Lamane Jegan Joof (English spelling in the
Gambia
The Gambia,, ff, Gammbi, ar, غامبيا officially the Republic of The Gambia, is a country in West Africa. It is the smallest country within mainland AfricaHoare, Ben. (2002) ''The Kingfisher A-Z Encyclopedia'', Kingfisher Publicatio ...
, Lamane Djigan Diouf French spelling in
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤠(Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤠ðž ...
, also : Ndigan Dieye Diouf, Djigan Diouf, Laman Jegaan Juuf or Jegaan Jaay Juuf in
Serer language
Serer, often broken into differing regional dialects such as Serer-Sine and Serer saloum, is a language of the kingdoms of Sine and Saloum branch of Niger–Congo spoken by 1.2 million people in Senegal and 30,000 in the Gambia as of 2009. It i ...
), was a
Serer lamane
Lamane or laman (also ''laam'' or ''lam'') means "master of the land" in the Mandingue, Wolof, and Serer languages. The name was also sometimes the title of chiefs or kings of the Serer people of the Senegambia region which includes modern day Sen ...
who according to Serer tradition founded the Serer village of
Tukar
Tukar ( Serer : A Tukaar, other variations : ''Toukar'' or ''Toucar'') a large village in Senegal. Attached to the rural community of Ngayokhem, it is located in the area of the pre-colonial Kingdom of Sine, west of Senegal. The population is ove ...
now part of present-day Senegal. The ''Raan Festival'' (a major event in the
Serer religious calendar) takes place each year at Tukar, two weeks after the appearance of the
new moon
In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclipse.
...
in April.
Origins
According to the oral tradition of the
Serer people
The Serer people are a West African ethnoreligious group. , Jegan Joof migrated from
Lambaye following a dispute with his relative, the king of Lambaye–Baol
Teign
Teigne (also : Teign, Tègne, Teeñ, Tin or Tañ in Wolof language) was the title of the monarch of the pre-colonial Kingdom of Baol, now part of present-day Senegal.
In Wolof, "Teigne" means the support that is placed on the head to carry som ...
Jinaax Jalaan Joof (or Teeñ Jinaax Jalaan Juuf).
[Becker, Charles; Martin, Victor; & Ndène. Aloyse; (Révision et édition par Charles Becker), ''Traditions villageoises du Siin'' (2014), pp. 191–192] The dispute was about the governance of Lambaye and
over-taxation. Jegan Joof who was also a mix-farmer and with a large
cattle herd felt he was being overtaxed unjustly. He thus decided to migrate with his younger brother Ndik Joof in search of new land and territory to exploit, hence the founding of Tukar, presently, a rather large village which includes numerous other villages such as Njujuf, Ndokh, Sob, etc. They were former colonies of Tukar and part of Jegan's estate. The
Joof family reigned in Tukar for several centuries, inherited from their ancestor Lamane Jegan Joof.
In the
epic
Epic commonly refers to:
* Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation
* Epic film, a genre of film with heroic elements
Epic or EPIC may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and medi ...
of Jegan Joof, he is reported to have had a son called Sosseh Joof (variation : Socé Diouf) who
inherited his father's estate. Ndik Joof, brother of Jegan, is reported to have died in Tukar before Jegan's own death. Jegan Joof belongs to the ''Patik'' matriclan—one of the many
Serer maternal clans
Serer maternal clans or Serer matriclans ( Serer : Tim or ''Tiim''; Ndut : CiiÉ—im) are the maternal clans of the Serer people of Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania. The Serer are both patrilineal (''simanGol'' or ''Simangol'') and matrilineal. ...
.
Land pawning
In 1937, a descendant of Jegan Joof called Biram Diouf
pawned
A pawnbroker is an individual or business (pawnshop or pawn shop) that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral. The items having been ''pawned'' to the broker are themselves called ''pledges'' or ...
his family's
estate to the Sene noble family of
Sine
In mathematics, sine and cosine are trigonometric functions of an angle. The sine and cosine of an acute angle are defined in the context of a right triangle: for the specified angle, its sine is the ratio of the length of the side that is oppo ...
. It took his descendants 50 years to pay off the debt and regained their family estate.
Status in religion
In the
Serer religion
The Serer religion, or ''a Æat Roog'' ("the way of the Divine"), is the original religious beliefs, practices, and teachings of the Serer people of Senegal in West Africa. The Serer religion believes in a universal supreme deity called Roog (o ...
, the ''Raan Festival'' takes place once a year in
Tukar
Tukar ( Serer : A Tukaar, other variations : ''Toukar'' or ''Toucar'') a large village in Senegal. Attached to the rural community of Ngayokhem, it is located in the area of the pre-colonial Kingdom of Sine, west of Senegal. The population is ove ...
, on the second Thursday after the
new moon
In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclipse.
...
in April. In this festival, the Serer high priests and priestesses known as the
Saltigues make offering of
millet
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...
s and wine to the shrine of ''Saint Luguuñ Joof''. This
Holy Saint (or
Pangool
Pangool (in Serer and Cangin) singular: Fangool (var : ''Pangol'' and ''Fangol''), are the ancient saints and ancestral spirits of the Serer people of Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania. The Pangool play a crucial role in Serer religion and hist ...
in
Serer) is said to have guided Lamane Jegan Joof when he migrated from Lambaye in search of new land to exploit.
[ Gravrand, Henry, pp342-3 & 349]
See also
*
Serer people
The Serer people are a West African ethnoreligious group.
*
Joof family
*
Lamane
Lamane or laman (also ''laam'' or ''lam'') means "master of the land" in the Mandingue, Wolof, and Serer languages. The name was also sometimes the title of chiefs or kings of the Serer people of the Senegambia region which includes modern day Sen ...
*
Kingdom of Baol
*
Kingdom of Sine
The Kingdom of Sine (also: ''Sin, Siine'' or Siin in the Serer-Sine language) was a post-classical Serer kingdom along the north bank of the Saloum River delta in modern Senegal. The inhabitants are called ''Siin-Siin'' or ''Sine-Sine'' (a Serer ...
*
Kingdom of Saloum
*
States headed by ancient Serer Lamanes
References
Bibliography
*
Sarr, Alioune. "Histoire du Sine-Saloum (Sénégal)." Introduction, bibliographie et notes par Charles Becker. Version légèrement remaniée par rapport à celle qui est parue en 1986-87 co 1985.
* Bressers, Hans & Rosenbaum, Walter A., ''Achieving sustainable development: the challenge of governance across social scales'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 2003
* Ubink, Janine M, Hoekema, André J, Assies, Willem J, "Legalising Land Rights: Local Practices, State Responses and Tenure Security in Africa, Asia and Latin America", Amsterdam University Press, 2010.
* Galvan, Dennis Charles, ''The State Must Be Our Master of Fire: How Peasants Craft Culturally Sustainable Development in Senegal'', University of California Press, Berkeley, 2004
* Faye, Louis Diène, ''Mort et naissance : le monde Sereer'', Nouvelles Éditions africaines, 1983
* Gastellu, Jean-Marc, ''L'égalitarisme économique des Serer du Sénégal'', IRD Éditions, 1981
*
Gravrand, Henry, ''La civilisation sereer,'' vol. II : ''Pangool'', Nouvelles éditions africaines, Dakar, 1990,
*
University of Wisconsin-Madison
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
. African Studies Program, "African economic history, Volume 25", University of Wisconsin, African Studies Program (1997), p 28-9
*Becker, Charles; Martin, Victor; & Ndène. Aloyse; (Révision et édition par Charles Becker), ''Traditions villageoises du Siin'' (2014), pp. 191–192
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joof, Lamane Jegan
Jegan
The ''Rave Master'' manga and anime series features an extensive cast of characters created by Hiro Mashima. The series takes place in a fictional universe that exists as a parallel world where vast numbers of humans, as well as species known ...
Lamane
Serer patriarchs
Year of birth uncertain
11th-century monarchs in Africa