Mansa Musa was the emperor of the Mali Empire in the first half of the 14th century, at the height of its power and splendor. He is considered one of the richest people in history and had a great impact not only in the West African empire but also abroad.
He is responsible for the urbanization of Timbuktu and the construction of many mosques and madrasas -schools-. The University of Sankore is among these madrasas and the emperor Musa built the biggest African library of the time and brought Arab scholars to teach mathematics, astronomy and Islamic jurisprudence. These mosques and centers of learning have the particular architecture for which Timbuktu is famous worldwide since Mansa Musa brought expert architects from Andalusia and the Middle East for their construction.
Therefore, Timbuktu became a center of learning for all the Islamic world, a remarkable place for Muslim pilgrimage and an important node in the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern commercial network.
He is also famous for one of the largest reported pilgrimages to Mecca. According to many records, in his way to Mecca, his generous charity generated a great influx of gold in Egypt which produced a devaluation of this metal in the country. After that, he borrowed a large amount of gold from money-lenders in Cairo at a high interest in order to rectify its value in Egypt and the Mediterranean.
Because of the important position that he gave to Timbuktu in the international arena, many European cartographers located him and his empire in their maps.