WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Now a shadow of its former glory, Timbuktu-in modern-day Mali-strikes most travelers as humble and perhaps a bit run-down. But the city’s former status as an Islamic oasis is echoed in its three great mud-and-timber mosques: Djinguereber, Sankore, and Sidi Yahia, which recall Timbuktu’s golden age.

Detailed explanation-2: -The University of Timbuktu is a collective term for the teaching associated with three mosques in the city of Timbuktu in what is now Mali: the mosques of Sankore, Djinguereber, and Sidi Yahya. It was an organized scholastic community that endured for many centuries during the medieval period.

Detailed explanation-3: -Timbuktu’s main library, officially called the Ahmed Baba Institute of Higher Islamic Studies and Research, is a treasure house containing more than 20, 000 manuscripts covering centuries of Mali’s history.

Detailed explanation-4: -Sankore Mosque and University is the oldest continuously-operating institution of higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is believed that the mosque and university were erected in the 1100s C.E. (Twelfth Century) by Berbers who settled in the Timbuktu region of modern-day Mali.

Detailed explanation-5: -Around 800 years ago, in what is today known as ‘Mali’, there stood an ancient city called Timbuktu, which was well known for its rich resources, such as gold, ivory and salt, as well as its interesting culture. It was also in Timbuktu that the first university was created.