African King Musa Musa I is thought to be the richest person of all time. After adjusting for inflation, his net worth is set at an estimated $400 Billion USD. He gained most of it from the vast gold deposits that existed in his kingdom.
Mansa Musa lived from 1280 – 1337 and ruled the Malian Empire. The empire covered modern day Mali, Ghana, Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger in West Africa.
In 1324, when he made the nearly 4,000 mile pilgrimage to Mecca. He didn't do it on the cheap. He brought a caravan stretching as far as the eye could see, an entourage of tens of thousands of soldiers, civilians and slaves, 500 heralds bearing gold staffs and dressed in fine silks, and many camels and horses bearing an abundance of gold bars.
He was also a generous man, and on his pilgrimage he spent so much gold and donated so much money to the poor that he caused mass inflation that it took a while to recover.
He was included on the 1375 Catalan Atlas (pictured below), one of the most important world maps of Medieval Europe.
So how could Mansa Musa possible cause the African Slavery and scramble of Africa by the Europeans?
Could it be that he was the reason why the European and the Caucasian drew a map of how to exploit Africa after he poured so much gold in every city and towns and villages on his way to Mecca?
Did his lavish attitude led to slave trade?
Please share your thoughts?
A better question is what was his participation in the slave trade to the Arabs.