The Mali Empire is an empire well known for its wealth and religious influence in West Africa. The empire was founded in the Common Era of 1235 by King Sundiata Keita and began through the merger of smaller Malinnike kingdoms within Ghana and the upper Niger River regions. In the following essay I will discuss the significance of the Ancient Mali Empire, to do this I will focus on the economic, social and educational contributions it made to human history. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Mansa Musa and King Sundiata remain the most famous and successful leaders of the Mali Empire. They were known for developing and maintaining well-developed political systems in which Mali's independent provinces were granted local self-government. Mansa Musa's leadership ensured peace and social prosperity throughout the western region. The kings introduced the Islamic religion to the people of Mali and influenced the spread of Islamic knowledge further into Africa, the people of Mali were not forced to convert to Islam, however Islamic beliefs and values ​​were incorporated into some of their traditional practices and local. The Mali Empire was recognized for having the strongest and most successful economy of its time. The powerful empire was able to revive and sustain its local economy through the use of various forms of wealth-generating strategies. He earned his wealth primarily through trade, taxes, and the control he had over important trade routes that spanned the Sahara Desert, the Middle East, and Europe. After his ruling, King Sundiata expanded Mali's borders, which led to Mali acquiring ownership of additional gold mines and introduced a fiscal system in which imported and exported goods were taxed. He also taxed traders who crossed the borders of Mali. Even smaller kingdoms swore allegiance to Mali through annual tax payments and trade. Mansa Musa made the infamous pilgrimage to Mecca where he distributed large quantities of gold to the public, thus making him the first West African Muslim ruler to travel to Mecca. The extravagance of the pilgrimage made known the considerable wealth of Africans which set records throughout Europe. The king's generosity subsequently caused a decline in the value of gold in Egypt that lasted for several years. Mansa Musa returned from his travels with Arab scholars and architects who contributed to the continued development of the city of Timbuktu. The city of Timbuktu in Mali was a world-famous center of learning and architecture, it was the hub of academic activities known throughout Islamic regions. Timbuktu became the epicenter of Islamic intellectual development and contributed greatly to Islam and world civilization through scholarship. Mansa Musa built a mosque, Sankore Madrassah (university), which was used as both a prayer temple and a center of learning, whose library was the largest of its time and attracted scholars from other Islamic nations. Sankore University has offered students exposure to knowledge in various fields of study with the inclusion of Islamic studies and has produced numerous distinguished graduates such as engineers, architects and astronomers. Important academic and religious books were written and copied in Timbuktu, where thousands of manuscripts were preserved in the Madrassah. It is suggested that if Sankore University had been preserved and survived foreign invasions, it could have transformed the face of Africa's academic and cultural history. Its educational standard of the university is considered to be at a.