TIMBUKTU, or Timbuctoo (Sonrhai, Timbutu; Berber, Tumbutku; Arab, Timbuktu}, a city of the Sahara, on the southern verge of the desert, in 18° 4′ N. lat. and 1° 45′ W. long., at the north-east extremity of the Fulah state of Moassina (Massina), 9 miles north of its riverine port Kabara, on the left bank of the Niger, at the confluence of the numerous branches of the Joliba (upper Niger) where it trends eastwards, and at the converging point of the main trade routes from the Gulf of Guinea and from the Mediterranean across the western Sahara. Timbuktu lies on a terrace formed by the southern scarp of the desert, about 800 feet above sea-level, and overlooking a chain of dhayas or marshy hollows, fringed here and there with a few mimosas and palm thickets, amid the surrounding sandy wastes. These dhayas, which are flooded every three or four years, converting the lowland tracts between the terrace and the main stream into a labyrinth of channels and backwaters, mark the bed of a navigable creek which formerly branched from the Niger northwards to the foot of the scarp, and which in 1640 inundated a low-lying quarter of the city. According to Pouyanne and Sabatier, the main stream followed this course before it took its present easterly curve to Burum, where it bends southwards to the coast. Here also it was probably joined at some remote period by the now dried up Wady Messaura from the Tuat oases south of Algeria, although the rough levels taken by Oscar Lenz and others make it uncertain whether the flow through this depression was northwards or southwards. In any case Timbuktu has been left, so to say, high and dry by the general process of desiccation going on throughout the Saharian region. It was founded, or more probably captured, by the Tuareg Berbers about the 11th century, and under the Mandingo kings of Mali (Mal1é) was a noted mart for gold and salt in the 14th century, mention of "Timboutch" occurring on a Catalan map dated 1373. Under Askia, founder of the extensive but short-lived Sonrhai empire (1492), it rose to great splendour and became with Gogo a chief centre of Moham medan culture for the peoples of western Sudan. But since the overthrow (1591) of the Sonrhai dynasty by the Morocco captain, the Andalusian Jodar with his Ruma followers, Timbuktu has continued to be the prey of the surrounding unruly populations—Tuaregs, Arabs or Arabized Berbers, Fulahs (1800), and Toucouleurs (1865). Being thus at the mercy of all, it has ceased to rebuild its dismantled walls, being content to pay tribute to each in turn and sometimes to more than one simultaneously, for which it indemnifies itself by peaceful intervals of trade whenever the land routes are open and the upper and lower reaches of the Niger are clear of pirates. But at times even the short tract separating it from Kabara is so beset with marauders that it bears the ominous name of "Ur-immandess," that is, "He (God) hears not." Recently, however, it has enjoyed a considerable interval of peace, and the population, estimated by Earth at 11,000 in 1853, had risen to 20,000 in 1880 (Lenz). These form a motley group of Sonrhais, Tuaregs, Mandingoes, Arabs from Morocco, Berabish Arabs, Bambaras, Fulahs, and since 1850 a few Jewish traders. Apart from some Christian captives, the place was reached during the 19th century by only four Europeans Laing from Tripolitana (1826), who was murdered on his return journey, Caillie from the north (1828), Earth from central Sudan (1853), and Lenz from Morocco (1880). Since 1884, however, regular relations have been opened with the French on the upper Niger.
From the ruins covering extensive tracts on the north and west sides, it is evident that Timbuktu was formerly a much larger place than at present. Even the great mosque, which must at one time have stood in the centre, now lies near the outskirts, where its high but unsightly earth tower forms a striking landmark. The aggregate of mean hovels or mud houses of which the place consists is only relieved by a few structures of a better class. As in former times, a great staple of trade is salt from Taudeni and other parts of the Sahara, here exchanged with gold dust for kola nuts from the south, Manchester goods, and some other European wares, which with tea are imported from Morocco or penetrate from the British protected territories along the lower Niger. Cowries, slowly yielding to European moneys, are the chief currency. The local industries are mainly confined to some fancy and other leatherwork prepared by the Tuareg women. The local administration is in the hands of an hereditary kahia, a kind of mayor, descended from one of the Ruma families. The kahia is himself more or less under the control of a neighbouring Tuareg chief and of the powerful Bakhai family, who, as "sherifs" and marabouts, are revered throughout the western Sahara. Timbuktu, which possesses some valuable Arabic manuscripts and is still a centre of Moslem teaching, is a converging point of the chief west Sudanese and Saharan races Arabs or Arabized Berbers to the west; Sonrhais in the immediate vicinity, and thence south-eastwards along the Niger; Ireghenaten or "mixed" Tuaregs southwards across the Niger as far as the Hombori Hills and in the fertile Libbako plains beyond them; Fulahs, Mandingoes, and Bambaras in and about the city; and Imohag or Imosharh Tuaregs belonging to the Awellimiden confederation mainly to the north and east.
