IDKMYDE: Lifestyles Of The Rich and African

On this episode of #IDKMYDE, Get ready to uncover the astonishing story of the wealthiest king you've probably never heard of! We're diving into the legendary tale of this African ruler who lived in the 1300s. Picture this: a kingdom so rich that its king, decided to build a swimming pool for his favorite wife...in the middle of the desert!. Join us as we explore the life and times of this enigmatic figure, and discover why he's often hailed as one of the richest kings in history.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
On today's episode. If I didn't know, maybe you didn't either.
Story goes he was so rich and he loved one
of his wives so much that he had or a
swimming pool built in the middle of the desert.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
I didn't know. I didn't know.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
I didn't know.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
I didn't know. I didn't know.

Speaker 1 (00:25):
I didn't know.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
I didn't know Mansa Moosa.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
Now, usually I share Black history that's intrigued me, from
the Transatlantic slave trade to the Civil Rights movement. But
whenever I'm talking about wealth, there's one name that always
comes up. So I had to look him up, Mansa Moosa.
Now he lived in the thirteen hundreds. That's seven hundred
years ago. That's thirteen hundred CE. The common error. You

(00:51):
remember when all we had was AD and BC. To
be quite honest, my brain can't really fathom CE, b C,
A D. All them letters just made me think of
the PD and then that kick in my PTSD and
now I need a b C. But if I can
believe in the Old Testament and Noah building an arc
and getting tool every animal and Jonah being eating by well,

(01:12):
I can damn sure believe in Manson Muse. I mean,
he's too heavily documented Manson Musa of Mali, not the
narcotic the kingdom in Africa.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
He ruled Mally.

Speaker 1 (01:21):
From thirteen twelve to thirteen thirty seven, twenty five years now.
He came to power when the previous king had dipped
off with a large fleet of ships. They wanted to
go explore the Atlantic Ocean. And explore they did, but
they never returned. Molly was already wealthy, but Manson Moosa's
worked with expanding trade made Molly the wealthiest kingdom in Africa.
They got their riches from mine in salt and gold

(01:43):
deposits in Mali, and elephant ivory was a major source
of wealth. He was an African man of Muslim faith.
But I'm gonna tell you what's disappointing. That is no
movie on Manson Mosa's pilgrimage in thirteen twenty four CE
like he legit shut the continent down.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
Thirteen twenty five, a caravan.

Speaker 1 (02:01):
Of about sixty thousand people all left the capital of
Mala headed to the Holy City of Mecca.

Speaker 2 (02:06):
It was four thousand miles away.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
That's further than walking from North Carolina to California.

Speaker 2 (02:12):
Now, until this.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
Pilgrimage the kingdom of Maali was relatively unknown outside of
West Africa. The a Rab writers at the time said
that he traveled with an entourage of tens of thousands
of people and dozens of camels, each carrying three hundred
pounds of gold. Three hundred pounds of gold is like
nine million dollars. This man had dozens of camels, all

(02:34):
carrying nine million dollars in gold. They said he got
to Cairo and met with the Sultan of Egypt and
his squad spent and gave away so much gold that
the overall value of gold decreased in Egypt for the
next twelve years. After he returned from Mecca, that's when
he began to revitalize the cities in his own kingdom
by building mosque and large public buildings.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
That was tim Buck two.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
That became a major Islamic university city during the fourteenth century.
Due to his developments and then the reputation of the
Mali kingdom grew. Man Samusa died in thirteen thirty seven,
and he's arguably the richest king that ever lived. In
today's money, they say he was worth about four hundred
billion dollars. Oh The wife he had four wives, and

(03:17):
they said one was his favorite because she was the
most beautiful, but she came to miss her nightly swims
in the Niger so Man Samusa had her swimming pool
built in the middle of the Sahara desert.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
And I didn't know. Maybe you didn't either. No,