Why did Timbuktu emerge as a center for Islamic learning? Choose the best answer choice, and explain.
Responses
Timbuktu was conquered by the Almoravids, who forced conversion on the people of Mali.
Timbuktu was an important religious site for pilgrimages by Muslim scholars.
Timbuktu’s role as an entrepôt attracted Islamic merchants and scholars to the region.
Timbuktu was the political center of the Mali and Songhai empires.
The best answer choice is: Timbuktu’s role as an entrepôt attracted Islamic merchants and scholars to the region.
Explanation: Timbuktu emerged as a center for Islamic learning due to its strategic location as a trading hub in the trans-Saharan trade routes. This attracted Islamic merchants and scholars to the region, leading to the establishment of mosques, universities, and libraries in Timbuktu. The wealth generated from trade also enabled the city to become a center for scholarship and learning in fields such as mathematics, astronomy, and Islamic theology.