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Timbuktu primarily gained its wealth from local gold and salt mining, in addition to the trans-Saharan slave trade. Gold was a highly valued commodity in the Mediterranean region and salt was most popular south of the city, though arguably the biggest asset Timbuktu had was its location.
The city lost its economic base and its fine university was not enough to save Timbuktu from decline. Cut off from major trade routes, the city retained an aura of spectacular treasure. When French explorers rediscovered the city in 1815, they were disappointed to find a sand-blown city of low mud buildings.
Starting out as a seasonal settlement, Timbuktu was in the kingdom of Mali when it became a permanent settlement early in the 12th century. After a shift in trading routes, the town flourished from the trade in salt, gold, ivory and slaves from several towns and states such as Begho of Bonoman, Sijilmassa, and other Saharan cities. [1]
The French name for the city of Timbuktu, which gives its name to the region; See also. Timbuktu (disambiguation) This page was last edited on 26 ...
An extension known as the "Hippopotamus Canal" was later excavated from Kabara up to Timbuktu. [2] A small navigable waterway to the west of Timbuktu is shown on the maps published by Heinrich Barth in 1857 and Félix Dubois in 1896. [3] [4] Between 1917 and 1921 the French used slave labour to again dig a narrow canal linking Timbuktu with ...
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. In the 2009 census the cercle had a population of 124,546. [2]
Timbuktu has many adobe and mud brick buildings but the most famous is the university. The masajids (mosques) of Sankore, Djinguereber, and Sidi Yahya were the centres of learning in medieval Mali and produced some of the most famous works in Africa, the Timbuktu Manuscripts. Timbuktu is a city in Mali with very distinguishable architecture.
[54] [55] However, modern scholars believe that there is insufficient evidence to pinpoint the exact time of origin and founders of Timbuktu, although it is archeologically clear that the city originated from local trade between the Middle Niger Delta, on the one hand, and between the pastoralists of the Sahara, long before the first hijra. [56]