Mansa Musa's Cairo Gold Crash: The Economics of a Legend

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore Mansa Musa's legendary 1324 pilgrimage to Mecca and its unexpected economic aftermath. They dive into the famous gold crash in Cairo, where Musa's lavish spending reportedly devalued gold for over a decade. Drawing on the accounts of the Mamluk historian al-Maqrizi and the Egyptian chronicler Ibn Iyas, they examine how the Mali emperor's generosity disrupted the tightly controlled gold market of the Mamluk Sultanate. The conversation touches on the role of the qadi of Cairo, Ibn al-Hajj al-Numayri, who later wrote about the inflation caused by the influx of Malian gold. Lucas also explains how Musa's financial adviser, a scholar named al-Sahili, may have helped orchestrate the spending to achieve diplomatic ends rather than mere ostentation. The episode reconsiders the popular narrative of Musa's 'crash' through the lens of currency debasement and Mamluk monetary policy, drawing on the work of modern historians like François-Xavier Fauvelle. Listeners will come away with a nuanced understanding of one of history's most famous economic anecdotes. #MansaMusa #MaliEmpire #Cairo #GoldCrash #MamlukSultanate #AlMaqrizi #IbnIyas #Hajj #MedievalEconomics #AlSahili #Inflation #GoldDinar #MamlukHistory #NorthAfrica #WestAfrica #FourteenthCentury #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo