you probably believe Jeff Bezos, the
founder and CEO
of Amazon, having crossed the $150 billion mark
is the richest person who ever lived
or perhaps Bill Gates who was the richest person for many years
before Jeff Bezos replaced him at the
number one spot
however throughout history there have
been much richer men
taking into account inflation and the
value of wealth held
Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates actually sit
much further down
in the richest people ever list. With the
likes of Genghis Khan
founder of the Mongol Empire and John D. Rockefeller
an american business magnate and
philanthropist, taking precedence.
But the richest person who
ever lived
is actually thought to be Musa
Keita I or better known as Mansa Musa
emperor of the wealthy West African Islamic Mali Empire
with an estimated peak net worth of $400 billion in today's dollar
But how did Musa become the richest person of all time
and what did he accomplish during his reign?
*Novella intro playing*
in the 14th century, Musa was the 10th
emperor of the west african country Mali
and is often regarded as the richest person in history
although it is impossible to
put an exact value on Mansa Musa's assets
the gold-loving monarch had several thousand servants, camels and musicians
they were one of the greatest empires of
that time
although it was not the biggest
like the Roman Empire
they were definitely a key piece
economically and religiously
Mansa Musa ruled the empire for 25 years between 1312 and 1337.
during his reign Mansa Musa conquered 24 cities and his empire
may have been the largest producer of gold in the world at the time
Musa collected large amounts
of gold that Mali's many gold mines produced
and led the Empire to prosperity and serious development
besides gold he also acquired most part of his wealth
from the production and the trade of salt
in fact his trade of salt and gold accounted for
almost half of the world's supply at the time
though Musa had become fabulously
wealthy through trade
the rest of the world only became
aware of the extent of his wealth
when he embarked on a pilgrimage to
Mecca
his caravan traveled throughout Cairo,
Medina and finally to
the holiest muslim city called Mecca, with a procession of more than
60 000 people,
dozens of animals and plenty of gold
leading the host, Mansa Musa,
were 500 heralds clad in persian silk
and bearing four foot long golden staffs
glistening in the sun
and nearly blinding anyone who looked at
them
next came the royal guards, some bearing
spears
and swords, others the flags of their
Empire
also in tow was a retinue of 12 000 of
the king's personal slaves
the journey took him and his servants over a year to complete
and introduced him to rulers
in the Middle East and in Europe
during Mansa Musa's trip, he stopped off in Egypt and camped near the pyramids for three days
for the time being he and his entourage passed through gold to people in the streets
eventually causing a 10 year economic crash in Egypt
they gave so much gold away that the circulation of gold
increased vastly in the country and also around the whole world
Egyptian traders took advantage of Mansa Musa's generosity
by charging 5 times the normal price for their goods
consequently the value of gold in Egypt decreased as much as 25 percent
while spending his time in Cairo and Mecca he spent so much gold that he eventually ran out
with no funds to support his journey back home, he had to borrow a large amount
from Egyptian merchants, and to rectify the gold market
Musa borrowed at a ridiculously high
interest rate all the gold
he could carry from lenders in Cairo
He directly controlled the price of gold in the Mediterranean
reportedly the only time in history one man has done so
In addition to giving away lots of gold and spending lots of it as well on his lavish lifestyle
Musa also embarked on a large building program raising new mosques
and madrasas, meaning a college for
islamic instruction, every week
as an example the
still-standing Great Mosque of Djenné
and the ancient center of learning
called
Sankore Madrasah, or university of Sankore, was constructed during his reign
Mansa Musa is believed to have died in
1337
and was succeeded by his son Maghan I,
however his heirs were unable to sustain
their father's wealth and fortune and just two generations later
all the wealth was gone
wasted away by civil wars and invading armies
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