Timbuktu

Type Object Region West Africa Time c. 1100

Timbuktu, on the northern edge of the middle Niger River at the southern fringe of the Sahara, grew from a Tuareg seasonal camp into a trans-Saharan …

Timeline

c. 1100–1200Timbuktu · MaliTuareg people established a seasonal camp on the north bank of the Niger River; situated where the salt route and gold route crossed, it gradually became a fixed trading settlement, forming the embryo of the city.
c. 1310–1320Timbuktu · Mali EmpireIncorporated into the Mali Empire in the early 14th century, it became a trans-Saharan caravan entrepôt and a key node in the gold trade; Muslim merchants and scholars successively settled there, laying the foundation for the later manuscript and scholarly tradition.
c. 1400–1600Timbuktu · Songhai EmpireInstitutions such as the University of Sankore attracted students from across West Africa; large numbers of Arabic and local-language manuscripts were transcribed, collected, and taught there, earning Timbuktu the epithet "City of Scholarship in the Desert."

Sources

Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire: Islam at the Crossroads of Trade — John Hunwick (2003)
Timbuktu https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/119/