Timbuktu was founded in the 5th century and was known as an economic and cultural hub and important marketplace where manuscripts, salt, gold, cattle, and grain were traded. It was a spiritual and intellectual capital, a centre of trade and learning, and played an important role in the spreading of Islam throughout Africa. It was also home to one of the world’s first universities that thrived and drew students from different parts of the world. Stories of the famed city of Timbuktu were known as far away as Arabia and the Mediterranean and today Timbuktu is still used as a metaphor to describe a faraway and mythical place and the uttermost end of the world. When one considers the city of Timbuktu today it is difficult to imagine that it was once five times bigger than the city of London and considered the richest city in the world as part of the Mali Empire. Under Emperor Mansa Musa, the Mali Empire thrived in the area which today covers Mali, Senegal, Gambia, and Guinea. When Mansa Musa died, he was worth the then equivalent of 400 billion dollars and the Mali Empire produced more than half of the world’s supply of salt and gold.

Ancient Timbuktu

The French invaded and took control of Mali in 1892. In 1894 it took the city of Timbuktu, putting an end to resistance against colonialism in the region. The French embarked on a “civilizing mission” and in doing so put the native population to work and harnessed the resources the country had to offer. Goods were produced and moved to the coast but the interior was often disregarded. Looking to boost the cotton industry for exports, the French implemented an irrigation system that ended up flooding areas and displacing villages. Mali gained independence in 1960 from the French empire that had, at its height, taken up 4,9 square miles.

Timbuktu’s great mosques – Djingareyber, Sankore, and Sidi Yahia – stand as testimony to the golden age of Timbuktu. Although they have undergone restoration over the years, they are threatened with desertification – a problem that has been plaguing the country for half a century. Timbuktu is listed as a cultural site on UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger. After a military coup in March 2012 the North of the country was taken over. Sharia law was enforced and armed rebels destroyed fourteen of Timbuktu’s ancient manuscripts and mausoleums that have been places of pilgrimage throughout the region. France intervened in 2013 and the UN sent in soldiers and police. Peace, however, remains a deal yet to be brokered and the picture of what Timbuktu was becomes more and more mythical as the metaphor it stands for.