History of Timbuktu

Common card · No. 465510

Starting out as a seasonal Tuareg or Berber settlement in the late 11th or early 12th century AD, Timbuktu became a permanent settlement either in the 13th or early 14th century. After a shift in trading routes in the later 14th century, 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. It became part of the Mali Empire early in the 14th century when it was annexed by Mansa Musa. When Ibn Battuta visited Timbuktu in 1353 he noted that most of the inhabitants were Massufa Berbers, despite the town being under Malian rule. In the first half of the 15th century the Tuareg tribes took control of the city for a short period until the expanding Songhai Empire absorbed the city in 1468. The Moroccan army defeated the Songhai in 1591, and made Timbuktu, rather than Gao, their capital. The invaders established a new ruling class, the Arma, who after 1612 became virtually independent...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Drawn by Martin Bernatz (1802–1878) after a sketch by Heinrich Barth (1821-1865). The lithograph was produced and printed by M. & N. Hanhart, Public domain