for himself and Mali in the Muslim world.

Mansa Musa’s caravan included thousands of soldiers and servants, along with 80 camels

carrying over two tons of gold. On his way to Makkah, Mansa Musa stopped in Cairo he spent

large sums of money and gave many gifts of gold. He brought so much gold with him that he

made the value of gold fall. Mansa Musa then continued on to Makkah. The sights he saw in

Makkah inspired him to create great mosques, libraries, and universities in Mali. When Mansa

Musa returned to Mali, he brought back many Arab scholars, architects, and poets who helped

build his home city of Timbuktu into a center for Islamic studies.

Sundiata • The griots of West Africa still tell the 700-year-old story of a sickly boy named

Sundiata, who grew up to become a great warrior, defeated a brutal enemy, and united the Mandinka people.• Sundiata was one of twelve sons of a Mandinka warrior. Samanguru killed all of

Sundiata’s brothers, but spared the future warrior. Samanguru believed the young Sundiata was sickly and would soon die anyway. That mistake would lead to Samanguru’s downfall. The ill child recovered and eventually assembled an army to confront Samanguru. Sundiata’s forces killed Samanguru and destroyed his forces in the Battle of Kirina in 1235. Sundiata then became mansa, or king, of a new empire that we know today as Mali. Mali means “where the king resides.”• He also worked to improve agriculture and introduced cotton. • Video

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