Spend on gifts or on building?
On his pilgrimage Mansa Musa carried much gold and gave part of it in gifts and alms until the price of gold fell in Cairo for years. The decision for one like him: open-handed giving that wins hearts, or holding the money for mosques, schools and wells?
The positions
the generous road
the gift spreads the name and erases enmities along the way
The evidence
he left thriving markets behind him and scholars who followed him home
Sources: person/mansa-musaplace/cairo
the building party
the mosque and school remain when the bounty is spent
The evidence
he ordered schools and mosques in Timbuktu until it became learning's capital
Sources: place/timbuktuperson/mansa-musa
You decide
If you rode in his caravan, which would you have advised first? Write your reason.
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