Journal of Negro Education

The Search for Timbuctoo

Author(s): John Henrik Clarke
Source: The Journal of Negro Education, Vol. 33, No. 2 (Spring, 1964), pp. 125-130
Published by: Journal of Negro Education
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2294578 .
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 The SearchforTimbuctoo
JOHN HENRIK CLARKE

AssociateEditor,Freedomways,
New York,N.Y.

The Africanwriter,Abderrahman Es- amountof help and respectgivento all

Sa'di, in his greatwork,Tarikhes-Sudan schoolsand men of learning."
(Historyof the Sudan), says that Tim- Perhapsthe one reasoncontributing to
buctoowas foundedat the end of the the renownof Timbuctoohas been the
fifthcenturyafterthe Hegira (Muslim odd soundof its nameto Europeanears.
calendar) which corresponds with the The writer,Es-Sa'di, tells us that the
eleventhcenturyof our era. It began citywas namedaftera slavewomanwho
as a camp of the Tuaregs,the strange was sometimes leftin chargein the days.
veiledtribeof theSouthernSahara,who when it was a Tuareg camp and that
incidentallyare still the main trouble- the name meant"Old Woman." Other
makersin the area aroundpresentday translations of the wordinclude"She-of-
Timbuctoo. Es-Sa'dicalledit "an exqui- the Big-Navel."Anotherexplanationis
site city, pure, delicious,blessed with thatthe namemeantthe "Well of Buc-
luxuryand full of life." Furthermore,too."
he boaststhat Timbuctoowas noble in
These suppositionsand conjectures
thatitspeoplehad "neverbeen soiledby
eventuallycirculatedin Europeand con-
theworshipof idols."
tributedto the advertisement of this
"Timbuctoo," he goeson to say,"grad- tantalizingand legend shrouded city
ually developedinto a tradecenter;its which Europeanswere told had houses
greatestdaysdid not startuntilthe end withroofsof gold and to whichforso
of thefifteenth century,whenit became long no outsidetravelers couldpenetrate.
themeeting place fortraders
fromEgypt, Two hundredmiles down the Niger
the Libyan Desert,Fezzan, Ghadames, fromTimbuctoothe competingcity of
the Oases of Tuat, Syelmassa,Fez and Gao stood. It was foundedabout the
the Gold Lands." seventhcenturyand was the capitalof
In anotherworkon thehistoryof the the largeblackempireof Songhai. Like
WesternSudan, Tarikhel Fettash(His- Timbuctoo, it was in a favorableposition
toryof theSeeker)by MuhammedKati, for the trans-Saharan trade,in the days
it is said that"Timbuctoo, at its zenith, of the regular caravans from North
had no equal among the cities of the Africa. Like Timbuctoo,the greatest
Balad es Sudan (countries of theblacks). days of Gao came in the fifteenth and
The peopleof Timbuctooboast of "the sixteenthcenturies.
solidarity of its institutions,
its political Thereis now a growing on
willingness
liberty,the purityof its morals,public the part of an increasingnumber of
security,compassiontowardthe poor, scholarsto admitthat the Africansare
clemencyto foreigners, courtesyto stu- past.
historical
people with a respectable
dents and men of science, and the A few years ago, Dr. Ethel Alpenfels,

125
 126 THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO EDUCATION

New YorkUniversity anthropologist, told imposingbuildingsin Timbuctooand

a highschoolconference on humanrela- otherpartsof his realm.
tions:'There was a NegroUniversity at
Timbuctoo,in Africa,which exchanged To the outsideworld,of the late me-
professorswithMoorishuniversities hun- dievalperiod,the EmperorManca Mussa
dredsof yearsago. It is believedto have was morethan an individual. He -was
flourished as earlyas 600 A.D." Africa. He conqueredthe SonghaiEm-
pire and rebuiltthe University of San-
Dr. Alpenfelswas referringto the kore. He figured,by name, on every
University of Sankore,at Timbuctoo.In map. In his lifetime he becamein per-
the yearswhenTimbuctoowas the great son the symbolof the mystery and of
intellectualnucleusof the SonghaiEm- thefabulouswealthof theunknownAfri-
pire, Africanscholarswere enjoyinga can continent.He was themostcolorful
renaissance thatwas knownand respected of the black kings of the fourteenth
throughout mostof Africaand in parts century.He stillheld thispositionnear-
of Europe. At thisperiodin African his- ly two centuries afterhis death.
torythe University of Sankorewas the
educationalcapital of the WesternSu- Afterthe death of Manca Mussa, the
dan. In his book,Timbuctoothe Mys- Empire of Mali declinedin importance.
terious,Felix DuBois givesus thefollow- Its place was taken by Songhai,whose
ing picture: greatestking was Askia the Great(Mo-
hammedToure). Askia came to power
The scholarsof Timbuctooyielded
in nothingto the saints and their in 1493, one year afterColumbusdis-
sojournsin the foreignuniversities of coveredAmerica. He consolidatedthe
Fez, Tunis and Cairo. They astound- territory conqueredby the previousruler
ed the mostlearnedmen of Islamby SonniAli andbuiltSonghaiintothemost
theirerudition. That theseNegroes powerfulstate in the WesternSudan.
were on a level with the Arabian
savantsis provedby thefactthatthey His realm,it is said, was largerthanall
were installedas professors in Moroc- Europe.
co and Egypt. In contrast to this,we
findthat the Arabswere not always The Germanwriter,HenryBarth,in
equal to the requirements of Sankore. his famouswork,Travelsand Discoveries
in Northand CentralAfrica,calls Askia
The famousEmperorof Mali, Manca the Great"one of
themostbrilliantand
Mussa,stoppedat Timbuctooon his pil- enlightened
administratorsof all times."
grimage to Mecca in 1324. He wentin He
reorganizedthe armyof Songhai,im-
regalsplendor with an entourageof 60,- provedthe systemof banking
and credit,
000 persons,including12,000 servants.
and madethecitystatesof Gao, Walata,
Five hundredslaves,each of whomcar- Timbuctoo
and Jenne into intellectual
Tied a staffof pure gold weighingsix centers.Timbuctooduringhis reign,was
pounds,marched in frontof theEmperor. a cityof morethan100,000people,filled
Eightycamelsbore2400 poundsof gold to thetop,saysa chronicler of thattime,
which this Africanmonarchdistributed with gold and dazzlingwomen.
as almsand gifts. Mussa returned from Askiaencouraged scholarshipand litera-
Mecca with an architectwho designed ture. Studentsfromall overtheMoslem
 SEARCH FOR TIMBUCTOO 127

worldcame to Timbuctooto studygram- Timbuctoountil 1591. The prosperous

mar,law and surgery at theUniversity of cityof Timbuctoowas plunderedby the
Sankore;scholarscame fromNorthAfri- armyof freebooters. A stateof anarchy
ca and Europe to conferwith learned prevailed. The Universityof Sankore
historiansand writersof thisblack em- whichhad stood for over fivehundred
pire. A Sudanese literaturedeveloped yearswas destroyed and thefacultyexil-
and manybookswerewritten.Leo Afri- ed to Morocco. The greatestSudanese
canus,who wroteone of thebestknown scholarof that day, Ahmed Baba, was
workson the WesternSudan, says: "In amongthoseexiled. Baba was a scholar
Timbuctoothere are numerousjudges, of greatdepthand inspiration.He was
doctorsand clerics,all receivinggood the authorof morethanfortybookson
salariesfromthe king. He pays great such diversethemesas theology, astrono-
respectto men of learning. There is a my, ethnography and biography. His
big demandforbooksin manuscript, im- richlibraryof 1600 bookswas lostdur-
ported fromBarbary(North Africa). inghisexpatriation fromTimbuctoo.
More profitis made fromthe book trade
thanfromany otherline of business." Timbuctooprovidesthe most terrible
example of the strugglesof the West
Askia has been hailed as one of the Africanstatesand townsas theystrove
wisest monarchsof the Middle Ages. to preserve what was once theirGolden
Alexander Chamberlain, in his book,The Age. The Arabs,Berbersand Tuaregs
Contribution of the Negro to Human fromthe northshowedthemno mercy.
Civilization,
says of him: "In personal Timbuctoo had previouslybeensackedby
character,in administrativeability,in de- the Tuaregs as earlyas 1433 and they
votionto the welfareof his subjects,in had occupiedit for thirtyyears. Be-
open-mindedness towardsforeigninflu- tween1591 and 1593, the Tuaregshad
ences,and in wisdomin theadoptionof alreadytakenadvantageof the situation
enlightenedideas and institutions from to plunderTimbuctooonce more. Be-
abroad, King Askia was certainlythe tween1723 and 1726 the Tuaregsonce
equal of the averageEuropeanmonarch more occupied and looted Timbuctoo.
of the time and superiorto many of Thus Timbuctoo, once the queen cityof
them." theWesternSudan,withmorethantwo
hundredthousandinhabitantsand the
Afterthedeathof AskiatheGreat,in
centerof a powerfulstate,degenerated
1538, the SonghaiEmpirebeganto lose
intoa shadowof its formerstature.
its strengthand its controloverits vast
territory.When the Songhai Empire At thebeginning ofthenineteenth cen-
collapsedafterthe captureof Timbuctoo tury,Europeanswho had been hearing
and Gao by the Moroccansin 1591, the exaggerated storiesabout Timbuctoofor
wholeof theWesternSudan was devast- nearlya thousandyears,began to search
atedby theinvadingtroops. The Sultan forthephantomcityon the Nigerriver.
of Mrorocco,El-Mansur, had senta large This had been the mostfabled,the most
armywith Europeanfireacrossthe Sa- exotic city in the world. Tales about
hara to attackthe once powerfulempire its wealth,its remoteness and thebeauty
of Songhai. The armydid not reach of itswomenwhetted thegreedycuriosity
128 THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO EDUCATION

of Europeansand stimulated the search. Caillie,gave Europethe firsteye witness

Moor,Leo Africanus,
A Christianized in accountof Timbuctoo.
his book, Historyand Descriptionof The storyof Rene Caillieis briefly re-
the subjectof Tim-
Africa,reintroduced lated as follows:Rene Caillie was born
buctooin Europe. He visitedWest Afri- cn September19, 1799, in Mauza, in
ca in 1515,whilehis uncle was Ambas- the Poitoudistrict of France. His father
sadorto the Court of Askia the Great. was a shiftless bakerwho tookno interest
In his bookhe richlydescribesthe City in his son's educationand verylittlein-
of Timbuctooand the SonghaiEmpire, terestin therestof his family. He had
whoseking,he said,was so gluttedwith
littleeducationotherthanthebrieftime
wealththathe ownedgoldplatesweigh-
he spent in a charityschool. He be-
ing 1300 pounds.
came an avid readerof booksaboutthe
"Mysterious Timbuctoo"became part livesof greatexplorers and was especial-
of thelanguageof Europeanadventurers. ly excited by Daniel DeFoe's storyof
The citybecamea splendidbut elusive Robinson Crusoe. Already he was ob-
prize. It was said thatwhosoevercap- sessed with the idea of penetratingto the
turesTimbuctoohas therestof Africaat heart of Africa and, although he had no
his feet. Near theend of theeighteenth means of his own, and neitherthe French
centurythefinding of Timbuctoobecame nor the English governments could be
the goal of European exploration. A induced to give him any assistance,he
floodof adventurers
wantedtobe thefirst clung tenaciously to his purpose and his
to reachthe fabulouscity. RobertAd- dreamof beingthefirst Europeanto look
mans, a shipwreckedAmericansailor, upon thephantom cityof Timbuctoo.
claimed he was taken captiveby the In May 1825, he set out fromTripoli
Arabsin 1810 and spentsix monthsas and presently joineda caravanheadedfor
a slave in Timbuctoo. His storywas Timbuctoo.He had spentmonthsamong
vague and the detailssupposedlysup- the Moorsundermosttryingconditions.
portingit leftmuchto be desired. His intention was to learn how to live
Finallythe searchforTimbuctoowas and act like a Mohammedan;then,pre-
taken out of the hands of mere adven- tendingto be an Arab returning from
turersand summersoldiers. The Paris captivity in Egypt to his nativeMecca,
Geographical Societyoffereda prize of he set out forTimbuctoo, dependingfor
10,000 francsto the firstEuropeanto support on thegoods he had boughtwith
reachTimbuctooand returnwitha fact- his life'ssavingsof 2,000 francs.
ual report
of itslocationand itsmysteries. To concealhis Europeanidentity Rene
told everyone that he was of Egyptian
Duringthisperiod,twoexplorers wrote parentage, but had been takenprisoner,
theirnamesin history.Aftermanyhard- sent to Franceduringthe occupationof
shipsbothof themarrived safelyat Tim- Egyptby Napoleon'sarmy. Further, he
buctoo. One was an Englishman, Major statedthathe had been broughtto Sene-
AlexanderGordonLaing, the otherwas gal as a slave and had sinceobtainedhis
French. Only the Frenchmanlived to freedom.
tell the story. This Frenchman,
Rene As he movedintotheinterior
of Africa
 SEARCH FOR TIMBUCTOO 129

he and his companions made good prog- Frenchconsul: "My name is Rene Cail-
ressuntil the rainyseason started. He lie. I have just comefromTimbuctoo."
becameill with scurvyand was nursed
The FrenchGeographical Societyreadi-
back to healthby an old Africanwoman,
ly gave him the promised 10,000 francs
the motherof one of his companions.
as the firstEuropeanto reachTimbuc-
He put downthefollowing of
description
too and returnaliveto tellthestory.He
the event: "Alone in the interiorof a
was also awardedtheCrossof theLegion
wild country,stretchedon the damp
of Honor. His book abouthis journey,
groundwith no pillow but the leather
TravelsthroughCentralAfricato Tim-
bag thatcontainedmy luggage,withno
buctoo;and acrossThe GreatDesert to
medicineand no attendantbut Baba's
Morocco,Performed in the years 1824-
old mother."
1828, in twovolumes,is stillone of the
By January9, 1828, he was well greateststoriesof traveland adventure
enough to continuehis journey. By ever recorded.
March23rd,he had reachedthe cityof
For the remainderof the nineteenth
Djenne and was now close to Timbuc-
century,Timbuctoowas discoveredand
too. When he, at last,reachedthe city
rediscoveredby a new generation of ad-
he madethefollowing entryin his journ-
venturers.Early in 1894, the French
al: "At length,we arrivedsafelyat Tim-
occupiedTimbuctooand becamemasters
buctoo,just as the sun was touchingthe
of thisarea of Africaby theend of the
horizon. I now saw thiscapitalof the
century. Timbuctoois now a part of
Sudan, to reachwhichhad so longbeen
the Mali Republicand the cityis being
the object of my wishes. On entering
rebuilt. New or old, it is stilla legend-
thismysterious city,whichis an objectof
shrouded city. Who can tell,it mayonce
curiosityand' researchto the civilized
again become the magnetdrawingatten-
nationsof Europe,I experienced an in-
tionto Africa.
describable satisfaction.I neverfeltbe-
forea similaremotionand my transport
was extreme.I was obligated, however, References
to restrainmyfeelingsand to God alone GeorginaA. Gollack.Sons of Africa.
did I confidemyjoy." London, 1928. Pp. 20-30.
FelixDuBois. TimbuctooThe Mysteri-
And thus,Rene Caillie reachedTim-
ous. New York,1896.
buctooand becameone of thegreatest ex-
E. W. Bovill.The GoldenTradeof the
plorersof all times. He stayedin Tim-
Moors.London,1958. Chapters15, 16,
buctoofortwoweeksavidlytakingnotes
17.
of thecity'sarchitectureand thecustoms
J. D. Fage. An Introduction to the
of the people.
Historyof West Africa.London, 1955.
On September7, 1828, fivehundred J. D. De Graft-Johnson. AfricanGlory.
and six daysafterthestartofhis journey, London,1954. Pp. 92-120.
coveringroughly3,150 milesof Africa, WillisN. Huggins.Introduction to Af-
morethan the distancefromNew York rican Civilization.New York,1937, P.
to San Francisco,Rene Caillie arrived 123.
in Tangierand announcedto a shocked J. G. Johnson. An Accountof theEm-
130 THE JOURNAL OF NEGRO EDUCATION

pireof Moroccaand theDistrictof Suse, W. F. Conton.West Africain His-

With Accountof Timbuctoo.London, tory,VolumeI. London,1961.
1886. Basil Davidson.The Lost Citiesof Af-
R. J. Wingfield.The Storyof Old rica.Boston,1959.
Ghana, Melle and Songhai. London, W. E. B. Du Bois. The World and
1957. Africa.New York,1946.