Mansa Musa's Hajj Through the Eyes of Cairo

When Mansa Musa passed through Cairo in 1324 on his way to Mecca, he didn't just spend gold — he set off a chain of events that reshaped the Mamluk economy, created diplomatic tensions, and left behind a vivid eyewitness account from the historian Al-Umari. In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore Musa's seven-week stay in Cairo: the audiences with Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad, the lavish gift-giving that devalued gold for a decade, the negotiations over slave girls and horses, and the Egyptian chroniclers who recorded it all. They also examine what Musa's Cairo visit reveals about Mali's diplomatic sophistication, his relationship with the Mamluk court, and the rumors that followed him — including the story that he bought a house in Cairo that still stood centuries later. Drawing on Al-Umari's Masalik al-Absar, Ibn Iyas, and al-Maqrizi, this episode offers a fresh lens on the richest man in history through the city that watched him pass. #MansaMusa #Cairo #MamlukSultanate #AlUmari #Hajj #1324 #MasalikAlAbsar #SultanAlNasirMuhammad #GoldInflation #WestAfrica #MaliEmpire #IbnIyas #AlMaqrizi #MedievalDiplomacy #TradeHistory #AfricanHistory #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo