MALI

1. Jericho Sadorra
RISE OF MALI AND MONGOL CC ESSAY
The Mali and Mongol Empires contributed to substantial regional and global changes
with religious tolerance, helping both empires grow due to the peace it provided. While states in
each region experienced peace, their methods of conquering contrasted with the Mongols raiding
and pillaging villages to gain control of them, while Mali allotted alliances between regional
tribes. These two empires shared important aspects, but their key differences established their
uniqueness.
The Mongol Empire grew in size with their frequent Eurasian conquests and attacks.
Under the Genghis Khan, the Mongol Empire grew to be the biggest empire the world has ever
known, spanning from Russia to the Islamic world, at the expense and destruction of those who
were conquered. The Mongols showed unparalleled brutality to those who opposed them, and
that brutality almost always led to their utter devastation. On the other side of the spectrum, the
Mali Empire rose through peaceful conciliation of different states. This difference created a gap
in power between the two, with the Mongols having more military might with Mali, and
respectively most of the world at the time. Despite the violence rampant in the conquest of the
Mongol Empire, they showed religious tolerance like the Mali Empire. The Mali Empire had
many different religious groups present in its states, from Christianity to Islam, and even primal
polytheistic religions. Even with Islam being the predominant religion in that region, other
religions experienced no persecution. In the Mongol Empire, unconquered states showed
religious persecution and their reign allowed a person’s religion to be practiced in open without
any backlash. This wiped out any oppression present in previous establishments and allowed
them to rule more easily. A part of this prosperity comes from the lack of interest in religion,
since the Mongols were more interested in military might and money than establishing their own
religion, a key difference between Mali and the Mongols.
A key difference between these two empires lies in religious presence. Islam was
extremely popular in Sub Saharan Africa, and because of the Muslim emphasis on trade, and
Africa as a center for raw natural resources, the Islamic influence naturally grew. Without the
presence of Islam, Muslim traders would not have caused an influx of trade, thus no growth to a
great empire. Mansa Musa, a follower of Islam, spread his enormous fortune during his haj
throughout Africa to the extent of devaluing it. That’s how influential Islam was. The Mongols,
however, were only interested in monetary and territorial gain. After their capture of a state,
those who swore allegiance were spared and were able to practice their own religions for the
price of tribute while those who opposed them were killed. This allowed many religions to
prosper, thus having no dominant religion. Despite these differences, these empires rose by
establishing a sort of strong economic system, whether by trading or tribute, influenced by the
incentive of religion. On top of that, the Mongols revived the Silk Road and a spur of cultural
exchange happened.
The Mali and Mongol Empires became extremely influential in their respective regions.
Despite their greatness, they were obtained through different methods, like the Mongols using
violence while Mali using religion and trading. Even though they had some differences, the
toleration of culture between the two established peace within their empires. Two empires in two
different places of the worlds, sub­Saharan Africa and Asia, grew to greatness with a myriad of
ways.