Emisha (5:50)

Say you want to get your head with a third on and make your own range of kick ass squad jackets and matching merch and make money at the same time. There's only one place to go. That's the sound you'll hear when you make another sale on Shopify. It's the all in one commerce platform to start, run and grow your business. It doesn't have to be squad jackets. It can be anything, art, plants, health or beauty. Shopify simplifies selling online and in person so you can successfully grow your business however you want to sell. Shopify has you covered with a shopfront ready POS system and it works with social media marketplaces too like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. It's time to get serious about selling and get Shopify today. Sign up for a pound one per month trial period at shopify.co.uk thisishistory all lowercase go to shopify.co.uk to take your business to the next level today. Shopify.co.uk thisISHistory hi, it's Molly and I'm.

Molly (6:52)

Emisha and if you're looking for your one stop shop for all things beauty and wellness, this is your place. Become best friends with your hairstylist. They're going to make you look and feel so good and you'll just show up as a better you. I always wanted to make hoops. I think those girls are hard to raise. They are going to push all the buttons. Just having a community is the best news because you can compare stories with your girlfriends. If you want to hear more, listen to Lipstick on the Rim, on Apple or wherever you get your podcasts.

Luke Peppera (7:21)

Musa Better known as Mansa Musa, the young man we've just met is the most famous medieval African ruler. Mostly this is because of his legendary wealth. He's often said to be the richest man who ever lived, with a net worth of half a trillion dollars. This puts him above even all of today's tech super billionaires, yo, Zuckerbergs, Musk's, and businesses. But there's a lot more to Musa than just his checkbook. I'm a historian of Africa and in my research I found in Musa's life an extraordinary story of tragedy, peril, redemption and glory. Over the next six episodes, I'm going to tell you that story. To start, let's set the scene. The Mali Empire is in West Africa in the early 14th century, the time our story takes place. The empire covers an area of close to 400,000 square miles, about eight times the size of England, or double California, give or take. The empire's population is about 50 million. In Niani, its capital city, there are 100,000 people. London's population is around 80,000. There are enormous mud brick palaces, stone houses and bustling markets, just like in England during Edward II's reign. There is an aristocracy and there are peasants, most of whom are farmers. The nobles live in fortresses in the center of Niani. Unlike in England, castles do not dot Mali's landscape. However, there are garrisons in its outer towns, whereas in England there is extensive rain. Mali's climate is mild and breezy. Perhaps the biggest difference, though, is that in contrast to Christian England, Mali's rulers have been Muslim since the 8th century. They adopted Islam to improve their relations with rich Arab merchants and kings. They built mosques and welcomed Muslim lawyers and priests. In the early 13th century, the Mali Empire began as a small kingdom called Mande. The story goes that one day a a buffalo came to one of Mande's provinces. It went on a rampage, smashing things and terrifying its people. Luckily, two hunters were passing through and managed to kill the Buffalo. As a reward, they were offered the hand of a noble woman named Sogolon. Sogolon, as the story has it, was not a beauty. In fact, her name was Sogolon the Ugly. Because she had a hunchback. The hunters wanted to have sex with Sogolon, but they were not noble, so she refused them. The story continues that they therefore presented her as a gift to the Mande king, a man named Magan the Handsome. Now, as chance would have it, Magn had heard a prophecy just a few months earlier, a prophecy that stated that if he married an ugly woman and and had by her a son, that son would not only become a mighty warrior and a great conqueror, but would make his kingdom and its people famous forever. So the pair married and did indeed have a son together called Sundiata Keita. For more on this fantastical history that's reminiscent of King Arthur, head over to the subscriber episodes, where Dan Jones and I will be getting into it. Around the same time Sundiata was born, a man called Sumaro Kante became king of the nearby kingdom of Soso. Sumaro was an excellent soldier, a ruthless and cruel master, and, according to tradition, a skilled sorcerer. He had 300 wives, but still abducted young girls from his provinces. And his favourite pastime was to flog elders in public. Sumoaro conquered many towns and villages, making Soso the most powerful state in the region. He attacked Mande no less than nine times. He wasn't able to conquer it, however. Each time he'd attacked, he'd slain and taken the head of a Mande noble. In a secret room in his palace, he had nine earthenware jars arranged in a circle. In each of these was a head. When Sundiata came of age, he was the only person in Mande brave enough to stand up to Sumaoru. Many others had fled, but Sundiata instead assembled an army and rode out to meet the king of Soso. Early one morning, Sundiata swept down upon Sumoaro's camp. He penetrated the core of Su Maura's army and seeing Su Maura himself in the middle of the fray, readied his bow, took aim at him and let loose an arrow. The arrow grazed Su Maura's shoulder. He tried to regroup, but couldn't. Sundiata's forces routed his own, but he managed to retreat. Sundiata chased him. Sumaro took refuge in a cave. Sundiata ordered his troops to surround the cave. They soon cornered and killed Sumaoro. Sundiata then sacked Soso and conquered Sumar's territories. He gathered his generals and was proclaimed emperor. The Mali Empire he founded would last 300 years. It's 1323, and Musa paces the room. He wears a cloth tunic and a gold skull cap. The room is large and lavishly decorated with gold sculptures, crystal ornaments and silver weapons. But he doesn't notice it. He's in too much pain. He sits down on a silk cushion, staring blankly, tears in his eyes. He gets up and paces again. His main advisor, a young man called Faseki, watches him sympathetically. They have known each other since childhood. Then the priest they've requested enters and bows low. Faseki asks the priest the question that's been tormenting his friend and master. How do you atone for killing another person? The priest stands upright, thinks for a moment and makes his proclamation. He says that atonement for any crime requires Allah's forgiveness. But in a case as serious as this, more is required. The young man must make a journey of 5,000 miles to the city of Medina, to the Prophet Muhammad's tomb, and pray there for Allah's forgiveness. Musa nods gravely. He'd been expecting something like this, and if this is what it takes to find forgiveness and ease his torment, he'll do it. The journey will take eight months. He knows that along the way he'll face the threats of ruthless bandits, hostile armies and arrogant kings. But he is relieved, for he sees a way not only to absolve himself of the terrible crime he has committed, but also a way to make his name known far and wide throughout the world. The crime in question. Musa is seeking forgiveness for having killed his own mother. We can only speculate how the matricide happened. It's only mentioned briefly in a couple of tantalizing sources, and little detail is given. In Mali, members of the nobility were allowed to walk around the empire carrying a bow and a quiver full of arrows. They formed Mali's cavalry, an elite force that the emperor commanded directly. Carrying weapons around at all times possibly wasn't the best idea if he had a bit of a temper. Or perhaps, given the importance of bows and quivers in Mali, it's not unreasonable to think that the Malians viewed archery highly and and archery competitions as a worthwhile pastime in such a competition. Might Musa have accidentally struck his mother with an arrow? It's possible, though we'll never know. According to other historians, Musa had his mother killed. We may imagine that he discovered her plotting against him in Mali. Like in any royal court, such plots weren't uncommon in the early 1350s, when Musa's brother Suleiman was emperor, he uncovered his queen's plot to overthrow him in favor of his nephew. He had her imprisoned and executed. The same punishment Musa may have meted out to his mother. But when he discovered that he was mistaken about his mother's role in the plot, he may have felt intense regret. However it came about, it was this remorse that caused Musa to ask his priests for help. Understandably, because of what had happened to his father, Musa was completely put off sailing. Instead, his ambitions lay inland. This trip then, would not only save his soul, but gain him glory as an adventurer in the lands around him. Could he kill two birds with one stone? What's more, as a Muslim, Musa is also required to visit Mecca once in his lifetime time. Could this even be three birds with one stone? He could go to Medina and Mecca and he would travel in style. It would be the most epic quest any emperor had ever undertaken. Musa's journey will have profound consequences for Mali, Africa and the world. Some of which Musa will be proud. Some of which he could never have foreseen, and others he would have wished never happened. But first, Musa must finish preparing for his journey like no other. A journey so dangerous that it's killed emperors who've come before him. But that's for next time on this is History presents Empire of Gold.