The Kingdom of Mali and the City of Timbuktu in the 14th century

This kingdom was in the west part of Africa, south of the Sahara Desert and stretched to the Atlantic
Ocean. This was a powerful place between the (1300-1399). In order to trade, people travelled long
distances between Mali, North Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

Camel caravans as the means of transport

Camels were used to transport goods and people through the Sahara Desert to West Africa. A camel
can go without water for up to nine days. A camel can carry heavy loads. Camels have broad, flat,
leathery pads under each foot. The pads spread when the camel puts its foot on the ground and this
stops the foot from sliding and sinking into the sand. Their long eyelashes and bushy eyebrows which
protect their eyes. They have large nostrils which open and close and this traps water vapour. Their
thick fur helps them to cope with harsh weather conditions and changes in body temperature. Camel
milk is rich in vitamins and minerals. Traders travel with camel caravans so they would be safe from
attack by robbers. The Sahara daytime temperatures is as high as 57° C in the summer. Camel
caravans sometimes travel during the early morning and early evening when it’s cooler.

Goods traded
The kingdom of Mali became rich and powerful because of the trans Saharan trade. From Persia and
Arabia, camels carried goods such as rugs, swords, daggers and glass. From India, they carried spices,
dyes, cloth and beads. The Arabs would exchange their goods for gold, slaves, ivory, salt and ostrich
feathers.
Mali was rich in gold. There was great demand in Europe and the Middle East, it was made into gold
coins to use as money. Profit was made by the king of Mali on gold trade by taxing traders who used
trade routes that passed through the Mali Empire.

People cannot survive without salt. In the hot climate of Mali, people and animals need a lot of salt
to replace what the body sweats out. Salt is also used to make food taste better and to preserve it.
Salt was brought from the salt-rich village of Taghaza, to Mali.

The spread of Islam across North Africa and into West Africa via traders
The religion of Islam started in the Middle East in the 7th century. Arab Muslim traders from the
Middle East brought the religion of Islam to West Africa. Followers of the Islamic religion are called
Muslims. Many West Africans converted to Islam because it enabled them to get better prices when
trading. It also gave them the chance to read and write. Some Muslims played important roles as
advisors to African rulers. By 1300 the kings of Mali became Muslims. Mansa Musa even made Islam
the state religion in the Kingdom of Mali, but still allowed religious freedom.

Islam
Muslims believe that there is only one God, called Allah. Muhammad (born in Mecca) he is a
significant Prophet in the Islamic faith. Allah sent an angel to teach Muhammad. The holy book of
Islam is the Koran. Muslims believe that Allah gave the words of the Koran (Qur’an) to the Prophet
Muhammad. The language of the Koran is Arabic. The Koran encourages the followers of Islam to
spread their religion. The Muslims place of worship is called a mosque. Muslims must recite prayers,
called Salah, five times a day. Muslims must give a fixed portion of their wealth to help the poor or
needy, and also to assist the spread of Islam. This is called Zakat. “Peace be upon him” (PBUH) is a
phrase Muslims say when they refer to the prophet Muhammad. The “imam” or “muezzin” is an
Islamic leader, often the leader of a mosque and / or community. Their period of fasting is called
Ramadan.

Sources of information about the past

Primary sources include things such as :

diaries, letters, autobiographies, art objects, artifacts, interviews, newspaper article written by a
reporter who witnessed the event, email messages and fiction stories.

Secondary sources include things such as:

Textbooks, book reviews, biographies, articles about other people’s work, newspapers and radio. You
also get visual and oral sources of information.

The Kingdom of Mali

The kingdom of Mali was one of the three powerful West kingdoms that existed. Sundiata Keita
founded the Kingdom of Mali in 1235. He ruled Mali for 20 years and his people loved him. He was
called the ‘The Lion King’. The people of Ghana only had horses, camels and donkeys for transport,
but, the people of Mali also used boats on the Niger River for transporting large loads. Land around
the Niger River was very fertile and produced more crops than the local people needed. Mali traded
their grains and fresh produce with people living in drier regions.
Mali, at the height of its power, under Mansa Musa, in the 14th century
Mali was ruled by Mansa Musa between 1312 and 1337. He was the grandson of Sundiata’s brother.
Mali reached the height of its power. He ruled over 8 million people and encouraged people to grow
cotton, beans, rice and onions and to mine gold. He became known as ‘Musa the Magnificent’ and
the ‘Lion of Mali’. The lion is a symbol of royal power, bravery and strength. His people loved him.
Mansa Musa divided his empire into 14 provinces, each ruled by a governor. Each province consisted
of many villages. Each village had a mayor. Mansa Musa funded the building of mosques, centres of
learning and libraries. Walls of houses in Timbuktu were made from wattle trees. Clay was used to
protect the walls of houses. Grain and ducat (a gold coin) were types of money used back then.

Mansa Musa did the following during his reign:

1. set up a more efficient and stable system of government

2. maintained his power through taxes. He taxed imports and exports.

3. friendly relationships with other neighbouring African states.

4. employed judges, scribes and civil servants to help him strengthen his control

5. had a strong army so that traders and travelers could move without being attacked.

Under Mansa Musa there was economic prosperity. Mali also traded in kola nuts which were in
demand in the Middle East and Europe. Cowrie shells became a common form of money in Mali.

Mansa Musa’s pilgrimage to Mecca (1324-1325)

Hadj means a pilgrimage to Mecca (in modern Saudi Arabia) to pray at the place where the prophet
Mohammed was born. It is the religious duty of every Muslim who can afford it, to go on this
pilgrimage. Mansa Musa made his pilgrimage in 1324 and set off across the desert towards Mecca.
He travelled with 60 000 people, such as soldiers, officials, merchants, servants and slaves as well as
a caravan of about 80 camels, each carrying gifts and gold. They carried large amounts of gold dust.
Mansa Musa gave away the gold to the poor he met along his journey. He spent so much money in
Egypt that the price of gold fell in Cairo and took a few years to recover. Wherever he stopped on a
Friday, he paid for a mosque to be built. He became famous for how much he spent and his
generosity. The journey took a year. Mansa Musa became so famous that, for the first time ever, Mali
appeared on maps throughout the Middle East and Europe. He brought back scholars, architects and
books back to Mali. The scholars helped to make his empire a centre of learning.

Construction of the Great Mosque

Upon Mansa return to Mali from his pilgrimage, he ordered a new mosque to be built in Timbuktu.
This building was called the Great Mosque (or Djingareyber Mosque) as he wanted to spread the
teachings of Islam in Mali. Work started in 1324 and ended in about 1332, after Mansa Musa had
died. An Arab architect had returned with Mansa Musa to Timbuktu to draw plans for the Great
Mosque. The mosque is a magnificent building, with three large minarets. It is made entirely of heat-
baked bricks of mud mixed with straw, limestone, sticks, manure and rice husks. The mud is
supported by wooden beams. The foundations were made of stone. The roofs are made of palm tree
leaves and branches, covered with fine mud. The mud decays easily in the summer sun. Therefore
people had to add fresh mud between the beams to repair the walls regularly. It is so big that there is
space inside for 2 000 Muslims to pray facing East towards the holy city of Mecca. The most famous
mosque in Mali is the Great Mosque in the city of Djenne. This mosque was first built in the 14th
century and rebuilt in 1907. The Mosque still stands today. It is the largest structure in the world to
be made entirely out of mud. The mosque was declared a World Heritage Site in 1988.

The city of Timbuktu

Timbuktu is on the southern part of the Sahara Desert. The city of Timbuktu was founded in 1100 CE,
as a resting camp of nomadic people and became part of the Mali in the 13th century. Mansa Musa
made it his capital city and the town became the centre of learning as well as a centre of trade.
Timbuktu occupied an important position at the end of the camel caravan route and was near several
big salt mines. It was very difficult for people from Europe to get to the city of Timbuktu and they
knew very little about the city. They thought Timbuktu was a mysterious place.

Leo Africanus’s eyewitness stories of his travels

Leo Africanus was born in Spain in 1483. He later moved, with his Family to Morocco, in North Africa.
He worked for the Sultan of Fez. He was a Muslim and his original Muslim name was AlHasan al-
Wazzan. He was a well-educated traveller and he made two visits to Timbuktu. Later in his life he
became a Christian and changed his name to Leo Africanus. He wrote books, letters and documents
giving information about the past. He was one of the few people to travel through Africa and write
about it.

Descriptions of Timbuktu in Africanus’s book Description of Africa

Europeans called Africa the ‘dark continent’ because they knew very little about it. Leo Africanus
later wrote a book titled ‘Description of Africa’, which is an eyewitness account of his travels. This
helped people in Europe learn more about West Africa and its people. He wrote about the large
cities and empires, complex cultures and societies. At the time the city of Timbuktu was an Islamic
city famous for its learning. It was the centre of busy trade (in local products): gold, printed cotton,
slaves and Islamic books.

Timbuktu as a trade centre on the trans-Saharan caravan route

Timbuktu was a major city in West Africa between the salt mines in the north and the gold mines in
the south of the Sahara. Timbuktu became a popular trading centre for the whole region and many
goods were traded there. Mali was the main producer of gold in the world at that time. Timbuktu
was very wealthy because of the gold trade. They produced cotton in Timbuktu, but wanted the fine
printed fabrics that came from Europe. These goods were transported across the Mediterranean Sea
to Morocco. The traders brought them across the Sahara Desert to Timbuktu. Salt was mined in
Taghaza by digging 23kg blocks out of the ground. At one time, salt was worth as much as gold. Salt
was very hard to find in other parts of the world at that time.

Timbuktu as a centre of learning

Timbuktu was a well-known centre of Islamic learning. The wealth created from trade was used to
build 180 schools, teaching the Koran, and three universities, as well as many mosques. The first
university in the world was the Sankore University in Timbuktu. The Sankore University is part of the
Sankore Mosque. Sankore was the name of a very wealthy Muslim woman who wanted to do good
deeds for other people. She paid for the building of the mosque and university. The university could
take about 25 000 students. Scholars came from Saudi Arabia, Europe and other parts of the world.
Books became an important business with many people writing books, copying books, making ink,
making paper, and illustrating and binding books. Other subjects that were studied include chemistry,
physics, optics, medicine, history, geography, the traditions of Islam, government laws and much
more. Due to the hot, dry climate the Sankore Mosque and University started to decay. It was rebuilt
between 1578 and 1582.

Things that the Arabs played an important role in:

- They taught the students the concept of zero, they introduced our modern system of numbers and
developed Algebra.

- Scientists invented new objects, such as glass mirror.

- They divided the day into 24 hours.

- The astronomers studied that the Earth is round and travels around the sun, and the moon around
the Earth.

- Their knowledge of medicines was highly developed and produced the first medical encyclopaedia.

- The Arabs were the first people to help people navigate. They developed the astrolabe and
quadrant.

Arab doctors were the first to discover that some diseases such as smallpox, measles and TB were
infections ( a disease that is spread between people by germs). They set up the hospitals to keep the
infected people away from the healthy ones. They found ways to cure eye infections, as well as
cataracts.

The Timbuktu Manuscripts began to get lost and fall apart. They were threatened by:

 pages becoming brittle and falling apart easily

 insects eating the paper

 damp weather in Mali’s rainy season

 the selling of manuscripts to tourists for money to buy food.

The South Africa-Mali Scrolls Project was started in 2003, which involved the following:
∞ collecting, conserving and cataloguing the documents.
∞ building a special library to safely store the manuscripts.
∞ training researchers and librarians from Mali to look after the manuscripts.
∞ studying the manuscripts.
∞ making digital copies of all the manuscripts to store on computer.
Timbuktu as a World Heritage Site
 UNESCO encourages countries and people to identify, protect and preserve cultural and natural
heritage.

 In 1988, Timbuktu was declared a World Heritage Site. This means that the interesting past of
its architecture and learning will be protected by certain laws for future generations all over the
world.