Africa’s Forgotten Atlantic Expedition?

In the early 14th century, Mansa Musa of the Mali Empire in Africa told a remarkable story: his predecessor, Mansa Muhammad ibn Qu, obsessed with finding the limits of the Atlantic Ocean, launched an enormous expedition of 2,000 ships. According to Musa, the first attempt with 200 ships ended in disaster, with only one ship returning to report powerful ocean currents pulling the fleet away. Unfazed, Muhammad led a second, much larger fleet himself - but neither he nor his ships were ever seen again, and Musa became emperor by default.

Historians have debated the truth of this account for centuries. Some argue it was a myth or political cover story, pointing out that the source is third-hand and no physical evidence has ever surfaced. Others believe the voyage did occur, noting that the mention of a strong Atlantic current matches the real-world Canary Current, which flows westward toward the Americas - a detail that suggests some real knowledge of ocean conditions at the time.

A few theorists even propose that the Malian fleet reached the Americas, citing accounts like that of Spanish priest Bartolomé de las Casas, who wrote that local peoples spoke of black visitors with metal-tipped spears. However, no African artifacts have been found in the Americas, and the evidence remains thin. Whether the fleet vanished into the ocean or found a new world, the mystery of Mansa Muhammad's lost expedition endures as one of history's most fascinating unanswered questions.

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