Timbuktu is an ancient city in Mali, north of the Niger River. Timbuktu flourished from the trade in salt, gold, ivory and slaves. It became part of the Mali Empire early in the 14th century. By the early 1610s the golden age of the city, during which it was a major learning and cultural center of the Mali Empire, was over, and it entered a long period of decline. Africa illustrated by William. R. Smith; illustrated by the most eminent artists, 1889 (cropped and cleaned).