The ancient kingdom of Mali spread across parts of modern-day Mali, Senegal, the Gambia, Guinea, Niger, Nigeria, Chad, Mauritania, and Burkina Faso. Mansa Musa developed cities like Timbuktu and Gao into important cultural centers. He also brought architects from the Middle East and across Africa to design new buildings for his cities.

When Mansa Musa went on a pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca in 1324 C.E., his journey through Egypt caused quite a stir. The kingdom of Mali was relatively unknown outside of West Africa until this event. Arab writers from the time said that he travelled with an entourage of tens of thousands of people and dozens of camels, each carrying 136 kilograms (300 pounds) of gold. While in Cairo, Mansa Musa met with the Sultan of Egypt, and his caravan spent and gave away so much gold that the overall value of gold decreased in Egypt for the next 12 years. Click here to continue learning about KING MANSA MUSA OF MALI.

Timbuktu, also known as Tombouctou, is an ancient city located in present-day Mali, West Africa. It has a rich history dating back to the 5th century AD and it was a major center of trade, scholarship, and Islamic learning during the medieval period.

Timbuktu was founded as a small trading post by the Tuareg people and was later controlled by various empires such as the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, and the Songhai Empire. It served as an important center of trade between West Africa and the Mediterranean, with goods such as gold, salt, and textiles being traded through the city.

In the 13th century (1200s), Timbuktu became an important center of Islamic scholarship and learning. Many scholars and students from across the Islamic world came to the city to study at its famous universities and madrasas. Timbuktu was home to many libraries, the most famous being the Sankore Madrasah which housed thousands of manuscripts on a wide range of subjects such as law, literature, history, and science.

Timbuktu was also a center of architecture, with many notable buildings and structures being built during this time, including the Djinguereber Mosque, the Sankore Mosque and the Sidi Yahya Mosque, which is considered one of the most beautiful in West Africa.

The city's golden age came to an end in the late 16th century with the arrival of the Moroccans and the decline of the trans-Saharan trade and Timbuktu lost its economic importance. Today, Timbuktu remains an important historical and cultural site, and it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.