History Summarized: Timbuktu

Tuareg nomads announce highly-anticipated sequel to their first seasonal trading post: TimbukTU!

SOURCES & Further Reading:
“Timbuktu” from UNESCO.org, “Timbuktu” from Britannica, “A Guide to Timbuktu, Mali” from National Geographic, “Timbuktu” & “The Camel Caravans of the Ancient Sahara" & “The Spread of Islam in Ancient Africa" from World History Encyclopedia.
“Medieval Towns and Trade Networks” from “The Middle Ages Around The World” by Joyce E. Salisbury, Ph.D. – “West Africa’s Golden Age” from “The African Experience from Lucy to Mandela” by Kenneth Vickery, Ph.D. – “Timbuktu, Islam’s Center by the Sahara” from “World Heritage Sites: Exploring the World’s Greatest Places” by Justin M. Jacobs, PhD
Additionally, the book "The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu" by Joshua Hammer is a well-regarded narrative history of saving the manuscripts Timbuktu from Al Qaeda in the 1980s – I haven't personally read it, but it's a good next step to read, and is likely available at your local library or bookstore.

MUSIC:
Courtesy of composer Austin Wintory / @awintory

Our content is intended for teenage audiences and up.

[Vassilinia]

"River of Rivers River"
That just means it's the ULTIMATE river.

[CarbonMage]

Ah, the River of Rivers River that's just south of the Desert Desert, of course.

[Bryan-dj]

As a young person in Australia in the 70’s and 80’s, the phrase “Go to Timbuktu” was a mild insult to go get lost. Like many children, and also like my Grandmother, I believed that Timbuktu was a remote Australian town out in the outback (check out Australian town names and you will see Timbuktu would fit right in). Grandma used to tell her children to “Go to Timbuktu” when they were naughty. Much to her surprised at some point in the 80’s her Eldest Son, working as a oil man in strange places all around the world, sent her a letter from Timbuktu just to let her know he’d found the place!

[Celeste_LaLonde]

Finally, someone explaining the history of Timbuktu instead of using it as a punchline to mean "place that's waaay over there that I've never been to". That being said, that place is waaay over there and I've never been there.

[ecurps]

"We heard you like rivers so we put rivers in your rivers so you can river while you river."

[ibrahim]

Your dedication to typing correct arabic word instead of backward one is admirable

[Del_S]

If Timbuktu was so great how come there wasn't a Timbukthree?

[Rutgerman]

Man, between this and Blue's previous video, linguistics are really kicking our boy's ass

[In_Our_Timeline]

Note: Timbuktu prospered despite significant power changes until the Moroccans invaded the Songhai Empire in 1590 and started to take control of the city in 1591 following the Battle of Tondibi.
Due to the majority of university faculty members being executed or banished in 1593 for their disloyalty to the newly established rulers, the city's importance declined along with trade, which was negatively impacted by increased competition from newly opened transatlantic sailing routes.

[NexusSpacey]

"Salt comes from the North, gold from the South, and silver from the country of white men, but the word of God and the treasures of wisdom are only to be found in Timbuktu."

What a cool line. It really paints a very cool picture of the world these people lived in.
I hope to find lines like these more if I go to study history as well.

[Obi-Wan_Kenobi]

The Sahara Desert was filled to the brim with the slave trade AND sand?!? I think Anakin just found a new nemesis...

[MrWaspMan]

Time to learn about the place everyone says they can throw something to, and why neighboring civilizations nearly had their economies collapsed when it's emperor visited. Another great time from Blue.

[JaySkywalker]

4:04 does this mean Red is making a video on the Epic of Sundiata? If so, it would be awesome to see her tackle the “Lion King of Mali”!

[Arohan]

Blue, you literally nearly made me cry today. This one video basically condensed much of the research I'd been doing for my own pan African fantasy world that focuses on a nation based on the Mali empire while pulling in elements from all 3 of the empires listed here and demonstrates exactly why I made the decisions I did. And thank you so much for highlighting the libraries and emphasis on scholarship. So many depictions of Africa focus on the oral tradition and pretend both that it's untrustworthy and that because of its importance that some cultures in Africa didn't have a written or literacy focused tradition as well. Always great to see that myth dispelled.

[RavenKing]

So, fun fact. Timbuktu is twinned with six different places, being Chemnitz in Germany, Kairouan in Tunisia, Marrakesh in Morocco, Saintes in France, Tempe (in Arizona) in the US and (my personal favourite) a charming little town in mid-Wales called Hay-on-Wye. I've actually been there and I have never been so sad to leave a place. It's absolutely delightful. The town's economy is almost entirely predicated on books and there are second-hand stores EVERYWHERE. I got my first copy of the Sword in the Stone from Hay-on-Wye, among a number of other volumes. Blue, if you're ever in Wales for whatever reason, I cannot recommend a visit highly enough.

[SocialStudiess]

As an Eritrean, East African, American and descendant of Abyssinia. I’m really glad I was able to learn more about my brethren on the other side of the continent. The history and things that happened in this part of Africa don’t have much to do with me or where I came from, yet I feel much more rejuvenated for having learned about it! Thank you for educating me and making this video 🙏🏾🇪🇷🙋🏾‍♂️

[eaglewolffox]

Remember when a butler was about to send a cat and her kittens to that place?

[DoctorWilsonVer]

Oh how I love the emotion behind that “YET”

[ethanwilliamson]

If you want a read on Timbuktu protecting their books that Blue doesn’t mention, look up “The Badass Librarians of Timbuktu.” It tells the story of the 2012 Al-Qaida backed militants attempt to destroy those manuscripts and the librarians act to protect them

[ItsASleepySheepy]

That YET makes me extremely excited for more African history with Blue in the future