[citation needed] He was the son, but not necessarily the immediate successor, of Mansa Uli II.
[2] The growing trade in Mali's western provinces with Portugal witnessed the exchange of envoys between the two nations.
Mansa Mahmud II received the Portuguese envoy Pedro da Évora in 1484.
[3] In the letter he sent back to King John II of Portugal, Mahmud claimed to be exceeded in power by only the sultans of Yemen, Baghdad, Cairo and Takrur.
That same year, Mahmud II sent another envoy to the Portuguese proposing alliance against the Fulas.