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The Malian giraffe embassy to Fez (762 AH)

وفد مالي بالزرافة إلى فاس (762هـ)

December 1360 CE · Safar 762 AH

Fez

In Safar 762 AH the embassy of Mali's king Mansa Sulayman reached Fez bearing their sultan's gift — a giraffe, that strange-formed, huge-bodied creature — in return for Sultan Abu al-Hasan's own embassy; it was a celebrated day, the sultan seated at the Tower of Gold in review while crowds climbed over one another to behold the giraffe and poets declaimed praise, the envoys greeting the sultan by tossing dust on their heads and confirming the interpreter's words by twanging their bowstrings, excusing the gift's delay by the struggle for Mali's throne after Mansa Sulayman's death.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era
Region
Maghreb · West Africa & Sahel
Review
Draft Completeness 1/5 · Help complete it

In time

135013601370
The Crusades, Ayyubids and Mamluks · The Mongol and Post-Mongol Era

In space

Fez

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Overview

Ibn Khaldun relates that the embassy of the king of Mali, Mansa Sulayman, reached Fez in Safar 762 AH with a gift from their sultan, a giraffe. The gift was a return for a gift from the sultan Abu al-Hasan. 1

The day of the embassy

The sultan sat for a public audience in the Golden Tower, and people crowded to see the giraffe in admiration of its form, and poets recited verses of praise. The embassy greeted the sultan by throwing dust on their heads. 1

They excused the delay in the gift by the struggles of the kings of Mali for power after the death of Mansa Sulayman. 1

Connections

Explore the connections

Occurred at
Fez

People and things also explored

al-Qarawiyyin mosque· Ibn Battuta returns to Fez· The Marinid division between Fez and Marrakesh (776 AH)· Abd al-Hafid of Morocco· Bu Hasun al-Wattasi· Hassan I of Morocco· ابن باجة· Ibn Qatral

Sources

  1. Kitab al-Ibar of Ibn Khaldun
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “The Malian giraffe embassy to Fez (762 AH)”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/mali-giraffe-embassy-762/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-16.

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al-Qarawiyyin mosque

Draft card for the Qarawiyyin mosque of Fez, the great congregational mosque and seat of learning built by the Kairouan emigres in Fez, named from an open reference description (Wikidata); its Mujam al-Buldan entry is not yet read on the page.