Timbuktu
Encyclopedia
Timbuktu formerly also spelled Timbuctoo, is a town in the West African nation of Mali
situated 15 km (9.3 mi) north of the River Niger on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. The town is the capital of the Timbuktu Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali
. It had a population of 54,453 in the 2009 census.
Starting out as a seasonal settlement, Timbuktu became a permanent settlement early in the 12th century. After a shift in trading routes, Timbuktu flourished from the trade in salt, gold, ivory and slaves and became part of the Mali Empire
early in the 13th century. In the first half of the 15th century the Tuareg tribes took control of the city for a short period until the expanding Songhay Empire absorbed the city in 1468. A Moroccan
army defeated the Songhay in 1591, and made Timbuktu, rather than Gao
, their capital. The invaders established a new ruling class, the arma, who after 1612 became independent of Morocco. However, the golden age of the city was over and it entered a long period of decline. Different tribes governed until the French took over in 1893, a situation that lasted until it became part of the current Republic of Mali in 1960. Nowadays Timbuktu is impoverished and suffers from desertification
. Several initiatives are being undertaken to revive the historic manuscripts still kept in the city. Meanwhile, tourism forms an important source of income.
In its Golden Age, the town's numerous Islamic scholars and extensive trading network made possible an important book trade: together with the campuses of the Sankore madrassah, an Islamic university, this established Timbuktu as a scholarly centre in Africa.
Several notable historic writers, such as Shabeni and Leo Africanus
, have described Timbuktu. These stories fuelled speculation in Europe, where the city's reputation shifted from being extremely rich to being mysterious. This reputation overshadows the town itself in modern times, to the point where it is best known as an expression for a distant or outlandish place.
of Timbuktu has varied a great deal: from Tenbuch on the Catalan Atlas
(1375), to traveller Antonio Malfante
's Thambet, used in a letter he wrote in 1447 and also adopted by Alvise Cadamosto in his Voyages of Cadamosto, to Heinrich Barth
's Timbúktu and Timbu'ktu. As well as its spelling, Timbuktu's etymology
is still open to discussion. At least four possible origins of the name of Timbuktu have been described:
The validity of these theories depends on the identity of the original founders of the city: as recent as 2000, archaeological research
has not found remains dating from the 11th/12th century due to meters of sand
that have buried the remains over the past centuries. Without consensus, the etymology of Timbuktu remains unclear.
, Timbuktu is not mentioned by the early Arabic geographers such as al-Bakri and al-Idrisi. The first mention is by the Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta
who visited both Timbuktu and Kabara in 1353 when returning from a stay in the capital of the Mali Empire
. Timbuktu was still relatively unimportant and Battuta quickly moved on to Gao. At the time both Timbuktu and Gao formed part of the Mali Empire. A century and a half later, in around 1510, Leo Africanus
visited Timbuktu. He gave a description of the town in his Descrittione dell'Africa which was published in 1550. The original Italian was translated into a number of other languages and the book became widely known in Europe.
The earliest surviving local documents are the 17th century chronicles, al-Sadi's Tarikh al-Sudan and Ibn al-Mukhtar's Tarikh al-fattash
. These provide information on the town at the time of the Songhay Empire and the invasion by Moroccan forces in 1591. The authors do not, in general, acknowledge their sources but the accounts are likely to be based on oral tradition and on earlier written records that have not survived. Al-Sadi and Ibn al-Mukhtar were members of the scholarly class and their chronicles reflect the interests of this group. The chronicles provide biographies of the imams and judges but contain relatively little information on the social and economic history of the town. The Tarikh al-fattash ends in around 1600 while the Tarikh al-Sudan continues to 1655. Information after this date is provided by the Tadhkirat al-Nisyan (A Reminder to the Obvious), an anonymous biographical dictionary of the Moroccan rulers of Timbuktu written in around 1750. It does not contain the detail provided by the earlier Tarikh al-Sudan. A short chronicle written by Mawlay al-Qasim gives details of the pashalik in the second half of the 18th century. For the 19th century there are numerous local sources but the information is very fragmented.
or around 1100 AD. Al-Sadi saw Maghsharan Tuareg as the founders, as their summer encampment grew from temporary settlement to depot to travellers' meeting place. However, modern research cites insufficient available evidence to pinpoint the exact time of origin and founders of Timbuktu, although it is clear that the city originated from a local trade between Saharan pastoralists and boat trade within the Niger River Delta. The importance of the river prompted descriptions of the city as 'a gift of the Niger', in analogy
to Herodotus
' description of Egypt as 'gift of the Nile
'.
king Soumaoro Kanté
. Muslim scholars from Walata (beginning to replace Aoudaghost
as trade route terminus) fled to Timbuktu and solidified the position of Islam, a religion that had gradually spread throughout West Africa, mainly through commercial contacts. Islam at the time in the area was not uniform, its nature changing from city to city, and Timbuktu's bond with the religion was reinforced through its openness to strangers that attracted many religious scholars. In 1324 Timbuktu was peacefully annexed by king Musa I, returning from his pilgrimage to Mecca
. The city now part of the Mali Empire
, king Musa I ordered the construction of a royal palace
and, together with his following of hundreds of Muslim scholars, built the learning centre of Djinguereber Mosque
in 1330.
In 1375, Timbuktu appeared in the Catalan Atlas
, showing that it was, by then, a commercial centre linked to the North-African cities and had caught Europe's eye.
Thirty years later however, the rising Songhay Empire expanded, absorbing Timbuktu in 1468 or 1469. The city was led, consecutively, by Sunni Ali Ber (1468–1492), Sunni Baru (1492–1493) and Askia Mohammad I
(1493–1528). Although Sunni Ali Ber was in severe conflict with Timbuktu after its conquest, Askia Mohammad I created a golden age
for both the Songhay Empire and Timbuktu through an efficient central and regional administration and allowed sufficient leeway for the city's commercial centers to flourish. With Gao the capital of the empire, Timbuktu enjoyed a relatively autonomous position. Merchants from Ghadames
, Awjilah, and numerous other cities of North Africa gathered there to buy gold and slaves in exchange for the Saharan salt of Taghaza and for North African cloth and horses. Leadership of the Empire stayed in the Askia dynasty until 1591, when internal fights weakened the dynasty's grip and led to a decline of prosperity in the city.
, the city was captured on 30 May 1591 by an expedition of mercenaries and slaves, dubbed the Arma. They were sent by the Saadi
ruler of Morocco
, Ahmad I al-Mansur, and were led by Judar Pasha
in search of gold mines. The Arme brought the end of an era of relative autonomy
. The following period brought economic and intellectual decline. In 1593, Ahmad I al-Mansur cited 'disloyalty' as the reason for arresting, and subsequently killing or exiling, many of Timbuktu's scholars, including Ahmad Baba
. Perhaps the city's greatest scholar, he was forced to move to Marrakesh because of his intellectual opposition to the Pasha, where he continued to attract the attention of the scholarly world. Ahmad Baba later returned to Timbuktu, where he died in 1608. The city's decline continued, with the increasing trans-atlantic trade routes – transporting African slaves, including leaders and scholars of Timbuktu – marginalising Timbuktu's role as a trade and scholarly center. While initially controlling the Morocco – Timbuktu trade routes, Morocco soon cut its ties with the Arma and the grip of the numerous subsequent pasha
s on the city began losing its strength: Tuareg temporarily took over control in 1737 and the remainder of the 18th century saw various Tuareg tribes, Bambara and Kounta
briefly occupy or besiege the city. During this period, the influence of the Pashas, which by then had mixed with the Songhay through intermarriage, never completely disappeared. This changed in 1826, when the Massina Empire
took over control of the city until 1865, when they were driven away by the Toucouleur Empire
. Sources conflict on who was in control when the French arrived: Elias N. Saad in 1983 suggests the Soninke Wangara
, a 1924 article in the Journal of the Royal African Society mentions the Tuareg, while Africanist
John Hunwick
does not determine one ruler, but notes several states competing for power 'in a shadowy way' until 1893.
's account in the first half of the 16th century, and they prompted several European individuals and organizations to make great efforts to discover Timbuktu and its fabled riches. In 1788 a group of titled Englishmen formed the African Association
with the goal of finding the city and charting the course of the Niger River
. The earliest of their sponsored explorers was a young Scottish adventurer named Mungo Park
, who made two trips in search of the Niger River
and Timbuktu (departing first in 1795 and then in 1805). It is believed that Park was the first Westerner to have reached the city, but he died in modern day Nigeria
without having the chance to report his findings. In 1824, the Paris-based Société de Géographie
offered a 10,000 franc prize to the first non-Muslim to reach the town and return with information about it. The Scotsman Gordon Laing
arrived in August 1826 but was killed the following month by local Muslims who were fearful of European intervention. The Frenchman René Caillié arrived in 1828 travelling alone, disguised as a Muslim; he was able to safely return and claim the prize.
Robert Adams, an African-American sailor, claimed to have visited the city in 1811 as a slave for a period of several months after his ship wrecked off the African coast. He later gave an account to the British consul in Tangier
, Morocco in 1813 that was published in an 1816 book, The Narrative of Robert Adams. However, great doubts remain about his account. Three other Europeans reached the city before 1890: Heinrich Barth
in 1853 and the German Oskar Lenz
with the Spaniard Cristobal Benítez in 1880.
had been formalized in the Berlin Conference, land between the 14th meridian
and Miltou, Chad
became French territory, bounded in the south by a line running from Say, Niger
to Baroua. Although the Timbuktu region was now French in name, the principle of effectivity required France to actually hold power in those areas assigned, e.g. by signing agreements with local chiefs, setting up a government and making use of the area economically, before the claim would be definitive. On 15 December 1893, the city, by then long past its prime, was annexed by a small group of French soldiers, led by Lieutenant Gaston Boiteux. Timbuktu became part of French Sudan
(Soudan Français), a colony of France. The colony was reorganised and the name changed several times during the French colonial period. In 1899 the French Sudan was subdivided and Timbuktu became part of Upper Senegal and Middle Niger (Haut-Sénégal et Moyen Niger). In 1902 the name became Senegambia and Niger
(Sénégambie et Niger) and in 1904 this was changed again to Upper Senegal and Niger (Haut-Sénégal et Niger). This name was used until 1920 when it became French Sudan again.
During World War II, several legions were recruited in French Soudan, with some coming from Timbuktu, to help general Charles de Gaulle
fight Nazi-occupied France and southern Vichy France
.
About 60 British merchant seamen from the SS Allende (Cardiff
), sunk on the 17 March 1942 off the South coast of West Africa, and were held prisoner in the city during the Second World War. Two months later, after having been transported from Freetown
to Timbuktu, two of them, AB John Turnbull Graham (2 May 1942, age 23) and Chief Engineer William Soutter (28 May 1942, age 60) died there in May 1942. Both men were buried in the European cemetery – possibly the most remote British war graves tended by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
.
They were not the only war captives in Timbuktu: Peter de Neumann
was one of 52 men imprisoned in Timbuktu in 1942 when their ship, the SS Criton, was intercepted by two Vichy French warships. Although several men, including de Neumann, escaped, they were all recaptured and stayed a total of ten months in the city, guarded by natives. Upon his return to England, he became known as "The Man from Timbuctoo".
After World War II, the French government under Charles de Gaulle
granted the colony more and more freedom. After a period as part of the short-lived Mali Federation
, the Republic of Mali was proclaimed on 22 September 1960. After a 19 November 1968, a new constitution was created in 1974, making Mali a single-party state
. By then, the canal linking the city with the Niger River had already been filled with sand from the encroaching desert
. Severe droughts hit the Sahel region in 1973 and 1985, decimating the Tuareg population around Timbuktu who relied on goat herding. The Niger's water level dropped, postponing the arrival of food transport and trading vessels. The crisis drove many of the inhabitants of Tombouctou Region to Algeria
and Libya
. Those who stayed relied on humanitarian organizations
such as UNICEF for food and water.
standards. The population has grown an average 5.7% per year from 29,732 in 1998 to 54,453 in 2009. As capital of the seventh Malian region, Tombouctou Region, Timbuktu is the seat of the current governor, Colonel Mamadou Mangara, who took over from Colonel Mamadou Togola in 2008. Mangara answers, as does each of the regional governors, to the Ministry of Territorial Administration & Local Communities.
Current issues include dealing with both droughts and floods, the latter caused by an insufficient drainage system
that fails to transport direct rainwater from the city centre. One such event damaged World Heritage property, killing two and injuring one in 2002. Shifting of rain patterns due to climatic change
and increased use of water for irrigation
in the surrounding areas has led to water scarcity for agriculture and personal use.
The annual flood of the Niger River is a result of the heavy rainfall in the headwaters of the Niger and Bani
rivers in Guinea
and the northern Ivory Coast. The rainfall in these areas peaks in August but the flood water takes time to pass down the river system and through the Inner Niger Delta. At Koulikoro
, 60 km downstream from Bamako
, the flood peaks in September, while in Timbuktu the flood lasts longer and usually reaches a maximum at the end of December.
In the past, the area flooded by the river was more extensive and in years with high rainfall, floodwater would reach the western outskirts of Timbuktu itself. A small navigable creek to the west of the town is shown on the maps published by Heinrich Barth in 1857 and Félix Dubois in 1896. Between 1917 and 1921, during the colonial period, the French used forced labour to dig a narrow canal linking Timbuktu with Kabara. Over the following decades this became silted and filled with sand, but in 2007 as part of the dredging project, the canal was re-excavated so that now when the River Niger floods, Timbuktu is again connected to Kabala. The Malian government has promised to address problems with the design of the canal as it currently lacks footbridges and the steep unstable banks make access to the water difficult.
Kabara can only function as a port in December to January when the river is in full flood. When the water levels are lower, boats dock at Korioumé which is linked to Timbuktu by 18 km of paved road.
winter – December through February. However, average maximum temperatures do not drop below 30 °C . These months are characterized by a dry, dusty trade wind
blowing from the Saharan Tibesti Region
southward to the Gulf of Guinea
: picking up dust particles on their way, these winds limit visibility in what has been dubbed the 'Harmattan Haze'. Additionally, when the dust settles in the city, sand builds up and desertification looms. Timbuktu's climate is classified as BWhw according to the Köppen Climate Classification
:arid
, with no month averaging below 0 °C (32 °F) and a dry season
during winter.
mining centre in the central Sahara 664 km (412.6 mi) north of Timbuktu. Until the second half of the 20th century most of the slabs were transported by large salt caravans or azalai
, one leaving Timbuktu in early November and the other in late March. The caravans of several thousand camels took three weeks each way, transporting food to the miners and returning with each camel loaded with four or five 30 kg slabs of salt. The salt transport was largely controlled by the desert nomads of the Arabic speaking Berabich tribe. Although there are no roads, the slabs of salt are now usually transported from Taoudenni by truck. From Timbuktu the salt is transported by boat to other towns in Mali.
Although floating rice is still cultivated in the Timbuktu Cercle
, most of the rice is now grown in three relatively large irrigated areas that lie to the south of the town: Daye 392 ha, Koriomé 550 ha and Hamadja 623 ha. Water is pumped from the river using ten large archimedes' screw
s which were first installed in the 1990s. The irrigated areas are run as cooperatives with approximately 2,100 families cultivating small plots. Nearly all the rice produced is consumed by the families themselves. The yields are still relatively low and the farmers are being encouraged to change their agricultural practices.
and Shabeni.
. Born El Hasan ben Muhammed el-Wazzan-ez-Zayyati in Granada
in 1485, he was expelled along with his parents and thousands of other Muslims by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella after their reconquest of Spain
in 1492. Settling in Morocco, he studied in Fes
and accompanied his uncle on diplomatic missions throughout North Africa. During these travels, he visited Timbuktu. As a young man he was captured by pirates and presented as an exceptionally learned slave to Pope Leo X
, who freed him, baptized
him under the name "Johannis Leo de Medici", and commissioned him to write, in Italian, a detailed survey of Africa. His accounts provided most of what Europeans knew about the continent
for the next several centuries. Describing Timbuktu when the Songhai empire
was at its height, the English edition of his book includes the description:
According to Leo Africanus, there were abundant supplies of locally produced corn, cattle, milk and butter, though there were neither gardens nor orchards surrounding the city. In another passage dedicated to describing the wealth of both the environment and the king, Africanus touches upon the rarity of some of Timbuktu's trade commodities: salt.
These descriptions and passages alike caught the attention of European explorers. Africanus, though, also described the more mundane aspects of the city, such as the "cottages built of chalk
, and covered with thatch" – although these went largely unheeded.
, a 14 year old child from Tetouan
accompanied his father on a visit to Timbuktu. Growing up a merchant, he was captured and eventually brought to England
.
Shabeni, or Asseed El Hage Abd Salam Shabeeny stayed in Timbuktu for three years before moving to Housa. Two years later, he returned to Timbuctoo to live there for another seven years – one of a population that was even centuries after its peak and excluding slaves, double the size of the 21st century town.
By the time Shabeni was 27, he was an established merchant in his hometown. Returning from a trademission to Hamburgh
, his English ship was captured and brought to Ostende by a ship under Russian colours in December, 1789.
He was subsequently set free by the British consulate, but his ship set him ashore in Dover
for fear of being captured again. Here, his story was recorded.
Shabeeni gave an indication of the size of the city in the second half of the 18th. In an earlier passage, he described an environment that was characterized by forest, as opposed to nowadays' arid surroundings.
found 34% did not believe the town existed, while the other 66% considered it "a mythical place". This sense has been acknowledged in literature describing African history and African-European relations.
The origin of this mystification lies in the excitement brought to Europe by the legendary tales, especially those by Leo Africanus
: Arabic sources focused mainly on more affluent cities in the Timbuktu region, such as Gao
and Walata. In West Africa the city holds an image that has been compared to Europe's view on Athens
. As such, the picture of the city as the epitome
of distance and mystery is a European one.
Down-to-earth-aspects in Africanus' descriptions were largely ignored and stories of great riches served as a catalyst
for travellers to visit the inaccessible city – with prominent French explorer René Caillié characterising Timbuktu as "a mass of ill-looking houses built of earth
". Now opened up, many travellers acknowledged the unfitting description of an "African El Dorado
". This development shifted the city's reputation – from being fabled because of its gold to fabled because of its location and mystery:
Being used in this sense since at least 1863, English dictionaries now cite Timbuktu as a metaphor
for any faraway place. Long part of colloquial language, Timbuktu also found its way into literature: in Tom Robbins
' novel Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas
, Timbuktu provides a central theme. One lead character, Larry Diamond, is vocally fascinated with the city.
In the stage play Oliver!
, a 1960 musical, when the title character
sings to Nancy, "I'd do anything for you, dear", one of her responses is "Go to Timbuktu?" "And back again", Oliver responds.
Similar uses of the city are found in movies, where it is used to indicate a place a person or good cannot be traced – in a Dutch Donald Duck
comic subseries situated in Timbuktu, Donald Duck uses the city as a safe haven, and in the 1970 Disney
animated feature
The Aristocats
, cats are threatened with being sent to Timbuktu. It is mistakenly noted to be in French Equatorial Africa
, instead of French West Africa
. Timbuktu has provided the main setting for at least one movie: the 1959 film Timbuktu
was set in the city in 1940, although it was filmed in Kanab, Utah
.
Ali Farka Touré
inverted the stereotype: "For some people, when you say 'Timbuktu' it is like the end of the world, but that is not true. I am from Timbuktu, and I can tell you that we are right at the heart of the world."
, is held near the city in January.
(WHC) selected parts of Timbuktu's historic centre for inscription on its World Heritage list. The selection was based on three criteria:
An earlier nomination in 1979 failed the following year as it lacked proper demarcation: the Malinese government included the town of Timbuktu as a whole in the wish for inclusion. Close to a decade later, three mosques and 16 mausoleum
s or cemeteries were selected from the Old Town for World Heritage status
: with this conclusion came the call for protection of the buildings' conditions, an exclusion of new construction works near the sites and measures against the encroaching sand
.
Shortly afterwards, the monuments were placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger by the Malian government
, as suggested by the selection committee at the time of nomination. Its position on the Danger List lasted from 1990 until 2005, when a range of measures including restoration work and the compilation of an inventory 'warranted removal from the [Danger] List'. In 2008 the WHC placed the protected area under increased scrutiny dubbed 'reinforced monitoring', a measure made possible in 2007, as the impact of planned construction work was unclear. Special attention was given to the build of a cultural centre. During a session in June 2009, UNESCO
decided to cease its increased monitoring program as it felt sufficient progress had been made to address the initial concerns.
Timbuktu’s rapid economic growth in the 13th and 14th centuries drew many scholars from nearby Walata, leading up to the city’s golden age in the 15th and 16th centuries that proved fertile ground for scholarship of religions, arts and science. An active trade in books between Timbuktu and other parts of the Islamic world
and emperor Askia Mohammed’s strong support led to the writing of thousands of manuscript
s.
Knowledge was gathered in a manner similar to the early, informal European Medieval university
model. Lecturing was presented through a range of informal institutions called madrasahs. Nowadays dubbed the ‘University of Timbuktu
’, three madrasahs facilitated 25,000 students: Djinguereber
, Sidi Yahya and Sankore. These institutions were explicitly religious, as opposed to the more secular curricula of modern European universities. However, where universities in the European sense started as associations of students and teachers, West-African education was patronized
by families or lineages, with the Aqit and Bunu al-Qadi al-Hajj families being two of the most prominent in Timbuktu – these families also facilitated students is set-aside rooms in their housings. Although the basis of Islamic law
and its teaching were brought to Timbuktu from North Africa with the spread of Islam, Western African scholarship developed: Ahmad Baba al Massufi
is regarded as the city's greatest scholar. Over time however, the share of patrons that originated from or identified themselves as West-Africans decreased.
Timbuktu served in this process as a distribution centre of scholars and scholarship. Its reliance on trade meant intensive movement of scholars between the city and its extensive network of trade partners. In 1468–1469 though, many scholars left for Walata when Sunni Ali’s Songhay Empire absorbed Timbuktu and again in 1591 with the Moroccan occupation.
This system of education survived until late 19th century, while the 18th century saw the institution of itinerant Quranic school as a form of universal education, where scholars would travel throughout the region with their students, begging for food part of the day.
Islamic education came under pressure after the French occupation, droughts in the 70s and 80s and by Mali’s civil war in the early 90s.
Hundreds of thousands of manuscripts were collected in Timbuktu over the course of centuries: some were written in the town itself, others – including exclusive copies of the Qur’an for wealthy families - imported through the lively booktrade.
Hidden in cellars or buried, hid between the mosque's mud walls and safeguarded by their patrons, many of these manuscripts survived the city's decline. They now form the collection of several libraries in Timbuktu, holding up to 700,000 manuscripts:
These libraries are the largest among up to 60 private or public libraries that are estimated to exist in Timbuktu today, although some comprise little more than a row of books on a shelf or a bookchest. Under these circumstances, the manuscripts are vulnerable to damage and theft, as well as long term climate damage, despite Timbuktu's arid climate. Two Timbuktu Manuscripts Project
s funded by independent universities have aimed to preserve them.
, today the large majority of Timbuktu's inhabitants speaks Koyra Chiini
, a Songhay language that also functions as the lingua franca
. Before the 1990–1994 Tuareg rebellion, both Hassaniya
Arabic and Tamashek
were represented by 10% each to an 80% dominance of the Koyra Chiini language. With Tamashek spoken by both Bella
and ethnic Tuaregs, its use declined with the expelling of many Tuaregs following the rebellion, increasing the dominance of Koyra Chiini. Arabic
, introduced together with Islam during the 11th century, has mainly been the language of scholars and religion, comparable to Latin
in Christianity. Although Bambara
is spoken by the most numerous ethnic group in Mali, the Bambara people, it is mainly confined to the south of the country. With an improving infrastructure granting Timbuktu access to larger cities in Mali's South, use of Bambara is increasing in the city but has yet to become an influential factor.
up to Koulikoro
, access to Timbuktu is by road, boat or, since 1961, plane. With high water levels in the Niger from August to December, Compagnie Malienne de Navigation (COMANAV) passenger ferries operate a leg between Koulikoro and downstream Gao
on a roughly weekly basis. Also requiring high water are pinasses (large motorized pirogues), either charter
ed or public, that travel up and down the river. Both ferries and pinasses arrive at Korioumé, Timbuktu's port, which is linked to the city centre by an 18 km (11.2 mi) paved road running through Kabara. In 2007, access to Timbuktu's traditional port, Kabara, was restored by a Libya
n funded project that dredged the 3 km silted canal connecting Kabara to an arm of the Niger River. COMANAV ferries and pinassses are now able to reach the port when the river is in full flood.
Timbuktu is poorly connected to the Malian road network with only dirt roads to the neighbouring towns. Although the Niger River can be crossed by ferry at Korioumé, the roads south of the river are no better. However, a new paved road of is under construction between Niono
and Timbuktu running to the north of the Inland Niger Delta. The 565 km road will pass through Nampala, Niafunké
, Tonka
, Diré
and Goundam
. The completed 81 km section between Niono and the small village of Goma Coura was financed by the Millennium Challenge Corporation
. This new section will service the Alatona irrigation system development of the 'Office du Niger'. The 484 km section between Goma Coura and Timbuktu is being financed by the European Development Fund
.
Timbuktu's airport
is served by both Air Mali
and Mali Air Express
, hosting flights to and from Bamako, Gao and Mopti. Its 6,923 ft (2,110 m) runway in a 07/25 orientation is both lighted and paved.
– Chemnitz
, Germany – Hay-on-Wye
, Wales, United Kingdom - Kairuan, Tunisia – Marrakech
, Morocco – Saintes
, France – Tempe, Arizona
, United States - Tifariti
, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara)
Mali
Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...
situated 15 km (9.3 mi) north of the River Niger on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert. The town is the capital of the Timbuktu Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali
Regions of Mali
||Mali is divided into eight regions and one capital district. Each of the regions bears the name of its principal city. The regions are divided into 49 cercles. The cercles and the capital district are divided into 703 communes....
. It had a population of 54,453 in the 2009 census.
Starting out as a seasonal settlement, Timbuktu became a permanent settlement early in the 12th century. After a shift in trading routes, Timbuktu flourished from the trade in salt, gold, ivory and slaves and became part of the Mali Empire
Mali Empire
The Mali Empire or Mandingo Empire or Manden Kurufa was a West African empire of the Mandinka from c. 1230 to c. 1600. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa I...
early in the 13th century. In the first half of the 15th century the Tuareg tribes took control of the city for a short period until the expanding Songhay Empire absorbed the city in 1468. A Moroccan
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
army defeated the Songhay in 1591, and made Timbuktu, rather than Gao
Gao
Gao is a town in eastern Mali on the River Niger lying ESE of Timbuktu. Situated on the left bank of the river at the junction with the Tilemsi valley, it is the capital of the Gao Region and had a population of 86,663 in 2009....
, their capital. The invaders established a new ruling class, the arma, who after 1612 became independent of Morocco. However, the golden age of the city was over and it entered a long period of decline. Different tribes governed until the French took over in 1893, a situation that lasted until it became part of the current Republic of Mali in 1960. Nowadays Timbuktu is impoverished and suffers from desertification
Desertification
Desertification is the degradation of land in drylands. Caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change and human activities, desertification is one of the most significant global environmental problems.-Definitions:...
. Several initiatives are being undertaken to revive the historic manuscripts still kept in the city. Meanwhile, tourism forms an important source of income.
In its Golden Age, the town's numerous Islamic scholars and extensive trading network made possible an important book trade: together with the campuses of the Sankore madrassah, an Islamic university, this established Timbuktu as a scholarly centre in Africa.
Several notable historic writers, such as Shabeni and Leo Africanus
Leo Africanus
Joannes Leo Africanus, was a Moorish diplomat and author who is best known for his book Descrittione dell’Africa describing the geography of North Africa.-Biography:Most of what is known about his life is gathered from autobiographical...
, have described Timbuktu. These stories fuelled speculation in Europe, where the city's reputation shifted from being extremely rich to being mysterious. This reputation overshadows the town itself in modern times, to the point where it is best known as an expression for a distant or outlandish place.
Etymology
Over the centuries, the spellingSpelling
Spelling is the writing of one or more words with letters and diacritics. In addition, the term often, but not always, means an accepted standard spelling or the process of naming the letters...
of Timbuktu has varied a great deal: from Tenbuch on the Catalan Atlas
Catalan Atlas
The Catalan Atlas is the most important Catalan map of the medieval period. It was produced by the Majorcan cartographic school and is attributed to Cresques Abraham , a Jewish book illuminator who was self-described as being a master of the maps of the world as well as compasses...
(1375), to traveller Antonio Malfante
Antonio Malfante
Antonio Malfante was a Genoese trader, known for traveling to Africa on behalf of the Centurione Bank in 1447. In a letter written in Latin from the Saharan oasis of Tuwat to a merchant in Genoa, Malfante reported on what he learned from an informant about the trans-Saharan trade...
's Thambet, used in a letter he wrote in 1447 and also adopted by Alvise Cadamosto in his Voyages of Cadamosto, to Heinrich Barth
Heinrich Barth
Heinrich Barth was a German explorer of Africa and scholar.Barth is one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa, not necessarily because of the length of his travels or the time he spent alone without European company in Africa, but because of his singular character.-Biography:Barth...
's Timbúktu and Timbu'ktu. As well as its spelling, Timbuktu's etymology
Etymology
Etymology is the study of the history of words, their origins, and how their form and meaning have changed over time.For languages with a long written history, etymologists make use of texts in these languages and texts about the languages to gather knowledge about how words were used during...
is still open to discussion. At least four possible origins of the name of Timbuktu have been described:
- Songhay origin: both Leo AfricanusLeo AfricanusJoannes Leo Africanus, was a Moorish diplomat and author who is best known for his book Descrittione dell’Africa describing the geography of North Africa.-Biography:Most of what is known about his life is gathered from autobiographical...
and Heinrich Barth believed the name was derived from two Songhay wordsSonghay languagesThe Songhay, Songhai, or Songai languages are a group of closely related languages/dialects centered on the middle stretches of the Niger River in the west African states of Mali, Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria. They have been widely used as a lingua franca in that region ever since the...
: Leo Africanus writes the Kingdom of Tombuto was named after a town of the same name, founded in 1213 or 1214 by mansaMansaMansa is a Mandinka word meaning "king of kings". It is particularly associated with the Keita Dynasty of the Mali Empire, which dominated West Africa from the thirteenth to the fifthteenth century...
Suleyman. The word itself consisted of two parts: tin (wall) and butu (Wall of Butu). Africanus did not explain the meaning of this Butu. Heinrich Barth suggested:
- Berber origin: Malian historian Sekene Cissoko proposes a different etymology: the Tuareg founders of the city gave it a Berber nameBerber languagesThe Berber languages are a family of languages indigenous to North Africa, spoken from Siwa Oasis in Egypt to Morocco , and south to the countries of the Sahara Desert...
, a word composed of two parts: tim, the feminine form of In (place of) and “bouctou”, a small dune. Hence, Timbuktu would mean “place covered by small dunes”.
- Abd al-Sadi offers a third explanation in his seventeenth-century Tarikh al-Sudan:
- The French OrientalistOriental studiesOriental studies is the academic field of study that embraces Near Eastern and Far Eastern societies and cultures, languages, peoples, history and archaeology; in recent years the subject has often been turned into the newer terms of Asian studies and Middle Eastern studies...
René Basset forwarded another theory: the name derives from the ZenagaZenaga languageZenaga is a Berber language spoken by some 200 people between Mederdra and the Atlantic coast in southwestern Mauritania. The language shares its basic structure with other Berber languages, but specific details are quite different; in fact, it is probably the most divergent surviving Berber...
root b-k-t, meaning "to be distant" or "hidden", and the feminine possessive particle tin. The meaning "hidden" could point to the city's location in a slight hollow.
The validity of these theories depends on the identity of the original founders of the city: as recent as 2000, archaeological research
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
has not found remains dating from the 11th/12th century due to meters of sand
Desertification
Desertification is the degradation of land in drylands. Caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change and human activities, desertification is one of the most significant global environmental problems.-Definitions:...
that have buried the remains over the past centuries. Without consensus, the etymology of Timbuktu remains unclear.
Sources
Unlike GaoGao
Gao is a town in eastern Mali on the River Niger lying ESE of Timbuktu. Situated on the left bank of the river at the junction with the Tilemsi valley, it is the capital of the Gao Region and had a population of 86,663 in 2009....
, Timbuktu is not mentioned by the early Arabic geographers such as al-Bakri and al-Idrisi. The first mention is by the Moroccan traveler Ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta
Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta , or simply Ibn Battuta, also known as Shams ad–Din , was a Muslim Moroccan Berber explorer, known for his extensive travels published in the Rihla...
who visited both Timbuktu and Kabara in 1353 when returning from a stay in the capital of the Mali Empire
Mali Empire
The Mali Empire or Mandingo Empire or Manden Kurufa was a West African empire of the Mandinka from c. 1230 to c. 1600. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa I...
. Timbuktu was still relatively unimportant and Battuta quickly moved on to Gao. At the time both Timbuktu and Gao formed part of the Mali Empire. A century and a half later, in around 1510, Leo Africanus
Leo Africanus
Joannes Leo Africanus, was a Moorish diplomat and author who is best known for his book Descrittione dell’Africa describing the geography of North Africa.-Biography:Most of what is known about his life is gathered from autobiographical...
visited Timbuktu. He gave a description of the town in his Descrittione dell'Africa which was published in 1550. The original Italian was translated into a number of other languages and the book became widely known in Europe.
The earliest surviving local documents are the 17th century chronicles, al-Sadi's Tarikh al-Sudan and Ibn al-Mukhtar's Tarikh al-fattash
Tarikh al-fattash
The Tarikh al-fattash is a chronicle written in Arabic in the second half of the 17th century. It provides an account of the Songhay Empire from the reign of Sonni Ali up to 1599 with a few references to events in the following century. The chronicle also mentions the earlier Mali Empire. Octave...
. These provide information on the town at the time of the Songhay Empire and the invasion by Moroccan forces in 1591. The authors do not, in general, acknowledge their sources but the accounts are likely to be based on oral tradition and on earlier written records that have not survived. Al-Sadi and Ibn al-Mukhtar were members of the scholarly class and their chronicles reflect the interests of this group. The chronicles provide biographies of the imams and judges but contain relatively little information on the social and economic history of the town. The Tarikh al-fattash ends in around 1600 while the Tarikh al-Sudan continues to 1655. Information after this date is provided by the Tadhkirat al-Nisyan (A Reminder to the Obvious), an anonymous biographical dictionary of the Moroccan rulers of Timbuktu written in around 1750. It does not contain the detail provided by the earlier Tarikh al-Sudan. A short chronicle written by Mawlay al-Qasim gives details of the pashalik in the second half of the 18th century. For the 19th century there are numerous local sources but the information is very fragmented.
Origins
When Abd al-Sadi wrote his chronicle Tarikh al-Sudan, based on oral tradition, in the 17th century, he dates the foundation at 'the end of the fifth century of the hijraHijri year
The Hijri year is year numbering system used in the Islamic calendar. It commemorates the Hijra , or emigration of Muhammad and his followers to the city of Medina in 622 CE. In Arabic, AH is symbolized by the letter هـ...
or around 1100 AD. Al-Sadi saw Maghsharan Tuareg as the founders, as their summer encampment grew from temporary settlement to depot to travellers' meeting place. However, modern research cites insufficient available evidence to pinpoint the exact time of origin and founders of Timbuktu, although it is clear that the city originated from a local trade between Saharan pastoralists and boat trade within the Niger River Delta. The importance of the river prompted descriptions of the city as 'a gift of the Niger', in analogy
Analogy
Analogy is a cognitive process of transferring information or meaning from a particular subject to another particular subject , and a linguistic expression corresponding to such a process...
to Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
' description of Egypt as 'gift of the Nile
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
'.
Rise of the Mali Empire
During the twelfth century, the remnants of the Ghana Empire were invaded by the Sosso EmpireSosso
The Sosso Empire was a twelfth-century Kaniaga kingdom of West Africa.-Medieval Sosso:The modern Sosso people trace their history to a 12th- and 13th-century Kaniaga kingdom known as the "Sosso." With the fall of the Ghana Empire, the Sosso expanded into a number of its former holdings, including...
king Soumaoro Kanté
Soumaoro Kanté
Soumaoro Kanté was a thirteenth century king of the Sosso people. Seizing Koumbi Saleh, the capital of the recently-defunct Ghana Empire, Soumaoro Kanté proceeded to conquer several neighboring states, including the Mandinka people in what is now Mali...
. Muslim scholars from Walata (beginning to replace Aoudaghost
Aoudaghost
Aoudaghost was an important oasis town at the southern end of a trans-Saharan caravan route that is mentioned in a number of early Arabic manuscripts...
as trade route terminus) fled to Timbuktu and solidified the position of Islam, a religion that had gradually spread throughout West Africa, mainly through commercial contacts. Islam at the time in the area was not uniform, its nature changing from city to city, and Timbuktu's bond with the religion was reinforced through its openness to strangers that attracted many religious scholars. In 1324 Timbuktu was peacefully annexed by king Musa I, returning from his pilgrimage to Mecca
Mecca
Mecca is a city in the Hijaz and the capital of Makkah province in Saudi Arabia. The city is located inland from Jeddah in a narrow valley at a height of above sea level...
. The city now part of the Mali Empire
Mali Empire
The Mali Empire or Mandingo Empire or Manden Kurufa was a West African empire of the Mandinka from c. 1230 to c. 1600. The empire was founded by Sundiata Keita and became renowned for the wealth of its rulers, especially Mansa Musa I...
, king Musa I ordered the construction of a royal palace
Palace
A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word itself is derived from the Latin name Palātium, for Palatine Hill, one of the seven hills in Rome. In many parts of Europe, the...
and, together with his following of hundreds of Muslim scholars, built the learning centre of Djinguereber Mosque
Djinguereber Mosque
The Djinguereber Mosque in Timbuktu is a famous learning center of Mali built in 1327, and cited as Djingareyber or Djingarey Ber in various languages. Its design is accredited to Abu Es Haq es Saheli who was paid 200 kg of gold by Mansa Kankan Musa, emperor of the Mali Empire...
in 1330.
In 1375, Timbuktu appeared in the Catalan Atlas
Catalan Atlas
The Catalan Atlas is the most important Catalan map of the medieval period. It was produced by the Majorcan cartographic school and is attributed to Cresques Abraham , a Jewish book illuminator who was self-described as being a master of the maps of the world as well as compasses...
, showing that it was, by then, a commercial centre linked to the North-African cities and had caught Europe's eye.
Tuareg rule and the Songhayan Empire
With the power of the Mali Empire waning in the first half of the 15th century, Timbuktu became relatively autonomous, although Maghsharan Tuareg had a dominating position.Thirty years later however, the rising Songhay Empire expanded, absorbing Timbuktu in 1468 or 1469. The city was led, consecutively, by Sunni Ali Ber (1468–1492), Sunni Baru (1492–1493) and Askia Mohammad I
Askia Mohammad I
Askia the Great was a Soninke emperor of the Songhai Empire in the late 15th century, the successor of Sunni Ali Ber. Askia Muhammad strengthened his country and made it the largest country in West Africa's history...
(1493–1528). Although Sunni Ali Ber was in severe conflict with Timbuktu after its conquest, Askia Mohammad I created a golden age
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology and legend and refers to the first in a sequence of four or five Ages of Man, in which the Golden Age is first, followed in sequence, by the Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and then the present, a period of decline...
for both the Songhay Empire and Timbuktu through an efficient central and regional administration and allowed sufficient leeway for the city's commercial centers to flourish. With Gao the capital of the empire, Timbuktu enjoyed a relatively autonomous position. Merchants from Ghadames
Ghadames
Ghadames or Ghadamis is an oasis town in the Nalut District of the Fezzan region in southwestern Libya.-Geography:Ghadames lies roughly to the southwest of Tripoli, near the borders with Algeria and Tunisia. Ghadames borders Illizi Province, Algeria and Tataouine Governorate, Tunisia.The oasis...
, Awjilah, and numerous other cities of North Africa gathered there to buy gold and slaves in exchange for the Saharan salt of Taghaza and for North African cloth and horses. Leadership of the Empire stayed in the Askia dynasty until 1591, when internal fights weakened the dynasty's grip and led to a decline of prosperity in the city.
Moroccan occupation
Following the Battle of TondibiBattle of Tondibi
The Battle of Tondibi was the decisive confrontation in Morocco's 16th-century invasion of the Songhai Empire. Though vastly outnumbered, the Moroccan forces under Judar Pasha defeated the Songhai Askia Ishaq II, guaranteeing the Empire's downfall....
, the city was captured on 30 May 1591 by an expedition of mercenaries and slaves, dubbed the Arma. They were sent by the Saadi
Saadi Dynasty
The Saadi dynasty of Morocco , began with the reign of Sultan Mohammed ash-Sheikh in 1554, when he vanquished the last Wattasids at the Battle of Tadla....
ruler of Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, Ahmad I al-Mansur, and were led by Judar Pasha
Judar Pasha
Judar Pasha was a military leader of Morocco's Saadi Dynasty and the conqueror of the Songhai Empire.Born a Spaniard, Judar had been captured as a baby. As a young boy he joined the service of Moroccan Sultan Ahmad I al-Mansur Saadi...
in search of gold mines. The Arme brought the end of an era of relative autonomy
Autonomy
Autonomy is a concept found in moral, political and bioethical philosophy. Within these contexts, it is the capacity of a rational individual to make an informed, un-coerced decision...
. The following period brought economic and intellectual decline. In 1593, Ahmad I al-Mansur cited 'disloyalty' as the reason for arresting, and subsequently killing or exiling, many of Timbuktu's scholars, including Ahmad Baba
Ahmad Baba al Massufi
Ahmad Baba al-Massufi al-Tinbukti, full name Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Ahmad al-Takruri Al-Massufi al-Timbukti , was a medieval West African writer, scholar, and political provocateur in the area then known as the Western Sudan...
. Perhaps the city's greatest scholar, he was forced to move to Marrakesh because of his intellectual opposition to the Pasha, where he continued to attract the attention of the scholarly world. Ahmad Baba later returned to Timbuktu, where he died in 1608. The city's decline continued, with the increasing trans-atlantic trade routes – transporting African slaves, including leaders and scholars of Timbuktu – marginalising Timbuktu's role as a trade and scholarly center. While initially controlling the Morocco – Timbuktu trade routes, Morocco soon cut its ties with the Arma and the grip of the numerous subsequent pasha
Pasha
Pasha or pascha, formerly bashaw, was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire political system, typically granted to governors, generals and dignitaries. As an honorary title, Pasha, in one of its various ranks, is equivalent to the British title of Lord, and was also one of the highest titles in...
s on the city began losing its strength: Tuareg temporarily took over control in 1737 and the remainder of the 18th century saw various Tuareg tribes, Bambara and Kounta
Kounta
The Kunta are a Berber–Arab tribal group of Saharan Nomads, today residing mostly in northern Mali and southern Mauritania.Believed to be descended from the Zenata Berbers, the Kounta consider themselves related to the Arab nomads and warriors who brought Islam to North Africa in the eighth century...
briefly occupy or besiege the city. During this period, the influence of the Pashas, which by then had mixed with the Songhay through intermarriage, never completely disappeared. This changed in 1826, when the Massina Empire
Massina Empire
The Massina Empire was an early nineteenth-century Fulbe Jihad state centered in the Macina and Inner Niger Delta area of what is now the Mopti and Ségou Regions of Mali...
took over control of the city until 1865, when they were driven away by the Toucouleur Empire
Toucouleur Empire
The Toucouleur Empire was founded in the nineteenth century by El Hadj Umar Tall of the Toucouleur people, in part of present-day Mali....
. Sources conflict on who was in control when the French arrived: Elias N. Saad in 1983 suggests the Soninke Wangara
Soninke Wangara
The Wangara were Soninke clans specialized in trade, Islamic scholarship and law . Particularly active in the gold trade, they were a group of Mande traders, loosely associated to the medieval West African Empires of Ghana and Mali.-History:A Malian source, cited in the Tarikh al-Sudan,...
, a 1924 article in the Journal of the Royal African Society mentions the Tuareg, while Africanist
Africanist
Africanist may refer to:*A specialist in African studies*A strand of African nationalism during the activism against apartheid in South Africa particularly associated with the Pan Africanist Congress...
John Hunwick
John Hunwick
John Owen Hunwick is a noted professor, author, Africanist. He has published several books, articles and journals in the African Studies field. He is currently Professor Emeritus at Northwestern University having retired in 2004 after 23 years of service.-Biography:Born 1936 in Chard, Somerset, in...
does not determine one ruler, but notes several states competing for power 'in a shadowy way' until 1893.
Contact with the West
Historic descriptions of the city had been around since Leo AfricanusLeo Africanus
Joannes Leo Africanus, was a Moorish diplomat and author who is best known for his book Descrittione dell’Africa describing the geography of North Africa.-Biography:Most of what is known about his life is gathered from autobiographical...
's account in the first half of the 16th century, and they prompted several European individuals and organizations to make great efforts to discover Timbuktu and its fabled riches. In 1788 a group of titled Englishmen formed the African Association
African Association
The Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa , founded in London on June 9, 1788, was a British club dedicated to the exploration of West Africa, with the mission of discovering the origin and course of the Niger River and the location of Timbuktu, the "lost city" of...
with the goal of finding the city and charting the course of the Niger River
Niger River
The Niger River is the principal river of western Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea...
. The earliest of their sponsored explorers was a young Scottish adventurer named Mungo Park
Mungo Park (explorer)
Mungo Park was a Scottish explorer of the African continent. He was credited as being the first Westerner to encounter the Niger River.-Early life:...
, who made two trips in search of the Niger River
Niger River
The Niger River is the principal river of western Africa, extending about . Its drainage basin is in area. Its source is in the Guinea Highlands in southeastern Guinea...
and Timbuktu (departing first in 1795 and then in 1805). It is believed that Park was the first Westerner to have reached the city, but he died in modern day Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
without having the chance to report his findings. In 1824, the Paris-based Société de Géographie
Société de Géographie
The Société de Géographie , is the world's oldest geographical society. It was founded in 1821 . Since 1878, its headquarters has been at 184 Boulevard Saint-Germain, Paris. The entrance is marked by two gigantic caryatids representing Land and Sea...
offered a 10,000 franc prize to the first non-Muslim to reach the town and return with information about it. The Scotsman Gordon Laing
Alexander Gordon Laing
Major Alexander Gordon Laing was a Scottish explorer and the first European to reach Timbuktu via the north/south route.-Education and service:...
arrived in August 1826 but was killed the following month by local Muslims who were fearful of European intervention. The Frenchman René Caillié arrived in 1828 travelling alone, disguised as a Muslim; he was able to safely return and claim the prize.
Robert Adams, an African-American sailor, claimed to have visited the city in 1811 as a slave for a period of several months after his ship wrecked off the African coast. He later gave an account to the British consul in Tangier
Tangier
Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
, Morocco in 1813 that was published in an 1816 book, The Narrative of Robert Adams. However, great doubts remain about his account. Three other Europeans reached the city before 1890: Heinrich Barth
Heinrich Barth
Heinrich Barth was a German explorer of Africa and scholar.Barth is one of the greatest of the European explorers of Africa, not necessarily because of the length of his travels or the time he spent alone without European company in Africa, but because of his singular character.-Biography:Barth...
in 1853 and the German Oskar Lenz
Oskar Lenz
Oskar Lenz was a German-Austrian geologist and mineralogist who was a native of Leipzig.In 1870 he earned his doctorate in mineralogy and geology at the University of Leipzig...
with the Spaniard Cristobal Benítez in 1880.
French colonial rule
After the scramble for AfricaScramble for Africa
The Scramble for Africa, also known as the Race for Africa or Partition of Africa was a process of invasion, occupation, colonization and annexation of African territory by European powers during the New Imperialism period, between 1881 and World War I in 1914...
had been formalized in the Berlin Conference, land between the 14th meridian
Meridian (geography)
A meridian is an imaginary line on the Earth's surface from the North Pole to the South Pole that connects all locations along it with a given longitude. The position of a point along the meridian is given by its latitude. Each meridian is perpendicular to all circles of latitude...
and Miltou, Chad
Chad
Chad , officially known as the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west...
became French territory, bounded in the south by a line running from Say, Niger
Say, Niger
Say is a town in southwest Niger, situated on the Niger River. It is the capital of the Say Department in the Tillabéri Region. The municipality has 12,000 inhabitants, and its economy is dominated by agriculture, herding and small trade.-Overview:...
to Baroua. Although the Timbuktu region was now French in name, the principle of effectivity required France to actually hold power in those areas assigned, e.g. by signing agreements with local chiefs, setting up a government and making use of the area economically, before the claim would be definitive. On 15 December 1893, the city, by then long past its prime, was annexed by a small group of French soldiers, led by Lieutenant Gaston Boiteux. Timbuktu became part of French Sudan
French Sudan
French Sudan was a colony in French West Africa that had two separate periods of existence, first from 1890 to 1899, then from 1920 to 1960, when the territory became the independent nation of Mali.-Colonial establishment:...
(Soudan Français), a colony of France. The colony was reorganised and the name changed several times during the French colonial period. In 1899 the French Sudan was subdivided and Timbuktu became part of Upper Senegal and Middle Niger (Haut-Sénégal et Moyen Niger). In 1902 the name became Senegambia and Niger
Senegambia and Niger
Senegambia and Niger was a short-lived administrative unit of the French possessions in Africa, formed in 1902 and reorganized in 1904 into Upper Senegal and Niger....
(Sénégambie et Niger) and in 1904 this was changed again to Upper Senegal and Niger (Haut-Sénégal et Niger). This name was used until 1920 when it became French Sudan again.
World War II
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
fight Nazi-occupied France and southern Vichy France
Vichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
.
About 60 British merchant seamen from the SS Allende (Cardiff
Cardiff
Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for...
), sunk on the 17 March 1942 off the South coast of West Africa, and were held prisoner in the city during the Second World War. Two months later, after having been transported from Freetown
Freetown
Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...
to Timbuktu, two of them, AB John Turnbull Graham (2 May 1942, age 23) and Chief Engineer William Soutter (28 May 1942, age 60) died there in May 1942. Both men were buried in the European cemetery – possibly the most remote British war graves tended by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves, and places of commemoration, of Commonwealth of Nations military service members who died in the two World Wars...
.
They were not the only war captives in Timbuktu: Peter de Neumann
Peter de Neumann
Commander Bernard Peter de Neumann GM RN was a British sailor, convicted pirate, and dockmaster....
was one of 52 men imprisoned in Timbuktu in 1942 when their ship, the SS Criton, was intercepted by two Vichy French warships. Although several men, including de Neumann, escaped, they were all recaptured and stayed a total of ten months in the city, guarded by natives. Upon his return to England, he became known as "The Man from Timbuctoo".
Independence and onwards
- Main articles Republic of Mali and Mali FederationMali FederationThe Mali Federation was a country in West Africa. It was formed by a union between Senegal and the Sudanese Republic...
After World War II, the French government under Charles de Gaulle
Charles de Gaulle
Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle was a French general and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. He later founded the French Fifth Republic in 1958 and served as its first President from 1959 to 1969....
granted the colony more and more freedom. After a period as part of the short-lived Mali Federation
Mali Federation
The Mali Federation was a country in West Africa. It was formed by a union between Senegal and the Sudanese Republic...
, the Republic of Mali was proclaimed on 22 September 1960. After a 19 November 1968, a new constitution was created in 1974, making Mali a single-party state
Single-party state
A single-party state, one-party system or single-party system is a type of party system government in which a single political party forms the government and no other parties are permitted to run candidates for election...
. By then, the canal linking the city with the Niger River had already been filled with sand from the encroaching desert
Desertification
Desertification is the degradation of land in drylands. Caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change and human activities, desertification is one of the most significant global environmental problems.-Definitions:...
. Severe droughts hit the Sahel region in 1973 and 1985, decimating the Tuareg population around Timbuktu who relied on goat herding. The Niger's water level dropped, postponing the arrival of food transport and trading vessels. The crisis drove many of the inhabitants of Tombouctou Region to Algeria
Algeria
Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria , also formally referred to as the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of Northwest Africa with Algiers as its capital.In terms of land area, it is the largest country in Africa and the Arab...
and Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
. Those who stayed relied on humanitarian organizations
Humanitarian aid
Humanitarian aid is material or logistical assistance provided for humanitarian purposes, typically in response to humanitarian crises including natural disaster and man-made disaster. The primary objective of humanitarian aid is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity...
such as UNICEF for food and water.
Timbuktu today
Despite its illustrious history, modern-day Timbuktu is an impoverished town, poor even by Third WorldThird World
The term Third World arose during the Cold War to define countries that remained non-aligned with either capitalism and NATO , or communism and the Soviet Union...
standards. The population has grown an average 5.7% per year from 29,732 in 1998 to 54,453 in 2009. As capital of the seventh Malian region, Tombouctou Region, Timbuktu is the seat of the current governor, Colonel Mamadou Mangara, who took over from Colonel Mamadou Togola in 2008. Mangara answers, as does each of the regional governors, to the Ministry of Territorial Administration & Local Communities.
Current issues include dealing with both droughts and floods, the latter caused by an insufficient drainage system
Drainage
Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of surface and sub-surface water from an area. Many agricultural soils need drainage to improve production or to manage water supplies.-Early history:...
that fails to transport direct rainwater from the city centre. One such event damaged World Heritage property, killing two and injuring one in 2002. Shifting of rain patterns due to climatic change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
and increased use of water for irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
in the surrounding areas has led to water scarcity for agriculture and personal use.
Geography
Timbuktu is located on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert 15 km north of the main channel of the River Niger. The town is surrounded by sand dunes and the streets are covered in sand. The port of Kabara is 8 km to the south of the town and is connected to an arm of the river by a 3 km canal. The canal had become heavily silted but in 2007 it was dredged as part of a Libyan financed project.The annual flood of the Niger River is a result of the heavy rainfall in the headwaters of the Niger and Bani
Bani River
The Bani River is the principal tributary of the Niger River in Mali. Its length is about 1100 km. The Bani is formed from the confluence of the Baoulé and Bagoé rivers some 160 km east of Bamako and merges with the Niger near Mopti.-Geography:...
rivers in Guinea
Guinea
Guinea , officially the Republic of Guinea , is a country in West Africa. Formerly known as French Guinea , it is today sometimes called Guinea-Conakry to distinguish it from its neighbour Guinea-Bissau. Guinea is divided into eight administrative regions and subdivided into thirty-three prefectures...
and the northern Ivory Coast. The rainfall in these areas peaks in August but the flood water takes time to pass down the river system and through the Inner Niger Delta. At Koulikoro
Koulikoro
Koulikoro is a city in Mali. The capital of the Koulikoro Region, Koulikoro is located on banks of the Niger River, from Mali's capital Bamako....
, 60 km downstream from Bamako
Bamako
Bamako is the capital of Mali and its largest city with a population of 1.8 million . Currently, it is estimated to be the fastest growing city in Africa and sixth fastest in the world...
, the flood peaks in September, while in Timbuktu the flood lasts longer and usually reaches a maximum at the end of December.
In the past, the area flooded by the river was more extensive and in years with high rainfall, floodwater would reach the western outskirts of Timbuktu itself. A small navigable creek to the west of the town is shown on the maps published by Heinrich Barth in 1857 and Félix Dubois in 1896. Between 1917 and 1921, during the colonial period, the French used forced labour to dig a narrow canal linking Timbuktu with Kabara. Over the following decades this became silted and filled with sand, but in 2007 as part of the dredging project, the canal was re-excavated so that now when the River Niger floods, Timbuktu is again connected to Kabala. The Malian government has promised to address problems with the design of the canal as it currently lacks footbridges and the steep unstable banks make access to the water difficult.
Kabara can only function as a port in December to January when the river is in full flood. When the water levels are lower, boats dock at Korioumé which is linked to Timbuktu by 18 km of paved road.
Climate
The weather is hot and dry throughout much of the year. Average daily maximum temperatures in the hottest months of the year – April through June – exceed 40 °C . Lowest temperatures occur during its Northern hemisphereNorthern Hemisphere
The Northern Hemisphere is the half of a planet that is north of its equator—the word hemisphere literally means “half sphere”. It is also that half of the celestial sphere north of the celestial equator...
winter – December through February. However, average maximum temperatures do not drop below 30 °C . These months are characterized by a dry, dusty trade wind
Trade wind
The trade winds are the prevailing pattern of easterly surface winds found in the tropics, within the lower portion of the Earth's atmosphere, in the lower section of the troposphere near the Earth's equator...
blowing from the Saharan Tibesti Region
Tibesti Region
Tibesti Region is a region of Chad. It was created in 2008 when the former Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti Region was split into three, with the Tibesti Department becoming the Tibesti Region. The Ennedi Region and Borkou Region were also created at the that time....
southward to the Gulf of Guinea
Gulf of Guinea
The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean between Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian is in the gulf....
: picking up dust particles on their way, these winds limit visibility in what has been dubbed the 'Harmattan Haze'. Additionally, when the dust settles in the city, sand builds up and desertification looms. Timbuktu's climate is classified as BWhw according to the Köppen Climate Classification
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
:arid
Desert climate
A desert climate , also known as an arid climate, is a climate that does not meet the criteria to be classified as a polar climate, and in which precipitation is too low to sustain any vegetation at all, or at most a very scanty scrub.An area that features this climate usually experiences less than...
, with no month averaging below 0 °C (32 °F) and a dry season
Dry season
The dry season is a term commonly used when describing the weather in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which oscillates from the northern to the southern tropics over the course of the year...
during winter.
Salt trade
The wealth and very existence of Timbuktu depended on its position as the southern terminus of an important trans-Saharan trade route; nowadays, the only goods that are routinely transported across the desert are slabs of rock salt brought from the TaoudenniTaoudenni
Taoudenni is a remote salt mining center in the desert region of northern Mali, north of Timbuktu. The salt is dug by hand from the bed of an ancient salt lake, cut into slabs and transported either by truck or by camel to Timbuktu. The camel caravans from Taoudenni are some of the last that...
mining centre in the central Sahara 664 km (412.6 mi) north of Timbuktu. Until the second half of the 20th century most of the slabs were transported by large salt caravans or azalai
Azalai
The Azalai is a semi annual salt caravan route practiced by Tuareg traders in the Sahara desert, or the act of traveling with a caravan along that route.- History :...
, one leaving Timbuktu in early November and the other in late March. The caravans of several thousand camels took three weeks each way, transporting food to the miners and returning with each camel loaded with four or five 30 kg slabs of salt. The salt transport was largely controlled by the desert nomads of the Arabic speaking Berabich tribe. Although there are no roads, the slabs of salt are now usually transported from Taoudenni by truck. From Timbuktu the salt is transported by boat to other towns in Mali.
Agriculture
There is insufficient rainfall in the Timbuktu region for purely rainfed agriculture and crops are therefore irrigated using water from the River Niger. The main agricultural crop is rice. African floating rice (Oryza glaberrima) has traditionally been grown in regions near the river that are inundated during the annual flood. Seed is sown at the beginning of the rainy season (June–July) so that when the flood water arrives plants are already 30–40 cm in height. The plants grow up to 3 m in height as the water level rises. The rice is harvested by canoe in December. The procedure is very precarious and the yields are low but the method has the advantage that little capital investment is required. A successful crop depends critically on the amount and timing of the rain in the wet season and the height of the flood. To a limited extent the arrival of the flood water can be controlled by the construction of small mud dykes that become submerged as the water rises.Although floating rice is still cultivated in the Timbuktu Cercle
Timbuktu Cercle
Timbuktu Cercle is an administrative subdivision of the Tombouctou Region of Mali. It is the largest cercle by area in the whole of Mali. The capital lies at the city of Timbuktu. The Cercle is divided into Rural and Urban Communes, and below this, quarters/villages...
, most of the rice is now grown in three relatively large irrigated areas that lie to the south of the town: Daye 392 ha, Koriomé 550 ha and Hamadja 623 ha. Water is pumped from the river using ten large archimedes' screw
Archimedes' screw
The Archimedes' screw, also called the Archimedean screw or screwpump, is a machine historically used for transferring water from a low-lying body of water into irrigation ditches...
s which were first installed in the 1990s. The irrigated areas are run as cooperatives with approximately 2,100 families cultivating small plots. Nearly all the rice produced is consumed by the families themselves. The yields are still relatively low and the farmers are being encouraged to change their agricultural practices.
Legendary tales
Tales of Timbuktu's fabulous wealth helped prompt European exploration of the west coast of Africa. Among the most famous descriptions of Timbuktu are those of Leo AfricanusLeo Africanus
Joannes Leo Africanus, was a Moorish diplomat and author who is best known for his book Descrittione dell’Africa describing the geography of North Africa.-Biography:Most of what is known about his life is gathered from autobiographical...
and Shabeni.
Leo Africanus
Perhaps most famous among the accounts written about Timbuktu is that by Leo AfricanusLeo Africanus
Joannes Leo Africanus, was a Moorish diplomat and author who is best known for his book Descrittione dell’Africa describing the geography of North Africa.-Biography:Most of what is known about his life is gathered from autobiographical...
. Born El Hasan ben Muhammed el-Wazzan-ez-Zayyati in Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
in 1485, he was expelled along with his parents and thousands of other Muslims by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella after their reconquest of Spain
Granada War
The Granada War was a series of military campaigns between 1482 and 1492, during the reign of the Catholic Monarchs Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, against the Nasrid dynasty's Emirate of Granada...
in 1492. Settling in Morocco, he studied in Fes
Fes
Fes or Fez is the second largest city of Morocco, after Casablanca, with a population of approximately 1 million . It is the capital of the Fès-Boulemane region....
and accompanied his uncle on diplomatic missions throughout North Africa. During these travels, he visited Timbuktu. As a young man he was captured by pirates and presented as an exceptionally learned slave to Pope Leo X
Pope Leo X
Pope Leo X , born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, was the Pope from 1513 to his death in 1521. He was the last non-priest to be elected Pope. He is known for granting indulgences for those who donated to reconstruct St. Peter's Basilica and his challenging of Martin Luther's 95 Theses...
, who freed him, baptized
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
him under the name "Johannis Leo de Medici", and commissioned him to write, in Italian, a detailed survey of Africa. His accounts provided most of what Europeans knew about the continent
European exploration of Africa
European exploration of Africa began with Ancient Greeks and Romans, who explored and established settlements in North Africa. Fifteenth Century Portugal, especially under Henry the Navigator probed along the West African coast. Scientific curiosity and Christian missionary spirit soon were...
for the next several centuries. Describing Timbuktu when the Songhai empire
Songhai Empire
The Songhai Empire, also known as the Songhay Empire, was a state located in western Africa. From the early 15th to the late 16th century, Songhai was one of the largest Islamic empires in history. This empire bore the same name as its leading ethnic group, the Songhai. Its capital was the city...
was at its height, the English edition of his book includes the description:
According to Leo Africanus, there were abundant supplies of locally produced corn, cattle, milk and butter, though there were neither gardens nor orchards surrounding the city. In another passage dedicated to describing the wealth of both the environment and the king, Africanus touches upon the rarity of some of Timbuktu's trade commodities: salt.
These descriptions and passages alike caught the attention of European explorers. Africanus, though, also described the more mundane aspects of the city, such as the "cottages built of chalk
Chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary rock, a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite. Calcite is calcium carbonate or CaCO3. It forms under reasonably deep marine conditions from the gradual accumulation of minute calcite plates shed from micro-organisms called coccolithophores....
, and covered with thatch" – although these went largely unheeded.
Shabeni
Roughly 250 years after Leo Africanus' visit to Timbuktu, the city had seen many rulers. The end of the 18th century saw the grip of the Moroccan rulers on the city wane, resulting in a period of unstable government by quickly changing tribes. During the rule of one of those tribes, the HausaHausa people
The Hausa are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. They are a Sahelian people chiefly located in northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger, but having significant numbers living in regions of Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Chad and Sudan...
, a 14 year old child from Tetouan
Tétouan
Tetouan is a city in northern Morocco. The Berber name means literally "the eyes" and figuratively "the water springs". Tetouan is one of the two major ports of Morocco on the Mediterranean Sea. It lies a few miles south of the Strait of Gibraltar, and about 40 mi E.S.E. of Tangier...
accompanied his father on a visit to Timbuktu. Growing up a merchant, he was captured and eventually brought to England
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom during the period when what is now the Republic of Ireland formed a part of it....
.
Shabeni, or Asseed El Hage Abd Salam Shabeeny stayed in Timbuktu for three years before moving to Housa. Two years later, he returned to Timbuctoo to live there for another seven years – one of a population that was even centuries after its peak and excluding slaves, double the size of the 21st century town.
By the time Shabeni was 27, he was an established merchant in his hometown. Returning from a trademission to Hamburgh
History of Hamburg
The history the Hamburg begins with its foundation in the 9th century as a mission settlement to convert the Saxons. Since the Middle Ages Hamburg was an important trading centre in Europe...
, his English ship was captured and brought to Ostende by a ship under Russian colours in December, 1789.
He was subsequently set free by the British consulate, but his ship set him ashore in Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
for fear of being captured again. Here, his story was recorded.
Shabeeni gave an indication of the size of the city in the second half of the 18th. In an earlier passage, he described an environment that was characterized by forest, as opposed to nowadays' arid surroundings.
Modern legacy
Nowadays Timbuktu is, before all, a place that bears with it a sense of mystery: a 2006 survey of 150 young BritonsBritish people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
found 34% did not believe the town existed, while the other 66% considered it "a mythical place". This sense has been acknowledged in literature describing African history and African-European relations.
The origin of this mystification lies in the excitement brought to Europe by the legendary tales, especially those by Leo Africanus
Leo Africanus
Joannes Leo Africanus, was a Moorish diplomat and author who is best known for his book Descrittione dell’Africa describing the geography of North Africa.-Biography:Most of what is known about his life is gathered from autobiographical...
: Arabic sources focused mainly on more affluent cities in the Timbuktu region, such as Gao
Gao
Gao is a town in eastern Mali on the River Niger lying ESE of Timbuktu. Situated on the left bank of the river at the junction with the Tilemsi valley, it is the capital of the Gao Region and had a population of 86,663 in 2009....
and Walata. In West Africa the city holds an image that has been compared to Europe's view on Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
. As such, the picture of the city as the epitome
Epitome
An epitome is a summary or miniature form; an instance that represents a larger reality, also used as a synonym for embodiment....
of distance and mystery is a European one.
Down-to-earth-aspects in Africanus' descriptions were largely ignored and stories of great riches served as a catalyst
Catalysis
Catalysis is the change in rate of a chemical reaction due to the participation of a substance called a catalyst. Unlike other reagents that participate in the chemical reaction, a catalyst is not consumed by the reaction itself. A catalyst may participate in multiple chemical transformations....
for travellers to visit the inaccessible city – with prominent French explorer René Caillié characterising Timbuktu as "a mass of ill-looking houses built of earth
Adobe
Adobe is a natural building material made from sand, clay, water, and some kind of fibrous or organic material , which the builders shape into bricks using frames and dry in the sun. Adobe buildings are similar to cob and mudbrick buildings. Adobe structures are extremely durable, and account for...
". Now opened up, many travellers acknowledged the unfitting description of an "African El Dorado
El Dorado
El Dorado is the name of a Muisca tribal chief who covered himself with gold dust and, as an initiation rite, dived into a highland lake.Later it became the name of a legendary "Lost City of Gold" that has fascinated – and so far eluded – explorers since the days of the Spanish Conquistadors...
". This development shifted the city's reputation – from being fabled because of its gold to fabled because of its location and mystery:
Being used in this sense since at least 1863, English dictionaries now cite Timbuktu as a metaphor
Metaphor
A metaphor is a literary figure of speech that uses an image, story or tangible thing to represent a less tangible thing or some intangible quality or idea; e.g., "Her eyes were glistening jewels." Metaphor may also be used for any rhetorical figures of speech that achieve their effects via...
for any faraway place. Long part of colloquial language, Timbuktu also found its way into literature: in Tom Robbins
Tom Robbins
Thomas Eugene "Tom" Robbins Thomas Eugene "Tom" Robbins Thomas Eugene "Tom" Robbins (born July 22, 1936 is an American author. His best-selling novels are serio-comic, often wildly poetic stories with a strong social and philosophical undercurrent, an irreverent bent, and scenes extrapolated from...
' novel Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas
Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas
One of Tom Robbins' less well-known novels, Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas was published in 1994 by Bantam Books. Like Robbins' other books, the plot involves an eclectic mix of characters and complicated scenarios, and mixes the mundane with the mysterious, in the form of the Sirius mysteries and...
, Timbuktu provides a central theme. One lead character, Larry Diamond, is vocally fascinated with the city.
In the stage play Oliver!
Oliver!
Oliver! is a British musical, with script, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens....
, a 1960 musical, when the title character
Oliver Twist (character)
Oliver Twist is the protagonist of the novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. He was the first child protagonist in an English language novel.-Background:...
sings to Nancy, "I'd do anything for you, dear", one of her responses is "Go to Timbuktu?" "And back again", Oliver responds.
Similar uses of the city are found in movies, where it is used to indicate a place a person or good cannot be traced – in a Dutch Donald Duck
Donald Duck
Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created in 1934 at Walt Disney Productions and licensed by The Walt Disney Company. Donald is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit with a cap and a black or red bow tie. Donald is most...
comic subseries situated in Timbuktu, Donald Duck uses the city as a safe haven, and in the 1970 Disney
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
animated feature
Traditional animation
Traditional animation, is an animation technique where each frame is drawn by hand...
The Aristocats
The Aristocats
The Aristocats is a 1970 American animated feature produced and released by Walt Disney Productions in 1970 and stars Eva Gabor and Phil Harris, with Roddy Maude-Roxby as Edgar the butler, the villain of the story...
, cats are threatened with being sent to Timbuktu. It is mistakenly noted to be in French Equatorial Africa
French Equatorial Africa
French Equatorial Africa or the AEF was the federation of French colonial possessions in Middle Africa, extending northwards from the Congo River to the Sahara Desert.-History:...
, instead of French West Africa
French West Africa
French West Africa was a federation of eight French colonial territories in Africa: Mauritania, Senegal, French Sudan , French Guinea , Côte d'Ivoire , Upper Volta , Dahomey and Niger...
. Timbuktu has provided the main setting for at least one movie: the 1959 film Timbuktu
Timbuktu (film)
Timbuktu is a 1959 black-and-white adventure film set in the city of the same name but filmed in the Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park in Kanab, Utah...
was set in the city in 1940, although it was filmed in Kanab, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
.
Ali Farka Touré
Ali Farka Touré
Ali Ibrahim “Farka” Touré was a Malian singer and guitarist, and one of the African continent’s most internationally renowned musicians. His music is widely regarded as representing a point of intersection of traditional Malian music and its North American cousin, the blues...
inverted the stereotype: "For some people, when you say 'Timbuktu' it is like the end of the world, but that is not true. I am from Timbuktu, and I can tell you that we are right at the heart of the world."
Arts and culture
The most well-known cultural event is the Festival au Désert. When the Tuareg rebellion ended in 1996 under the Konaré administration, 3,000 weapons were burned in a ceremony dubbed the ‘Flame of Peace’ on 29 March 2007 – to commemorate the ceremony, a monument was built. The Festival au Désert, to celebrate the peace treatyPeace treaty
A peace treaty is an agreement between two or more hostile parties, usually countries or governments, that formally ends a state of war between the parties...
, is held near the city in January.
World Heritage Site
During its twelfth session, in December 1988, the World Heritage CommitteeWorld Heritage Committee
The World Heritage Committee establishes the sites to be listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It is responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention, defines the use of the World Heritage Fund and allocates financial assistance upon requests from States Parties...
(WHC) selected parts of Timbuktu's historic centre for inscription on its World Heritage list. The selection was based on three criteria:
- Criterion II: Timbuktu's holy places were vital to early IslamizationIslamizationIslamization or Islamification has been used to describe the process of a society's conversion to the religion of Islam...
in Africa. - Criterion IV: Timbuktu's mosques show a cultural and scholarly Golden AgeGolden AgeThe term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology and legend and refers to the first in a sequence of four or five Ages of Man, in which the Golden Age is first, followed in sequence, by the Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and then the present, a period of decline...
during the Songhay Empire. - Criterion V: The construction of the mosques, still mostly original, shows the use of traditional building techniques.
An earlier nomination in 1979 failed the following year as it lacked proper demarcation: the Malinese government included the town of Timbuktu as a whole in the wish for inclusion. Close to a decade later, three mosques and 16 mausoleum
Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
s or cemeteries were selected from the Old Town for World Heritage status
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
: with this conclusion came the call for protection of the buildings' conditions, an exclusion of new construction works near the sites and measures against the encroaching sand
Desertification
Desertification is the degradation of land in drylands. Caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change and human activities, desertification is one of the most significant global environmental problems.-Definitions:...
.
Shortly afterwards, the monuments were placed on the List of World Heritage in Danger by the Malian government
Politics of Mali
Politics of Mali takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Mali is head of state with a Presidentially appointed Prime Minister as the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government...
, as suggested by the selection committee at the time of nomination. Its position on the Danger List lasted from 1990 until 2005, when a range of measures including restoration work and the compilation of an inventory 'warranted removal from the [Danger] List'. In 2008 the WHC placed the protected area under increased scrutiny dubbed 'reinforced monitoring', a measure made possible in 2007, as the impact of planned construction work was unclear. Special attention was given to the build of a cultural centre. During a session in June 2009, UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
decided to cease its increased monitoring program as it felt sufficient progress had been made to address the initial concerns.
Education
Timbuktu was a world centre of Islamic learning from the 13th to the 17th century, especially under the Mali Empire and Askia Mohammad I's rule. The Malian government and NGOs have been working to catalog and restore the remnants of this scholarly legacy: Timbuktu’s manuscripts.Timbuktu’s rapid economic growth in the 13th and 14th centuries drew many scholars from nearby Walata, leading up to the city’s golden age in the 15th and 16th centuries that proved fertile ground for scholarship of religions, arts and science. An active trade in books between Timbuktu and other parts of the Islamic world
Muslim history
Muslim history is the history of Muslim people. In the history of Islam the followers of the religion of Islam have impacted political history, economic history, and military history...
and emperor Askia Mohammed’s strong support led to the writing of thousands of manuscript
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
s.
Knowledge was gathered in a manner similar to the early, informal European Medieval university
Medieval university
Medieval university is an institution of higher learning which was established during High Middle Ages period and is a corporation.The first institutions generally considered to be universities were established in Italy, France, and England in the late 11th and the 12th centuries for the study of...
model. Lecturing was presented through a range of informal institutions called madrasahs. Nowadays dubbed the ‘University of Timbuktu
University of Timbuktu
The University of Timbuktu was a medieval University in Mali, West Africa which comprised three schools; namely the Masajid of Djinguereber, the Masajid of Sidi Yahya, and the Masajid of Sankore. During its zenith, the university at Timbuktu had an average attendance of around 25,000 students...
’, three madrasahs facilitated 25,000 students: Djinguereber
Djinguereber Mosque
The Djinguereber Mosque in Timbuktu is a famous learning center of Mali built in 1327, and cited as Djingareyber or Djingarey Ber in various languages. Its design is accredited to Abu Es Haq es Saheli who was paid 200 kg of gold by Mansa Kankan Musa, emperor of the Mali Empire...
, Sidi Yahya and Sankore. These institutions were explicitly religious, as opposed to the more secular curricula of modern European universities. However, where universities in the European sense started as associations of students and teachers, West-African education was patronized
Patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows to another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings or popes have provided to musicians, painters, and sculptors...
by families or lineages, with the Aqit and Bunu al-Qadi al-Hajj families being two of the most prominent in Timbuktu – these families also facilitated students is set-aside rooms in their housings. Although the basis of Islamic law
Sharia
Sharia law, is the moral code and religious law of Islam. Sharia is derived from two primary sources of Islamic law: the precepts set forth in the Quran, and the example set by the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the Sunnah. Fiqh jurisprudence interprets and extends the application of sharia to...
and its teaching were brought to Timbuktu from North Africa with the spread of Islam, Western African scholarship developed: Ahmad Baba al Massufi
Ahmad Baba al Massufi
Ahmad Baba al-Massufi al-Tinbukti, full name Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Ahmad al-Takruri Al-Massufi al-Timbukti , was a medieval West African writer, scholar, and political provocateur in the area then known as the Western Sudan...
is regarded as the city's greatest scholar. Over time however, the share of patrons that originated from or identified themselves as West-Africans decreased.
Timbuktu served in this process as a distribution centre of scholars and scholarship. Its reliance on trade meant intensive movement of scholars between the city and its extensive network of trade partners. In 1468–1469 though, many scholars left for Walata when Sunni Ali’s Songhay Empire absorbed Timbuktu and again in 1591 with the Moroccan occupation.
This system of education survived until late 19th century, while the 18th century saw the institution of itinerant Quranic school as a form of universal education, where scholars would travel throughout the region with their students, begging for food part of the day.
Islamic education came under pressure after the French occupation, droughts in the 70s and 80s and by Mali’s civil war in the early 90s.
Manuscripts and libraries
Hidden in cellars or buried, hid between the mosque's mud walls and safeguarded by their patrons, many of these manuscripts survived the city's decline. They now form the collection of several libraries in Timbuktu, holding up to 700,000 manuscripts:
- Ahmed BabaAhmad Baba al MassufiAhmad Baba al-Massufi al-Tinbukti, full name Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Ahmad al-Takruri Al-Massufi al-Timbukti , was a medieval West African writer, scholar, and political provocateur in the area then known as the Western Sudan...
Institute - Mamma Haidara Library
- Fondo Kati
- Al-WangariMohammed BagayogoMohammed Bagayogo Es Sudane Al Wangari Al Timbukti was an eminent scholar from Timbuktu, Mali. He was the Sheik and professor of highly esteemed scholar, Ahmed Baba and teacher at the University of Sankore, one of three philosophical schools in Mali during West Africa's golden age ; the other two...
Library - Mohamed Tahar Library
- Maigala Library
- Boularaf Collection
- Al KountiAhmad al-Bakkai al-KuntiAhmad al-Bakkai al-Kunti was a West African Islamic and political leader. He was one of the last principal spokesmen in precolonial Western Sudan for an accommodationist stance towards the threatening Christian European presence, and even provided protection to Heinrich Barth from an attempted...
Collections
These libraries are the largest among up to 60 private or public libraries that are estimated to exist in Timbuktu today, although some comprise little more than a row of books on a shelf or a bookchest. Under these circumstances, the manuscripts are vulnerable to damage and theft, as well as long term climate damage, despite Timbuktu's arid climate. Two Timbuktu Manuscripts Project
Timbuktu Manuscripts Project
The term Timbuktu Manuscripts applies to 700,000 medieval African documents, ranging from scholarly works to short letters, that have been preserved by private households in Timbuktu. The manuscripts were passed down in Timbuktu families and are mostly in poor condition. Some of the manuscripts...
s funded by independent universities have aimed to preserve them.
Language
Although French is Mali's official languageOfficial language
An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration. However, official status can also be used to give a...
, today the large majority of Timbuktu's inhabitants speaks Koyra Chiini
Koyra Chiini language
Koyra Chiini , or Western Songhay, is a variety of Songhai in Mali, spoken by about 200,000 people along the Niger River in Timbuktu and upriver from it in the towns of Diré, Tonka, Goundam, and Niafunké, as well as in the Saharan town of Araouane to its north...
, a Songhay language that also functions as the lingua franca
Lingua franca
A lingua franca is a language systematically used to make communication possible between people not sharing a mother tongue, in particular when it is a third language, distinct from both mother tongues.-Characteristics:"Lingua franca" is a functionally defined term, independent of the linguistic...
. Before the 1990–1994 Tuareg rebellion, both Hassaniya
Hassaniya
Hassānīya is the variety of Arabic originally spoken by the Beni Hassān Bedouin tribes, who extended their authority over most of Mauritania and the Western Sahara between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries. It has almost completely replaced the Berber languages spoken in this region...
Arabic and Tamashek
Tuareg languages
Tuareg is a Berber language or family of very closely related languages and dialects spoken by the Tuareg Berbers, in large parts of Mali, Niger, Algeria, Libya and Burkina Faso, with a few speakers, the Kinnin, in Chad.- Description :Other Berber languages and Tamashaq are quite mutually...
were represented by 10% each to an 80% dominance of the Koyra Chiini language. With Tamashek spoken by both Bella
Bella
Bella is a city and comune in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. It is bounded by the comuni of Atella, Avigliano, Balvano, Baragiano, Muro Lucano, Ruoti, San Fele.-Translations:...
and ethnic Tuaregs, its use declined with the expelling of many Tuaregs following the rebellion, increasing the dominance of Koyra Chiini. Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
, introduced together with Islam during the 11th century, has mainly been the language of scholars and religion, comparable to Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
in Christianity. Although Bambara
Bambara language
Bambara, more correctly known as Bamanankan , its designation in the language itself , is a language spoken in Mali by as many as six million people...
is spoken by the most numerous ethnic group in Mali, the Bambara people, it is mainly confined to the south of the country. With an improving infrastructure granting Timbuktu access to larger cities in Mali's South, use of Bambara is increasing in the city but has yet to become an influential factor.
Infrastructure
With no railroads in Mali except for the Dakar-Niger RailwayDakar-Niger Railway
The Dakar–Niger Railway connects Dakar, to Koulikoro, . It serves many cities in Senegal and Mali...
up to Koulikoro
Koulikoro
Koulikoro is a city in Mali. The capital of the Koulikoro Region, Koulikoro is located on banks of the Niger River, from Mali's capital Bamako....
, access to Timbuktu is by road, boat or, since 1961, plane. With high water levels in the Niger from August to December, Compagnie Malienne de Navigation (COMANAV) passenger ferries operate a leg between Koulikoro and downstream Gao
Gao
Gao is a town in eastern Mali on the River Niger lying ESE of Timbuktu. Situated on the left bank of the river at the junction with the Tilemsi valley, it is the capital of the Gao Region and had a population of 86,663 in 2009....
on a roughly weekly basis. Also requiring high water are pinasses (large motorized pirogues), either charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
ed or public, that travel up and down the river. Both ferries and pinasses arrive at Korioumé, Timbuktu's port, which is linked to the city centre by an 18 km (11.2 mi) paved road running through Kabara. In 2007, access to Timbuktu's traditional port, Kabara, was restored by a Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
n funded project that dredged the 3 km silted canal connecting Kabara to an arm of the Niger River. COMANAV ferries and pinassses are now able to reach the port when the river is in full flood.
Timbuktu is poorly connected to the Malian road network with only dirt roads to the neighbouring towns. Although the Niger River can be crossed by ferry at Korioumé, the roads south of the river are no better. However, a new paved road of is under construction between Niono
Niono
Niono is a town and commune located in the Ségou Region of Mali. It is the seat of the Niono Cercle. As of 2004 there are approximately 50,000 inhabitants in the commune, while the town itself measures some 4,900 people. The town is the capital of Niono Cercle, one of six subdivisions of Segou...
and Timbuktu running to the north of the Inland Niger Delta. The 565 km road will pass through Nampala, Niafunké
Niafunké
- External links :* Short album description and sample of Tulumba....
, Tonka
Tonka
Tonka is an American toy company most known for its signature toy trucks and construction equipment.-History:On September 18, 1946 Mound Metalcraft was created in Mound, Minnesota with three men as partners, Lynn Everett Baker , Avery F. Crounse, and Alvin F. Tesch. The first products produced by...
, Diré
Dire
As a location, Dire may refer to:*Diré, Mali*Dire – one of the 180 woredas in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia....
and Goundam
Goundam
Goundam is a commune and town in north central Mali, in the Tombouctou Region. It is the capital of Goundam Cercle, one of five subdivisions of the Region. In the 2009 census the commune had a population of 16,253...
. The completed 81 km section between Niono and the small village of Goma Coura was financed by the Millennium Challenge Corporation
Millennium Challenge Corporation
The Millennium Challenge Corporation is a bilateral United States foreign aid agency created by the George W. Bush administration in 2004, applying a new philosophy towards foreign aid.-Background and formation:...
. This new section will service the Alatona irrigation system development of the 'Office du Niger'. The 484 km section between Goma Coura and Timbuktu is being financed by the European Development Fund
European Development Fund
The European Development Fund is the main instrument for European Union aid for development cooperation in Africa, the Caribbean, and Pacific countries and the Overseas Countries and Territories...
.
Timbuktu's airport
Timbuktu Airport
Timbuktu Airport is an airport in Timbuktu, Mali opened on April 15, 1961....
is served by both Air Mali
Air Mali
Air Mali, formerly Compagnie Aerienne du Mali , is an airline headquartered in Bamako, Mali, that was formed by the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development through its subsidiary IPS, West Africa and the government of Mali in April 2005. Its inaugural flight was made on 7 June 2005 from Bamako to...
and Mali Air Express
Mali Air Express
Mali Air Express is an airline based in Bamako, Mali. Its main base is Senou International Airport.-Fleet:The Mali Air Express fleet includes the following aircraft :*2 Saab 340A-External links:**...
, hosting flights to and from Bamako, Gao and Mopti. Its 6,923 ft (2,110 m) runway in a 07/25 orientation is both lighted and paved.
Sister cities
Timbuktu is a sister city to the following cities:– Chemnitz
Chemnitz
Chemnitz is the third-largest city of the Free State of Saxony, Germany. Chemnitz is an independent city which is not part of any county and seat of the government region Direktionsbezirk Chemnitz. Located in the northern foothills of the Ore Mountains, it is a part of the Saxon triangle...
, Germany – Hay-on-Wye
Hay-on-Wye
Hay-on-Wye , often described as "the town of books", is a small market town and community in Powys, Wales.-Location:The town lies on the east bank of the River Wye and is within the Brecon Beacons National Park, just north of the Black Mountains...
, Wales, United Kingdom - Kairuan, Tunisia – Marrakech
Marrakech
Marrakech or Marrakesh , known as the "Ochre city", is the most important former imperial city in Morocco's history...
, Morocco – Saintes
Saintes
Saintes is a French commune located in Poitou-Charentes, in the southwestern Charente-Maritime department of which it is a sub-prefecture. Its inhabitants are called Saintaises and Saintais....
, France – Tempe, Arizona
Tempe, Arizona
Tempe is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2010 population of 161,719. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in the East Valley section of metropolitan Phoenix; it is bordered by Phoenix and Guadalupe on the west, Scottsdale...
, United States - Tifariti
Tifariti
Tifariti is an oasis town located in POLISARIO-controlled Western Sahara, east of the Moroccan Berm, and 15 km. north the Mauritanian border. It is part of what POLISARIO call the Liberated Territories and Morocco call the Buffer Zone. It has a hospital, a school, a mosque and a museum...
, Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (Western Sahara)
Further reading
. (Vol. 1 contains the Arabic text, Vol. 2 contains a translation into French). Internet Archive: Volume 1; Volume 2; Gallica: Volume 2... The anonymous 18th century Tadhkirat al-Nisyan is a biographical dictionary of the pashas of Timbuktu from the Moroccan conquest up to 1750.- Jenkins, Mark, (June 1997) To Timbuktu, ISBN 978-0-688-11585-2 William Marrow & Co. Revealing travelogue along the Niger to Timbuktu..... Also available from Aluka but requires subscription... Link requires subscription to Aluka.....
External links
- Saharan Archaeological Research Association – Directed by Douglas Post Park, and Peter Coutros of Yale University.
- The University of Sankore at Timbuktu
- Islamic Manuscripts from Mali, Library of Congress – fuller presentation of the same manuscripts from the Mamma Haidara Commemorative Library
- Timbuktu materials in the Aluka digital library