Latest / Mansa Musa: The Richest Man Who Ever Lived — Fexingo History / Mansa Musa and the Lost Atlantic Fleet of Abu Bakr II
Transcript
- Lucas: If you've been stepping into history with us episode by episode, you know Mansa Musa's pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 made him a legend — the gold, the splendor, the crash of the Cairo market. But one of the most intriguing stories about him comes from a quiet moment during that journey, sitting in Cairo, talking to an Egyptian scholar named al-Umari. Luna: And that's where we get the story of his predecessor, right? Lucas: Exactly. Mansa Musa told al-Umari that he had not been the rightful heir to the Malian throne. The empire had been ruled by a man named Abu Bakr II — also known as Mansa Qu — who had a very different kind of ambition. Instead of expanding east into the Sahel or north across the Sahara, he wanted to go west, into the Atlantic Ocean. Luna: Wait — he actually launched an expedition across the Atlantic? Lucas: That's the claim. According to Mansa Musa, Abu Bakr II was obsessed with the sea. He funded the construction of a fleet — al-Umari's manuscript Masalik al-Absar describes it as hundreds of ships, not just small fishing canoes but large vessels capable of carrying men and supplies. Abu Bakr II personally led the first expedition. He sailed off with his fleet, heading west into the open ocean. And he never came back. No word, no wreckage — just silence. Luna: So what happened to him? Did they just vanish? Lucas: Mansa Musa said that Abu Bakr II had prepared a second fleet — he told the surviving captains, if the first group returns, fine. But if not, it means he found something — or perished. So Mansa Musa, as his deputy, waited. When no one returned, he assumed the throne, becoming the richest man in history. And he never tried to repeat the expedition. Luna: If today was actually useful to you, the way these stay ad-free is listener support — buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Lucas: So we're left with one of history's great mysteries: did Abu Bakr II and his fleet actually cross the Atlantic? There's no archaeological evidence, no surviving Malian records, and al-Umari is our only source. But the story has fueled modern speculation that West Africans may have reached the Americas before Columbus. Luna: That seems like a huge leap. What do actual historians make of this? Lucas: Opinions vary. Some, like the late scholar Ivan Van Sertima, argued seriously that Malian ships could have used the Canary Current and trade winds to reach the Caribbean. Others point out that the Mali Empire was land-based — its navy was really just riverboats on the Niger. Building ocean-going ships would require a huge technological shift. But not impossible. The Songhai later had large canoes, and the Wolof on the coast were experienced sailors. Luna: What about the date? This would have been around 1312, right? Lucas: Around 1310. That's over a century and a half before Columbus. If it happened, it would rewrite the timeline of pre-Columbian contact. But there's a catch: the story itself was recorded by al-Umari in the 1340s, based on Mansa Musa's word. We have no Malian chronicles that mention it — the Tarikh al-Sudan, written in the 17th century, is silent. So some historians think Mansa Musa may have exaggerated or fabricated the story to legitimize his rule. Luna: Why would he do that? He was already incredibly powerful. Lucas: In a culture that valued lineage, Mansa Musa was not directly descended from Sundiata Keita, the founder of the empire. He belonged to a different branch of the Keita clan. By saying that Abu Bakr II had appointed him as deputy and then vanished, he could claim he was the rightful successor — not a usurper. It's a clever piece of political theater, if it's true. Luna: So the Atlantic expedition might be a myth. But does that make the story less important? Lucas: Not at all. The story itself is valuable. It tells us that the Mali Empire had contact with the Atlantic coast — the region of Takrur, modern Senegal. Mansa Musa later expanded into that area, as we discussed in the last episode. And it shows that West African rulers thought about the ocean as a frontier, not just a barrier. They had the ambition to explore. Luna: And the technology? Could they have actually done it? Lucas: That's the fun part — we have evidence that West Africans built large dugout canoes and sewn-plank boats. Later Portuguese accounts describe massive canoes carrying up to 80 men along the Senegambian coast. But crossing the open ocean — that would require a different design. Some scholars think they could have lashed dugouts together to create catamarans. There's even a theory that the palm trees of the Americas might have been deliberately introduced by West Africans, though that's controversial. Luna: What about physical evidence? Any artifacts or genetic traces? Lucas: Nothing conclusive. There have been claims of African-style axes found in South America, but they can be explained by natural erosion. Genetic studies show no significant pre-Columbian African admixture in indigenous populations. So the evidence leans against it. But absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. The Atlantic is vast and unforgiving. Luna: I suppose the real story is about ambition, not arrival. Lucas: Exactly. Mansa Musa and Abu Bakr II represent a moment when the Mali Empire reached its peak — not just in wealth, but in curiosity. The Atlantic was the unknown, and they were willing to risk everything to see what was out there. It's a reminder that great historical figures are not just icons of power; they are people who dared to imagine beyond their world. Luna: And we're left wondering — what if they had succeeded? How different would history be? Lucas: We'll never know. But the story is worth telling because it challenges our assumptions about pre-modern Africa. The Mali Empire was not isolated — it was connected to the Mediterranean, the Middle East, and perhaps even the wider world. The lost fleet of Abu Bakr II is a beautiful might have been that still haunts the edges of history.