Latest / Mansa Musa: The Richest Man Who Ever Lived — Fexingo History
Mansa Musa Tax Records: Mali's Imperial Bureaucracy
In Episode 97 of Fexingo History, Lucas and Luna explore a forgotten dimension of Mansa Musa's Mali Empire: its sophisticated tax and record-keeping system. Drawing on the account of the Egyptian scholar al-Umari (Masalik al-Absar) and the Sudanese chronicle Tarikh al-Sudan, they reveal how the empire collected tithes, customs duties, and tribute from vassal states — and how these revenues were tracked by a class of royal scribes called 'farba'. The episode also examines the legendary salt tax at Taghaza, the gold trade with Wangara, and the role of oral accountants (jeliw) who…
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