What is Mansa Musa?
[[File:Catalan Atlas BNF Sheet 6 Mansa Musa (cropped).jpg|thumb|Depiction of Mansa Musa in the [[Catalan Atlas]]]]'''Mansa Musa''' was the [[emperor]] (''mansa'') of [[Mali]] during the 14th century. He became emperor in 1312. He was the first [[Africa]]n ruler to be famous in all of [[Europe]] and the [[Middle East]]. Historians say he was the richest person to have ever lived. Today, his wealth would be worth more than 400 billion USD.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-03-10|title=The richest man in history|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47379458|access-date=2023-03-21|website=BBC News|language=en-GB}}</ref> Mansa Musa came to power in 1312 CE. Mansa Musa's new trade works made the already wealthy country the wealthiest in Africa, which mostly came from gold, ivory, and unique salt. He is known for being the richest man in history with his large amount of gold, and what he did to make Mali memorable. Mansa Musa was the great-nephew of [[Sundiata Keita]], who started the Mali Empire. He is famous for his [[Hajj]] (1324–5). His [[caravan]] may have had 60,000 people carrying supplies and bags, 500 [[slave]]s each carrying a gold staff, and 80 to 100 [[camel]]s each carrying 300 pounds of gold dust. On his journey, he is said to have given out millions of dollars worth of gold. He gave out so much gold in [[Cairo]] that the [[supply and demand|price of gold went down]] and stayed low for many years. Mansa Musa stopped in many places on his way to [[Mecca]] for his [[Hajj]]. These places include [[Timbuktu]] and [[Gao]]. He stopped every Friday at a destination and left enough gold for a [[mosque]] to be built. [[File:The Mali Empire.jpg|thumb|The Mali Empire at the time of Mansa Musa's death]] Mansa Musa made Timbuktu a center of trade, culture and of [[Islam]], which also helped increase the spread of Islam throughout [[West Africa|Western Africa]]. He was a devoted [[Muslims|Muslim]], and built many schools based on the teachings of the [[Qur'an]]. He sent students to Islamic universities in northern Af