Candice Cox
November 27, 2015
HIS 1163 Fall 2014
Timbuktu
Timbuktu is a city in the western African country of Mali. It was a very important trading post on the trans-Saharan caravan route and as a centre of Islamic culture in 1400–1600. The city is located on the southern edge of the Sahara, which is about 8 miles north of the Niger River.
In around 1100, Tuareg nomads founded Timbuktu and it began as a campsite for desert nomads, but under Mansa Musa it grew into a thriving trading center, attracting merchants and traders from North Africa and all parts of the Mediterranean world. Timbuktu was named for an old woman left to oversee the camp while the Tuareg roamed the Sahara her name was Tomboutou, Timbuktu, or Buctoo which meant “mother
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Because of its location, the meeting point of desert and water, it made a very ideal trading centre and it was flourishing centre for the trans-Saharan gold and salt trade, and it also grew as a centre of Islamic culture.
During 1400 and 1500, Djinguereber (Djingareyber), Sankore, and Sidi Yahia were built, they are three of western Africa’s oldest mosques. After the pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324, Mansa Musa , the Mali emperor, built the Great Mosque, Djinguereber, and the Madugu which is a royal residence. In 1433 the Tuareg regained control of the city but they ruled from the desert, trade and learning continued to flourish in Timbuktu. By 1450 the population increased to around 100,000 people, around 25,000 of those where the city’s scholars. In 1500-1600 it developed into a center for learning. The first university ever built in the world was located in Timbuktu it was called the Sankoré mosque, also known as the University of Sankoré. It had over 180 different Quranic schools and universities, which made many Architects, astronomers, poets, lawyers, and mathematicians flocked there. Trade in books between Timbuktu and other parts of the Islamic world became really popular and it led to the writing of thousands of manuscripts. Books became the a valuable commodity above other trade goods. Timbuktu had more than 700,000 manuscripts which formed a priceless written record of African history.
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Its scholars were ordered arrested in 1593 on suspicion of disaffection; some were even killed during a struggle, and others were exiled to Morocco. The Moroccan garrisons that were in command of the city didn’t protect them very well, and Timbuktu was repeatedly attacked and conquered by the Bambara, Fulani, and Tuareg. In 1591 a Moroccan army defeated the Songhai and made Timbuktu the capital. By the 19th century European explorers reached Timbuktu. A Scottish explorer, Gordon Laing, was the first to arrive in 1826, and two years later a French explorer, René-Auguste Caillié, followed. Caillié made it to Timbuktu disguised as an Arab because he had studied Islamic and left two weeks later, he became the first explorer to return to Europe with firsthand knowledge of the city. In 1853 Heinrich Barth, a German geographer, reached the city during a five-year voyage across Africa. He, too, survived the journey and later published a chronicle of his travels.
In 1894 Timbuktu was captured by the French. They partly restored the city from the terrible condition they found it in, but they didn’t build any connecting railway or hard-surfaced road. In 1960 it became part of the newly independent Republic of
He decided to improve the status of his land on his arrival from a pilgrimage from Mecca in 1324. Furthermore, he transformed his trading city of Timbuktu to a center of learning and religion and built a mass, which set a new style of architecture in West Africa. “Caravans of Gold” underlines the importance of Timbuktu because it concentrated on African scholarship, politics, teaching theology, and Islamic law. Timbuktu was a significant place in Africa during this time because it became a market right after and made a profit for the region. Likewise, it was a religious, cultural, and profitable center whose people traveled north across the Sahara through Morocco and Algeria to other parts of Africa, Europe, and Asia. According to The History of Africa, “Because of his devotion to Islam, Mansa Musa strengthened Islam and promoted education, trade, and commerce in Mali” (Asante, 2014, pg. 135). It was a successful center for the trans-Saharan gold and salt trade and grew as the center of Islam. This statement launches the truth that Timbuktu supported Islamic values and knowledge because it was a city most well-known for the education of important scholars whose backgrounds were of Islam. Asante supports the fact that Mansa Musa was effective in reforming the city of Timbuktu and the trade in that area. Asante also states that “Musa did not forget the control of the gold and salt; it was fundamental for the
The mosh is an awesome place in Downtown Jacksonville; where everyone can learn some interesting facts about our city, how the body works , what animals are in the ocean and etc. I visited the Timucua Indian exhibit; I learned a lot of intriguing information that I didn’t know before. I learned how the Timucua Indians first came about, how the Indians lived and survived during this time period. This exhibit also showed me how the Indians looked and the way they did things. Being able to learn about the Timucua Indians is so fascinating to me.
The Haitian Revolution was time of hectic blood shed war. Toussaint Louverture was the leader of the Haitians out of slavery and free from the Spanish. The colony of St. Domingue was a slave island, where slaves would work to make goods to be sent to Spain in return for nothing. The people were treated harsh and done wrong but by the efforts of Louverture they will become free. Louverture was the leader of the revolution but failed to complete his duties because of capture Jean- Jacques Dessalines took over in 1802. He was captured before the war before the end of the war. The Revolution lasted from 1789-1803 until everything was settled and St. Domingue was a free land called Haiti.
Henry Hudson (English seamen) started sailing with his ship named “the half moon” in 1609 for the VOC. Officially he was searching for a new trading route to Asia. He was searching for the Northwest Passage through North America on the west of the Half Moon. A lot of explorers did the same thing before him. But he didn’t found the Northwest Passage. But he did find something else, the New Netherlands. It had beautiful woods, animals and ...
In the 1300s Mansa Musa, king of Mali took his holy pilgrimage to the city of Mecca as a devout muslim, traveling through scorching deserts and bustling cities, although there might be other reasons he took his religious Hajj. The pilgrimage of Mansa Musa traveled all across Northern Africa and Arabia, stopping in cities along the way where Mansa Musa gave out gold to all he saw. The journey from the Empire of Mali to the city of Mecca was not only a faithful religious journey to the holy city, but also to create a name for Mali as the wealthy and powerful empire it was.
Katz, William L. Toussaint L’Ouverture and the Haitian Revolution by William Loren Katz. HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY, n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .
Over time the French were taken over by general Napoleon Bonaparte. Napoleon proved to be a very driven man on the things he cared about. One of those things being in charge of Saint-Domingo, modern day Haiti. In Saint-Domingo, their main population consisted of slaves, helping it become one of the richest colonies from sugar, coffee, and cotton, but their owners lived in fear of revolts against them.
Before the arrival of European traders, Africa had successful in maintaining complex civilizations. The cities of Timbuktu and Mali demonstrate this with their qualities. A Moroccan traveler journeyed to Timbuktu and described it as a land of “many doctors, judges, priests and other learned men, that are well maintained at the king’s cost. Various manuscripts and written
Moroccan traveler, Ibn Battuta, is well-known for being one of the greatest travelers of his time. Battuta’s descriptive account of his travels to East and West Africa in the fourteenth century provides important insight into African Islamic life at that point in time. Although Battuta and the peoples in black Africa shared the same religion, he comes to realize that sharing a religion is not enough to completely relate to a different group of people. The story of Ibn Battuta in Black Africa illustrates the difficulties he faced in relating to these peoples due to the non-traditional role of women, different religious customs, and frequent misinterpretation of situations.
There was also a great city in Mali called Timbuktu. It was very important because it was a center for trade and it aided the Muslim art and culture which helped to spread Islam.
Bartolomeu Dias was born in 1450. He was sent by a Portuguese King named John II to explore the coast of Africa and to find a way to the Indian Ocean. He left around August 1487 and went around the tip of Africa in January 1488. The Portuguese people named this land the Cape of Good Hope. Bartolomeu Dias got lost at sea during another trip around the Cape in 1500.
... had control various territories. Many merchants learned the Islamic language and became custom to their traditions. This allowed for its culture to spread and Islam had received converts. The trading industry has a major effect on the economy and allows the spread of one’s culture.
Early on, Teotihuacan was a rival of another city called Cuicuilco but, when that community was destroyed by a volcano c. 100 CE, Teotihuacan became dominant in the region. Archaeological evidence suggests that Teotihuacan was an important religious center which was devoted to the worship of a Great Mother Goddess and her consort the Plumed Serpent. The Plumed Serpent god Kukulkan (also known as Gucamatz) was the most popular deity among the Maya. Like many of the cities which now lie in ruin throughout the southern Americas, Teotihuacan was abandoned sometime around 900 CE. The El Tajin Period: 250-900 CE – This period is also known as the Classic Period in Mesoamerican and Mayan history. The name `El Tajin’ refers to the great city complex
Military force led by the United Nations eventually muzzled the rebellion and with United States and Belgium’s help, Mobutu gained power. His leadership has been shown through history to be not much better.
The Kingdom of Mali was an African hub of wealth, trade and education for over 225 years. Mali is an Arab version of the Mandinka word that means, “Where the king dwells”, and was vitally important in spreading trade, education, religion and culture along the Niger River. The rise of Mali into an Empire occurred in the early 13th century, when Sundiata defeated his enemies and won control of the West African gold mines. In 1312 Mansa Musa became ruler of Mali. During his reign which was known as Mali’s, “Golden Age”, he introduced Islamic beliefs to many communities along the Niger and enhanced education after his historic pilgrimage to Mecca. Mali’s rise was attributed to the Trans-Saharan Trade routes leading to and from Western and Eastern Africa. These trade routes contributed to the rise and fall of powerful African Kingdoms for hundreds of years, but for 250 years, Mali was the crown jewel of Africa.