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Graphic Novel
The Golden Caravan
CAIRO . . .
1324.
WOULD YOU
LIKE TO BUY A GOLD
NECKLACE?
MA'AM?
EXCUSE ME,
SIR...SIR?
NO
THANKS.
MAY I
INTEREST
YOU IN...
NO.
DEAR BOY,
WHY DO YOU
WISH TO
SELL IT?
MA'AM, THIS
FINE NECKLACE
OF GOLD COULD
BE YOURS...
The Golden Caravan
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SIR, I'M SELLING
THIS BEAUTIFUL
GOLD NECKLACE!
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WELL...I'D HAD MY
EYE ON A NEW GOLD
NECKLACE FOR QUITE
A LONG TIME.
I HAD SAVED
FOR MONTHS.
I'VE COME TO
BUY THE GOLD
NECKLACE!
I WAS SO PROUD.
I ASKED THEM
WHERE THEY
GOT IT FROM.
BUT I RETURNED TO
MY NEIGHBORHOOD
ONLY TO FIND MY
FRIENDS HAD NEW
JEWELRY TOO.
BETTER JEWELRY...
AND MORE OF IT.
The Golden Caravan
THEY SAID THEY WERE
COMING BACK FROM THE
TRADING POST WHEN
ON THE HORIZON THEY
SAW A HUGE CARAVAN.
THERE
MUST BE
MORE THAN
EIGHTY
CAMELS!
THOUSANDS
OF PEOPLE!
GOLD.
TONS OF GOLD.
The Golden Caravan
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LOOK AT
ALL THE...
GREETINGS, FRIENDS.
I AM THE SERVANT OF
MANSA MUSA. TODAY
IS YOUR LUCKY DAY!
OR COURSE IT IS!
MANSA MUSA WISHES
TO GIVE YOU A GIFT!
IT
IS?
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A GIFT?
GOLD AND JEWELRY. ALL
YOU HAVE TO DO IS GO BACK
TO CAIRO AND SPREAD THE
WORD THAT THE GREAT
KING MANSA MUSA
APPROACHES.
BUT WHY TRAVEL WITH
SO MANY THOUSANDS
OF PEOPLE? WHY GIVE
AWAY SO MUCH GOLD?
BECAUSE HE IS ON A HAJJ TO MAKKAH! MANSA
MUSA WISHES TO PUT ON A SPECTACULAR
JOURNEY IN CELEBRATION OF THE NEW TRADE
ROuTES HE HAS SECURED FOR THE EXPORT OF
MALI'S GOLD AND SALT!
BECAUSE OF MANSA
MUSA MALI PROSPERS!
THIS PILGRIMAGE
WILL PROCLAIM HIS
POSITION IN THE
MUSLIM WORLD!
NOW GO
AND SPREAD
THE NEWS.
The Golden Caravan
SO MY FRIENDS RETURNED TO CAIRO AND
TOLD OF MANSA MUSA'S GENEROSITY.
I'VE RETURNED
TO SELL THIS
NECKLACE BACK!
SO I DECIDED
TO RETURN
MY NECKLACE.
WHAT?!
I'M SORRY,
YOUNG MAN,
I CAN'T.
THEY SAY HE HAS
OVER TWO TONS OF
GOLD WITH HIM.
HIS GENEROSITY
HAS ACTUALLY HURT
CAIRO'S ECONOMY.
I'D BETTER
FIND SOMEONE
TO BUY THIS
QUICK THEN!
The Golden Caravan
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MANSA MUSA HAS
GIVEN OUT SO MUCH
GOLD THAT HE'S
CAUSED ITS VALUE
TO PLUMMET.
I WANT MY MONEY
BACK. THIS IS
WORTHLESS NOW.
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WHICH BRINGS US TO
NOW. I NEED TO SELL
THIS BEAUTIFUL GOLD
NECKLACE AND YOU'RE
THE FIRST PERSON I'VE
SEEN THAT ISN'T
ALREADY WEARING
ANY GOLD JEWELRY.
...ACTUALLY
WELL...
I MET MANSA MUSA
TWO DAYS AGO. HE'S
A VERY NICE MAN!
AGHHH!
THE END.
The Golden Caravan
The Golden Caravan
GRAPHIC NOVEL
Background Summary
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Mansa Musa ruled Mali from 1312 to 1337. He expanded its empire to twice its original size and
also gained control of trade routes throughout Africa. Mali’s two most valuable trade goods,
gold and salt, reached the ends of the continent on these routes. In 1324 Mansa Musa, who was
a Muslim, decided to go on a pilgrimage, or hajj, to Makkah. The king assembled a huge caravan
that traveled with him on his journey. The immense size of the caravan and the power and
wealth needed to collect such a group greatly impressed everyone who saw it. This caravan
helped Mansa Musa establish an important position for himself and Mali in the Muslim world.
Mansa Musa’s caravan included thousands of soldiers and servants, along with 80 camels carrying
over two tons of gold. On his way to Makkah, Mansa Musa stopped in Cairo where the Sultan of
Egypt received him. While there, Musa spent large sums of money and gave many gifts of gold.
He brought so much gold with him that he made the value of gold fall. Mansa Musa then continued on to Makkah. The sights he saw in Makkah inspired him to create great mosques, libraries,
and universities in Mali. When Mansa Musa returned to Mali, he brought back many Arab scholars,
architects, and poets who helped build his home city of Timbuktu into a center for Islamic studies.
In this graphic novel, a young boy describes how Mansa Musa’s visit to Egypt personally affects him.
The gold necklace for which he had saved is nothing compared to the items that Mansa Musa has given the boy’s friends. The boy cannot even sell his necklace because the value of gold has fallen so
much.
Activities
Explaining
Explain to students that “The Golden Caravan” contains a flashback. A flashback is an interruption
in a story that goes back to events before the current time in the story. A flashback gives information that helps explain what is currently happening. Tell students to read the graphic novel and
to make a graphic organizer that shows the chronological order of events in the story. As a class,
discuss this order. Then tell students to add events to the graphic organizer. They should explain
how the story finally ends. Students can then draw frames or write a short narrative to accompany
these events.
Making Connections
Discuss the law of supply and demand using the boy’s experience. Draw three columns on the
board. Label them: Before the Story Started, What Changed?, and During the Story. Ask the following questions: Before the story started, what did the boy want so much that he saved a long
time to get it? What was probably true about the price of the necklace? Why do you think it was
expensive? Write student answers in the first column. Then ask the following questions:
During the story, how does the boy feel about the necklace? What is he trying to do with the necklace by then? Write student responses in the third column. Next, have volunteers describe what happened between the two time periods, and write their answers in the middle column. Finally, explain
the terms supply (how much of a good, resource, or service is available) and demand (how much
of a good, resource, or service is wanted). Help students apply these terms to the graphic novel.
Elicit from them the law of supply and demand: When supply is greater than demand, price
decreases. When demand is greater than supply, price increases.