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97-494: The Kunta was formed during the 9th/15th or possibly during the 10th/16th century. They were located in the north-west side of Shara. The Kounta were instrumental in the expansion of Islam into sub-Saharan West Africa in the 15th century, and formed an urban elite in cities such as Timbuktu which were on the southern end of the Trans-Saharan trade . The Kunta are better known for their role as Islamic scholars. From Timbuktu,

194-574: A hajji , Asseed El Hage Abd Salam Shabeeny. Returning from a trading voyage to Hamburg , he was captured by a ship manned by Englishmen but sailing under a Russian flag, whose captain claimed that his Imperial mistress ( Catherine the Great ) was "at war with all Muselmen" (see Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) ). He and the ship he had been sailing in were brought to Ostend in Belgium in December 1789 but

291-421: A centre of intellectual exchange and cultural diversity. The Sidi Yahya mosque, founded in 1440 by the revered marabout Sheikh al-Mukhtar Hamallah, held both religious and mystical significance for the people of Timbuktu. According to local legend, the mosque awaited the arrival of Sidi Yahya al-Tadlissi, a saint whose presence would sanctify the site. When Sidi Yahya claimed the mosque forty years later, it became

388-475: A decline in trade as a result of increased competition from newly available trans-Atlantic sailing routes, caused the city to lose its relevance. It was not until the 1890s that Timbuktu was formally incorporated into the French colony of Mali, and, in 1960, was declared part of the independent nation of Mali. Today, the population of Timbuktu has substantially decreased since its estimated peak of 100,000 people in

485-613: A fight. The Islamist groups had already fled north a few days earlier, having set fire to the Ahmed Baba Institute , which housed many important manuscripts. The building housing the Ahmed Baba Institute was funded by South Africa, and held 30,000 manuscripts. BBC World Service radio news reported on 29 January 2013 that approximately 28,000 of the manuscripts in the Institute had been removed to safety from

582-641: A focal point for spiritual devotion and pilgrimage. Over time, the mosque underwent several renovations and refurbishments, reflecting the changing religious and cultural landscape of Timbuktu. The best-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

679-424: A great store of doctors, judges, priests, and other learned men, that are bountifully maintained at the king's cost and charges. According to Leo Africanus, there were abundant supplies of locally produced grain, 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

776-480: A household reference as a faraway, mysterious place, but the city itself was once a world-renowned trade powerhouse, as well as an academic hotspot of the medieval world. Timbuktu is unique in the fact that it has seen many rulers, but the city reached its golden period under the Mali Empire in the 13th and 14th centuries. Distinguished Malian Mansa Mūsā brought great fame to the city of Timbuktu when he established

873-418: A major city called Housa several days' journey to the southeast. Two years later, he returned to Timbuktu 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 of Tetuan. He made a two-year pilgrimage to Mecca and thus became

970-525: A means to communicate with neighboring rulers. The marabouts' expanding influence in politics paired with their unique allegiance of the Muslim community eventually posed a real threat to the chiefs who had appointed them. In 1683, rising tensions between chiefs and the Muslim population led to a Muslim revolt in the Wolof kingdom of Cayor , which concluded with the installation of a marabout as Damel . In

1067-571: A result of the recent issues. Over the centuries, the spelling 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 . French spelling often appears in international reference as 'Tombouctou'. The German spelling 'Timbuktu' and its variant 'Timbucktu' have passed into English and

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1164-577: A result of this and various other incidents a number of states including France, Britain and the US, began advising their citizens to avoid travelling far from Bamako. The number of tourists visiting Timbuktu dropped precipitously from around 6000 in 2009 to only 492 in the first four months of 2011. Because of the security concerns, the Malian government moved the 2010 Festival in the Desert from Essakane to

1261-604: A reward for installing new roads and street lamps in Touba while in office, the Khalife-Général declared a ndiggël (a binding command issued by the Khalife-Général to all members of the Mouride Brotherhood) that proclaimed that all men must vote for Diouf. Although multiple Khalife-Général have issued ' ndiggël politique ' in support of a presidential candidate in previous elections, several marabouts of

1358-523: A shift in trading routes, particularly after the visit by Mansa Musa around 1325, Timbuktu flourished, due to its strategic location, from the trade in salt, gold, and ivory . It gradually expanded as an important Islamic city on the Saharan trade route and attracted many scholars and traders before it became part of the Mali Empire early in the 14th century. In the first half of the 15th century,

1455-585: A simple, ascetic life. The spread in sub-Saharan Africa of the marabout's role from the eighth through thirteenth centuries created in some places a mixture of roles with pre-Islamic priests and divines. Thus many fortune tellers and self-styled spiritual guides take the name "marabout" (something rejected by more orthodox Muslims and Sufi brotherhoods alike). The recent diaspora of West Africans (to Paris in particular) has brought this tradition to Europe and North America, where some marabouts advertise their services as fortune tellers. An eshu of Quimbanda , Marabô,

1552-514: A small ethnic Kounta insurgency, begun in 2004 by a former army colonel, though few attacks have been staged and the leadership has been largely rejected by the Kunta community. The Kuntas are described as a high-caste tribe whose political and economic pre-eminence in the region comes from their assumed descent from the Prophet. They have a leading economic position in the area of Northern Mali since

1649-580: A trip to Niger having a great encounter with the Kunta. Hourst saw that the Kunta were a clan that have good relationships with one another. The Kunta saw that having a relationship with the French would help them deal with authority as it has been decreasing since the passing of Ahmad al Bakkay's death. The Kunta were located in two known areas as one group lived in the Goruma along the Niger River at Kagha and east of Timbuktu. The other larger group were in

1746-526: A university of Islamic learning there. The university taught much more than Islamic studies, though, including topics of history, rhetoric, law, science, and, most notably, medicine. Mansa Mūsā also introduced Timbuktu, and the Mali Empire in general, to the rest of the Medieval world through his Hajj, as his time in Mecca would soon inspire Arab travelers to visit North Africa. Europeans, however, would not reach

1843-584: Is a "period of feasting, singing, and dancing ... It culminated with an evening gathering of thousands of people in the large sandy square in front of the Sankor é Mosque and a public reading of some of the city's most treasured manuscripts." Annually, during the winter, Timbuktu has hosted the Living Together festival since 2015. Marabout A marabout ( Arabic : مُرابِط , romanized :  murābiṭ , lit.   'one who

1940-693: Is attached/garrisoned') is a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad (Arabic: سـيّد, romanized : sayyid and Sidi in the Maghreb ) and a Muslim religious leader and teacher who historically had the function of a chaplain serving as a part of an Islamic army, notably in North Africa and the Sahara, in West Africa , and (historically) in the Maghreb . The marabout is often a scholar of

2037-787: Is believed to have carried this esoteric and shamanic role into Brazil. Contemporary marabouts in Senegal advertise on television and have hot lines. Marabouts have been prominent members of Wolof society since the arrival of Sufi brotherhoods from the Maghreb in the 15th century. Their advanced knowledge of the Quran and esteemed reputation have often allowed them to act as traders, priests, judges, or magicians in conjunction with their roles of community religious leaders. Additionally, because of their ability to read and write, village chiefs would frequently appoint marabouts as secretaries or advisers as

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2134-433: Is higher in the dry season than the wet season. Average daily maximum temperatures in the hottest months of the year – April, May and June – exceed 40 °C (104 °F). Lowest temperatures occur during the mildest months of the year – December, January and February. However, average maximum temperatures do not drop below 30 °C (86 °F). These winter months are characterized by a dry, dusty trade wind blowing from

2231-573: Is pronounced amrabadh in Tarifit . Marabouts are known as sidi ( سيدي ) in Maghrebi Arabic . Many cities in Morocco got their names from local marabouts, and the name of those cities usually begins with "Sidi" followed by the name of the local marabout. Modern Standard Arabic for "saint" is " walī " ( ولي ). A marabout may also refer to a tomb ( Arabic : قُبّة qubba "dome") of

2328-502: 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 dikes that become submerged as the water rises. 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

2425-542: Is situated nine miles from the Niger River, making for good agricultural land, and is near the Sahara Desert, providing easily accessible trade routes. Timbuktu also acts as a midpoint between the regions of North, West, and Central Africa. Because of this, Timbuktu has developed into a cultural melting pot. The Mali Empire reached a steady decline in the mid-1400s, giving rise to the Songhai Empire. However,

2522-417: 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 recently as 2000, archaeological research has not found remains dating from the 11th/12th century within the limits of the modern city given the difficulty of excavating through metres of sand that have buried

2619-533: The Berber languages and in general refers to Sufi Muslim teachers who head a lodge or school called a zāwiya associated with a specific school or tradition, called a ṭarīqah "way, path" ( Arabic : طريقه ). However, Charles de Foucauld and Albert Peyriguère , both living as Catholic hermits among Berbers in the Maghreb, were called marabouts by the local population due to their saintly lives. The pronunciation of that word varies by language. For example, it

2716-630: The Khalife-Général , have continued to play influential roles in Senegalese politics. Some have questioned the utility of having clientelist relationships between marabouts and government officials in a modern democracy. The new "grandson" generation of marabouts has cultivated a more independent and secular political outlook and have proven that they are willing to question the authority of their predecessors. In Senegal's 1988 presidential election, Khalife-Général Abdou Lahatte Mbakke supported Abdou Diouf for reelection. Both as public endorsement and as

2813-729: The Niger Bend at this time: A small group in Gourma (right bank of the Niger) at Kagha (east of Timbuktu) and around Lake Garou , and a larger group north of the river between Bamba and Bourem . While the nomadic Kunta clans were "pacified" early by French colonial forces , the urban Kounta trading and religious groups to the east were instrumental in the Fulani Jihad States of the Sokoto Caliphate , Macina , and

2910-543: The Niger River . It is the capital of the Tombouctou Region , one of the eight administrative regions of Mali , having a population of 54,453 in the 2009 census. Archaeological evidence suggests prehistoric settlements in the region, predating the city's Islamic scholarly and trade prominence in the medieval period. Timbuktu began as a seasonal settlement and became permanent early in the 12th century. After

3007-525: The Qur'an , or religious teacher. Others may be wandering holy men who survive on alms , Sufi Murshids ("Guides"), or leaders of religious communities. The term "marabout" is also used for the mausolea of such religious leaders (cf. maqam , mazar , in Palestine also wali /weli ). Muslim tariqah ( Sufi religious brotherhoods) are one of the main organizing forms of West African Islam, and with

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3104-490: The Segou Tijaniyya Jihad state of Umar Tall . Some leaders of the Kunta in north east Mali have come into conflict with Tuareg and Bambara populations in towns where they once held a near monopoly on political power. In 1998–1999 and again in 2004 there were brief flare-ups of intercommunal violence between these groups near Gao and Timbuktu a rare event in postcolonial Mali. There has even been

3201-590: The Tuareg people took control for a short period, until the expanding Songhai Empire absorbed it in 1468. A Moroccan army defeated the Songhai in 1591 and made Timbuktu their capital. The invaders established a new ruling class, the Arma , who after 1612 became virtually independent of Morocco. In its golden age, the town's Islamic scholars and extensive trade network supported an important book trade. Together with

3298-493: The "grandson" generation openly rejected the command by voting for the opposition instead. These marabouts believed that the ndiggël violated their secular political rights, which was a sentiment shared among many other Mourides in Touba. In 1997, a rural council of Touba Mosquée in Senegal issued a set of new taxes meant to fund an ambitions development project in the holy city. City merchants promptly voiced their displeasure of

3395-455: The 15th century and going onward, the Kunta took the Qur'anic scholarship as "a means to wealth and therefore power as controllers of the trans-Saharan trade from Morocco to Timbuktu". This enabled the Kunta to control Qur'anic education. During the 18th century, Timbuktu was under Kunta rule. The Kunta had a well respected leader named Sīdī al-Mukhtār. Under the command of Shaykh Sidi al-Mukhtar in

3492-560: The 19th century, the Kunta tribe were in charge of looking after transactions in Tuat and Taoideni known as Algeria. The Kunta clan were known to be powerful. They were part of an important lineage such as Hassan, Quraysh , Znaga and Tajakanet origin. This benefitted them in areas such as religious, political and commercial advantages. They were good with the trans-Saharan trade. A few of the Kunta people were either city officials as well as bureaucrats. The nomadic Kunta occupied two regions around

3589-530: The British consul managed to get him and the ship released. He set off again in the same ship, but the captain, who claimed to be afraid of his ship being captured again, set him ashore in Dover . In England his story was recorded. Shabeeni gave an indication of the size of the city in the second half of the 18th century. In an earlier passage, he described an environment that was characterized by forest, as opposed to

3686-420: The French occupation. The French were encouraging the Kunta to attack Iwellemmedan in order for them to accept this new colonial. They formed raids against them and took their goods as well as their slaves. Hammadi ould Muhammad Bu-Addi was an important figure to this alliance and he was known to the French as Hammoadi. Kunta under the French colonial didn't pay tax until 1905. In 1911, Alouata replaced Hammadi as

3783-530: The Iwellemmedan group killing 20 people. On December 25, 1908, there was a meeting with the Kunta, Iwellemmedan and Kel Ifoghas to settle their differences. They created separate zones for pasture for each one. In 1909, the French formed buffer zones separating Kunta and Iwellemmedan. This didn't put an end to the violence, in 1911 the Iwellemmedan raided the Kunta leaving 13 people dead. Faidherbe had established permanent relations with one Kunta fragment in

3880-526: The Kunta Arabs, the Kunta are more economically prosperous and politically dominant than many Tuareg in that region. The Kunta marabouts (Islamic scholars) interpret the Qur'an for some Tuareg residents in the community. As helpful as this may be to the Tuareg, they also see the marabouts as trouble. Kunta groups of prestigious marabouts who dominate some parts of northern Mali economically, religiously, and politically offer higher bridewealth than most of

3977-462: The Kunta in order to conquer the local resisting Tuareg groups. In a small rural community in Northern Mali the two group's relationship can be characterized as both conflicting and cooperative. Tuareg and Kunta relations have both mutual dependence and close cooperation in intermarriages, trading, and Qur'anic consultations. Even though, the Tuareg view themselves as a community distinct from

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4074-411: The Kunta leader. In 1903, the Iwellemmedan officially surrendered under the French colonial but it didn't stop the tensions between the Kunta and Iwellemmedan. The Kunta had benefited more than the French but in 1903, the French still allowed the Kunta to attack them. The conflicts with one another didn't stop even with the effort of the French trying to put this conflict to an end. The Kunta had attacked

4171-478: The Kunta were able to exert an enormous influence on the development of Islam in West Africa. They established different clerical identity. They as well did not use weapons when spreading the word of Islam. They are a large religious clan whose relations are the product of struggling and managing to deal with pressures such as invasions and droughts. The Kunta tribe separated into two groups. One group went into

4268-401: The Medieval period. The city has suffered from mass amounts of poverty for several years now, relying on government funding as a means of survival. On 8 August 2023, Timbuktu was brought under a total blockade by Jama'at Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin (JNIM), exacerbating poverty, and leading to food shortages. 33,000 fled the city and its surrounding areas and 1,000 have fled to Mauritania since

4365-448: The Sahara, often are called marabouts. Those who devote themselves to prayer or study, either based in communities, religious centers, or wandering in the larger society, are named marabouts. In Senegal and Mali , these Marabouts rely on donations to live. Often there is a traditional bond to support a specific marabout that has accumulated over generations within a family. Marabouts normally dress in traditional West African robes and live

4462-546: 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. The wealth and very existence of Timbuktu depended on its position as the southern terminus of an important trans-Saharan trade route; nowadays,

4559-805: The Sufi brotherhoods which dominate spiritual life in Senegambia. In the Muslim brotherhoods of Senegal , marabouts are organized in elaborate hierarchies; the highest marabout of the Mourides , for example, has been elevated to the status of a Caliph or ruler of the faithful ( Amir al-Mu'minin ). Older, North African based traditions such as the Tijaniyyah and the Qadiriyyah base their structures on respect for teachers and religious leaders who, south of

4656-575: The Timbuktu near the Wadi el-Ahmar was excavated between 2008 and 2010 by archaeologists from Yale University and the Mission Culturelle de Tombouctou. The results suggest that the site was first occupied during the 5th century BC, thrived throughout the second half of the 1st millennium AD and eventually collapsed sometime during the late 10th or early 11th-century AD. Timbuktu has become

4753-411: The Tuareg for having weakened their power by the second half of the 19th century. In the year 1899, the Kunta moved towards a formal alliance with the French by going to Timbuktu in person to show their seriousness in wanting to work with them. In the meeting, they gave valuable information on the Tuareg clan for the French to use. They also were willing to have their own people fight the Tuareg and accept

4850-430: 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 to 40 cm (12 to 16 in) in height. The plants grow up to three metres (10 feet) 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

4947-709: The attention of European explorers. Africanus 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. The natives of the town of Timbuctoo may be computed at 40,000, exclusive of slaves and foreigners ... The natives are all blacks: almost every stranger marries a female of the town, who are so beautiful that travellers often fall in love with them at first sight. – Shabeni in James Grey Jackson's  [ fr ] An Account of Timbuctoo and Hausa , 1820 Roughly 250 years after Leo Africanus' visit to Timbuktu,

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5044-573: The campuses of the Sankore Madrasah , an Islamic university , this established Timbuktu as a scholarly centre in Africa. Notable historic writers, such as Shabeni and Leo Africanus , wrote about the city. These stories fuelled speculation in Europe, where the city's reputation shifted from being rich to mysterious. The city's golden age as a major learning and cultural centre of the Mali Empire

5141-607: The ceremony, a monument was built. The Festival au Désert , to celebrate the peace treaty , was held every January in the desert, 75 km from the city until 2010. The week-long festival of Mawloud is held every January, and celebrates the birthday of Muhammed; the city's "most cherished manuscripts" are read publicly, and are a central part of this celebration. It was originally a Shi'ite festival from Persia and arriving in Timbuktu around 1600. The "most joyful occasion on Timbuktu's calendar", it combines "rituals of Sufi Islam with celebrating Timbuktu's rich literary traditions". It

5238-574: The changing architectural styles and religious practices of the region. The Sankore Mosque, built between 1325 and 1463, played a central role in Timbuktu's intellectual and educational landscape. As the city flourished as a centre of Islamic learning, the Sankore Mosque became a renowned centre of learning, attracting scholars and students from across the Muslim world. Its libraries housed thousands of manuscripts on subjects ranging from theology to astronomy, contributing to Timbuktu's reputation as

5335-547: 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 Hausa , a 14-year-old child named Shabeni (or Shabeeny) from Tetuan on the north coast of Morocco accompanied his father on a visit to Timbuktu. Shabeni stayed in Timbuktu for three years before moving to

5432-574: The city of Timbuktu entered a brief period of rule under the Tuaregs before it fell to the Songhai people. Despite major shifts in power, Timbuktu generally flourished until the Moroccans invaded the Songhai Empire in 1590 and began to occupy Timbuktu in 1591, after the Battle of Tondibi . In 1593, most of the university faculty was executed or exiled for disloyalty to the new rulers and this, along with

5529-475: The city until much later, due to the difficult and lengthy journey, thus garnering the city an aura of mystery. 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

5626-473: The dredging project, the canal was re-excavated so that now when the River Niger floods, Timbuktu is again connected to Kabara. 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 function as a port only in December to January when the river is in full flood. When

5723-562: The early nineteenth century. Faidherbe attracted a number of Kunta clerics and merchants, he signed a treaty of peace and commerce with one of their representatives from Timbuktu. Timbuktu Timbuktu ( / ˌ t ɪ m b ʌ k ˈ t uː / TIM -buk- TOO ; French : Tombouctou ; Koyra Chiini : Tumbutu ; Tuareg : ⵜⵏⵀⵗⵜ , romanized:  Tin Bukt ) is an ancient city in Mali , situated 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of

5820-452: The farmers are being encouraged to change their agricultural practices. Most tourists visit Timbuktu between November and February when the air temperature is lower. In the 1980s, accommodation for tourists was provided by Hendrina Khan Hotel and two other small hotels: Hotel Bouctou and Hotel Azalaï. Over the following decades the tourist numbers increased so that by 2006 there were seven small hotels and guest houses. The town benefited by

5917-421: The fertility of humans, crops, and livestock. The Kunta and the French had a great relationship with each other due to their commercial interests. The Kunta had a very good view from the French especially before the French colonial occupation because Ahmad al-Bakkay al Kunti vowed to protect Hienrich Barth as he had visited Timbuktu in the year 1826. In the year 1895 to 1896, Hourst (Lieutenant de vaisseau) made

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6014-529: The floodwater takes time to pass down the river system and through the Inner Niger Delta . At Koulikoro , 60 km (37 mi) 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

6111-567: The former has become widely used in recent years. Major English-language works have employed the spelling 'Timbuctoo', and this is considered the correct English form by scholars; 'Timbuctou' and 'Timbuctu' are sometimes used as well. The French continue to use the spelling 'Tombouctou', as they have for over a century; variants include 'Temboctou' (used by explorer René Caillié) and 'Tombouktou', but they are seldom seen. Variant spellings exist for other places as well, such as Jenne (Djenné) and Segu (Ségou). As well as its spelling, Timbuktu's toponymy

6208-471: The future, which means political actors may have to adjust or fundamentally alter their clientelist relationships with marabouts and Khalife-Général . The term marabout appears during the Muslim conquest of the Maghreb . It is derived from the Arabic murābiṭ "one who is garrisoned": religious students and military volunteers who manned ribats at the time of the conquest. Today, marabout means "saint" in

6305-402: The judgment of marabouts is so influential, the success or failure of a politician would be almost entirely contingent on the support of more prominent marabouts. Because of this, politicians would try to appease marabouts by agreeing to promote their Sufi brotherhood's best interests in turn for their endorsement, with some politicians believing that winning an election would be impossible without

6402-485: The left bank of Haoussa to the north of the Niger River. French didn't need the Kunta group located in Goruma but rather needed an alliance with the Kunta group located in the north part of the river for political benefits. That same year, prior to the colonial occupation, Abidin al- Kunti and his sons had opposed this but it didn't stop the French-Kunta alliance to occur. The Kunta wanted to regain power and go against

6499-704: The miners and returning with each camel loaded with four or five 30 kg (66 lb) slabs of salt. The salt transport was largely controlled by desert nomads of the Arabic-speaking Berabich (or Barabish) 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. Between the 12th and 14th centuries, Timbuktu's population grew immensely due to an influx of Bono , Tuaregs , Fulanis , and Songhais seeking trade, security, or to study. By 1300,

6596-404: The modern arid surroundings. Situated on the northern edge of the Niger Delta, Timbuktu is at the crossroads of the Saharan trade routes and the River Niger. Founded in 1100 by the Tuareg, this cultural centre boasts significant architectural landmarks, including three great mosques: Djinguere Ber, Sankore and Sidi Yahya. The Djinguere Ber Mosque, built in 1328 under the patronage of Mansa Musa,

6693-788: The most trusted and revered source of leadership in Wolof communities. French colonizers had difficulties adjusting to ruling over Muslim societies. Particularly in West Africa, constructing institutions of colonial rule that did not favor certain constituencies while neglecting others proved to be a tricky task. The French opted for forms of indirect rule through the local aristocracy in an effort to maintain order and keep administrative costs down, but found that many subjects detested these colonial chiefs and rulers and tended to gravitate towards their local marabouts. Marabouts were admired for their transparency and righteousness as they were known to renounce political powers, while ensuring economic, social, and religious stability within their communities. Since

6790-475: 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: The rich king of Tombuto hath many plates and sceptres of gold, some whereof weigh 1300 pounds. ... He hath always 3000 horsemen ... (and)

6887-403: The new taxes and threatened to kick the rural council, whose members were all appointed by the Mouride Khalife-Général, out of the city. Although tax revolts are not uncommon elsewhere, this incident was particularly noteworthy as the merchants' blatant refusal exhibited a departure from typical state-society relations in Senegal. Declining economic performance in Senegal may lead to more taxes in

6984-524: The only goods that are routinely transported across the desert are slabs of rock salt brought from the Taoudenni mining centre in the central Sahara 664 km (413 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

7081-508: The outskirts of Timbuktu. In November 2011, gunmen attacked tourists staying at a hotel in Timbuktu, killing one of them and kidnapping three others . This was the first terrorist incident in Timbuktu itself. On 1 April 2012, one day after the capture of Gao , Timbuktu was captured from the Malian military by the Tuareg rebels of the MNLA and Ansar Dine . Five days later, the MNLA declared

7178-414: The poorer Tuareg men can afford. This causes the Tuareg to resent Kunta men for stealing all the most beautiful women and not needing these wives to perform laborious domestic work. A few Tuareg women see these marriages as prestigious and advantageous since it frees them from arduous physical labor. The Kunta and the Tuareg men have long competed over women to marry, interpretations of Islam, water, and for

7275-423: The population increased to 10,000 and continued increasing until it reached about 50,000 in the 1500s. There is insufficient rainfall in the Timbuktu region for purely rain-fed 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

7372-502: The premises before the attack by the Islamist groups, and that the whereabouts of about 2,000 manuscripts remained unknown. It was intended to be a resource for Islamic research. On 30 March 2013, jihadist rebels infiltrated into Timbuktu nine days before a suicide bombing on a Malian army checkpoint at the international airport, killing a soldier. Fighting lasted until 1 April, when French warplanes helped Malian ground forces chase

7469-459: The rarity of one of Timbuktu's trade commodities: salt. The inhabitants are very rich, especially the strangers who have settled in the country [..] But salt is in very short supply because it is carried here from Tegaza , some 500 miles [800 km] from Timbuktu. I happened to be in this city at a time when a load of salt sold for eighty ducats . The king has a rich treasure of coins and gold ingots . These descriptions and passages alike caught

7566-402: The region independent of Mali as the nation of Azawad . The declared political entity was not recognized by any regional nations or the international community and it collapsed three months later on 12 July. On 28 January 2013, French and Malian government troops began retaking Timbuktu from the Islamist rebels. The force of 1,000 French troops with 200 Malian soldiers retook Timbuktu without

7663-463: The remaining rebels out of the city center. 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 Africanus and Shabeni. Perhaps most famous among the accounts written about Timbuktu is that by Leo Africanus , born El Hasan ben Muhammed el- Wazzan-ez-Zayyati in Granada in 1485. His family

7760-413: The remains over the past centuries. Without consensus , the etymology of Timbuktu remains unclear. Like other important Medieval West African towns such as Djenné ( Jenné-Jeno ), Gao , and Dia , Iron Age settlements have been discovered near Timbuktu that predate the traditional foundation date of the town. Although the accumulation of thick layers of sand has thwarted archaeological excavations in

7857-628: The revenue from the CFA ;5000 tourist tax, the sale of handicrafts and employment of local guides. Starting in 2008, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb began kidnapping groups of tourists in the Sahel region. In January 2009, four tourists were kidnapped near the Mali–Niger border after attending a cultural festival at Anderamboukané . One of these tourists was subsequently murdered. As

7954-443: The second half of the 18th century the Kunta were successful. Sīdī al-Mukhtār helped settle the Kunta's quarrels especially among the pastoral tribes. This lead the Kunta having a great influence on commerce and urban society. They also have had great influence in the northern and western Africa. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the Kunta tribe were perhaps the most prolific of any group in producing written materials. During

8051-563: The south of the town and is connected to an arm of the river by a 3 km (2 mi) 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 rivers in Guinea and northern Ivory Coast . The rainfall in these areas peaks in August but

8148-416: 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' screws 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

8245-728: The spread of Sufi ideas into the area, the marabout's role combined with local practices throughout Senegambia , the Niger River Valley , and the Futa Jallon . Here, Sufi believers follow a marabout, elsewhere known as a murshid "Guide". Marabout was also adopted by French colonial officials, and applied to most any imam , Muslim teacher, or secular leader who appealed to Islamic tradition. Today marabouts can be traveling holy men who survive on alms, religious teachers who take in young talibes at Qur'anic schools, or distinguished religious leaders and scholars, both in and out of

8342-418: The start of the 20th century. Due to their family networks, the Kunta controlled the trading routes across the borders, especially towards Algeria. The Kunta and the Tuareg have had an entangled relationship for at least a millennium. The Kunta and Tuareg have cultural ties but also have political tensions. In the early 20th century, the Tuareg and Kunta had economic inequalities because of the French, who armed

8439-639: The start of the siege. The siege began after the withdrawal of MINUSMA , the United Nations mission to Mali during the Mali War . Timbuktu is located on the southern edge of the Sahara 15 km ( 9 + 1 ⁄ 2  mi) 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 (5 mi) to

8536-618: The support of a marabout. This political dynamic, based on patronage and exchanges, would lead to a somewhat of an alliance between marabouts and the French colonizers. Along with endorsing certain politicians in exchange for favors, French colonial administrators sought out marabouts and heads of Sufi brotherhoods to act as intermediaries between colonial administrators and West African Muslims to ensure appropriate allocation of power and resources to avoid any potential conflict. After Senegal gained its independence from France in 1960, marabouts and leaders of Sufi Brotherhoods (also marabouts), or

8633-407: The town itself, some of the surrounding landscape is deflating and exposing pottery shards on the surface. A survey of the area by Susan and Roderick McIntosh in 1984 identified several Iron Age sites along the el-Ahmar, an ancient wadi system that passes a few kilometers to the east of the modern town. An Iron Age tell complex located nine kilometres ( 5 + 1 ⁄ 2  mi) southeast of

8730-409: The warrior marabouts, Muslim resistors turned to local marabouts for guidance and protection from their oppressors. After three decades of war and conflict, the warrior marabouts were gradually ousted from the Wolof states as French colonists began to take a tighter hold on the region. As confidence in the leadership abilities of chiefs and rulers declined as a result of the conflict, marabouts emerged as

8827-639: The water levels are lower, boats dock at Korioumé which is linked to Timbuktu by 18 km (11 mi) of paved road. Timbuktu features a hot desert climate ( BWh ) according to the Köppen Climate Classification . The weather is extremely hot and dry throughout much of the year, with most of the city's rainfall occurring between June and September, due to the influence of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The degree of diurnal temperature variation

8924-497: The wealthy ruler of the Mali Empire, served as a testament to the city's prosperity during this golden age. Mansa Musa's legendary pilgrimage to Mecca, during which he distributed vast amounts of gold, contributed to the construction of the mosque and cemented Timbuktu's reputation as a centre of Islamic culture and learning. Over the centuries, the Djinguere Ber mosque has undergone various renovations and extensions, reflecting

9021-701: The west while the second group moved to the Central Western Sahara and the South Western Sahara. The Kunta hold a role of prominence in the Southern Sahara that can be traced back to many centuries ago. They gained prominence in the Azawad during the lifetime of Sīdī al-Mukhtār al-Kuntī (d. 1811) and his child, Sīdī Muhammad (d. 1826). "Kunta" is an Arabic word ( كُنْتَ ), meaning, "you were," (2nd person, male). Starting from

9118-403: 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 slave 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

9215-469: The years following the revolt, relations between marabouts and Wolof chiefs remained relatively calm until a period of militant Islam in the Wolof states in the middle of the 19th century. Militant marabouts primarily of Tukulor (l origin, called "warrior marabouts," completely rejected the authority of local chiefs and sought to install a theocratic Muslim state. As the authority of chiefs and royal armies were undermined by propaganda and military force used by

9312-536: Was among the thousands of Muslims expelled by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel after their reconquest of Spain in 1492. They settled in Morocco , where 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

9409-531: Was followed by a long period of decline. Different tribes governed until the French took over Mali in 1893 , in a regime that lasted until the country became the Republic of Mali in 1960. In recent history, Timbuktu faced threats from extremist groups leading to the destruction of cultural sites; efforts by local and international communities have aimed to preserve its heritage. The city's population has declined as

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