- 258 -

The recently arrived Al-Salim, and one does not expect from him any help or assistance to repel the Crusader incursions, so how about a group of his people and their followers, that these Sultans

Al-Malini, perhaps entered Egypt on their way to the Hijaz in a way that does not suggest they are kings. This is to avoid attracting attention, to avoid the raids of the Berbers and the Arabs of the desert, which they undoubtedly heard about and took their precautions against before embarking on the Hajj. In the same context, we do not rule out their embarking on the

Hajj in a secret manner, with the aim of preserving their throne upon their return. This secretive method reduces the scope of movement for rival claimants or rebels who could seize the throne in the absence of the Sultan in Mecca. It may be said that these Sultans and other Malini pilgrims did not enter Cairo at all, and that they took the road parallel to the southern bank

of the desert, passing through the kingdom of Akkad - Borno in Central Sudan until they reached Aidhab, and from there they sailed to the port of Yanbu or Jeddah1.

Despite the objectivity of this possibility, which should not be overlooked, we rule it out, as the context of Ibn Khaldun's account of the killing of Sakoura near Tarabulus suggests that the Malini took a road, many of whose stations were difficult, but it led them to Tripoli, and from there they entered Alexandria, then Cairo, like the Moroccan Hajj caravan. They might meet in Tripoli, and the Sudanese caravan would enter Cairo after the Moroccan caravan.

Where was the meeting point of the caravan? The Malini and the Moroccan, and why did the Moroccan Hajj travel books ignore this meeting? These are two questions that scientific research is still unable to answer. And it is dependent on the discovery of other sources that we do not currently have. But when Ibn Battuta stopped in Walata and the misunderstanding that accompanied it with the ruler of the city, he became angry and expressed his desire to return to Morocco without completing his journey to the capital of Mali. At that time, he said: (And I wanted to travel with the pilgrims of Walata2).

It is clear that Ibn Battuta's anger caused us to lose a precious opportunity to learn about the conditions of the Malini Hajj caravan, and it also hindered efforts to know whether the Malini caravan had acquired a certain organization and established traditions, as is the case with the Moroccan caravan, which was organized with Sheikh Abu Muhammad Saleh

Al-Majri, and took on a formal character with the Marinids since the beginning of the eighth Hijri century.

And if we want to explore the background of Ibn Battuta's brief mention, we can say that Walata became, since the end of the seventh Hijri century, a center for the gathering of the Malini before their departure to perform their pilgrimage. And the city's location, considering the trade routes that the desert caravans established during the same period,

will lead us to Sijilmasa. Did the Malini depart from the Sijilmasa Hajj caravan?3. We stop our inquisitive aspirations at this point and record

the following observations:

*- The general impression conveyed by the brief source testimonies is that the Malini, during the eighth Hijri century (14th century AD), began to perform the Hajj with some regularity. They would depart in a caravan that might include a hundred people or about that number.

*- From the available information about the Hajj of Sultan Mansa Musa, it appears that the route taken by the Malini Hajj journey is different from the one taken on the return. The Hajj procession of Mansa Musa departed from Niani, the capital, then Segou, Walata, Taghaza, Touat, Ghadames, and Tripoli, and finally Cairo, where the Malini caravan joined the Egyptian caravan to Mecca. As for the return route, it was from Cairo to Ghadames, then

Kuku, then Timbuktu, and from there to the capital Niani.

1 . - Ahmed Al-Shukri, Islam and Sudanese Society, op. cit., p. 343. . 2 - Ibn Battuta, Tuhfat al-Nuzzar fi Ghara'ib al-Amsar wa Aja'ib al-Asfar, Dar Al-Resala Al-Alamiyah, Beirut, 1115 AH, Vol. 3, p. 773. . 3 - Throughout the Middle Ages, several cities took turns hosting the Moroccan Hajj caravan before its departure, including Safi, Fez, Marrakech, and Sijilmasa.