Mansa Musa I was considered the Mandingo Empire of Mali's greatest king. Ruling an area at one time comparable in size to all of Western Europe, Mansa Musa's empire was one of considerable wealth. Along with natural resources such as silver, gold, copper, and salt, it cultivated crops such as cotton, corn, millet, yams and kola nuts. During his reign Mansa Musa kept a standing army of over 100,000 and a famed calvary of 10,000. A Muslim when it suited him, Mansa Musa made one of the most famous "hajj" to the Islamic holy city of Mecca ever recorded. It was said that his royal caravan consisted of 10,000 to 60,000 people with 100 camel each carrying 300 pounds of gold. So much gold was deposited throughout his trip that one Egyptian chronicler stated that it took Cario's gold markets nearly 10 years to recover from Mansa Musa's trip. Mansa Musa's love of scholarly pursuits led to the city of Timbuktu's eventual fame as a center of learning throughout the Muslim world.