Development of Timbuktu as a Scholarly Center (1390s)

Timeline

1. 1391–1395Timbuktu · MaliRiding the trans-Saharan gold and salt trade, Timbuktu continued to attract merchants and scholars from Fez, Tunis, and elsewhere; the city's population and intellectual resources grew steadily during the 1390s.
2. 1393–1398Sankore Mosque · MaliThe madrasa attached to the Sankore mosque taught Islamic jurisprudence, grammar, and astronomy in the 1390s; scholars exchanged knowledge through debate and manuscript copying, forming a distinctive West African scholarly network.
3. 1396–1400Timbuktu · MaliPrivate libraries and scholarly families in Timbuktu accumulated large numbers of Arabic manuscripts covering religion, medicine, and geography; by the end of the 1390s the city already had the scale of a regional scholarly center, laying the foundation for its later reputation as a 'city of learning'.