Summarize in 20 words
Musa was famed for his piety and the building of imposing mosques, yet he never fought a religious war and applied Muslim policies with an hesitant hand. Even though he once contemplated ending his days in Mecca, Musa was no fanatic. He did not outlaw other religions and often performed the rites and ceremonies of the Mandinka faith. An Egyptian living in Mali during his reign wrote that he presided over traditional courts and often settled witchcraft cases.
In the economic, educational and political fields his policies were no less impressive. His encouragement of trade between Mali, North Africa and beyond, mostly in kola nuts, ivory, salt and, above all, gold, brought his land great prosperity.
He encouraged learning by his generous patronage of schools and Muslim scholars. He also sent students to study in Fez and other famous centers of knowledge. His encouragement of education attracted intellectuals from the other Islamic countries and made Timbuktu one of the foremost centers of Islamic scholarship in the world.
Above all, Mansa Musa's famous pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 spread Mali's renown and prestige, not only in the Islamic countries but to the far corners of medieval Europe. In his train, as he travelled eastward, were 60,000 courtiers and servants, richly dressed, and 80 camels each carrying some 300 pounds of gold. Wherever his train halted on a Friday, he paid for the erection of a mosque.
Everywhere he went, he became legendary for his generosity and the extravagant spending of his entourage.
Stopping in Cairo, one of the greatest cities in the world of that era, he left a strong impression because of his generous gifts and expenditures. His spending of millions of dollars caused the value of gold in Egypt to be devalued. Ibn al-lyas, an Egyptian of the 16th century, mentioned Musa's visit to Cairo in 1324 as the most outstanding event of that year.
Other West African rulers had gone on pilgrimage before him but none had travelled on such a lavish scale. He gave so much in charity and gifts that on his return journey he had to borrow gold from a Cairo merchant. Musa's visit to Cairo and the wealth he displayed had one far-reaching effect. It stimulated the interest by Egyptian traders in commerce with West Africa.
On his return from Mecca, Musa was accompanied by an Andalusia-Muslim architect-scholar, Es-Saheli who introduced into Mali a new development in architecture, especially in the building of mosques and palaces. He brought into Malian construction burnt bricks, the flat roofs of North Africa and the pyramidal minaret, all which were to become the vogue throughout the empire. After this famed pilgrimage, Mali reached the peak of its prosperity and prominence. Ambassadors were exchanged with Arabia, Egypt, Morocco and other countries. The inhabitants of its capital Niani were described by the Moroccan traveler Leo Africanus as the most civilized, intelligent and respected of all the peoples of West Africa.