Lamane

Lamane or Laman (also Laam or Lam) "master of the land" were the landed gentry as well the title of ancient kings of the Serer people of the Senegambia region which includes modern day Senegal and The Gambia. [1] This Serer title was also borrowed by the old kings of the Wolof kingdoms. [2] The title is sometimes used interchangably with the old title Maat, Maad or Mad (ancient Serer Kings). [3][4] These pre-Guelowar Lamans should not be confused with the post Guelowar Lamans after the Battle of Turubang 1335 which led to the Guelowars migration to the Kingdom of Sine as refuges. The pre Turubang (or Guelowar) Lamans were kings whilst the post Turubang Lamans were merely provincial chiefs answerable to the King of Sine and Saloum.[5]

Although the post Turubang Lamans were always descendants of the ancient Serer village and town founders (the original Lamans), and their families indeed ruled the the Kingdoms of Sine, Saloum and Baol etc, the power they previously enjoyed as Lamans became diminished post Turubang but were still titled and made up the class of the landed gentry.[6] Although their power was somewhat diminished, their economic and political power was intricately linked to Serer custom, Serer history as well as Serer religion. As such, they were extremely powerful if not as true kings after Turubang (1335), as guardians of Serer traditions and beliefs and could dethrone a reigning monarch if threatened.[7][8]

Contents

The Great Council of Lamans

The Great Council of Lamans was an ancient Council made up of Serer Lamans (Kings) who divided the Senegambia region into Lamanats (provinces or kingdoms) which they ruled. [9][10] One of their constitutional duties were to hear legal cases like a Court of Appeal.[11] The first Guelowar king in Sine (Maysa Wali Jaxateh Manneh commonly known as Maysa Wali Jon) was legal advisor to this Council for 15 years before his nomination an election as King of Sine. It was this Council that granted his family (the Guelowars) asylum after their defeat by the Nyanthio dynasty of Kaabu at Turubang (a dynastic war between the royal houses of Guelowar and Nyanthio).[12][13]

Some prominent Serer Lamans

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Dennis Charles Galvan. The state must be our master of fire: p202. Dennis Charles Galvan. p202. University of California Press, 2004. ISBN 0520235916
  2. ^ J. F. Ade Ajayi, Michael Crowder. History of West Africa, p462. Longman, 1976.
  3. ^ Roland Oliver, John Donnelly Fage, G. N. Sanderson. The Cambridge History of Africa, p214. Cambridge University Press, 1985. ISBN 0521228034
  4. ^ J. F. Ade Ajayi and Michael Crowder. History of West Africa, Volume 1, p 468. Published by: Longman, 1985. ISBN 0582646839
  5. ^ Alioune Sarr. Histoire du Sine-Saloum. Introduction, bibliographie et Notes par Charles Becker, BIFAN, Tome 46, Serie B, n° 3-4, 1986-1987
  6. ^ Yves-Jean Saint-Martin. Le Sénégal sous le Second Empire, Karthala (2000), p. 35 and 610. ISBN 2865372014
  7. ^ Lilyan Kesteloot, Dieux d'eau du Sahel : voyage à travers les mythes, de Seth à Tyamaba, L'Harmattan, Paris, ; IFAN, Dakar, 2007, p. 123 (ISBN 978-2-296-04384-8)
  8. ^ Biram Ngom Éthiopiques (revue), numéro 54, nouvelle série, vol. 7, semestre 1991
  9. ^ Henry Gravrand. La Civilisation Sereer - Cosaan, Les origines. p-p 295-6 and 303. Nouvelles Editions africaines, 1983. ISBN 2723608778
  10. ^ Biram Ngom Éthiopiques (revue), numéro 54, nouvelle série, vol. 7, semestre 1991
  11. ^ Biram Ngom Éthiopiques (revue), numéro 54, nouvelle série, vol. 7, semestre 1991
  12. ^ Biram Ngom Éthiopiques (revue), numéro 54, nouvelle série, vol. 7, semestre 1991
  13. ^ Henry Gravrand. La Civilisation Sereer - Cosaan, Les origines. p-p 295-6. Nouvelles Editions africaines, 1983. ISBN 2723608778
  14. ^ Dennis Charles Galvan. p108-111 and 122, 304. University of California Press, 2004. ISBN 0520235916
  15. ^ Joint Center for African Studies. Conference, University of California, Berkeley, Stanford University. Stanford-Berkeley Joint Center for African Studies Annual Conference: papers, Volume 2, p14. Joint Center for African Studies., 1995
  16. ^ Okwudiba Nnoli. Ethnic conflicts in Africa, p241. CODESRIA, 1998. ISBN 2869780702
  17. ^ Biram Ngom Éthiopiques (revue), numéro 54, nouvelle série, vol. 7, semestre 1991
  18. ^ Alioune Sarr. Histoire du Sine-Saloum. Introduction, bibliographie et Notes par Charles Becker, BIFAN, Tome 46, Serie B, n° 3-4, 1986-1987

Bibliography