Geographic HistoryMap of the Mali Empire
On the Geographic History map, the Mali Empire appears from 1231 to 1610. It reaches its largest mapped extent in 1325: about 1.2 million km² across 27 provinces.
The Mali Empire was founded by Sundiata Keita around 1235 on the upper Niger and grew rich from the gold and salt trade across the Sahara. Its ruler Mansa Musa made a famous pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324, spending so much gold in Cairo that he upset prices there, and Timbuktu became a centre of Islamic learning. Mali declined in the 15th century as the Songhai Empire rose.
Mapped area over time
The Mali Empire on the world maps
Largest other states in 1325
| State | Mapped area |
|---|---|
| Yuan | 11 million km² |
| Golden Horde | 4.8 million km² |
| Ilkhanate | 3.4 million km² |
| Chagatai Khanate | 2.3 million km² |
| Delhi | 1.9 million km² |
| Mamluk Sultanate | 1.1 million km² |
| Yeren | 960 thousand km² |
| Kanem Bornu | 940 thousand km² |
About this map
Territory comes from the Chronas historical dataset used by the Geographic History app. Areas are approximate, computed from about 2,400 province shapes, and describe this map rather than official historical figures - border data for the ancient and medieval world is necessarily a reconstruction.
Every year has a map
Drag a timeline across 2,500 years in the free Geographic History app - every province, ruler and battle, also offline.
