While there is little consensus among modern historians and ethnologists as to the origins or meaning of the ethno-linguistic term, references to the name "Bambara" can be found from the early 18th century. In addition to its general use as a reference to an ethno-linguistic group, "Bambara" was also used to identify captive Africans who originated in the interior of Africa perhaps from the upper Senegal-Niger region and transported to the Americas via ports on the Senegambian coast. As early as 1730 at the slave-trading post of Gorée, the term "Bambara" referred simply to slaves who were already in the service of the local elites or French.