From the beginning of my coming to stay in Egypt I heard talk of the arrival of this sultan Mansa Musa on his Pilgrimage and found the locals eager to recount what they had seen of Africans’ well-known spending. I asked another person, and he told me of the riches and holiness of Mansa Musa.
Mansa Musa flooded Cairo with his riches. He left no holder of a royal office without the gift of a load of gold. The people of Cairo made huge profits out of him and his group in buying and selling and giving and taking.
—Adapted from a description of the visit to Cairo by the King of Mali, Al-Umari, 1324
In the early 1300s, Mansa Musa of the Mali Empire made a religious journey to Mecca and shared much of his wealth from Mali along the way. The passage suggests that much of the Mali Empire’s wealth came from
A.
creating weapons that use gunpowder.
B.
weaving silk to make textiles.
C.
mining for precious metals.
D.
processing plants to make spices.