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Abu Bakr II

Type Figure Region Mali Empire Time c. 1270–1312 Also known as Abu Bakr II、Abubakari II、Mansa Qu、Qu、阿布·巴卡尔二世

Mansa of the Mali Empire who, per chronicle and legend, abdicated c. 1311 to Mansa Musa and sailed west across the Atlantic, never to return.

Timeline

  1. 1301–1310Niani · Niger River basinFrom 1301 to 1310 Abu Bakr II governed the Mali Empire as mansa, maintaining the trans-Saharan gold and salt trade, supporting Islamic scholarship in Timbuktu, and relying on the heir Mansa Musa as co-regent, keeping the empire strong in West Africa.
  2. 1310–1312Atlantic coast · AtlanticAround 1311 Abu Bakr II announced his abdication, passing the mansa-ship to the heir Musa, and personally led a fleet westward to explore the Atlantic. According to the Malian tradition relayed by Ibn Battuta and later legend, the fleet never returned; whether he reached the Americas lacks archaeological confirmation, but the story became one of the most famous legends of African seafaring.

Sources