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Mansa Musa's Cairo Gold Crash
In 1324, Mansa Musa's pilgrimage to Mecca flooded Cairo's markets with so much gold that the value of the metal collapsed — and didn't recover for over a decade. This episode dives into the economics behind the legend: how much gold did Musa actually spend? Why did al-Maqrizi and Ibn Iyas record the crash so meticulously? And what does it tell us about the global gold trade in the 14th century? We explore the Mamluk reaction, the role of qadi and moneylenders, and the long shadow Musa's generosity cast over Cairo's economy. Drawing on al-Umari's Masalik al-Absar…
The skinny
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