In the 1230s, a man called Sundiata Keita incorporated a series of smaller kingdoms into the Mali Empire. The empire was central to several key trading routes, and with the support of a well ...

Though the empire of Mali was home to so much gold ... Getty Images The trip to Mecca helped put Mali and Mansa Musa on the map - a photocopy of the Catalan Atlas map from 1375 The king reportedly ...