Timbuktu, French Tombouctou, city in the western African country of Mali, historically important as a trading post on the trans-Saharan caravan route and as a centre of Islamic culture.For more than 600 years, Timbuktu was a significant religious, cultural and commercial center whose residents traveled throughout Asia, Africa and Europe. Timbuktu was famous for educating important scholars who were well known throughout the Islamic world.