Chronicles of al-Sūdān (Taʾrīḫ al-Sūdān)

8. Drums are beaten on the rooftops of Timbuktu

Timbuktu (Tombouctou, Tin Bukt)
Title
Drums are beaten on the rooftops of Timbuktu
Short description
Drums are beaten on the rooftops of Timbuktu by people assuming that Muḥammad al-Ṣādiq was going to become askia.
Text on source
واعملوا اللعب اطلعوا الطبل فوق سطح الديار وضربوه فرحَ بولاية محمّد الصادق لانّا اهل تنبكت يحبّونه كثيرا فقد غرّ نفسه وغرّهم [ص. ١٢٥]
English translation
They launched a celebration and beat drums [ṭabl] on the rooftops for joy at the accession of Muḥammad al-Ṣādiq, since he was greatly loved by the people of Timbuktu. But he deceived himself and led them astray
Folios/Pages
172
Date
1588 04 18 circa
Observations on the events description
Hunwick (2003, p. 280, n. 46) notices that according to this and other passages, at least some of Timbuktu's houses should have had flat rooftops where music would be played. It is to be noted that "drum" is in the singular [ṭabl].
The dots on the map indicate the places where sound and music events were described. They don't represent travel stages.

Participants
Name
Role
Notes
Edit
Delete
al-Ṣādiq, Muḥammad
Viewer
Balma'a


How to quote
Pintimalli A., "Drums are beaten on the rooftops of Timbuktu" (Event description), Echos. Sound Ecosystems in Travelogues. Published 2024 10 07.

doi: 10.25430/echos.travels.139

This work is licensed under CC-BY-SA 4.0