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Timbuktu's long-lasting contribution to Islamic and world civilization is scholarship. By the fourteenth century, important books were written and copied in Timbuktu, establishing the city as the centre of a significant written tradition in Africa. Timbuktu grew to great wealth because of its key role in trans-Saharan trade in gold, ivory, slaves, salt and other goods by the Tuareg, Mandé and Fulani merchants, transferring goods from caravans coming from the Islamic north to boats on the Niger. Tales of Timbuktu's fabulous wealth helped prompt European exploration of the west coast of Africa. Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Abdullah Al Lawati Al Tanji Ibn Battuta (born February 24, 1304; year of death uncertain, possibly 1368 or 1377) was a Moroccan Berber scholar and jurisprudent from the Maliki Madzhab, and at times a Qadi or... [read full story]
