<P> Timbuktu was a world centre of Islamic learning from the 13th to the 17th century, especially under the Mali Empire and Askia Mohammad I's rule . The Malian government and NGOs have been working to catalog and restore the remnants of this scholarly legacy: Timbuktu's manuscripts . </P> <P> Timbuktu's rapid economic growth in the 13th and 14th centuries drew many scholars from nearby Walata (today in Mauretania), leading up to the city's golden age in the 15th and 16th centuries that proved fertile ground for scholarship of religions, arts and sciences . To the people of Timbuktu, literacy and books were symbols of wealth, power, and blessings and the acquisition of books became a primary concern for scholars . An active trade in books between Timbuktu and other parts of the Islamic world and emperor Askia Mohammed's strong support led to the writing of thousands of manuscripts . </P> <P> Knowledge was gathered in a manner similar to the early, informal European Medieval university model . Lecturing was presented through a range of informal institutions called madrasahs . Nowadays known as the University of Timbuktu, three madrasahs facilitated 25,000 students: Djinguereber, Sidi Yahya and Sankore . </P> <P> These institutions were explicitly religious, as opposed to the more secular curricula of modern European universities and more similar to the medieval Europe model . However, where universities in the European sense started as associations of students and teachers, West - African education was patronized by families or lineages, with the Aqit and Bunu al - Qadi al - Hajj families being two of the most prominent in Timbuktu--these families also facilitated students is set - aside rooms in their housings . Although the basis of Islamic law and its teaching were brought to Timbuktu from North Africa with the spread of Islam, Western African scholarship developed: Ahmad Baba al Massufi is regarded as the city's greatest scholar . </P>

What was the importance of the city of timbuktu