Case file · Folklore / legend
The mansa who sailed into the Atlantic
Mansa Musa told an official in Cairo that his predecessor sent 200 ships to find the far side of the Atlantic; one returned, so the king set out himself with 2,000 ships and never came back.
1312 CE · 13.30, -16.80 · status: legend
The account
The story was written down by al-Umari around 1337. The ruler is usually called Abu Bakr II and the voyage dated to about 1311 or 1312. Some writers claim he reached the Americas. The departure point on the coast is unknown; the plotted point is approximate.
The sceptical view
There is no archaeological or documentary evidence of a Malian landing in the Americas, and some historians doubt that the ruler named existed as described.