WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -An abundance of gold dust and salt deposits helped to expand the empire’s commercial assets. Mali included the city of Timbuktu, which became known as an important center of knowledge.

Detailed explanation-2: -A 15th-century Malian proverb provides the backdrop for this course: “Salt comes from the north, gold from the south, but the word of God and the treasures of wisdom are only to be found in Timbuktu.” Timbuktu is a city in Mali, in West Africa, that was founded 800 years ago.

Detailed explanation-3: -During the 15th and 16th centuries, Timbuktu, located in Mali, served as a major intellectual hub of Islamic civilization. For centuries, the city of Timbuktu, located in the center of present-day Mali in Western Africa, thrived as one of the bustling centers of culture and learning during the Golden Age of Islam.

Detailed explanation-4: -The city’s location near the Niger River facilitated trade across West Africa as well as with Morocco in North Africa. By the early 1300s 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.

Detailed explanation-5: -Timbuktu’s rich history of learning had to do with its situation as a commercial hub from the 12th century. It was at the cross-roads of trans-Saharan trade routes and became famous for its supply of gold. The city attracted Muslim scholars and scribes from different Islamic beliefs and different geographical regions.