Mansa Musa was a devout Muslim. In 1324, he started making preparations for his initial pilgrimage journey to Mecca. The distance between Mali and Mecca is approximately 3000 miles. Therefore, it took officials and servants from his empire several months to make adequate preparations for the journey. The initial step in making preparations involved the collection of animals which were to be used as sources of food as well as carry luggage. The animals included goats, cows, and camels. Items to be carried by the animals included gold, food, and clothing. More than 30,000 pounds of gold were carried among 100 camels. A large number of people were also included in the caravan that accompanied the king. It is estimated that the caravan consisted of 60,000 people of whom 12,000 were slaves (Woods & Tucker, 2006). Others included 500 maids who were identified by the king’s first wife, soldiers, story tellers, teachers, and doctors (Woods & Tucker, 2006).
In the early-to-mid 16th century, Mennonites began to flee to the Vistula delta region in order to avoid persecution in the Low Countries, especially Friesland and Flanders, seeking religious freedom and exemption from military service.
