Timbuktu appears in the extract as a town whose commercial importance grew during the fourteenth century. Ibn Battuta visited it in 1363 while returning from the capital of Mali and described it as still small, with a population mainly composed of Massufa Berbers. Its early role was therefore connected to the same merchant and caravan networks that had supported Walata.

By the third quarter of the fourteenth century, Timbuktu had replaced Walata as the principal terminus of Saharan trade. Cartographic evidence cited in the extract shows the route shifting from Sijilmasa through Tuat and Taghaza to Timbuktu. Attacks by Ma'qil Arabs on caravans traveling toward Walata contributed to the redirection of traffic toward the eastern end of Tuat and onward to Timbuktu.

Timbuktu’s prosperity attracted people who had previously concentrated in Walata. A later account describes scholars, pious people and wealthy merchants from the Maghrib and Egypt moving to Timbuktu, where they joined different Sanhaja groups. The town’s rise thus represented not only a change in caravan geography but also the relocation of commercial and learned communities.

Timbuktu rose after the decline of Walata as a meeting place for caravans arriving from the north and for traders moving through the western Sudan. Its position differed from that of earlier market towns such as Awdaghust and Walata: although Timbuktu stood near the desert, it was also connected to a port on the Niger. This dual access allowed the town to receive both overland caravans and river traffic.

From the second half of the fourteenth century, Timbuktu’s growth was closely linked to the development of the Niger waterway as a commercial artery. Small boats carried goods between Timbuktu and Jenne, while salt transported downstream was divided into smaller pieces and carried by porters toward the goldfields. Timbuktu therefore occupied a pivotal position between Saharan salt routes, Niger navigation, and the southern gold trade.

The city also became a centre of migration and intellectual attraction. Al-Sa‘di described scholars, pious people, wealthy men, and Sanhaja groups leaving Walata for Timbuktu. Its commercial importance expanded even while its exposed position made it vulnerable: later in the fourteenth century, Mossi forces attacked the town, killed inhabitants, seized booty, and compelled representatives of Mali to flee temporarily.