View source for Bansang

{{Infobox settlement
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|official_name          =Bansang
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|subdivision_type       = Country
|subdivision_name       = [[The Gambia]]
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|subdivision_name1      = [[Central River Division]]
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|subdivision_name2      = [[Fulladu West]]
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|established_title      =  Founded
|established_date       = 1262
|established_title2     =  Re-settled
|established_date2      = 1920s
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|population_as_of               = 2012
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|population_total               = 8,843
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}}
'''Bansang''' is a town in the [[Central River Division]] of [[the Gambia]], with a population of 8,843 (2012). Although the official government center of the Division is located in [[Janjanbureh, Gambia|Janjanbureh]] downstream, Bansang has better access to the more affluent coastal region of the country, and is sometimes considered the unofficial "upcountry" economic capital.{{dubious|date=June 2023}}
The town is a market for peanuts, rice and fish.<ref name="EB Bansang">[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/52153/Bansang Bansang], Encyclopædia Britannica online. Retrieved 2012-04-30.</ref>
==History==
According to legend, Bansang was founded as '''Ba-Sansango''', meaning 'river [[Tata (fortification)|tata]]' in the early 1260s, during [[Tiramakhan Traore]]'s migration into the [[Gambia river]] valley.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chronologie de Tiramanghan |url=http://chantshistoiremande.free.fr/Html/chronol3.php |website=Chants et Histoires du Mande |access-date=7 October 2024 |language=French}}</ref> The area became part of the kingdoms of [[Kingdom of Jimara|Jimara]] and [[Wuropana]], constituent states of the [[Kaabu]] empire. In the 1860s the Fula kingdom of [[Fuladu]] rose as Kaabu declined.
By the late 19th century, Bansang was merely a wharf and river-crossing point. It became an important settlement during the colonial period as families settled there to take advantage of opportunities in the growing trade of [[peanut]]s on the [[Gambia river]]. [[Mandinka people]] were the first to resettle the place, followed by [[Fula people|Fula]] and [[Wolof people|Wolof]] in the 20th century.<ref>Bellagamba, Alice. "A Matter of Trust. Political Identities and Interpersonal Relationships along the River Gambia." Paideuma, vol. 46, 2000, p. 38. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40341782. Accessed 4 June 2023.</ref> The village began as a seasonally inhabited trading post, until the first compound was founded by a prosperous local trader, Bakary Darboe, in the 1920s. His family was followed by relatives of [[Musa Molloh Balde]], former ruler of [[Fuladu]].<ref>Bellagamba, 47-8.</ref>
==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Bansang Central River Division Gambia.jpg|The main street in Bansang
File:RiverGambia BansangCentralRiverDivisionGambia.jpg|Upstream view of the [[River Gambia]]
File:River Ferry Bansang Central River Division Gambia.jpg|The [[cable ferry|manually-operated]] vehicle ferry across the river
</gallery>
== Sources ==
* ''[http://www.columbia.edu/~msj42/CentralRiver.htm The Atlas of the Gambia]''
{{Coord|13|26|N|14|39|W|region:GM_type:city|display=title}}
{{Commons category|Bansang}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Central River Division]]
[[Category:Populated places in the Gambia]]