Timbuktu Gallery

West African Tuareg Horse Warriors

West African Tuareg Warriors, in traditional veiled headdresses, all mounted on fine horse and carrying spears and enormous shields. The Tuareg are a Berber nomadic pastoralist people, known as the 'People of the Veil'. The wearing of the Alasho veil by Tuareg men originates from the belief that such action wards off evil spirits. Date: circa 1910s

© Mary Evans / Grenville Collins Postcard Collection

Calabashes on sale beside the river Niger at Mopti, once one of the major entrepots

Calabashes on sale beside the river Niger at Mopti, once one of the major entrepots of the trans-Saharan trade caravans. The trade routes converging on the Niger bend were the heart of the great medieval empires of Mali and Songhai. Towns such as Mopti and Timbuktu became centres of trade, industry and Islamic learning. Country of Origin: Mali. Culture: Islamic. Period/ Date: late 1950's - early 1960's. Place of Origin: Mopti, Niger bend. Credit Line: Werner Forman Archive. Location: 30

© Werner Forman Archive / Heritage-Images

Dr Heinrich Barth, German geographer and explorer, (c1900). Artist: Unknown

Dr Heinrich Barth, German geographer and explorer, at Timbuktu, Mali, (c1900). Heinrich Barth (1821-1865) was a member of the expedition commanded by James Richardson, sent to penetrate the Sahara from the north in 1850. When Richardson died in Nigeria in 1851, Barth took command, and after extensive exploration returned to London in 1855. His scientific training and thoroughness meant that more was learned about the geography and peoples of the interior of north and west Africa from him than from any previous explorers of the region. Dutch advertising for Cibils meat extract, (c1900)

© The Print Collector / Heritage-Images