City of Timbuktu Flashcards
meaning diplomtic
communications between governments and their officials
Describe the life of Leo Africanus
He was a man born in Granada in Spain who’s family and him were expelled from Spain because they were Muslims. They then went to live in Morocco in North Africa. When Leo was 16 he accompanied his uncle on a diplomatic mission which involved visiting Timbuktu. The left their town Fez on the Mediterranean Sea in Morocco by traveling along the Sahara trade route. Years later he was captured by European pirates and sold as a slave to Pope Leo X. The Pope freed him, gave him a home and baptized him. Many Europeans new little about Africa so Leo Wrote a book about the caravan trade routes called “African Geography”. It was popular and was reprinted 5 times and translated into other languages. Some historians feel he relied on the Moroccan trades to describe some of the places he said he went to. The Pope asked Leo to survey Africa. 1550 he wrote a book about detailed descriptions of trade routes, geography and the people of Africa called “The Description of Africa”. This book was an important source of information about Africa for the next 100 years. 12 century people discovered that the changes that Europe made over time changed the words and ideas of the book.
Describe 4 sections of eyewitness accounts of writing from Leo’s book “The History and Description of Africa” which he wrote in 1526
- He was travelling in a desert know as Araoan where they met the prince of Zanaga who invited people who had payed him tax to spend 4 or 5 days with him. Leo’s caravan was go too far out of the direction of where their tents were so they couldn’t go. but the prince insisted and he told Leo that Leo’s camels would go on while he house the merchants. the prince had camels of all kinds and ostriches to eats ready. the prince invited some other religious men and they all feasted together, but the men didn’t eat bread as it was their religion. they stayed for 2 more days on the 3rd they left.
- The houses of Timbuktu are made of clay with thatched roofs. In the center of the city is a temple made of stone and mortar. there is also a large palace where the king lives. shops of artisans, merchants and cotton weavers are numerous. Fabrics are imported from Europe brought there by camels from North Africa. the woman of the city were veils except for slaves who sell the food. the inhabitants are rich, especially the ones who have moved there.
- there are many wells containing sweet water in Timbuktu. When the Niger floods, canals deliver water to the city. Grain and animals are plentiful so much butter and milk is eaten here. Salt is in short supply as it is transported, some 500 miles here from Teghaza. Leo saw a load of salt sell for 80 ducats. the king has a treasure of coins and gold ingots.
- In Timbuktu there are many judges, teachers and priests. The king honours learning. books from Barbary are sold. there is more profit from the books than from anything else. Instead of coins, gold nuggets are used. for small purchases cowrie shells from Persia are used. 400 cowrie shells = 1 ducat. The people are very friendly and they like to walk in the evening between 10 pm and 1 am playing instruments and dancing. they also had many slaves both men and woman.
Meanings - mortar, ducats, ingots, nuggets and cowrie shells
mortar - cement made from sand, clay, sticks, water and limestone
ducats - gold coins used for trade
ingots - rough lumps of gold
nuggets - small lumps of gold
cowrie shells - bright coloured shells from the Indian Ocean used as a from of money
why did Timbuktu become a meeting place for traders
It was on the edge of the Sahara and it was 8 mile away from the Niger River so naturally traders from North and East Africa travelling across the Saharan caravan routes met them. And unlike other cities which need animals to transport loads, they could use the Niger River to transport bigger loads more easily. Until the discovery of America, Mali was the main producer and centre of gold trade.
Explain the same of the trade process in Timbuktu
North African merchants traded European goods such as ceramics, silk cloth and beads. Even though Timbuktu produced cotton the people wanted fine printed fabrics that came from Europe. These good were transported over the Mediterranean to Morocco were traders would take them across the Sahara to Timbuktu. Silk and ceramics came from India and China. the Indian traders wanted ivory because theirs was to hard to carve. Arabia bought ornamental weapon and utensils for the African traders in exchange for gold, ivory, wood and slaves and their kings wanted slaves to serve as servants, soldiers and agricultural workers. the traders bought salt from Taghaza and it was mined buy digging 23 kg blocks out of the ground. in exchange for gold, slave and kola nuts from the Mali people. They needed salt to preserve the food and change the taste. At one point salt was worth as much as gold because salt was very hard to find in other places at the time.
name and describe 10 subjects taught in the university of Timbuktu
Even though the Koran was the main focus of learning they could also study other subjects such as:
- Mathematics - calculations
- Chemistry - reaction of chemicals
- Physics - science
- Optics - eyes
- Astronomy - stars
- Medicine - health
- History - the past
- Geography - mountains - weather
- Engineering - construction
- Architecture - designing
(governmental laws, logic, botany, music)
name some types of engineers
electrical
chemical
mechanical
civil
when did Timbuktu become famous for it learning
in the 12 century
How did the school come about and how many of them were there and how many kids could study there
the wealth from trade allowed them to build 180 Muslim schools and 3 universities for 25 000 students
where did their scholars come from and what did they do (mainly)
Saudi Arabia and Europe and they wrote books in Timbuktu.
what were the Europeans surprised that the Africans had so many books and had schools
they thought that the Africans only passed own information from one generation to the next and they didn’t know that had such a high education system.
how did people study in Timbuktu
they didn’t have st courses to study and the students attached themselves to individual teachers that they met up with for discussions and debates in mosque courtyard or in private homes
what happened when the European ships stared to trade with the west coast and when.
In the 1600’s the Europeans change trade route and the Sahara trade route was used less often so Timbuktu was no longer the centre of trade. And after Mansa Musa died the kingdoms of Mali fought against each other then the Moroccans invaded and took over. they took all of the wealth, burnt the some of the libraries and killed many scholars or send them back to Morocco. In 1893 when the French colonised West Africa Mali became an independent republic again in 1960 and today it is one of the poorest regions in the world.
what happened to some of the ancient manuscripts
thousands were berried n caves but many are non in French museums
