Hello, my name is Mrs. Tipping and I am really looking forward to learning with you today, all about significant rulers from the past.

And we're going to explore the question, what can those rulers, what can their stories tell us? So, shall we get started? Let's go.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to describe how Timbuktu developed under Mansa Musa's rule.

Before we start, I would like to introduce you to some keywords.

We'll be using these keywords during the lesson, so it might be a good idea to write these words down.

The keywords we'll be using today are mosque, Islam, caravan, scholar.

I'm going to say those again and I'd like you to repeat each word after me.

Mosque, Islam, caravan, scholar.

Good job.

Now, let's think in more detail about what these keywords mean.

Here are the definitions for each of our keywords.

A mosque is a Muslim place of worship.

Islam is the religion of Muslims. A caravan is a group of people travelling together on camels usually to sell things.

A scholar is a person who studies a particular subject.

Pause the video here to make a note of the keywords and when you are ready to continue, press play.

These are the learning cycles that we'll be working through together in today's lesson.

The growth of Timbuktu.

And how did Timbuktu become a place for learning? In the first learning cycle, we'll explore the growth of Timbuktu.

After returning from his Hajj to Mecca, Mansa Musa began to improve the cities across the Mali Empire.

An important city that one of his army generals had conquered, was called Timbuktu.

Can you see Timbuktu on the map of the Mali Empire there? Timbuktu was a very important place for trade.

And trade is when you buy and sell things.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

What was Timbuktu important for? Animals, trade, diamonds.

Pause the video here and take a moment to think and press play when you're ready to continue.

If you said Timbuktu was important for trade, you're absolutely right, well done.

Many people travelled to Timbuktu to trade salt, gold, ivory, and enslaved people.

The main way they travelled was by caravan.

Hmm, caravan, that's one of our keywords.

Ah, a caravan refers to a group of traders journeying together on camels.

The land surrounding Timbuktu is mostly desert and camels were the best way for traders to travel.

These desert caravans linked Timbuktu to other cities across North Africa.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Traders travelled to Timbuktu on foot.

Is that true or false? Hmm, what do you think? That's false.

Now let's take a look at these two statements here.

They travelled by caravan, they travelled by car.

Pause the video here and have a discussion with your learning partner.

Which of these two statements would help to justify your answer? And press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said they travelled by caravan you're absolutely right.

And remember, a caravan is a group of people travelling on camels, not the caravan that we know today.

Mansa Musa spent time in Timbuktu and he made changes there.

Timbuktu became a significant place for religion.

Mansa Musa ordered great mosques to be built.

Remember, a mosque is a Muslim place of worship.

The mosques were important centres for religion and were built to spread the word of Islam across Africa.

The Djinguereber Mosque was built by Mansa Musa and was described as one of his biggest achievements.

The mosque was built using traditional mud brick.

The method involves adding a layer of wet soil called banco on to limestone rocks or bricks, and sometimes straw was mixed into the mud to help with the binding.

The Djinguereber Mosque continues to be treasured today.

Around 2000 people can line up for prayer on a Friday.

You can see an image of the mosque there.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

Why did Mansa Musa build mosques? To spread Christianity, to feed the poor, to spread Islam? Pause the video here and have a discussion with your learning partner and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? That's right, Mansa Musa built mosques to spread Islam.

This brings us to our first learning task.

I'd like you to fill in the table to describe how Mansa Musa developed the city of Timbuktu.

So in the first section, I'd like you to answer the question, "How did Mansa Musa develop Timbuktu as a place for religion?" And then, "How did Mansa Musa develop Timbuktu as a place for trade?" Pause the video here and give yourself enough time to have a go at this learning task, and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did that go? Shall we take a look at an answer? So your answers could include, "Mansa Musa built mosques to spread the word of Islam, and this developed Timbuktu into a place for religion." And the second, "Mansa Musa brought salt and gold to Timbuktu, and many people travelled to trade these items. This developed Timbuktu into a wealthy city." Well done if you were able to fill in the table describing how Mansa Musa developed the city of Timbuktu, and well done for completing that learning task.

This brings us to the second part of our lesson.

We're gonna look at how Timbuktu became a place for learning.

Mansa Musa also significantly changed Timbuktu by creating places for learning and education.

The Sankoré Mosque was made into a place for teaching.

The mosque had a huge library containing lots of books with information inside.

Many scholars travelled from all over the Islamic world to study in Timbuktu.

What is a scholar? Oh, that's one of our keywords.

Well, a scholar is a person who studies a particular subject.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

A scholar is a person who studies only Islam.

Is that true or false? Hmm, what do you think? If you said that's false, you're absolutely right.

Now looking at these two statements, which of these would help to justify your answer? A scholar is a person who does not study any subject.

A scholar is a person who studies a particular subject.

Pause the video here and have a discussion with your learning partner to decide which of these two statements would help to justify your answer.

And press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said a scholar is a person who studies a particular subject you're absolutely right, well done.

Well, many scholars came to learn about history, Islam and law.

Sacred Muslim texts were carried great distances to Timbuktu for visiting scholars from Cairo, Baghdad, and Persia to use.

The mosque taught many subjects from Islam to astronomy and mathematics to medicine and law.

Learnings were collected and made into books in Timbuktu, and there are hundreds of thousands of papers and books that show what people learned about.

And the ancient papers and books that have survived today are being carefully looked after so that more people can learn about them.

You can see an illustration of scholars arriving in Timbuktu there.

So lots of people came to learn.

Now, Mansa Musa created a city that had a great reputation.

Because of his developments, Timbuktu became an important Islamic university centre during the 1300s.

When Mansa Musa died in 1337, he left a wealthy empire to his sons, but he is also remembered for spreading the Islamic faith, promoting education and scholarship and supporting culture in Mali.

Let's take a moment to pause and check our understanding.

What did scholars come to Timbuktu to study? Was it geography, history, Islam or law? Pause the video here and give yourself a moment to think and press play when you're ready to continue.

What did you think? If you said they came to study history, Islam and law you're absolutely right, well done.

This brings us to our final learning task.

I'd like you to describe to your learning partner how Timbuktu became a place for learning.

Try to include these keywords.

Mosque, scholar, Islam.

Pause the video here and give yourself enough time to complete this learning task and press play when you're ready to continue.

How did that go? Shall we take a look at an example? So you may have said Mansa Musa created places for learning.

One of the mosques became a place for teaching.

Many scholars came to learn about history, Islam and law.

Well done if you are able to describe to your learning partner how Timbuktu became a place for learning and well done for completing that learning task.

Before we finish this lesson, let's summarise what we've learned about Mansa Musa and Timbuktu.

Mansa Musa spent time in Timbuktu and he ordered great mosques to be built there to spread Islam.

Timbuktu became very important for trade.

Many people travelled to Timbuktu by caravan to trade items like salt and gold.

Timbuktu also became a place of learning and education, and one of the mosques became a place for teaching.

Scholars travelled from all over the Islamic world to learn about history, Islam and law.

Thank you for joining me in this lesson.

I hope to see you in the next one.

See you next time.