Sansanding

Sansanding stands on the Niger downstream from Ségou, in the heart of the riverine trading country. Its market drew merchants from the Sahara as well as from towns and villages along the Niger. The Scottish traveller Mungo Park found a large and busy town here in 1796, where traders exchanged goods from the north for gold and cotton.

Park returned in 1805 and spent several weeks at Sansanding preparing boats and supplies for his last journey down the Niger, a voyage from which he would not return. In the following decades conflict between the rulers of Ségou and the state of Masina disrupted routes farther downstream. Sansanding benefited from the resulting changes in trade and became one of the most important markets of the region.