Editing Mali Empire (section)

==Economy==

===Agriculture===
The majority of the population were farmers, with this being the base of the economy, and food was abundant. Whilst cattle-rearing was a speciality of the [[Fula people|Fulani]], peoples of the Niger were raising sheep, goats, and cattle by the 14th century. The [[Bozo people|Bozo]], [[Somono people|Somono]], and [[Sorko people|Sorko]] people specialised in fishing.<ref name="unesco" />{{rp|pages=164-165}}

===Crafts===
Iron was abundant and smiths manufactured farming tools and weapons. Shoemaker clans resided in the south. In the north weaving flourished, owing to cotton fields in regions such as [[Casamance]], and the [[Soninke people|Soninke]] and [[Takrur]] peoples specially dyed their cloths indigo. ''Siaki'' (goldsmiths) were honoured.<ref name="unesco" />{{rp|165-170}}

===Trade===
Trade was a significant factor to the rise and success of Mali. Its height coincided with the period when [[Timbuktu]] came under the Mansa's control. The empire taxed every ounce of gold, copper and salt that entered its borders, with [[kola nut]]s also bearing importance. By the 14th century, a ''pax mandinka'' reigned in West Africa, allowing trade to flourish.{{sfn|Cissoko|1983|pp=58}}

There was no standard currency throughout the realm, but several forms were used. The [[Sahel]]ian and [[Sahara]]n towns of the Mali Empire were staging posts in the long-distance [[Camel train|caravan]] trade and trading centres for various West African products. At [[Taghaza]], for example, salt was exchanged; at [[Takedda]], copper. Ibn Battuta observed the use of slaves in both towns. During most of his journey, Ibn Battuta travelled with a retinue that included slaves, most of whom carried goods for trade. On the return from Takedda to [[Marinid dynasty|Morocco]], his caravan transported 600 female slaves, suggesting that [[slavery]] was a substantial part of the commercial activity of the empire.<ref>Candice Goucher, Charles LeGuin, and Linda Walton, [http://www.learner.org/courses/worldhistory/support/reading_11_1.pdf Trade, Transport, Temples, and Tribute: The Economics of Power] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529123305/http://www.learner.org/courses/worldhistory/support/reading_11_1.pdf |date=29 May 2016 }}, in ''In the Balance: Themes in Global History'' (Boston: McGraw-Hill, 1998).</ref>

===Gold===
Mali's wealth in gold did not primarily come from direct rule of gold-producing regions, but rather from tribute and trade with the regions where gold was found.{{sfn|Gomez|2018|p=107–108}} Gold nuggets were the exclusive property of the ''mansa'' and were illegal to trade within his borders. All gold was immediately handed over to the imperial treasury in return for an equal value of gold dust. Gold dust had been weighed and bagged for use at least since the time of the Ghana Empire. Mali borrowed the practice to stem inflation, since it was so prominent in the region. The most common measure for gold within the realm was the ''[[mithqal]]'' (4.5&nbsp;grams of gold).{{sfn|Niane|1959}} This term was used interchangeably with ''[[dinar]]'', though it is unclear if coined currency was used in the empire. Gold dust was used all over the empire, but was not valued equally in all regions.

By the beginning of the 14th century, Mali was the source of almost half the [[Old World]]'s gold exported from mines in [[Bambuk]], [[Siguiri|Boure]] and [[Gajaaga|Galam]].<ref name=peoplesand/> Gold mines in Boure, which is located in present-day Guinea, were discovered sometime near the end of the 12th century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Blauer |first1=Lauré |last2=Ettagale |first2=Jason |title=Cultures of the World Mali|year=2008 |publisher=Marshall Cavendish, 2008 |isbn=978-0761425687 |page=25 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LlzKroSA3NcC&q=mali+bure&pg=PA25}}</ref>

=== Salt ===
[[File:Targui8.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Tuaregs]] were and still are an integral part of the salt trade across the Sahara.]]

Salt, another critical trade good, was as valuable, if not more valuable, than gold in [[sub-Saharan Africa]]. It was cut into pieces and spent on goods with close to equal buying power throughout the empire.<ref name="Blanchard, page 1115">{{harvnb|Blanchard|2001|p=1115}}.</ref> While it was as good as gold in the north, it was even better in the south,  as it was rare there.{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} Every year merchants entered Mali via Oualata with camel loads of salt to sell in the capital. Ibn Battuta had written that in [[Taghaza]], one of Mali's most important salt mines, there were no trees, only sand and the salt mines. Nobody lived in the area except the Musafa servants who sug the salt and lived on dates imported from [[Sijilmasa]] and the [[Draa River|Dar'a valley]], camel meat and [[millet]] imported from the [[Sudan (region)|Sudan]]. The buildings were constructed from slabs of salt and roofed with camel skins. The salt was dug from the ground and cut into thick slabs, two of which were loaded onto each camel where they would be taken south across the desert to Oualata and sold. The value of the salt was chiefly determined by the transport costs. According to Ibn Battuta one camel load of salt sold at Walata for 8–10 ''mithqals'' of gold, but in Mali proper it was worth 20–30 [[ducats]] and sometimes even 40.<ref name="Blanchard, page 1115"/><ref>{{Harvnb|Levtzion|Hopkins|2000|p=414, note 5}}.</ref>

=== Copper ===
Copper was also a valued commodity in imperial Mali. According to Ibn Battuta,{{sfn|Dunn|2005|p=305}}{{sfn|Levtzion|Hopkins|2000|pp=301–303}} copper was mined from [[Takedda]] in the north and traded by the bar in the south for gold. Contemporary sources claim 60 copper bars traded for 100 dinars of gold.<ref name=recherches/> The [[Akan people|Akan]] would trade gold for two thirds its weight in copper. Copper was also traded to [[Benin Empire|Benin]], [[Ife Empire|Ife]] and [[Kingdom of Nri|Nri]].<ref name="unesco" />{{rp|pages=170}}