and favored men of learning. He encouraged his people to give religion the place he gave it himself.
When he had spent three years adjusting the affairs of his vast dominions, Mohammed Abu Bekr committed his realm to the care of a well chosen regent and set off on a two-years’ pilgrimage to Mecca. Mansa Musa, the great and good king of Melle, had made a like pilgrimage two hundred years before, traveling in pomp and magnificence with a great army and a long baggage train. The Askia took only a thousand footmen and five hundred horsemen as escort. His aim was to learn, rather than to impress other peoples with his greatness. At the time when Christopher Columbus was seeking the New World, this African ruler gathered around him men of learning and sanctity, and set out with them and his eldest son eastward to the Prophet’s tomb.
The royal pilgrim noted everywhere the laws and customs which ministered to the welfare of the people. The riches which he brought back with him were the knowledge he had gained, and the friendship of many sages and scholars who remained his counsellors all through his long life. Bold though his acceptance of
