1.
Timbuktu
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The town is the capital of the Timbuktu Region, one of the eight administrative regions of Mali. It had a population of 54,453 in the 2009 census, starting out as a seasonal settlement, Timbuktu became a permanent settlement early in the 12th century. After a shift in trading routes, Timbuktu flourished from the trade in salt, gold, ivory and it became part of the Mali Empire early in the 14th century. In the first half of the 15th century the Tuareg tribes took control of the city for a period until the expanding Songhai Empire absorbed the city in 1468. A Moroccan army defeated the Songhai in 1591, and made Timbuktu, rather than Gao, the invaders established a new ruling class, the Arma, who after 1612 became virtually independent of Morocco. However, the age of the city, during which it was a major learning and cultural center of the Mali empire, was over. Different tribes governed until the French took over in 1893, a situation that lasted until it became part of the current Republic of Mali in 1960, presently, Timbuktu is impoverished and suffers from desertification. Several notable historic writers, such as Shabeni and Leo Africanus, have described Timbuktu and these stories fueled speculation in Europe, where the citys reputation shifted from being extremely rich to being mysterious. This reputation overshadows the town itself in times, to the point where it is best known in Western culture as an expression for a distant or outlandish place. French spelling often appears in reference as Tombouctou. As well as its spelling, Timbuktus toponymy is still open to discussion, the word itself consisted of two parts, tin and butu. Africanus did not explain the meaning of this Butu, Heinrich Barth wrote, The town was probably so called, because it was built originally in a hollow or cavity in the sand-hills. Tùmbutu means hole or womb in the Songhay language, if it were a Temáshight word, the name is generally interpreted by Europeans as well of Buktu, but tin has nothing to do with well. Hence, Timbuktu would mean place covered by small dunes, looking after their belongings was a slave woman of theirs called Tinbuktu, which in their language means lump. The blessed spot where she encamped was named after her, the French Orientalist René Basset forwarded another theory, the name derives from the Zenaga root b-k-t, meaning to be distant or hidden, and the feminine possessive particle tin. The meaning hidden could point to the location in a slight hollow. Without consensus, the etymology of Timbuktu remains unclear, like other important Medieval West African towns such as Djenné, Gao, and Dia, Iron Age settlements have been discovered near Timbuktu that predate the traditional foundation date of the town. 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 kilometres to the east of the modern town
2.
Mali
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Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. Mali is the eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of just over 1,240,000 square kilometres, the population of Mali is 14.5 million. The countrys economy centers on agriculture and fishing, some of Malis prominent natural resources include gold, being the third largest producer of gold in the African continent, and salt. About half the population lives below the poverty line of $1.25 a day. A majority of the population are Muslims, present-day Mali was once part of three West African empires that controlled trans-Saharan trade, the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, and the Songhai Empire. During its golden age, there was a flourishing of mathematics, astronomy, literature, at its peak in 1300, the Mali Empire covered an area about twice the size of modern-day France and stretched to the west coast of Africa. In the late 19th century, during the Scramble for Africa, France seized control of Mali, French Sudan joined with Senegal in 1959, achieving independence in 1960 as the Mali Federation. Shortly thereafter, following Senegals withdrawal from the federation, the Sudanese Republic declared itself the independent Republic of Mali. After a long period of one-party rule, a coup in 1991 led to the writing of a new constitution and the establishment of Mali as a democratic, multi-party state. In January 2012, a conflict broke out in northern Mali, in which Tuareg rebels took control of by April and declared the secession of a new state. The conflict was complicated by a coup that took place in March. In response to Islamist territorial gains, the French military launched Opération Serval in January 2013, a month later, Malian and French forces recaptured most of the north. Presidential elections were held on 28 July 2013, with a second round held on 11 August. The name Mali is taken from the name of the Mali Empire, the name was originally derived from the Mandinka or Bambara word mali, meaning “hippopotamus”, but it eventually came to mean the place where the king lives. The word carries the connotation of strength, D. Niane suggests in Sundiata, An Epic of Old Mali that it is not impossible that Mali was the name given to one of the capitals of the emperors. 14th century Moroccan traveller Ibn Battuta reported that the capital of the Mali Empire was indeed called Mali and this name could have formerly been that of a city. In old Mali there is one village called Malikoma which means “New Mali. ”Another theory suggests that Mali is a Fulani pronunciation of the name of the Mande peoples. It is suggested that a sound shift led to the change, whereby in Fulani the alveolar segment /nd/ shifts to /l/, Mali was once part of three famed West African empires which controlled trans-Saharan trade in gold, salt, slaves, and other precious commodities
3.
Mosque
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A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. There are strict and detailed requirements in Sunni jurisprudence for a place of worship to be considered a mosque, many mosques have elaborate domes, minarets, and prayer halls, in varying styles of architecture. Mosques originated on the Arabian Peninsula, but are now found in all inhabited continents, the mosque serves as a place where Muslims can come together for salat as well as a center for information, education, social welfare, and dispute settlement. The imam leads the congregation in prayer, the first mosque in the world is often considered to be the area around the Kaaba in Mecca now known as the Masjid al-Haram. Others regard the first mosque in history to be the Quba Mosque in present-day Medina since it was the first structure built by Muhammad upon his emigration from Mecca in 622. The Islamic Prophet Muhammad went on to another mosque in Medina. Built on the site of his home, Muhammad participated in the construction of the mosque himself and helped pioneer the concept of the mosque as the focal point of the Islamic city. The Masjid al-Nabawi introduced some of the still common in todays mosques, including the niche at the front of the prayer space known as the mihrab. The Masjid al-Nabawi was also constructed with a courtyard, a motif common among mosques built since then. Mosques had been built in Iraq and North Africa by the end of the 7th century, the Imam Husayn Shrine in Karbala is reportedly one of the oldest mosques in Iraq, although its present form – typical of Persian architecture – only goes back to the 11th century. The shrine, while operating as a mosque, remains one of the holiest sites for Shia Muslims, as it honors the death of the third Shia imam. The Mosque of Amr ibn al-As was reportedly the first mosque in Egypt, serving as a religious, like the Imam Husayn Shrine, though, nothing of its original structure remains. With the later Shia Fatimid Caliphate, mosques throughout Egypt evolved to include schools, hospitals and it was the first to incorporate a square minaret and includes naves akin to a basilica. Those features can also be found in Andalusian mosques, including the Grand Mosque of Cordoba, still, some elements of Visigothic architecture, like horseshoe arches, were infused into the mosque architecture of Spain and the Maghreb. The first mosque in East Asia was reportedly established in the 8th century in Xian, however, the Great Mosque of Xian, whose current building dates from the 18th century, does not replicate the features often associated with mosques elsewhere. Indeed, minarets were initially prohibited by the state, mosques in western China were more likely to incorporate elements, like domes and minarets, traditionally seen in mosques elsewhere. In turn, the Javanese style influenced the styles of mosques in Indonesias Austronesian neighbors—Malaysia, Brunei, Muslim empires were instrumental in the evolution and spread of mosques. Although mosques were first established in India during the 7th century, reflecting their Timurid origins, Mughal-style mosques included onion domes, pointed arches, and elaborate circular minarets, features common in the Persian and Central Asian styles
4.
Sankore Madrasah
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Sankoré Madrasah, The University of Sankoré, or Sankore Masjid is one of three ancient centers of learning located in Timbuktu, Mali, West Africa. The three mosques of Sankoré, Djinguereber Mosque and Sidi Yahya compose the famous University of Timbuktu, Madrasah means school/university in Arabic and also in other languages associated with Muslims. The name Sankore means white nobles, the term white here referring to the light-skinned Sanhaja Berbers, Sankore was built under the leadership of Sanhaja Berbers, between 1325 and 1433. Finally the Oratory of Sidi yahya or the mosque of Mohamed Naddah was built at the beginning of 15th century, Timbuktu had long been a destination or stop for merchants from the Middle East and North Africa. It wasnt long before ideas as well as merchandise began passing through the fabled city, since most if not all these traders were Muslim, the mosque would see visitors constantly. The temple accumulated a wealth of books throughout the Muslim world becoming not only a center of worship. Books became more valuable than any other commodity in the city, by the end of Mansa Musas reign, the Sankoré Masjid had been converted into a fully staffed Madrassa with the largest collections of books in Africa since the Library of Alexandria. The level of learning at Timbuktus Sankoré University was superior to that of many other Islamic centers in the world. The Sankoré Masjid was capable of housing 25,000 students and had one of the largest libraries in the world with between 400,000 to 700,000 manuscripts. As the center of an Islamic scholarly community, the University was very different in organization from the universities of medieval Europe and it had no central administration other than the Emperor. It had no student registers but kept copies of its student publishings and it was composed of several entirely independent schools or colleges, each run by a single master or imam. Students associated themselves with a teacher, and courses took place in the open courtyard of the mosque or at private residences. The curriculum of Sankoré and other masjids in the area had four levels of schooling or degrees, on graduating from each level, students would receive a turban symbolizing their mastery. The schooling was not secular as arguments that could not be backed by the Quran were inadmissible in debates, however, secular teaching were included and stressed to develop well-rounded individuals. The first or primary degree required a mastery of Arabic and certain African language, students were also introduced to basic sciences at this level. The secondary degree or General Studies degree focused on immersion in the basic sciences. Students learned grammar, mathematics, geography, history, physics, astronomy, at this level they learned Hadiths, jurisprudence and the sciences of spiritual purification according to Islam. Finally, they began an introduction to school and business ethics
5.
Djinguereber
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The Djinguereber Mosque in Timbuktu, Mali is a famous learning center of Mali built in 1327, and cited as Djingareyber or Djingarey Ber in various languages. Its design is accredited to Abu Es Haq es Saheli who was paid 200 kg of gold by Musa I of Mali, emperor of the Mali Empire. According to Ibn Khaldun, one of the best known sources for 14th century Mali, but more reasoned analysis suggests that his role, if any, was quite limited. It has three courts, two minarets and twenty-five rows of pillars aligned in an east-west direction and prayer space for 2,000 people. Djinguereber is one of four madrassas composing the University of Timbuktu and it was inscribed on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1988, and in 1990 was considered to be in danger due to sand encroachment. A four-year project towards the restoration and rehabilitation of the Mosque began in June 2006, on 26 February 2010, during Mawlid, a stampede at the mosque killed around 26 people and injured at least 55 others- mostly women and children. On 1 July 2012, Islamic extremists of the Ansar Dine began destroying Timbuktus cultural treasures shortly after UNESCO placed them on a list of endangered World Heritage sites, using hoes, pick-axes and chisels, they hammered away at the two earthen tombs until they were completely destroyed. Damage to the mosque itself was, however, minimal, translated from Ibn Khaldun, loc. cit. p.348
6.
Sidi Yahya Mosque
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Sidi Yahya is a mosque and madrassa of Timbuktu in Mali which finished construction in 1440. Sidi Yahya along with Djinguereber and Sankore compose the University of Timbuktu, Sidi Yahyas mausoleum was destroyed on 2 July 2012 following the Battle of Gao and Timbuktu. The sacred legend of this holy site states that the End of The World main gate of Sidi Yahya mosque would not be opened until the last day, Sidi Yahya is named for its first imam and head professor Sidi Yahya. The mosque is located south of the more famous Sankoré Mosque, construction of the Sidi Yahya mosque was begun in 1400 by Sheikh El-Mokhtar Hamalla in expectation of a great holy person. It took 40 years to complete, in 1441 Mohamed Naddah, the city-governor of Timbuktu, appointed his close friend Sidi Yahya as its first imam. This marked the beginning of the mosque as a madrassa and a center of learning for the region. The Sidi Yahya mosque was restored in 1577 or 1578 by Cadi Al Akib and its original shape was altered in 1939 to reduce its appearance as a military fortress. The original minaret, however, is still in place, beneath it are the sepulchres of Sidi Yahya and Mohamed Naddah who are said to have died one week apart. The doors of the mosque were also repaired following the style of architecture prominent in Islamic countries. Sidi Yahya closely resembles the famous mosques in Timbuktu. Key differences are it is not as tall and the doors are ornately made reflecting Moroccan influence, the mosque has three rows of pillars facing north-south. The main courtyard is located in the part of the city. The courtyard was converted into a cemetery that is no longer in use, the imams of the school are buried in an underground area located to the north of the mosque. Evening and morning prayers are performed there and it also contains lodgings for the mosque’s guard. A smaller, external courtyard is used as reading space during the celebration of the birth of Prophet Sidna Mohammed, compared to other mosques of Timbuktu, this one benefits from greater care and maintenance. In the summer of 2012, members of Ansar Dine broke down the doors of the mosque and they claimed that the reverence for the site was idolatrous, but offered roughly $100 US dollars to repair the mosque
7.
University
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A university is an institution of higher education and research which grants academic degrees in various academic disciplines. Universities typically provide undergraduate education and postgraduate education, the word university is derived from the Latin universitas magistrorum et scholarium, which roughly means community of teachers and scholars. Universities were created in Italy and evolved from Cathedral schools for the clergy during the High Middle Ages, the original Latin word universitas refers in general to a number of persons associated into one body, a society, company, community, guild, corporation, etc. Like other guilds, they were self-regulating and determined the qualifications of their members, an important idea in the definition of a university is the notion of academic freedom. The first documentary evidence of this comes from early in the life of the first university, the University of Bologna adopted an academic charter, the Constitutio Habita, in 1158 or 1155, which guaranteed the right of a traveling scholar to unhindered passage in the interests of education. Today this is claimed as the origin of academic freedom and this is now widely recognised internationally - on 18 September 1988,430 university rectors signed the Magna Charta Universitatum, marking the 900th anniversary of Bolognas foundation. The number of universities signing the Magna Charta Universitatum continues to grow, the university is generally regarded as a formal institution that has its origin in the Medieval Christian setting. The earliest universities were developed under the aegis of the Latin Church by papal bull as studia generalia and it is possible, however, that the development of cathedral schools into universities was quite rare, with the University of Paris being an exception. Later they were founded by Kings or municipal administrations. In the early period, most new universities were founded from pre-existing schools. Many historians state that universities and cathedral schools were a continuation of the interest in learning promoted by monasteries, the first universities in Europe with a form of corporate/guild structure were the University of Bologna, the University of Paris, and the University of Oxford. The students had all the power … and dominated the masters, princes and leaders of city governments perceived the potential benefits of having a scholarly expertise develop with the ability to address difficult problems and achieve desired ends. The emergence of humanism was essential to understanding of the possible utility of universities as well as the revival of interest in knowledge gained from ancient Greek texts. The rediscovery of Aristotles works–more than 3000 pages of it would eventually be translated–fuelled a spirit of inquiry into natural processes that had begun to emerge in the 12th century. Some scholars believe that these represented one of the most important document discoveries in Western intellectual history. Richard Dales, for instance, calls the discovery of Aristotles works a turning point in the history of Western thought and this became the primary mission of lecturers, and the expectation of students. The university culture developed differently in northern Europe than it did in the south, Latin was the language of the university, used for all texts, lectures, disputations and examinations. Professors lectured on the books of Aristotle for logic, natural philosophy, and metaphysics, while Hippocrates, Galen, outside of these commonalities, great differences separated north and south, primarily in subject matter
8.
Songhai Empire
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The Songhai Empire was a state that dominated the western Sahel in the 15th and 16th century. At its peak, it was one of the largest states in African history, the state is known by its historiographical name, derived from its leading ethnic group and ruling elite, the Songhai. Sonni Ali established Gao as the capital of the empire, although a Songhai state had existed in, other important cities in the empire were Timbuktu and Djenné, conquered in 1468 and 1475 respectively, where urban-centered trade flourished. Initially, the empire was ruled by the Sonni dynasty, during the second half of the 13th century, Gao and the surrounding region had grown into an important trading center and attracted the interest of the expanding Mali Empire. Mali conquered Gao towards the end of the 13th century, Gao would remain under Malian hegemony until the late 14th century, but as the Mali Empire started to disintegrate, the Songhai reasserted control of Gao. Songhai rulers subsequently took advantage of the weakened Mali Empire to expand Songhai rule, under the rule of Sonni Ali, the Songhai surpassed the Malian Empire in area, wealth, and power, absorbing vast areas of the Mali Empire and reached its greatest extent. A series of plots and coups by Askias successors forced the empire into a period of decline, however, the empire experienced a period of stability and a string of military successes during the reign of Askia Daoud. Ahmad al-Mansur, the Moroccan sultan at the time, demanded tax revenues from the salt mines. Askia Daoud responded by sending a large quantity of gold as gift in an attempt to appease the sultan, Askia Ishaq II ascended to power in a long dynastic struggle following the death of Askia Daoud. He would be the last ruler of the empire, after the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Tondibi, the Songhai Empire collapsed. The Dendi Kingdom succeeded the empire as the continuation of Songhai culture, in ancient times there were several different groups of people that collectively formed the Songhai identity. Among the first people to settle in the region of Gao were the Sorko people, the Sorko fashioned boats and canoes from the wood of the cailcedrat tree and fished and hunted from their boats and provided water-borne transport for goods and people. Another group of people moved into the area to exploit the Nigers resources were the Gow people. The Gow were hunters and specialized in hunting animals such as crocodile. The other known group of known to have inhabited the area were the Do people. They were farmers who raised crops in the lands bordering the river. Sometime before the 10th century, these settlers were subjugated by more powerful, horse-riding Songhai speakers. All these groups of people began to speak the same language and they
9.
Ahmad al-Mansur
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Ahmad al-Mansur was Sultan of the Saadi dynasty from 1578 to his death in 1603, the sixth and most famous of all rulers of the Saadis. Ahmad al-Mansur was an important figure in both Europe and Africa in the century, his powerful army and strategic location made him an important power player in the late Renaissance period. He has been described as a man of profound Islamic learning, a lover of books, calligraphy and mathematics, as well as a connoisseur of mystical texts and he was the fifth son of Mohammed ash-Sheikh who was the first Saadi sultan of Morocco. His mother was the well-known Lalla Masuda, the two brothers spent 17 years among the Ottomans between the Regency of Algiers and Constantinople, and benefited from Ottoman training and contacts with Ottoman culture. In 1578, Ahmads brother, Sultan Abu Marwan Abd al-Malik I Saadi, Ahmad was named his brothers successor and began his reign amid newly won prestige and wealth from the ransom of Portuguese captives. Al-Mansur began his reign by leveraging his dominant position with the vanquished Portuguese during prisoner ransom talks, shortly after, he began construction on the great architectural symbol of this new birth of Moroccan power and relevance, the grand palace in Marrakesh called El Badi, or the marvelous. Moroccos standing with the Christian states was still in flux, to do that Morocco had to control sizable gold resources of its own. Accordingly, al-Mansur was drawn irresistibly to the gold trade of the Songhai in hopes of solving Moroccos economic deficit with Europe. Ahmad al-Mansur developed friendly relations with England in view of an Anglo-Moroccan alliance, in 1600 he sent his Secretary Abd el-Ouahed ben Messaoud as ambassador to the Court of Queen Elizabeth I of England to negotiate an alliance against Spain. Ahmad al-Mansur also wrote about reconquering Al-Andalus for Islam back from the Christian Spanish, in a letter of 1 May 1601 he wrote that he also had ambitions to colonize the New World with Moroccans. He envisioned that Islam would prevail in the Americas and the Mahdi would be proclaimed from the two sides of the oceans, Ahmad al-Mansur had French physicians at his Court. Arnoult de Lisle was physician to the Sultan from 1588 to 1598 and he was then succeeded by Étienne Hubert dOrléans from 1598 to 1600. Both in turn returned to France to become professors of Arabic at the Collège de France, the Songhai Empire was a western African state centered in eastern Mali. From the early 15th to the late 16th century, it was one of the largest African empires in history. On October 16,1590, Ahmad took advantage of recent civil strife in the empire, though the Songhai met them at the Battle of Tondibi with a force of 40,000, they lacked the Moroccans gunpowder weapons and quickly fled. Ahmad advanced, sacking the Songhai cities of Timbuktu and Djenné, despite these initial successes, the logistics of controlling a territory across the Sahara soon grew too difficult, and the Saadians lost control of the cities not long after 1620. Ahmad al-Mansur died of the plague in 1603 and was succeeded by Zidan Abu Maali, who was based in Marrakech, and by Abou Fares Abdallah and he was buried in the mausoleum of the Saadian Tombs in Marrakech. In that city is also his El Badi Palace, well-known writers at his court were Ahmed Mohammed al-Maqqari, Abd al-Aziz al-Fishtali, Ahmad Ibn al-Qadi and Al-Masfiwi
