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Mansa Musa's Gold Devaluation Crisis in Cairo
In 1324, Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage didn’t just bring wealth to Cairo—it crashed its economy. For the next decade, gold prices remained depressed, disrupting trade across the Mediterranean and Middle East. This episode explores the unintended economic consequences of his hajj, focusing on how the influx of raw gold from Bambuk and Bumbuk overwhelmed the Mamluk market. We examine al-Umari’s eyewitness accounts of the devaluation, the reactions of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad, and the long-term shifts in global trade dynamics that followed. Discover how a single ruler’s generosity became an economic…
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