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BLACK HISTORY MONTH: FOCUS ON AFRICAN EMPIRES 3400BCE–1900CE Musa and the pilgrimage to IN DEPTH

This is an imaginary interview with Mansa Musa, who was the Emperor of from 1312 to 1337. In this interview, he is Did you know? talking about his pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324, a journey that took nearly two There were many languages spoken years. You could act out the parts of in the , although the name Mansa Musa and the scholar who is ‘Mali’ comes from the language of the interviewing him, and then write a news Malinke tribe. Arabic was introduced article based on Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage. to Mali by Arab traders who used the SCHOLAR: Good evening Your Majesty. trade routes across the Sahara desert. How are you today? Mansa Musa would have spoken Arabic, particularly as the Qur’an (the MANSA Islamic holy book) was written in Arabic. MUSA: l am well, Allah be praised.

SCHOLAR: l believe that you have just returned from the to Mecca. How long did your pilgrimage take?

MANSA MUSA: l left Niani, my capital in 1324 and now, two years later, l have finally returned to my people.

SCHOLAR: Wow, that is a major expedition. How were you able to keep yourself in the manner that you are accustomed to?

MANSA MUSA: Well, obviously most of the members of my court came with me, and we travelled with 60,000 servants and 100 .

SCHOLAR: l understand that you spent some time in Egypt before you got to Arabia – This Spanish map from 1375 shows Mansa what did you get up to there? Musa (bottom right) seated on his throne.

Taken from Black History: African Empires by Dan Lyndon © Franklin Watts 2010. www.franklinwatts.co.uk This coin is from the 13th century, and is an example of the beautiful Islamic coins produced across an area covering Spain and Afghanistan.

MANSA MUSA: ln fact, l had to borrow money from an Egyptian merchant to make sure that l could get back to Mali. A 15th-century illustration of the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, which Mansa SCHOLAR: Musa would have visited on the Hajj. Did you bring anything back from your travels? MANSA MUSA: lt was an important part of my MANSA Muslim beliefs to be generous to my MUSA: lndeed, l bought some Turkish Egyptian brothers and sisters, so every and Ethiopian slave girls, some singing Friday at evening prayers l would give girls and beautiful garments and cloth. them gifts of gold. SCHOLAR: l understand that you also SCHOLAR: Have you any idea how much brought back with you some important you spent? scholars and architects from Egypt.

MANSA MANSA MUSA: My treasurer tells me that we left MUSA: That is correct. l want them to Mali with 24,000 pounds of gold [which help me build some madrassas (lslamic in today’s money is about three million schools) in . We will have the pounds worth]. We returned with nothing. best schools and libraries in the whole However, there were many built of Africa. l want Timbuktu to be with our gold. The problem was that l famous for the teaching of lslam spent so much money that the value of the around the world. Egyptian gold market has slumped because there is so much gold available. SCHOLAR: Many thanks, Your Majesty.

MANSA SCHOLAR: How did you get home in the end? MUSA: My pleasure.

Taken from Black History: African Empires by Dan Lyndon © Franklin Watts 2010. www.franklinwatts.co.uk A timeline of African Empires

c.3400 BCE The Kingdom of Ta-Seti 1591 An invasion from Morocco leads (sometimes called Kush) to the breakup of the c.3000 The First Dynasty of Egyptian 1622 Queen Nzingha attacks the pharaohs Portuguese in Angola c.2500 The pyramids at Giza are built 1652 Dutch settlers take over Cape Colony in South Africa c.300 CE The Kingdom of Ghana is founded 1660 The Royal African Company is set c.700 sweeps across up by the British to trade slaves from Africa c.800 – c.1000 The trans-Saharan 1660–1833 The height of the trade routes open up Transatlantic Slave Trade, an estimated 30 million Africans are taken to the 1076 Tenkamenin, Emperor of Ghana, Americas fights against Muslim invaders 1789 Olaudah Equiano publishes his c.1200 The Kingdom of Mali is founded autobiography, An Interesting Narrative..., 1235 Sundiate Keita becomes Mansa to campaign against the slave trade (Emperor) of Mali 1856 David Livingstone crosses Africa c.1300 The Shona people start to build from east to west Great Zimbabwe 1858 John Speke reaches the source 1312 Mansa Musa rules Mali of the River Nile c.1440 Portugal starts trading with 1884 The Conference of Berlin divides , including the first slaves Africa up between the European powers, Oba Ewuare becomes the leader of Benin. starting the ‘Scramble for Africa’ Work starts on the walls and moat around 1900 The Asanti wars begin, led by Benin City Yaa Asantewaa, fighting against British 1468 Sunni Ali forms the Songhai control of the Gold Coast (Ghana) Empire 1481 Elmina, a fort which was used for Key: holding enslaved Africans, is built by the - The formation of African Empires Portuguese - Trade 1493 Askiya becomes ruler - Resistance of Songhai - Explorers

Taken from Black History: African Empires by Dan Lyndon © Franklin Watts 2010. www.franklinwatts.co.uk More about Mansa Musa

Mansa Musa One of the most famous emperors of Mali was Mansa Musa, who reigned from 1312 until 1337. He made Mali even wealthier by capturing the cities of and Timbuktu. By this time most of Mali’s people were , and there were many mosques built during Mansa Musa’s reign. However, parts of the Empire were not happy about having Islam as their religion, particularly in the Songhai region. After the death of Mansa Musa, there were a series of terrible droughts and these, combined with invasions from Songhai in the east, brought about the end of the Mali Empire.

Djenne Mosque at Timbuktu still stands today. It was built by Mansa Musa in c.1326.

Websites http://www.bbc.co.uk/1xtra/ http://www.blackhistorypages.net/pag The BBC’s 1Xtra website which features a es/mansamusa.php link to its black history pages. Here you can Find out more about Mansa Musa. Also go to find out about media-based icons from black the home page for black history information – history, plus watch videos of black icons and based on the day you go on to the website! listen to music clips.

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Taken from Black History: African Empires by Dan Lyndon © Franklin Watts 2010. www.franklinwatts.co.uk