History of Timbuktu Trivia Quiz

Answer: Sand

The original foundations of Timbuktu have been buried under sand for centuries, if not millennia. Much of Timbuktu is threatened by desertification. The shifting sands of the Sahara make it near impossible to excavate or even locate possible sites of interest. If a team is lucky enough to find a potential excavation site, it runs the risk of sand covering it before it can be completely unearthed.

What little pieces of ancient civilizations that have been discovered reveal that Timbuktu has likely been inhabited since the fifth century B.C. It is also unknown when Timbuktu was formally founded.

Answer: Musa Keita I

Mansa Musa was the Muslim leader of the Mali Empire during the early 14th century. Mansa is a title that roughly translates to sultan or emperor. He was a devout Muslim at a time when Islam was unorganized and scattered. He set up Timbuktu, which was already open to new ideas, as a center for Islamic learning but it also became a center for mathematics and science over the years.

Some of the building constructed by Mansa Musa still exist today, including the mosque, though it has been totally renovated and rebuilt several times.

Answer: Hippopotamuses

Ibn Battuta was not impressed with Timbuktu. The city was only in the early stages of development into a grand center of learning. Battuta, who was a merchant returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca, was more interested in seeking out trade items. Goa was the city in the Mali Empire famous for trading at the time. Being a devout Muslim, he did not care for the people of Timbuktu as many of them were few clothes, if any.

Ibn Battuta was most impressed with the local hippopotamuses, an animal he had never seen before. He enjoyed watching boatmen ward off the hippos with long spears and found it odd that the people were afraid of what he considered harmless animals.

Answer: Salt

During the 15th and 16th centuries, Timbuktu became a center for trade. People from all over North Africa would come to Timbuktu to trade their salt for slaves and gold. It was during this time that Timbuktu experienced its Golden Age as people from all over Africa, the north especially, came. Timbuktu had a flourishing economy and strong government led first by the Tuareg and then the Songhai.

Answer: Morocco

The Songhai had ruled over Mali for about a century and Songhai rule was characterized as stable and strong. However in 1582, Songhai leader Askia Daoud died and his heirs disputed over who would was the legitimate successor. This allowed Morocco to the north take advantage of the political turmoil and invade Timbuktu. Moroccan leader Ahmad I al-Mansur was after Timbuktu's wealth which he mistakenly believed to be held in gold mines. The Moroccan general, Judar Pasha, was outnumbered but had far superior military technology and conquered the Songhai.

The Moroccan Conquest of Timbuktu saw the city decline for many reasons. One of the main reasons was that Judar Pasha was distrustful of the learned and of the many scholars who lived in the city and had them killed or exiled.

Answer: The economy was destroyed

The transatlantic trade was devastating to Timbuktu as it lost its status as a popular trade route as new trading partners opened up overseas. Timbuktu was virtually ignored by its former trade partners. The economy grew so bad that Morocco withdrew.

The only commodity that was worth any value was slaves to be sold in the New World but even then other places in Africa (closer to the Atlantic) were much better suited as stops along the triangle trade.

Answer: To find the lost gold of Timbuktu

By this time, Timbuktu was long past its golden age. In Europe, Timbuktu was considered a fairy tale land of myth similar to Atlantis. Many people believed Timbuktu was abandoned (it wasn't) and paved with gold. In reality, Timbuktu was nothing like that though it did have some gold items from its heyday.

Another goal of the African Association was to trace the path of the Niger River. Ultimately, the African Association's activities led to the scramble for Africa as the various adventures revealed lands of interest. Of the original members of the African Association, some were interested in exploring Africa and ending slavery while others were out for treasure.

Answer: He claimed to have been captured as a slave for three years

Robert Adams was an American sailor who wrote about his experience as a slave in Timbuktu. Adams claimed he accidentally stumbled upon the city when he was exploring Africa. His memoirs detail how he was captured and sold into slavery. He was allegedly rescued by the British.

Historians doubt Adams' claims that he was in Timbuktu though he may have believed he was. His description of Timbuktu did not resemble the actual city at all. Either way, Adams was definitely a slave in Africa at the time. If he was in Timbuktu, he would be the first westerner to visit the city and leave it alive.

Answer: France

France had gained most of the land in North Africa and just south of the Sahara. The relationship between the people of Timbuktu and the French government was much more peaceful than that which France had with other colonies. France allowed local chiefs to have some ruling power. People from Mali joined the French war effort during World War II and there is even a European cemetery there for Allied prisoners of war who died in Timbuktu when it came under the control of Vichy France.

Answer: Ansar Dine

Like most places in North Africa, Mali was not spared from terrorism in the early 21st century. Ansar Dine is the local Malian al-Qaeda affiliate. Ansar Dine gained control of Timbuktu in 2012 and installed a strict version of Sharia law. The group even went as far as to declare Azawad (a region of Mali where Timbuktu is located) an independent nation. Those efforts were easily reversed in 2013 when an alliance of French and Malian forces took back the city and Ansar Dine was run out of Timbuktu.