Courtney Holmes
March 5, 2014
HIS 276- Dr. Kalinga
Test one
Mansa Kankan Musa ascended the throne in 1312 and ultimately revived Mali. He was well known for stimulating Mali in many different ways. Before Mansa Musa’s accession to the throne, Mali was in a period of political instability. He ruled for approximately twenty-five years, which brought wealth and consistency to Mali. This ultimately expanded the empire. Mansa Musa gave away so many gifts of gold that the value of gold fell and did not recover for about twelve years. Although he spent his money generously, he did a lot to strengthen the economy of Mali. This included establishing communications with certain areas, strengthening trade, encouraging new eating habits, and
This, in turn, made each ruler’s main source of income come from trade. They were each known for their support of their religion (Islam), and also their tolerance of other religions. This was used to their advantage, and ultimately strengthened their authority and the unity of their empire as a whole for each ruler. Although these rulers did a lot of things similarly, there were a few differences in how they ruled and accomplished tasks. A major difference was the administration and power. The Songhai administration, ruled by Askiya Muhammad Ture, was more unified than that of Mansa Kankan Musa’s ruling of Mali. Askiya made sure that his ruling touched every part of the empire by appointing new officials after conquering provinces. Another major difference was how each strengthened the Islamic religion. Mansa Musa did so mainly by embarking on a Hajj to Mecca, which led to an increase in mosques. Although Askiya also went on a pilgrimage, he also revived Timbuktu as a major center for Islamic learning, which had more of an impact. I would not agree with the proposition that physical geography is the main factor in the emergence and expansion of the early large political systems of West Africa. Since there are four major factors that influenced the development of these political systems, I do not think that one has significantly more of an authority than the others. The four major factors include the physical environment, the economy,