Mansa Musa

Mansa Kankan Musa was the tenth mansa or emperor of the Mali Empire during its height in the 14th century. He ruled as mansa from 1312 to 1337. Musa is most noted for his 1324 hajj to Mecca and his role as a benefactor of Islamic scholarship. In the 14th year of his reign (1324), he set out on his famous pilgrimage to Mecca. It was this pilgrimage that awakened the world to the stupendous wealth of Mali. Musa embarked on a large building program, raising mosques and madrasas in Timbuktu and Gao. Most famously the ancient center of 

learning

 Sankore Madrasah or University of Sankore was constructed during his reign. In Niani, he built the Hall of Audience, a building communicated by an interior door to the royal palace. The University of Sankore in Timbuktu was restaffed under Musa's reign, with jurists, astronomers, and mathematicians. The 

university became a center of learning and culture, drawing Muslim scholars from 

around Africa and the Middle East to Timbuktu.