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TIMBUKTU (French spelling Tombouctou)
Online EncyclopediaOriginally appearing in Volume
V26,
Page 983
of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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See also: TIMBUKTU (See also:French spelling Tombouctou) , See also:chief See also:town of the territory of Timbuktu, French See also:West See also:Africa, 9 m. N. of the See also:main stream of the See also:Niger in 16° N. and 5° W. Timbuktu lies on a See also:terrace formed by the See also:southern scarp of the See also:Sahara, about 80o ft. above See also:sea-level, and overlooking a See also:chain of dhayas or marshy hollows, fringed here and there with a few mimosas and See also:palm thickets, amid the surrounding sandy wastes. These dhayas, which are flooded every three or four years, converting the See also:lowland tracts between the terrace and the main stream into a See also:labyrinth of channels and backwaters, See also:mark the See also:bed of a navigable See also:creek which formerly branched from the Niger northwards to the See also:foot of the scarp, and which in 164o inundated a See also:low-lying See also:quarter of the See also:city. It is conjectured that the main stream followed this course before it took its See also:present easterly See also:curve to Burrem, where it bends southwards to the See also:coast. Here also it was probably joined at some remote See also:period by the now dried-up See also:Wadi Messaura from the See also:Tuat oases See also:south of See also:Algeria, although the rough levels taken by Oscar See also:Lenz and others make it uncertain whether the flow through this depression was northwards or southwards. In any See also:case Timbuktu has been See also:left, so to say, high and dry by the See also:general See also:process of See also:desiccation going on throughout the Saharan region. Timbuktu has been described as " the See also:meeting point of the See also:camel and the See also:canoe," " the See also:port of the Sahara in the See also:Sudan," and (more correctly) " the port of the Sudan in the Sahara." It is a See also:great " See also:exchange " for the produce of See also:North Africa and that of the See also:rich countries south and west of the Niger. It was. formerly a much larger See also:place than it was found to be at the See also:time of its occupation by the French in 1893-1894. Extensive ruins exist north and west of the present town. The great See also:mosque which at one time stood in the centre of the town now lies near the western outskirts, where its high but unsightly See also:earth See also:tower forms a striking landmark. The mosque of Sidi Yaia (in the centre of- the town) and that of Sankore in the north-See also:east also possess prominent towers.Two forts, built by the French and placed, one on the See also: northern the other (Fort See also:Bonnier) on the southern See also:side of the town, protect the roads to the See also:desert and the See also:river respectively. Whereas in 1895 the town was little more than a vast ruin, under French See also:protection the inhabitants, relieved from the fear of See also:Tuareg oppression, set about repairing and rebuilding their houses; See also:trade revived; new streets were built; See also:European See also:schools, churches and other establishments were opened. The See also:industries of Timbuktu--See also:cotton-See also:weaving, earthenware, See also:leather-See also:work and See also:embroidery—are of subordinate importance, and the great bulk of the See also:people are occupied exclusively with trade. The whole See also:traffic of the surrounding lands converges on Timbuktu, which has a transit trade estimated at over £800,000 per annum. Considerable quantities of See also:British and See also:German fabrics, hardware, beads, &c., are conveyed across the Sahara from See also:Mogador (See also:Morocco), while two great caravans of 3000 or 4000 camels are yearly charged with See also:salt from the Taudeni See also:district, salt being an See also:article which the Niger countries lack. The imports via the Sahara See also:average about £50,000 annually, and by way of See also:Senegal goods of equal value are received. From the south come cereals, See also:gold, See also:wax, See also:ivory and coarse native cotton goods, now brought to Kabara (the port of Timbuktu) by steamers plying on the upper Niger. Cowries, the former currency (2500= 5 francs), have been generally replaced by French See also:money. It is proposed to connect the city with the Niger by a See also:canal. Timbuktu, which possesses some valuable Arabic See also:manuscripts —notably the Tarik es-Sudan, a 17th-See also:century See also:history of the Sudan written by Abderrahman Sadi of Timbuktu—and is a centre of Moslem teaching, is a converging point of the chief west Sudanese and Saharan races—See also:Arabs or Arabized See also:Berbers to the west; See also:Songhoi in the immediate vicinity, and thence south-eastwards along the Niger; Ireghenaten or " mixed " Tuareg southwards across the Niger as far as the Hombori See also:Mills and in the fertile Libbako plains beyond them; See also:Fula, Mandingos, and Bambara in and about the city; and Imoshagh (Tuareg) belonging to the Awellimiden See also:confederation mainly to the north and east. The See also:local See also:administration—preserved under French See also:rule—is in the hands of an hereditary kahia, a See also:kind of See also:mayor, descended from one of the Ruma families (see below). The kahia, during the greater See also:part of the 19th century, was more or less under the See also:control of the powerful Bakhai (Backay) See also:family, who, as " sherifs " and marabouts, were revered throughout the western Sahara.History.—The history of Timbuktu' is intimately connected with that of the city of See also: Jenne and the Songhoi See also:Empire. The Songhoi (q.v.) are a See also:negro See also:race reported to have come to the Niger countries from the See also:Nile valley. In the 8th century they made themselves masters of a considerable See also:tract of See also:country within the See also:bend of the Niger, and built the city of See also:Gao (q.v.) 200 M. in a See also:direct See also:line S.S.E. of Timbuktu, making it their See also:capital. In the 1th century they were converted to See also:Islam. Besides Gao, the Songhoi founded Jenne (q.v.), which See also:early attained consider-able commercial importance. Meantime (rrtll century) a See also:settlement had been made at Timbuktu by Tuareg. Perceiving the advantages for trade with the north offered by this desert See also:rendezvous, the merchants of Jenne sent agents thither (12th century), and Timbuktu shortly afterwards became known to the inhabitants of the Sahara and See also:Barbary as the best See also:market in which to dispose of their salt and other goods, and also for I ll in-Buktu in Arabic may stand for " the well of Buktu "; in the Songhoi See also:tongue the word means a hollow.the See also:purchase of the many commodities of the western Sudan. In the 12th or 13th century Timbuktu See also:fell under the See also:power of the See also:Mandingo See also:kings of See also:Melle or Mali, a country lying west and south of Jenne. Its fame as a mart for gold and salt spread to See also:Europe, " Timboutch " being marked on a Catalan See also:map dated 1373. In 1353 it had been visited by the famous traveller See also:Ibn Batuta. In 1434 the Tuareg made themselves masters of the city, which in 1469 was captured by the Songhoi See also:
The " university " of Sankore became a chief centre of See also: Mahommedan culture for the peoples of the western Sudan. One of the sheikhs of Sankore, Ahmad Baba, was among the most learned of Moslems. Some of his writings are still extant. The riches of Timbuktu excited the cupidity of El Mansur, See also:sultan of Morocco, who, in 1590, sent an See also:army across the Sahara under an " Andalusian " See also:Moor (that is, a Moor descended from those expelled from See also:Spain), which captured Timbuktu (1591) and completely See also:broke up the Songhoi empire. The See also:Moors made Timbuktu their capital city. For about twenty years after the conquest the See also:pasha who ruled at Timbuktu was nominated from Morocco, but the distance of the Niger countries from See also:Marrakesh enabled this vast viceroyalty to throw off all See also:allegiance to the sultan of Morocco. The Niger Moors, known asRumas after El Mansur's musketeers, quarrelled continually among themselves, and oppressed the negro tribes. By the end of the 18th century two See also:hundred years of oppression had reduced Timbuktu to See also:comparative desolation and poverty. By this time the whole country was in a See also:state of anarchy, and in 1800 the Tuareg swooped down from the desert and captured the place. They were in turn (1813) dispossessed by the Fula, who in 1840 gave place to the See also:Tukulor, led by El Haj See also:Omar, the first great opponent of the See also:extension of French See also:influence in the Niger bend. When the French reached Timbuktu in See also:December 1893 they found that the town had again fallen beneath the rule of the Tuareg. The townsfolk, indeed, from the time of the decay of the Ruma power being at the See also:mercy of all corners, were content to pay See also:tribute to each in turn and sometimes to more than one simultaneously, for which they indemnified themselves by peaceful intervals of trade whenever the See also:land routes were open and the upper and See also:lower reaches of the Niger clear of pirates.But at times even the See also: short tract separating the town from Kabara was so beset with marauders that it See also:bore the ominous name of " Ur-immandess," that is, " He (See also:God) hears not." Little wonder then that the townsfolk, wearied by the extortions and internecine strife of their Fula and Tuareg masters, freely opened their See also:gates to the French as soon as Lieut. Boiteux reached Kabara in command of a small flotilla. The occupation of the town, against orders, was a daring exploit of a handful of See also:marines. The force which " garrisoned " Timbuktu consisted of but seven Europeans and twelve Senegalese, a somewhat larger See also:body being left with the gunboats at Kabara. On the 28th of December the Tuareg attacked the See also:boat party, killing See also:Naval See also:Ensign See also:Aube, another officer, and eighteen See also:black sailors. See also:Colonel T. P. E. Bonnier, who was at Mopti, 200 m. to the south-west, marched to the See also:relief of Boiteux and entered Timbuktu without opposition on the loth of See also:January 1894. Leaving part of his force in the town the colonel set out with about xoo men to chastize the nomads. In the See also:night of the 14th-15th January his See also:camp was surprised and the colonel and nearly all his men perished. The enemy did not follow up their victory, and within a short period French rule was firmly established in Timbuktu.Apart from some See also: Christian captives, the place was reached during the 19th century, previous to its See also:capture by the French, by four Europeans—See also:Major See also:Gordon See also:Laing from See also:Tripoli (1826), who was murdered by See also:order of the Fula; Rene Caillie from the south (1828), Heinrich See also:Barth from Central Sudan (1853) and Oskar Lenz from Morocco (1880). (In 1903 the French authorities placed commemorative tablets on the houses occupied by these four men during their stay in Timbuktu. The tablets See also:bear simply the name of the explorer and the date of his visit.) In 1895 See also:Felix See also:Dubois made a stay of some duration in the town, investigating its history and that of the surrounding country. In 1904 Timbuktu became part of the See also:colony of Upper Senegal and Niger. The British connexion with Timbuktu may be briefly stated. Barth went to West Africa as the officially credited representative of the British See also:government, empowered to enter into relations with the native princes. At Timbuktu he stayed under the protection of the See also:sheikh Sidi Mahommed El Backay (Bakhai), and took back to See also:England letters from the sheikh professing friendship with the British. In reply See also:Lord See also:Clarendon, secretary of state for See also:foreign affairs, wrote a See also:letter dated the 15th of See also:April 1859, to El Backay, stating that " the friendship binding us shall not diminish through the centuries " and " as our government is very powerful we will protect your people who turn to us." A See also:nephew of the sheikh went to Tripoli where he received presents for his See also:uncle and other chieftains from the British See also:consul, who also wrote a letter to El Backay, saying, among other things, " The See also:English government has sent a steamer up the river which flows out of your country and has recommended those on See also:board to make every effort to reach you." The steamer did not ascend the Niger to Timbuktu, and no further efforts appear to have been made in England to maintain See also:political relations with Timbuktu. Moreover the power of El Backay seems not to have been so great as was believed in England, or at least did not See also:long continue after the departure of Barth.Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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