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One of Mali's rulers, Sundiata expanded Mali into an Empire. But Mali had reached it's height under the rule of Mansa Musa.
Throughout Mali, it became a center of trade, education/ learning, religion and Culture.

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Family and age sets benefit the people of the villages, work together, if they are loyal to each other. There is one part where men in the same age-set have a duty to help each other. And the women also have formed age sets. The importance of family played a part in the development of West African states and cities.

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Ancient Mali had gold Trade routes. Sundiata conquered the salt and gold trades. He also improved agriculture. After all of Mali's enemies were defeated, Mali's soldiers worked alongside slaves in large farms. In the ancient empire of Mali, trade was so important for trading gold industry. A lot of gold was traded in the Sahara desert and countries, on the North African coast. Muslim traders would pass through too, spreading Islam with them as well. The places traders would gather, grew into cities, one of them was Timbuktu, which was the home and center of culture and learning. It was also trans-Saharan trade routes, that helped to keep the empire in power, and brought riches as well.

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Mansa Musa was the Ruler of Mali and brought Mali to it's highest point in 1300's. Mansa Musa was considered to be the first ruler in Mali to devoutly practice Islam. But in 1324, he went on a pilgrimage to Mecca. He stopped in Egypt, and is said to believe that he gave away so much gold to where gold wasn't rare there anymore.

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Oral Tradition is important because, it is an spoken record of past events. They also pass along information through oral histories.

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“Empire of Mali.” World History Medieval to Early Modern Times, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2006, pp. 136–141. “Ancient Mali Gold Trade Routes.”
Ancient Mali Trade Routes vs. European Trade Routes, malitradevseuropeantrade.weebly.com
Hicks, Celeste. “Mali War Exposes Religious Fault Lines.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 3 May 2013, www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/03/mali-war-religious-faultlines.

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The leadership of Sundiata and Mansa Musa, made Mali become a large empire. Mali later became famous for it's wealth and places of learning. but like most empires, Mali fell.

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The use of Iron helped with labor specialization because it provided more roles in villages, with the tools and weapons they made of iron, such as, hunters, farmers, and warriors.

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Mansa Musa supported education. He sent scholars to Morocco, and study there. They then set up schools there which, Mali would later be know for.