Timbuktu: The Historic Trade Hub of the Mali and Songhai Empires

Timbuktu (in present-day Mali) was the pivotal trade city linking the Mali Empire and later the Songhai Empire to trans-Saharan and Mediterranean networks (13th–16th centuries).

• Goods: Gold, salt, ivory, slaves, books, textiles.
• Routes: North to Sijilmasa/Fez (Morocco), east to Cairo, south to Gao/Djenne.
• Intellectual center: Sankore University, thousands of manuscripts (astronomy, law, medicine).
• Decline: Moroccan invasion (1591), Atlantic trade shift, desertification.

Today a UNESCO World Heritage site, Timbuktu symbolizes Africa's golden age of scholarship and commerce.