Timbuktu

:This article is about Timbuktu, the Mali city. For the artist, see Timbuktu. For the region, see Tombouctou Region

Origins

Timbuktu was established as a seasonal camp by the nomadic Tuareg perhaps as early as the 10th century and grew to great wealth because of its key role in trans-Saharan trade in gold, ivory, slaves, salt and other goods by the Tuareg, Mandé and Fulani merchants, transferring goods from caravans coming from the Islamic north to boats on the Niger. Thus if the Sahara functioned as a sea, Timbuktu was a major port. It became a key city in several successive empires: the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire from 1324, and the Songhai Empire from 1468, the second occupations beginning when the empires overthrew Tuareg leaders who had regained control. It reached its peak in the early 16th century, but its capture in 1591 by a band of Moroccan adventurers was not the start so much as a symptom of the crumbling of the ancient economy with Portuguese goods that came instead from the river's mouth (Braudel pp 434–35).

Related Topics:
10th century - Trans-Saharan trade - Gold - Ivory - Slave - Salt - Mandé - Fulani - Caravan - Ghana Empire - Mali Empire - 1324 - Songhai Empire - 1468 - 16th century

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The leaders of the Songhai kingdom (also spelled Songhay) began expanding their domain along the Niger River. Like the kingdoms of Ghana and Mali that flourished in the region in earlier centuries, Songhai grew powerful because of its control of local trade routes. Timbuktu would soon become the heart of the mighty Songhai Empire.

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