University of Sankoré

university, mosque
Part of	Timbuktu, University of Timbuktu
Year dem found am	988
Country	Mali
Edey de administrative territorial entity insyd	Timbuktu
Coordinate location	16°46′33″N 3°0′20″W
Manufacturer	Mansa Musa
Architectural style	Sudano-Sahelian architecture
Heritage designation	part of UNESCO World Heritage Site

Sankoré Madrasa (dem sanso dey bell am de Sankoré Mosque, Sankoré Masjid anaa University of Sankoré) be one of three medieval mosques den centres of learning wey dey locate insyd Timbuktu, Mali, de odas be de Djinguereber den Sidi Yahya mosques. Dem found am insyd de 14th century,^[1] de Sankoré mosque go thru multiple periods of patronage den renovation under both de Mali Empire den de Songhai Empire til ein decline wey dey follow de Battle of Tondibi insyd 1591. De mosque develop go madrasa (wey dey mean school anaa college insyd Arabic), e reach ein peak insyd de 16th century.^[2] Dem samtyms dey appy de term "University of Sankoré" to de Sankoré madrasa, though evidence no dey of centralized teaching institution such as de term university dey imply.^[3] Instead de mosque serve as de focal point for individual scholars plus dema own private students, den as location for wich dem dey hold sam lectures den classes.^[4]^[5]

History

Na dem originally build de Sankoré mosque insyd de 14th-15th centuries plus de financial backing of Tuareg woman of de Aghlal tribe.^[6]^[7] Modern analyzes reject de understanding dat na der be al-Sahili influence for West African architecture top - now dem treat am as myth - dey demonstrate say de architectural style of West African mosques dem derive mainly from mosques insyd de Sahara den traditional African architecture den religions.^[8]

Na dem later restore de Sankore Mosque between 1578 den 1582 AD by Imam Al-Aqib ibn Mahmud ibn Umar, de Chief Qadi (judge) of Timbuktu. Imam al-Aqib demolish de sanctuary wey he make dem rebuild am plus de dimensions of de Kaaba insyd Mecca. De Sankoré madrasa prosper den cam turn significant place of learning within de Sudanic Muslim world, especially during de 15th den 16th centuries under Askia dynasty of de Songhai Empire (1493–1591).^[9] Na Sankoré be de mosque wey na ebe chiefly associate plus teaching insyd Timbuktu for dis period insyd.^[10]

Growth as center of learning

Timbuktu develop as commercial centre insyd de 14th century, as Walata, de previous hub of trans-Saharan trade insyd de region, e begin dey decline for importance.^[11]^[12] Na e no be long before ideas as well as merchandise begin dey pass thru de city. Muslim scholars dem associate plus de Sankoré mosque accumulate wealth of books from thru out de Muslim world, dey lead to Sankoré make e cam turn centre of learning as well as centre of worship.^[13] For ein peak na de mosque be de focal point for class of Islamic scholars twey na dem hold dem for high regard both locally den abroad. Songhai kings go even bestow numerous gifts for dema top during Ramadan.^[14]

References

↑ "Timbuktu". UNESCO World Heritage Convention.
↑ "Wonders of the African World - Episodes - Road to Timbuktu - Wonders". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2021-12-06.
↑ Hunwick, John (1999). Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire. Al-Sa'dī's Ta'rīkh al-sūdān down to 1613 and other Contemporary Documents. Leiden: E.J. Brill. pp. lviii–lxii. ISBN 90-04-12822-0. The term 'University of Sankore', or 'University of Timbuktu' has been applied to this teaching complex. … there is no evidence of any such institution, and the Islamic tradition of learning (especially in Africa) is individualized rather than institutionalized … what was taking place in Timbuktu should be viewed within the cultural context of Islamic civilisation, rather than being associated conceptually with a European-style institution. … much of the day-to-day teaching process took place in scholar's houses, probably in special rooms set apart, where the scholar had his own private library which he could consult when knotty points arose. There is no evidence of a centralized teaching institution such as the term university implies.
↑ Singleton, Brent D. (2004). "African Bibliophiles: Books and Libraries in Medieval Timbuktu". Library Faculty Publications. 21. The fully-qualified ulama of Timbuktu were a tight-knit community never numbering more than 200-300 at any particular time; they were concentrated in discrete quarters and mosques of the city. With the exception of special lectures given in the main mosques, the vast majority of instruction occurred in one-on-one or small group settings at the residence of a scholar.
↑ Hunwick, John, ed. (2003). Arabic Literature of Africa, Volume 4: The Writings of Western Sudanic Africa. Brill. p. 2. ISBN 90-04-12444-6. The city's educational reputation has led some people to speak of a Timbuktu university, beginning with Felix Dubois, who wrote of the "University of Sankore". While the Sankore quarter in the north-east of Timbuktu certainly was an area which attracted many scholars to live in it, nevertheless, there is no evidence of any institutionalized centre of learning. Teaching of some texts was undertaken in the Sankore mosque, and also in the Sidi Yahya mosque and the "Great Mosque" – Jingere Ber – but teaching authorisations (ijaza) always came directly from the shaykhs with whom the students studied. Much of the teaching was done in scholars homes, and individual scholars had their own personal research and teaching libraries.
↑ Hunwick, John (2003). "Timbuktu: A Refuge of Scholarly and Righteous Folk". Sudanic Africa. 14: 15. JSTOR 25653392 – via JSTOR. In the year 1325, when Timbuktu was under the rule of Mali, the sultan of Mali, Mansa Musa, came there during his return from pilgrimage, and ordered the construction of a Great Mosque (until now still in existence in the south of the city) under the supervision of the Andalusian scholar Abu Ishaq al-Sahili, who had accompanied Mansa Musa on his return journey from Mecca. Then after some years a large mosque was built in the Sankore quarter in the north of the city, financed by a woman from the Aghlal, a religious Tuareg tribe (of ineslemen). The Sankore mosque became a place for teaching tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis) and other Islamic teachings. Sankore was a dwelling place many scholars, especially those belonging to the Masufa
↑ "Sankore Mosque". Google Arts & Culture.
↑ Aradeon, Susan B. (1989). "Al-Sahili: the historians' myth of architectural technology transfer from North Africa". Journal des africanistes. 59 (1–2): 99–131.
↑ Woods, Michael (2009). Seven wonders of ancient Africa. Mary B. Woods. London: Lerner. ISBN 978-0-7613-4320-2. OCLC 645691064.
↑ Hunwick, John (1999). Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire. Al-Sa'dī's Ta'rīkh al-sūdān down to 1613 and other Contemporary Documents. Leiden: E.J. Brill. pp. lviii. ISBN 90-04-12822-0. The mosque that was chiefly associated with teaching in this period was the Sankore Mosque.
↑ Oliver, Roland, ed. (1977). The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3. Cambridge University Press. p. 392. ISBN 978-0-521-20981-6. In the fourteenth century, when it began to develop as a commercial centre, Timbuktu also became a cultural centre of Islam.
↑ Hunwick, John (1999). Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire. Al-Sa'dī's Ta'rīkh al-sūdān down to 1613 and other Contemporary Documents. Leiden: E.J. Brill. pp. lvi–lvii. ISBN 90-04-12822-0. It would seem that Timbuktu was little more than a semi-permanent nomadic settlement in the twelfth century, and probably through the thirteenth […] the city effectively emerges into the light of history with the visit of the Malian ruler Mansa Musa on his way home from his pilgrimage of 1324. He is said to have brought back with him a number of Muslim scholars […] By 1375 Timbuktu, together with several Saharan locations, had found its place on a European map … this is a sure sign that Timbuktu was, by now, a commercial centre linked to North African cities.
↑ Singleton, Brent D. (2004). "African Bibliophiles: Books and Libraries in Medieval Timbuktu". Library Faculty Publications. 21. there is no evidence of the existence of open access public libraries in medieval Timbuktu. On the contrary, the libraries of Timbuktu seem to have all been private collections of individual scholars or families.
↑ Henrik Clarke, John. “The University of Sankore at Timbuctoo: A Neglected Achievement in Black Intellectual History.” The Western journal of black studies 1.2 (1977): 142–. Print.

Read further

Saad, Elias N. (1983). Social History of Timbuktu: The Role of Muslim Scholars and Notables 1400–1900. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24603-2.
Gomez, Michael A. (2018). African Dominion: A New History of Empire in Early and Medieval West Africa. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691177427

External links

Ancient Manuscripts from the Desert Libraries of Timbuktu, Library of Congress — exhibition of manuscripts from the Mamma Haidara Commemorative Library

[1] "Timbuktu". UNESCO World Heritage Convention.

[2] "Wonders of the African World - Episodes - Road to Timbuktu - Wonders". www.pbs.org. Retrieved 2021-12-06.

[3] Hunwick, John (1999). Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire. Al-Sa'dī's Ta'rīkh al-sūdān down to 1613 and other Contemporary Documents. Leiden: E.J. Brill. pp. lviii–lxii. ISBN 90-04-12822-0. The term 'University of Sankore', or 'University of Timbuktu' has been applied to this teaching complex. … there is no evidence of any such institution, and the Islamic tradition of learning (especially in Africa) is individualized rather than institutionalized … what was taking place in Timbuktu should be viewed within the cultural context of Islamic civilisation, rather than being associated conceptually with a European-style institution. … much of the day-to-day teaching process took place in scholar's houses, probably in special rooms set apart, where the scholar had his own private library which he could consult when knotty points arose. There is no evidence of a centralized teaching institution such as the term university implies.

[4] Singleton, Brent D. (2004). "African Bibliophiles: Books and Libraries in Medieval Timbuktu". Library Faculty Publications. 21. The fully-qualified ulama of Timbuktu were a tight-knit community never numbering more than 200-300 at any particular time; they were concentrated in discrete quarters and mosques of the city. With the exception of special lectures given in the main mosques, the vast majority of instruction occurred in one-on-one or small group settings at the residence of a scholar.

[5] Hunwick, John, ed. (2003). Arabic Literature of Africa, Volume 4: The Writings of Western Sudanic Africa. Brill. p. 2. ISBN 90-04-12444-6. The city's educational reputation has led some people to speak of a Timbuktu university, beginning with Felix Dubois, who wrote of the "University of Sankore". While the Sankore quarter in the north-east of Timbuktu certainly was an area which attracted many scholars to live in it, nevertheless, there is no evidence of any institutionalized centre of learning. Teaching of some texts was undertaken in the Sankore mosque, and also in the Sidi Yahya mosque and the "Great Mosque" – Jingere Ber – but teaching authorisations (ijaza) always came directly from the shaykhs with whom the students studied. Much of the teaching was done in scholars homes, and individual scholars had their own personal research and teaching libraries.

[6] Hunwick, John (2003). "Timbuktu: A Refuge of Scholarly and Righteous Folk". Sudanic Africa. 14: 15. JSTOR 25653392 – via JSTOR. In the year 1325, when Timbuktu was under the rule of Mali, the sultan of Mali, Mansa Musa, came there during his return from pilgrimage, and ordered the construction of a Great Mosque (until now still in existence in the south of the city) under the supervision of the Andalusian scholar Abu Ishaq al-Sahili, who had accompanied Mansa Musa on his return journey from Mecca. Then after some years a large mosque was built in the Sankore quarter in the north of the city, financed by a woman from the Aghlal, a religious Tuareg tribe (of ineslemen). The Sankore mosque became a place for teaching tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis) and other Islamic teachings. Sankore was a dwelling place many scholars, especially those belonging to the Masufa

[7] "Sankore Mosque". Google Arts & Culture.

[8] Aradeon, Susan B. (1989). "Al-Sahili: the historians' myth of architectural technology transfer from North Africa". Journal des africanistes. 59 (1–2): 99–131.

[9] Woods, Michael (2009). Seven wonders of ancient Africa. Mary B. Woods. London: Lerner. ISBN 978-0-7613-4320-2. OCLC 645691064.

[10] Hunwick, John (1999). Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire. Al-Sa'dī's Ta'rīkh al-sūdān down to 1613 and other Contemporary Documents. Leiden: E.J. Brill. pp. lviii. ISBN 90-04-12822-0. The mosque that was chiefly associated with teaching in this period was the Sankore Mosque.

[11] Oliver, Roland, ed. (1977). The Cambridge History of Africa, Volume 3. Cambridge University Press. p. 392. ISBN 978-0-521-20981-6. In the fourteenth century, when it began to develop as a commercial centre, Timbuktu also became a cultural centre of Islam.

[12] Hunwick, John (1999). Timbuktu and the Songhay Empire. Al-Sa'dī's Ta'rīkh al-sūdān down to 1613 and other Contemporary Documents. Leiden: E.J. Brill. pp. lvi–lvii. ISBN 90-04-12822-0. It would seem that Timbuktu was little more than a semi-permanent nomadic settlement in the twelfth century, and probably through the thirteenth […] the city effectively emerges into the light of history with the visit of the Malian ruler Mansa Musa on his way home from his pilgrimage of 1324. He is said to have brought back with him a number of Muslim scholars […] By 1375 Timbuktu, together with several Saharan locations, had found its place on a European map … this is a sure sign that Timbuktu was, by now, a commercial centre linked to North African cities.

[13] Singleton, Brent D. (2004). "African Bibliophiles: Books and Libraries in Medieval Timbuktu". Library Faculty Publications. 21. there is no evidence of the existence of open access public libraries in medieval Timbuktu. On the contrary, the libraries of Timbuktu seem to have all been private collections of individual scholars or families.

[14] Henrik Clarke, John. “The University of Sankore at Timbuctoo: A Neglected Achievement in Black Intellectual History.” The Western journal of black studies 1.2 (1977): 142–. Print.

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