Just one ride on the pony? Timbucktu is supposedly a real place:
Timbuktu
Timbuktu (also spelled Tombouctou) is a city in the modern West African nation of Mali. Timbuktu is located at the southern edge of the Saharan Desert, eight miles north of the Niger River, on one of the river’s tributaries. Timbuktu has been conquered many times and has held extreme wealth. Fantastic rumors of its wealth found its way to Europe, such as tales of house roofs made of gold. It is estimated that during the fourteenth century, two-thirds of the gold in European and Arabian mints passed through the area.
The city was formed around 1100 AD by Tuareg nomads, although about a hundred years earlier they had begun using the area as a summer camp. The Tuareg are a nomadic, trading people. The city was used as a trading post where North African goods would be traded for gold. The location of the city was chosen because it is the spot on the Niger River closest to Morocco, who the Tuareg traded with.
Timbuktu became part of the Mali Empire by the late thirteenth century. The Mali sultan Mansa Musa built a large tower for the Great Mosque Djingereybed, which was rebuilt many times, and the royal residence Madugo, of which nothing remains. In the 1300’s the gold-salt trade was extremely important. With the influx of merchants came Muslim scholars. The Tuareg regained control of the city again in 1433. They ruled Timbuktu from the desert, and despite being plundered periodically, both trade and learning flourished.
Timbuktu was conquered by the Songhai ruler Sonni ‘Ali, who disliked scholars. The next ruler, who became the first ruler of the Askia dynasty, Muhammad I of Askia (who reigned from 1493-1528), was fond of the scholars, and used four of them as his legal and moral councilors. Between 1493 and 1591 Timbuktu was at its height of commercial and intellectual development. Merchants would trade gold and slaves for Saharan salt, North African cloth, and horses. Salt was extremely valuable, often worth its weight in gold. Scholars, many of whom studied in Egypt or Mecca, attracted students from far abroad.
Morocco captured Timbuktu in 1591. The Moroccan army had 4,000 soldiers armed with muskets, while Timbuktu’s soldiers had bows, arrows, and spears. After this the city began its decline. Two years after its capture, city scholars were arrested because of a perceived political threat. Some were killed in struggles, while others were exiled to Morocco. Huge libraries of books and manuscripts were dispersed.
In 1828 an French explorer, Rene Caillie became the first European to reach Timbuktu and return to Europe. He was disappointed by what he found; expecting a fantastically wealthy city, he instead found one where "everything had a dull appearance."
The small group of Moroccan soldiers stationed in Timbuktu could not protect the Niger bend where the city is located, and the city was attacked repeatedly by Bambara, Tuareg, and Fulani people until 1893, when the French arrived and captured the city.
The Europeans partially rebuilt the city, although no train or paved roads ever reached it. In 1960 it became part of the Independent Nation of Mali, where it is now the country’s administrative center. Small salt caravans still arrive from the Sahara, although there isn’t any more gold to trade.
Sources
Encyclopedia Britanica Online "Mali, history of":
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Encyclopedia Britanica Online "Timbuckto":
Gardner, Brian The Quest for Timbuctoo Harcourt, Brace, & World, Inc. 1968
Naylor, Kim Mali Chelsea House Publishers 1987
Meghan A. Porter |
