Prior to French colonial expansion, Kayes was a small
village. Its location on the path of the futureDakar-Niger Railway, and the French
need for trade centers, led to the creation of the Kayes market town in 1881.
It remains a transport hub, primarily for Senegalese trade, to this day. In
1892, Kayes became the capital of theFrench
Sudan; Bamako replaced it as the capital, first of the state of
