Muftîs and the women of Timbuktu : history through Timbuktu's Fatwās, 1907-1960

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 265-279).This dissertation is about the social history of Timbuktu during the colonial era (1894 - 1960). This dissertation, firstly, takes fatwās from Timbuktu's archives as its historical source, a source the aforementioned scholars paid very little attention to or consciously ignored. Although fatwās are legal documents, this dissertation shows that fatwās are a historical source. Secondly, it looks at the history of ordinary men and women in their everyday lives