The market, the great mosque, the pharmacy, the post office, the Cercle building, the library, and the schools are all close together.

Banamba was founded by Marka people from Sokolo in the 1840s, but remained a small, unimportant village in the insecure frontier region between the Bamana Empire and Kaarta up until the 1860s.

[1]: 171 [2]: 378  The Toucouleur Empire's conquest of the middle Niger river valley both destabilized the traditional riverine trade routes and opened up a new east-west axis linking Segou with Nioro du Sahel.

[3]: 417  By the 1890s, it was the primary entrepot for the slave trade towards the upper Senegal river valley, as well as an important agricultural center.

Improved access to foreign markets pushed Marka plantation owners around Banamba to intensify grain production by overworking their slaves.

In March 1905 slaves began to leave their masters in droves, often returning to homes in the Sikasso and Bougouni cercles.

Everyone speaks Bambara except some of the bush people, particularly Fulani, who come in to market on Mondays, though other languages can be heard, including Moor.

On holidays (Muhammad's birthday and baptism, Ramadan, Tabaski) women dance to drums in various little corners around town.