COMING TO AMERICA—Abu Bakar—1310 AD _ African king Abubakari Mansa Keita Ruler of the Great Ancient Mali Empire in the 13th century, handed over his throne to his brother Mansa Musa who later became one of the wealthiest man in world history, Abubakari desire was to explore the world and pursue knowledge as a Geographer instead of rulership he ended up to reach America before Columbus. How come we hardly hear about this ancient educated African Kings? According to King John II of Portugal:— “Canoes had been found which set out from the coast of Guinea and sailed to the west with merchandise" The average boat on the Niger, in the 1500's A.D., could carry 80 men… “At the mouth of River Real [the Bonny River]…there is a very large village, consisting of about 2,000 souls. Much salt is made here, and in this country are to be found the largest canoes, made of a single trunk, that are known in the whole of Ethiopia of Guinea; some are so large that they hold 80 men. They travel distances of a hundred leagues and more down the river” — Pacheo Pereira SOURCE; (Ghana Social Science Journal Volumes 3-4; 1976) A league is a unit of length that has historically varied in different regions… The most commonly used league is the nautical league, which is equal to three nautical miles or approximately 5.56 kilometers… If we consider the nautical league, 100 leagues would be equal to 300 nautical miles or approximately 556 kilometers… Mansa Musa reported that for the first voyage, "Abu Bakar equipped 2000 ships filled with men and the same number equipped with gold, water and provisions, enough to last them for years, they departed and a long time passed before anyone came back. Then one ship returned and we asked the Captain what news they brought” The captain replied to Mansa Musa, 'Yes, O Sultan, we traveled for a long time until there appeared in the open sea a river with a powerful current, the other ships went on ahead, but when they reached that place, they did not return and no more was seen of them” “As for me, I went about at once and did not enter the river” “Abu Bakar left me (Mansa Musa) to deputize for him and embarked on the Atlantic Ocean with his men. That was the last we saw of him and all those who were with him. And so, I became king in my own right” Around 1310 A.D. thousands of Manding and Fula speakers arrived in the Americas from ancient Mali… Ibn Fadlullah al-Umari, in his encyclopedia "Masalik al Absar", said the mariners from Mali during the reign of Abubakari made transatlantic voyages... Al-Umari, obtained his information from Mansa Musa, who was handed the kingship of Mali by Abubakari when he set out to colonize the Americas… #Africa