Richest man ever lived !!

  Who is the richest person on the planet? You guys have probably come to a conclusion that it's Bill Gates or Warren Buffet. Yes! Your answer is right. They are the richest person of the 21st century.  

Well, being said that, is it possible for a man from the 14^th century who could beat the tech magnate in terms of wealth?

The West African king Mansa Musa I, born in 1280, is considered to be the richest person in history. He, being the ruler of the Malian Empire which covered the modern-day Ghana, Timbuktu, and Mali in West Africa, had a personal net worth of $400billion (adjusted for inflation) at the time of his death in 1331. According to the writings of Arab-Egyptian scholar Al-Umari, ancient African civilization had a practice of appointing a deputy whenever king had embarked his journey to the pilgrimage, later appointing the deputy as their heir. Musa was appointed as the deputy of the king preceding him, who had reportedly embarked on an expedition to explore the limits of the Atlantic Ocean, and never returned.

                                         

Graphic representation of the African king

          

Money spent by the African king was so lavish that he could shake up the regional economy and have their own private armies. He built and dedicated an entire city to be a global center for learning and power. Mali was a great trading empire. Trading was mainly concentrated on gold and salt which were valuable commodities at that time. Mali Empire facilitates the trading between the West African coast and the Mediterranean. These were the golden times for Africa.

Mali Empire

What makes the African king famous is how he spent the money.  He was a devout Muslim and one of the traditions of Islam is Hajj (annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca).  The journey from Mali to Mecca was quite long. He will need to be fully prepared. Mansa Musa voyage was a legendary extravagance. About 60,000 entourage had carried supplies of gold and commodities. During the journey whenever he stopped at a town for a break, he showered the town with so much gold which lead to destabilizing the inflation. He donated large sums of money to poor.  Musa was said to have brought several tons of gold to Mecca when he made a pilgrimage there in 1324.

"Excess is never permanent"

Owing to this, just two generations after his death, however, Musa's extravagant wealth started diminishing after his heirs were not able to fend off civil war and invading conquerors.

we conclude by saying that "Wealth flows from energy and ideas".This is how Musa,Bill,Buffet and many others were able to achieve their enormous wealth.

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Source: Step Back History (YouTube channel), Wikipedia, MailOnline