Timbuktu

Timeline

1. c. 1100–1200Timbuktu · MaliRelying on the water sources of the Niger bend and its position as a trade-route node, Timbuktu was jointly run by Tuareg nomadic groups and local settlers, gradually becoming a salt–gold trade relay linking the southern Sahel with the northern fringe of the Sahara.
2. c. 1325–1330Timbuktu · MaliThe Mali Empire expanded steadily into the southern Niger basin during the 13th and 14th centuries; Timbuktu was brought into the empire's administrative and trading systems, and its population and market scale grew markedly, laying political and economic foundations for the later scholarly flourishing.
3. c. 1301–1310Timbuktu · MaliBetween 1301 and 1310, Timbuktu was already an important stop for trans-Saharan caravans; salt, cloth, copperware, and gold from the Wangara region to the south were consolidated here, and the community around the Sankore Mosque continued to expand, building momentum for the scholarly construction of the empire's golden age.
4. c. 1325–1600Sankore Mosque · Tombouctou RegionDuring Mansa Musa's reign, he generously funded the expansion of the Sankore Mosque and university, attracting scholars from North Africa and al-Andalus; Timbuktu became an important center of Islamic jurisprudence, astronomy, and manuscript copying, with its manuscript trade and scholarly networks reaching as far as the Mediterranean world.