Where is Timbuktu?

Wait till I send you to Timbuktu! I often heard people threaten. Now, where exactly is that? Timbuktu really sounds like a very remote and faraway place and the mere thought of going there may send chills down some spines. Situated on the southern edge of Sahara Desert, about 12 km from the Niger River, this town in the Republic of Mali had seen better times. In the fourteenth century, the Emperor of Mali persuaded Arab scholars to go there during which time, fine mosques and palaces were built. The population increased and many important men lived there, turning the Negro empire into a great centre of learning. The importance however declined after 1600 when merchants from Europe came to trade in coastal towns. Constant battles to take over the city further aggravated the problem. You can send me back through time to Timbuktu in the sixteenth century!

Skyline of Timbuktu....



Comments

Lucy said…
Haha! Great little post ;-). My friend actually stayed in Bamako over the summer and visited Timbuktu, but before then, I was just as clueless about its whereabouts.
footiam said…
The world is such a big place. Perhaps, you have heard or read somewhere about our ability to know just a leaf from the millions of leaves in the jungle.