Black History Month: Response to Freddie Kissoon’s false narrative about Timbuktu

Feb 17, 2022 Letters

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Dear Editor,

Kaieteur News – I haven’t written for a while, but thought it necessary to correct Freddie Kissoon as this is Black History Month, where even intellectuals caught up in their “circle of self”, self-importance, self-deception, self-deceit, self-indulgence, self-denial and self-destruction – should at least be educated.
In a recent letter, he wrote to Ms. Isabelle de Caires stating, “If you did not meet their legitimate expectations and fulfill your obligations to them, then prepare to spend your political future living in Timbuktu”.
Does Freddie Kissoon know Mansa Musa, the richest man in the world came from Timbuktu? Mansa Mussa took 60,000 porters with him. Each porter carried 3 kilograms of pure gold, that is, 180,000 kilograms or at least 180 tons of gold. He had so much gold with him that when he stopped in Egypt, the Egyptian currency lost its value.

I share this from my Book” A-Z Know Thyself and can send him a copy. (Reference: Volume IV UNESCO General History of Africa, pages 197-200).

TIMBUKTU

Timbuktu exists.

A decade ago, the phrase “From here to Timbuktu.” conjured up images of remote, isolated and distant parts of this Earth. Many people, ignorant of what Timbuktu was and where Timbuktu is, often made the derogatory statement “you must be from Timbuktu”.

Very few people are aware of this ancient city’s location, and fewer still ascribe any kind of civilization to this historic area. Timbuktu is located in the western African nation of Mali at the edge of the Sahara. Home of the prestigious Koranic Sankore University and other madrasas, Timbuktu was an intellectual and spiritual capital and a Centre for the propagation of Islam throughout Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Its three great mosques, Djingareyber, Sankore and SidiYahia, recall Timbuktu’s golden age.
Timbuktu flourished from the trade in salt, gold, ivory and slaves and became part of the Mali Empire early in the 13th century. Its importance lay in the fact that it is located at the precise point where the Niger flows northward into the southern edge of the desert.
As a result of its unique geographical position, Timbuktu was a natural meeting point of Songhai, Wangara, Fulani, Tuareg and Arabs.

According to the inhabitants of Timbuktu, gold came from the South, the salt from the North and the Divine knowledge, from Timbuktu. Timbuktu is also the crossroad where “the camel met the canoe.” The prosperity of the city attracted Black scholars, Black merchants and Arab traders from North Africa.
Timbuktu’s long-lasting contribution to Islamic and world civilization is scholarship. Local scholars and collectors still boast an impressive collection of Arabic manuscripts from that era. By the 12th century, Timbuktu became a celebrated centre of Islamic learning and a commercial establishment. Timbuktu had three universities and 180 Quranic schools. These universities were the Sankore University, Jingaray Ber University and Sidi Yahya University.
This was the Golden Age of Africa. By the 14th century, important books were written and copied in Timbuktu, establishing the city as the Centre of a significant written tradition in Africa.

Timbuktu is believed to have had one of the first universities in the world. Hidden in cellars or buried, hid between the mosque’s mud walls and safeguarded by their patrons, many of these manuscripts survived the city’s decline. They now form the collection of several library scripts. These libraries are the largest among up to 60 private or public libraries that are estimated to exist in Timbuktu today, although some comprise little more than a row of books on a shelve or a book chest.

This is why Timbuktu has been called “Athens of Africa”, “Sudanese Rome”, “Mecca of the Sahara”, and “Black Pearl of the Desert”. Two great men made significant contributions to the scholarship and glamour of Timbuktu. Emperor Mansa Mussa and Askia Mohammed the Great. The booming economy of Timbuktu attracted the attention of the Emperor of Mali, Mansa Mussa (1307-1332) also known as “KaKaMussa.” He captured the city in 1325.

As a Muslim, Mansa Mussa was impressed with the Islamic legacy of Timbuktu. On his return from Mecca, Mansa Mussa brought with him an Egyptian architect by the name of Abu EsHaqEsSaheli. The architect was paid 200kg of gold to built JingaraBer or, the Friday Prayers Mosque. Mansa Musa also built a royal palace in Timbuktu, another Mosque in Djenné and a great mosque in Gao. Mansa Mussa’s pilgrimage to Mecca in 1324 had made Timbuktu known worldwide.

Unlike his predecessor Emperor Ali, Askia, a devout Muslim, opened religious schools, constructed mosques, and opened up his court to scholars and poets from throughout the Muslim world. He sent his children to an Islamic School and enforced Islamic practices. Yet he was tolerant of other religions and did not force Islam on his people.

There are manuscripts in Timbuktu today where the answers to the questions of Askia are recorded. In its Golden Age, the town’s numerous Islamic scholars and extensive trading network made possible an important book trade: together with the campuses of the Sankoremadrassah, an Islamic university, this established Timbuktu as a scholarly centre in Africa. Several notable historic writers, such as Shabeni and Leo Africanus, have described Timbuktu. In fact, Leo Africanus, a historian of the XVIth century wrote about Timbuktu: “There are many judges, doctors and clerics here, all receiving good salaries from King Askia Mohammed of the State of Songhay. He pays great respect to men of learning. There is a great demand for books, and more profit is made from the trade in books than from any other line of business.” In 1893, with the colonization of West Africa by France, Timbuktu was brought under the French rule until Mali received her independence in 1960. To this day, many manuscripts originating from Timbuktu can be found in French museums and universities Timbuktu.

Sincerely yours,
Eric Phillips
Chairman, Guyana Reparations Committee
Vice Chair, Caricom reparations Commission

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