Costly Splurging That Ruined an Empire
Sometime circa 1226, the Mali Empire was founded in West Africa. It became famous for its wealth, derived derived from huge gold deposits, ivory, salt, and slaves. Early rulers piled up the gold, until Mansa Musa ascended the throne circa 1312, and began to splurge. His most lavish spree occurred when he decided to make the hajj, or pilgrimage, to Mecca, about 2700 miles away, and showcase his magnificence en route. Musa’s procession included 60,000 men, clad in expensive silk and brocade. Heralds were dressed in even more expensive silks and carried gold staffs, while 12,000 slaves bore four pounds of gold each. More wealth was borne on eighty camels, each with about three hundred pounds of gold dust. As they trekked across the Sahara and savannah, Musa freely handed out gold to the poor along the way.
He generously donated to cities en route, and reportedly built a mosque every Friday. When he reached Cairo, he was fleeced by merchants who exploited his ignorance of prices. His costly purchases there caused prices to skyrocket, inflation ravaged Egypt for years afterwards. Musa wanted to showcase his wealth, and he succeeded. A contemporary described his pilgrimage as “a lavish display of power, wealth, unprecedented by its size and pageantry“. However, Mansa Musa’s lavish pilgrimage turned out to be a costly mistake that nearly ruined his realm and set it on a steep decline. For generations, the Mali Empire had been known for its wealth. Two decades after Musa’s pilgrimage, medieval traveler Ibn Battuta visited Mali, and described it as poor. It fell to the neighboring Songhay Empire a few years later.