What was timbuktu best known for

Phrases that develop this idea include "from here to Timbuktu" when describing a very long journey, or "from Timbuktu to Kalamazoo" a city in Michigan, US. It was founded by Tuareg nomads in the 12th Century and within years had become an immensely wealthy city, at the centre of important trading routes for salt and gold.

Through writers such as Leo Africanus, tales reached Europe of its immense riches, which stoked an acute curiosity on the part of European explorers. This mystery was enhanced by its inaccessibility and many European expeditions perished, leaving it tantalisingly out of reach for centuries.

Before it was discovered by Europeans in , all documented mentions of Timbuktu are about the efforts to get there, says OED revision editor Richard Shapiro. In , Alfred Tennyson described it as "mysterious" and "unfathomable" in his poem entitled Timbuctoo, and compared it to El Dorado and Atlantis. It was not until , long after the city had fallen into decline, that the first European went there and back again, Frenchman Rene Caillie.

Locals regarded it as the holy city of saints, she says, and Christians were the enemy, so Caillie went disguised as a Muslim. With its population of traders, merchants and scholars, Timbuktu was known throughout western Africa and its fame extended to Europe and Asia. Timbuktu is best known for its famous Djinguereber Mosque and prestigious Sankore University, both of which were established in the early s under the reign of the Mali Empire, most famous ruler, Mansa Musa.

By the early s Timbuktu had become the hub of a number of east-west and north-south trading routes and soon became the major commercial city but not the capital of the Mali Empire. Upon his return to Mali, Mansa Musa brought a number of Arab immigrants including the renowned architect, Ishaq El Teudjin, who built its legendary mosque, Djinguereber. The mosque served as a Friday prayer temple for thousands of inhabitants and its library and Sankore University attracted scholars from throughout the Muslim world.

With an estimated enrollment of twenty five thousand students, Timbuktu had become the headquarters of Islamic intellectual development in Africa. Further, pages are not attached in any way to the binding—a practice different from all other Islamic manuscripts.

The form of Arabic script used in Timbuktu ultimately derives, as do all forms of the Arabic script, from the Kufic and Hijazi forms of Arabic writing developed in Iraq and the Hijaz during the eighth and ninth centuries. Western and Eastern style scripts developed from the Kufic script. The Western style, influenced by the Hijazi script as used in North Africa, evolved into the script known as Maghribi, or North African, beginning in the 11 th century in North Africa, Spain, and Sicily.

Western style script still is used in North Africa. From North Africa, this script crossed the Sahara Desert, came to Timbuktu, and spread throughout West Africa where scholars and scribes further developed the script.

The most commonly used form of script in these Timbuktu manuscripts is Saharan, named for the desert that borders the city. Another form of Arabic script used in Timbuktu is Sudani, which refers to the belt of open farmlands that extends from East Africa to the lands just south of Timbuktu in West Africa.

The third West African form of Arabic writing is Suqi—literally the market script. India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big. Environment Planet Possible India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big Grassroots efforts are bringing solar panels to rural villages without electricity, while massive solar arrays are being built across the country. Epic floods leave South Sudanese to face disease and starvation.

Travel 5 pandemic tech innovations that will change travel forever These digital innovations will make your next trip safer and more efficient. But will they invade your privacy? Go Further. Animals Wild Cities This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city.

Animals This frog mysteriously re-evolved a full set of teeth. Animals Wild Cities Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London. Animals Wild Cities Morocco has 3 million stray dogs. Meet the people trying to help.

Animals Whales eat three times more than previously thought. Environment Planet Possible India bets its energy future on solar—in ways both small and big. Environment As the EU targets emissions cuts, this country has a coal problem.