"University of Timbuktu" is a modern collective term for a historical scholarly and teaching community which existed within in the city of Timbuktu in what is now Mali, associated with the mosques of Sankore, Djinguereber, and Sidi Yahya. The term refers to a scholastic community that endured for over a century during the late medieval period (in the 15th-16th centuries), producing a number of scholars and manuscripts, most notably within the Maliki school of Islamic jurisprudence.
The term "mosque-university of Sankore" was first coined by the French author and explorer Felix Dubois in 1897, and popularised as the "University of Sankore" by the Ghanaian politician Kwame Nkrumah in 1961, in reference to the mosque most associated with scholarship in Timbuktu. The term 'University of Timbuktu' emerged more recently. Neither term was used during the medieval or early modern period, and there is in fact no evidence for the existence of an organised educational institution in Timbuktu equivalent to a medieval or modern university. Nonetheless the term remains popular as an expression of the level of scholarship and teaching achieved by Timbuktu's community of scholars and students. Historical studies of Timbuktu have greatly contributed to the modern understanding of Islamic scholarship and education in West Africa during the medieval and early modern period.
History of Timbuktu
The city of Timbuktu developed out of a semi-permanent campsite established by the Tuareg people in the late 1100s A.D. to early 1200s A.D. Due to the Tuaregs having established the area as a way-station for supplies and provisions, which was often visited by travelers and merchants passing by, it eventually became a large trading city.
In the 14th-15th century Timbuktu developed into a commercial centre and a cultural centre of Islam as Walata, the previous hub of trans-Saharan trade in the region, began to decline in importance. In around 1325 AD, the Malian king Mansa Musa gained control of the city on his return from Mecca, where he had travelled to complete the Muslim pilgrimage known as the Hajj. Timbuktu was thus annexed to the growing Mali Empire, which had originated further to the west near the border between modern-day Mali and Guinea (Niani, the capital of the Mali empire, was in located in Guinea). Mansa Musa is said to have returned from the Hajj with several Islamic scholars whom he had encountered along the way, including the Andalusi scholar and architect Abu Ishaq al-Sahili, who he employed to establish the Djinguereber mosque and a royal residence in Timbuktu. Mansa Musa also sent Sudanese students to study in Fez in Morocco, which was renowned as a centre of scholarship and education in Maliki jurisprudence. In 1438, following the decline of the Mali Empire, Timbuktu was seized by the Tuareg, who controlled the city for the next thirty years. In 1468 Timbuktu subsequently came under the control of the expanding Songhay empire, which ruled the city until 1591.
The development of Timbuktu as an intellectual and scholarly centre primarily occurred in the 15th-16th centuries, reaching its peak in the 16th century when scholars in Timbuktu began to produce their own scholarly literature. When Ibn Battuta visited Timbuktu in 1352 he had nothing to say about Islamic learning there, but by a century later notable scholars had begun to settle in the town. Some scholars came from as far as Egypt, Fez, Awjila, Ghadames, and Tuat. Timbuktu subsequently acquired a reputation for Islamic learning and scholarship within the Sahel and North Africa. The 16th century is considered to be Timbuktu's intellectual "golden era", which was brought to an end by the invasion of Moroccan forces in 1591.
According to African scholar Shamil Jeppie in The Meanings of Timbuktu:
After Timbuktu was occupied in 1591 following the Battle of Tondibi, teaching in Timbuktu declined. Soon after, scholars of Timbuktu emigrated to other learning centers. In 1593, Sultan Ahmad I al-Mansur cited "disloyalty" as the reason for arresting, and subsequently killing or exiling, many of Timbuktu's scholars, including Ahmad Baba al Massufi, who was deported to Morocco.
University
Although the scholastic community in Timbuktu is often described in modern sources as a 'university', there is in fact no evidence for the existence of any centralized teaching institution such as the term university implies. Instead the community consisted of individual scholars with their own collections of manuscripts and private students, with much of the day-to-day teaching taking place in scholar's houses. There was no 'official curriculum', no university diploma or degrees, or university library (nor any other public or open-access libraries). Some lectures or classes were given inside Timbuktu's mosques, though these were not educational institutions themselves. Whilst some scholars were financially supported by the king during the period of Songhay rule (in the late 15th-16th century), there was no funding for colleges or college endowments, even though these existed in other parts of the Muslim world. According to the historian John Hunwick, "the Islamic tradition of learning (especially in Africa) is individualized rather than institutionalized ... what was taking place in Timbuktu should be viewed within the cultural context of Islamic civilisation, rather than being associated conceptually with a European-style institution."
Besides the community of scholars with their students, there were in the 16th century also numerous Quranic schools in Timbuktu where young boys were taught basic literacy and the Quran. According to the Tarikh al-Fattash there were 150-180 schools "where young boys were taught to read the Quran". Estimates for the total number of pupils in these Quranic schools range from 4,000 to 9,000 at their peak, including the transitory population of pupils sent from neighbouring towns and surrounding nomadic tribes. Such traditional elementary Quranic schools still exist today in Timbuktu and in other parts of the Sahel.
The number of higher-level students in Timbuktu who were able to attain the status of scholars (ulama) is estimated to have been 200-300. These were mostly drawn from a small number of wealthy families. According to the historian Shamil Jeppie only "a very small number" of students would proceed through to higher levels of Arabic and Islamic study. The absence of royally-funded colleges or libraries in Timbuktu can be explained by the elitist nature of academic study in the city, with membership of the scholarly community being mostly restricted to a wealthy minority.
Mosques
Timbuktu scholars were associated with the three mosques of Sankore, Djingereber and Sidi Yahya. These made up an intellectual and spiritual centre during the golden age of Timbuktu (15th-16th century). These mosques are prime examples of earthen architecture, which are maintained by traditional maintenance techniques which continues to the present day. For one mosque, the Great Mosque of Djenne, the maintenance of the mosque is a festive community effort, which is known as the crépissage.
Sankore Mosque
The Sankoré mosque was the mosque chiefly associated with teaching in the 16th century. It was originally built in the 14th-15th centuries with the financial backing of a Tuareg woman of the Aghlal tribe. For over five centuries, the Sankore Mosque served as a significant religious and intellectual hub. It was especially prominent during the Askia dynasty (1493–1591). In 1578 AD, Qadi al-Aqib ibn Mahmud ibn Umar ibn Muhammad Aqit knocked down the sanctuary to have it rebuilt in accordance with the dimensions of the Kaaba of Mecca as well as adding a mihrab.
Djinguereber Mosque
The Djinguereber Mosque was initially built when Mansa Musa I returned from a pilgrimage to Mecca, but was reconstructed between 1570 and 1583 by Imam Al-Aqib ibn Mahmud, who was the qadi of Timbuktu. He added the southern portion of the mosque as well as the wall which surrounds the cemetery and situates itself to the west. The Djinguereber Mosque minaret is among the most noticeable landmarks of the Timbuktu landscape with its dominating structure. It is unclear if any advanced scholarship took place at the Djinguereber mosque, as only children are mentioned studying in its environs during the 16th century.
Sidi Yahya Mosque
The Sidi Yahya Mosque was named after Sidi Yahya al-Tadallisi, a friend of the ruler Muhammad-n-Allah. The Sidi Yahia Mosque, located to the south of the Sankore Mosque, was erected around 1400 AD by the marabout Sheikh El Moktar Hamalla. It was built with the expectation of a holy man who would emerge some forty years later as Cherif Sidi Yahia, who would then be chosen as the Imam. Much like the other two mosques, Sidi Yahia was also restored by Imam Al Aqib from 1577 to 1588. The mosque was significantly rebuilt in 1939, resulting in its current appearance.
Education
In Timbuktu scholar-teachers had their own private students, rather than working within an educational institution. Students often took instruction from several different tutors who specialised in their respective fields of study, and paid their tutors with money, goods, or services. Instruction usually took place in private residences or mosque courtyards, depending on the mosque and teachers' preferences. For example, the Sankoré mosque often held classes within its walls, and many scholars lived, studied, and taught in the Sankore quarter. Scholars in the Djinguereber and Sidi Yahya mosques more often would hold classes privately in their own houses, where their personal libraries could be used to assist the teachers. Teaching typically took place in small 'study circles' seated on the floor, known as Ḥalaqāt.
Local historians from Timbuktu have claimed that in the late 15th-16th century Timbuktu had a population of 100,000 people with approximately 25,000 students. However the overwhelming majority of 'students' in Timbuktu were in fact pupils — young boys learning basic literacy and the Quran in numerous Quranic schools within the city. The historian Elias N. Saad estimated the total number of these pupils to be about 4,000-5,000, whilst the historian Michael A. Gomez gives a number of 7,500-9,000, divided between 150-180 Quranic schools. The number of higher-level students in Timbuktu who were able to attain the status of scholars (ulama) is estimated to have been 200-300, mostly drawn from a small number of wealthy families. The historian R. Mauny estimated that in the 15th-16th century Timbuktu had a population of 25,000 inhabitants, whilst European visitors to Timbuktu in the 19th century estimated a population at that time of 10,000-13,000, with an additional 'floating' population of up to 10,000.
According to the historian Shamil Jeppie, for the majority of learners in Timbuktu "rote learning of some or all the short chapters from the thirtieth (and last) part of the Quran, a few prayers, or lines of devotional poetry recited on special nights were all the Arabic they would ever learn." A 'handful' would proceed to learn more than this minimum, and "a very small number" would proceed through to the higher levels of Arabic and Islamic study. Based on his analysis of manuscripts from Timbuktu and other historical evidence, the historian Charles C. Stewart has suggested that at its height in the 16th century, Timbuktu scholarship was "a controlled, elitist preserve of mainly two lineages that seem to have catered to external commercial interests more so than the expansion of a local Islamic culture."
Subjects studied by higher-level students and scholars included Islamic law, geography, astronomy, medicine, and even history, despite the fact that history was never part of any teaching curriculum in the Islamic world at the time.
Teaching