Timbuktu and Beyond: the Power of Those Who Fight to Preserve Heritage

 “Mouctar Cissé, a librarian at the Al Qadi private library in Timbuktu, where hundreds of ancient manuscripts are being preserved. Not one of them, however, is being translated.”  (Photo Credit: Joe Penney)

Colonialism: controversial? 

What would this world look like without colonialism?

That’s a question that could be posed by many people in societies all around the world. Some may say that there are many “positive” consequences of colonialism: improved infrastructure, centralised governments and industries, and the concept of industrialisation as a whole. 

That might be true, although arguably quite optimistic. This positive interpretation is undeniably influenced by the Western standards of capitalism and liberal democracy, often viewed as the pinnacle of human civilization. Colonialism might change the politics of a country, but the borders that it creates, haphazardly drawn on maps, highlight the nonchalance of a colonising country’s attitude towards the culture and heritage of the region they take over.

With this ignorance and disdain for those cultures, any notion of preserving their traditions normally goes out of the window, and finding the best “use” for the territory becomes the main (and often only) question asked when colonisers decide what should be done with the people and land.

In this way, I would like to introduce the concept of the destruction of ideas and independence and emphasise how colonisers will usually do anything to preserve their own country’s superiority over another’s. While most of these cases stem from past actions, their consequences are often visible today not only in the physical realm, but in people’s versions of history, and mindsets about pre-colonial states and regions.

I find this an important thing to note, that in this article, I will often use the words “colonialism”, “colonisation”, “colonisers”, etc. in general terms, because I’m defining them as a mode in which a country takes another country, region or state, over. This framework of analysis may not be completely accurate in some people’s eyes, however it is the way in which I approach the essence of this topic.

Colonialist tendencies and the burning of books

Postcolonial theorist Homi K. Bhabha said that “the objective of colonial discourse is to construe the colonized as a population of degenerate types on the basis of racial origin, in order to justify conquest and to establish systems of administration and instruction.” 

In short, when colonizers colonize, it can be argued that there is a formula for how it’s usually carried out, often constituting an attempt to replace a local culture with that of their own, due to those previously stated ideas of inferiority. In this way, it follows that physical representations of that culture are therefore likely to go missing or become destroyed, and later, again, the existence of such a culture is erased.

The city of Timbuktu has gone through different ages of 3 giant African empires: the Ghanaian empire, the Medieval Mali empire, and the Songhay empire. The city itself became increasingly popular as a booming hub of trade, academia, culture, religion, and general wealth in West Africa. It was said that when one of the emperors of the Mali empire journeyed to Mecca in 1324, when he and his attendants spent money in Cairo, they “devalued the metal there for years to come”. This reinforces just how powerful Timbuktu was, especially as the second empire took over, as it was this event that further enhanced the reputation of the city of old and led to the construction of more Universities and libraries, attracting even more trade and scholars.

An image of part of the “Catalan Atlas” that focuses on the Trans-Saharan trade network (Photo Credit: credited to Abraham Cresques (1375) created in Majorca commissioned by King Charles V of France)

Academia was such an integral part of the culture of Timbuktu, that during the most important times of the empires, it was not gold that was the most valuable currency, but books. Manuscripts in many different languages, but mostly Arabic, were traded across the regions, and this, combined with the wealth Timbuktu had from being in the centre of “two great rivers”, positively increased the reputation of the Timbuktu of old. As a result, Timbuktu became known not only as a trade hub, but also as a centre of Knowledge and Scholarship across Africa, as well as in Spain.

However, after the 1591 Moroccan invasion, which was funded by the British, many books and manuscripts were stolen, and many of the scholars were transported to Morocco, robbing the people of Timbuktu of their culture and teachers. Many citizens hid books in their walls or buried them in the sand, but it was likely that many were “lost in transit”.

The second instance of colonisation, France’s takeover in 1892, resulted in many books being burned and destroyed, adding to the masses that had already been missing or previously obliterated.

The idea that Timbuktu was not only rich but was also widely known and respected by many empires and kingdoms, as represented by the “Catalan Atlas” above, begs the question of why we don’t hear or talk about the advancements of this city and region now.We may find information about it in history books, but where is it in the history textbooks, in the media, in the minds of so many people who believe that Africa became civilized only through its colonization? I’m not discounting the importance of everything else that is taught to us, to students at various levels of education and across different syllabuses... but why is it not just as important as learning about the Vikings or Egyptians? At least a humble mention would be appreciated…

This idea of erasure (especially in the context of the destruction of texts), isn’t necessarily exclusive to Timbuktu — it’s happened many times before. One example would be the book pillaging that occurred in Palestine during the Nakba, which was followed by book banning in Palestinian schools and libraries due to restrictions imposed by the Israeli forces – around 4,000 books having been banned since 1967. This has now developed to full-on theft, destruction and burning that is being committed by Israeli settlers and the IDF, not to mention the unimaginable loss of life due to the widespread bombing and mass destruction of Gaza (and the West Bank). The people of Palestine don’t even have time or space to think about erasure of culture through destruction of books and libraries when loss of family and friends are being threatened.

Recovery of old: turning over the colonial leaf

Timbuktu was recently (1988) placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as a symbol of an African Intellectual and spiritual capital, meaning that it was already being recognised as a place which used to be an important source of education, information, commodities and culture.

Additionally, due to more recent armed conflicts after multiple coups that have occurred in Mali, even more manuscripts have been destroyed and burned, and temples, mosques, mausoleums and other important buildings were ravaged. 

However, this isn’t where the destruction of culture and heritage ends; it does not simply cease with a full stop. Due to the force of people, government and organisations getting together, a plan was developed to reconstruct the architecture thought to be ruined and to rebuild the libraries and archives from the ground up. Due to a 2013 United Nations Security Council resolution, it was determined that one of the best ways to maintain peace was to protect the cultural heritage of Mali, so with funding from many countries and organisations, including Mali’s government and UNESCO, an action plan was formed. The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) collaborated with UNESCO in the preservation of symbols and representations of Mali’s heritage. With the aid of specially trained peacekeeping personnel, most of the mausoleums were rebuilt, and laws were put in place to protect them, allowing them to reopen within three years since the beginning of the project.

Fortunately, in terms of the archives, many families had already preserved private collections that had either been hidden since colonial times (perhaps even before) or dug out from the hiding places that had been created in the depths of the turmoil that occurred during and after the coups. After Timbuktu was freed from its colonizers in the 1960s, the Ahmed Baba Institute (named after one of its most renowned scholars, Ahmed Baba al Massufi) was created and began preservation efforts as the country sought to rebuild its present. Many families are still hesitant to allow visitors and researchers in to see the texts due to trauma left over from France’s colonization of Mali. Nevertheless, the existence of these private libraries is reassuring enough, reminding us that, through the power of these families and their ancestors, we may one day be able to read the translated versions of these antiquated texts. 

The full stop, the sudden end of knowledge that has for centuries threatened Timbuktu, can now be turned into an ellipsis, a hope that these 30,000+ manuscripts (of the Ahmed Baba Institute) and 60+ private libraries will hand down the sage of the scholars of old, that were almost forgotten. 

Perhaps, this also reflects on the global community, and the need to be more in touch, not only with our history, but the history of many parts of the world. It accentuates the fact that knowledge, cultural heritage and legacies are not fragile, not when people work together to preserve them.

“Ismaël Diadié Haïdara with collected family manuscripts. He says Timbuktu has a "second chance" to become a great city again.” (Photo Credit: Canadace Felt from the New York Times)

This is great news for Timbuktu, and Mali and its inhabitants, but does this re-emerging legacy have a hopeful future?

Will “neo-colonialism" and modern censorship prop up or erase newfound heritage?

Since Africa is a widely undeveloped continent in the industrial sense, many countries have recently formed alliances with African states, especially China, through its Belt and Road Initiative. As a result, due to these alliances and partnerships, Africa is, in a lot of ways, “developing” in terms of economy, infrastructure and global connections.

However, these alliances with China specifically lean heavily on the support of Chinese desires and specifications. The CCP (Chinese Communist Party) backs these projects in African states like Angola, Ethiopia, and Mali, which means that the countries wanting to keep these flows of money coming may have to sacrifice certain places, traditions, and traces of their heritage. It is this aspect that some argue is a version of neo-colonialism, especially since most countries in Africa owe some sort of debt to China, and are, in a way, at their beck and call.

The question I want to pose, is whether it now becomes likely that, eventually, the monuments of the past will be overshadowed, forgotten, or even destroyed in the haste for the future?

In Brazil, the government has already given up so much of the rainforest to Chinese coal companies, so extending this assumption to the African continent is not a stretch. Since it normally seems to just take a capitalistic, corrupt government to turn a country around from the good directions it was heading in.

Additionally, due to our advanced surveillance capabilities, book burning is no longer the primary way to prevent people from accessing information and ideologies that are not supported by heads of state.

Imagine this: the 1984 world of surveillance and control transferred to reality—the re-writing of, or control over, history. Exaggeration? Yes, probably, but the idea still poses important questions. It might not present itself as strongly as it did in Orwell’s words, but through key actors controlling what information children access through their textbooks and censoring certain bits of our history from a young age. As you may well know, this is called book banning. 

Sure, we also have databases we may access through Google, but once certain ideas sprout in people’s minds, they are often hard to shake off—especially since algorithms are designed to reinforce our confirmation biases—not free us of them.

A popular modern-day example of this can be seen in the way the USA has recently been banning so many books that the first amendment has come into question, putting into doubt people’s freedom of speech, press, religion, petition — and their ability to act freely in general. The Free Speech Project provides a platform collecting articles that document the contexts of many of these incidents all over the U.S. over at least the past six years. This is ironic in a country which has long upheld the motto of “The Land of the Free”, but breaking such idealistic portrayals is nothing new in the U.S.A., and it is neither the first nor the last time similar actions have occurred on a global scale.

However, this is important, because, no matter how people view the U.S.A., it is still a considerably important (if not the most important) global power. The fact that such a country decides to impose book-banning censorship laws, not only in schools but also in libraries and the general public, is noteworthy. This movement apparently has its roots in fear and conservative views that want to prevent discussion about the LGBTQ+ community, certain ideas of equity and inclusion and any promotion of ideas that are viewed as “un-American”. It highlights the fact that book banning is indeed a major issue today — in more extreme cases in the U.S.A., book burning has even occurred.

An image taken from a video of Pastor Greg Locke live streaming his congregation and him as they burned “accursed items” such as ‘Twilight’ and ‘Harry Potter’. (Photo Credit: Tyler Salinas.)

Likewise, the Chinese government now has so much influence in many African states that, if the CCP desires, they have the power to tilt African education in China’s favour – a form of propaganda that naturally reaches the minds of children in schools. 

We can see the reverberations of such an act of colonisation in China’s takeover of Tibet, where the Chinese government has already destroyed many religious and cultural symbols, especially in monasteries. This carries on even in the present time, where they now invade private homes ordering Tibetans to destroy personal symbols of their beliefs, trying to force them to abandon their own morals and ideologies, to assimilate to the values of the CCP.

Since the Chinese occupation of Tibet began, more than 1.2 million people have been killed, among which were many monks, and additionally, around 6000 monasteries have been destroyed. Tibetans are heavily monitored and prevented from religious and cultural expression, constantly threatened by the possibility of being arrested. If the CCP believes that their party’s values should be revered religiously, then it is indeed possible than anything could happen in countries in which China is economically and politically influential—especially when it appears that no apology has ever been made for the atrocities committed in Tibet, at Tiananmen Square, or in many other cases of similar repression. Even more importantly, it is less likely that anything can be done to prevent the same from happening around the world, if occupations and the destruction of culture and traditions, like in Tibet, occur without proper acknowledgment from the international community and its representatives. While intervening could provoke hostilities, it may be said that it is better to act sooner rather than later, and with many voices of dissent, it is more likely that solutions can be reached peacefully and that those in need of freedom can be helped. Idealistic? Maybe. Necessary? I believe so.

If we take the example of what happened it Timbuktu, what is arguably most important now isn’t hiding books (although you can do that if you want) when it comes to combatting what is being foreshadowed through general censorship and the obstruction of free speech in countries that plead “not guilty”. What is valuable is preserving culture, thought, and the general spread of information (with emphasis on the absence of “mis-”) and making sure that we do our research. Preserving knowledge... and preserving our ability to be curious and discover for ourselves.

I personally have gone through a period when I thought I was conserving my curiosity and independence, but I later realised that this was only on the surface. For a while, I had simply been letting the education system regulate and dictate my reading list and routine.

In such a big society, making sure that we aren’t being “erased” by our own governments and those in control is important. We must face this new territory carefully, making sure that the match isn’t being lit by our own hands while it is supplied by those we are meant to rely on.

In Timbuktu, the manuscripts that were rediscovered and protected held different personal levels of importance depending on whether they were religious, academic, or biographical texts. We must remind ourselves that, for both future and present generations, we must preserve the words of the past—and the ones we write in the present.

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