Bringing History to Life
Did You Know? West Africa’s Mali was One of the Richest Places in the World By Brunno Braga
T
he city of Timbuktu, located in West Africa’s Mali, was one of the three richest places in the world in the 14th and 15th centuries. While Western Europe was living in an era known as the Dark Ages, Timbuktu was seen as an important intellectual and scientific center, and the home of the first university in the world, the University of Sankoré Although Timbuktu today does not show the beauty it had in its heyday, the city had an estimated population of 115,000 inhabitants, which is 5 times more than that of medieval London. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) made it a cultural heritage site in 1988. This remarkable African city flourished during the rule of Mansa Musa, who was the emperor of the Mali empire, in the 14th century, and considered the richest man in the world who ever lived. The empire covered Mali, Senegal, Guinea and Gambia. When he died, Musa was worth the equivalent of 400 billion US dollars. At that time, the Mali empire produced more than half of the world’s supply of gold and salt. When Musa went on a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324, he took so much gold that the value of that metal fell for 10 years in the region. 60,000 people accompanied him on this pilgrimage. But even before Musa’s reign, Timbuktu could be considered a powerful intellectual and scientific hub. It was there that the University of Sankore was founded— the first university in the world, according to some Historians. The University of Sankore attracted students from all over the Islamic world (even from the Arabian Peninsula), where they could study medicine and surgery, astronomy, mathematics, physics, chemistry, philosophy, language and linguistics, geography, history, as well as art.
Along with Sankore, Djinguereber and Sidi Yahya formed the three main centers of learning and medieval writings. The university was made up of other independent schools and faculties, and each master had its own school. Students followed a single professor, and classes were held in open courtyards within the university premises or in private residences. The sale and purchase of books became an even more lucrative market than the local gold trade. In Timbuktu, there are still thousands of books and manuscripts that have survived over time. Writings include medicine, mathematics, law, astronomy and poetry. From 1460 onward, the Mali Empire was
60 | ABA Publications | Africa TRAVEL | Sept 2021
