Laman Jegan Joof

Jegan Joof or Djegan Diouf was a eleventh century Serer noble originally from the Kingdom of Lambaye in modern day Senegal. It is from his line that the Joof or Diouf Royal Dynasty of the Serer Kingdom of Sine as well as Saloum trace their descent. Although a royal himself by virtue of being a member of the royal family of Lambaye, he was also wealthy enough due to his farming profession and as a result faced heavy taxes from the King of Lambaye. Royal princes at the time even up to the nineteenth century had other professions and not simply relied on their princely titles (Alioune Sarr,
Histoire du Sine-Saloum). Due to the heavy taxes levied against him and the fact that he had previously tried to usurp the throne but failed, he decided to leave Lambaye accompanied by his brother Ndick. When they arrived in the place we now know as Tukar in modern day Senegal, they decided to set fire to the forest, clear it and set up a new kingdom of his own, because at that time, the area was an inhospitable forest. This is within the rules of Serer Land Law (Issa Laye Thiaw. La Femme Seereer. ISBN 2747589072). In fact, this is not merely the history of Jegan Joof and Tukar but also, the old and rigid system of Serer Land Law as backed up Dennis C. Galvan in his book "The State Must be Our Master of Fire " ISBN 9780520235915. As his new kingdom became populated with migrants, he and his family generated a lot of wealth due to the taxes imposed on settlers. His descendants (the Joof family) continued to rule the Kingdom even up to the twentieth century but are now provincial chiefs after Senegal's independence, because all old Kingdoms are now part of independent Senegal. Although the Joof family still play an important role in Tukar by virtue of birth right, they almost lost their estate when a member of the Joof family (Biram Diouf) pawned it off in the twentieth century. The history of Laman Jegan Joof and Tukar is well preserved by the Serer people and is now part of the Senegalese national curriculum.
History of Jegan Joof and Tukar
Tukar! A large kingdom founded and ruled by Laman Jegan Joof The Great. Only his descendants
has hereditary claim to rule in that great kingdom. Jegan Joof was the legendary
hero who migrated from Lambaye with his younger brother Ndik to the north of Sine
and 'set fire to the bush' - thereby creating Tukar. They had a dispute with the
Laman - their father's relative - which led them to leave. That dispute was
about the running of the kingdom of Lambaye. Their paternal uncle was being
extremely difficult and refused to co-operate. As if that was not enough, the
Laman's taxes were extremely high and Jegan began to lose many of his animals to
taxes. He could not tolerate that any longer and one day he commanded his younger
brother to leave Lambaye. They headed to Tukar - as we know it today, but then it
was nothing more than an inhospitable forest. He lived there with his younger brother
until his brother's death. Jegan Joof lit the fire which cleared all his territory
and which extended all the way to the black lands and he farmed all of that space.
He held all of this land from Ndoffan Xoor to Guilok and Xuuxnan. All that belonged
to NjuuJoof - the ancestral homeland of N’Joofene (the Joof Family or the Clan Joof. NjuuJoof is the original neighbourhood of Tukar founded by Jegan and current home of his descendants).
When the king came to visit, he was so touched that he commented "NjuuJoof will never change and would never move from here." NjuuJoof had its own special liberties - ruled by the Joof Family with its own legal, economic and political system. The ancient "Laman/Maad Sinig" (kings) that came after Jegan, none of them in history
tried to change NjuuJoof or tried to conquer it. The "Gelwars" (the last dynasty of Sine and Saloum)
married into this family and other noble paternal families but not even they tried to capture
NjuuJoof. The reason for that was 'fear' of being dethrone and outcast. The Joof
Family were not only one of the oldest warrior families of the Serer tribe, but they
were also highly involved in the ancient occult. If the sword of the Joof Clan was
not enough to put a fright on those kings, be they members of the Joof Clan or not,
the threat of the ancient Pangool (spirits) of NjuuJoof was enough to do the trick.
In the days of Jegan , Fassamane Chaw (Thiaw) commonly referred to as Fassar o Njafaj -
ancestor of the Chaw Family, an adventurer came upon Jegan one day at the end of the
harvest. Jegan was going to have a very large harvest of millets. So Fassamane
said "oh, you are going to have quite a bit of millet!" Jegan was so surprised by his
comment he said 'tuuk!' (shut up! In the Serer language). He then commanded
Fassamane to say 'kar - kar' (just kidding). It is from this that the name Tukar
originated from. Jegan was shocked that Fassar dared to announce to the world his
large harvest, but more so, to the spirits - who might be listing and through their
jealousy, might bring plague of locusts. This ancient 'superstition' still prevails
today in Senegambia. Serer and Wolof custom forbid drawing attention to success or
good fortune, because they fear that jealous spirits will take note, become jealous
and intervene. If you slip and offer a compliment or comment on how much millet one
is about to harvest, you are expected to add quickly 'kar - kar' (just kidding) to
ward off the attention of evil spirits. Fassar having done so, he was taken in by
Jegan and ensured that he was well feed and had somewhere to stay.
Several nights will fall when Fassar will perform one of the oldest sacrilege in
Serer custom. Fassar went to see the king to gain part of the land of Jegan.
Fassar was told by the king to seek the permission of the Laman (Jegan) who was
the "yal naay" (the master of the fire - the one who first cleared the fields and
lit the fire). If Jegan agrees, he would grant him a "bakh" (right to cut and clear
a certain parcel of the Laman’s kingdom). Fassar was further told by the king that,
if Jegan grants him the title of "yal - bakh" (master of the cutting - the holder
Of the right to cut, granted by the master of the fire), he must follow Serer
tradition in respect of ownership of land/title. That is: the prospective settler
recognises the material and spiritual legitimacy of his claim; the land belongs to
the Laman whose job among others is to look after the ecosystem of his kingdom; has
control over the land and the significance of the Pangool (spirits) of the Laman’s lineage;
the settler pay taxes to the Laman; will not use the land for anything that can
damage the ecosystem; title passes to the Laman’s descendants and the descendants of the settler will pay taxes and seek permission of the Laman’s descendants - whose job is to continue the hard work of their ancient ancestors and ensure the land is well looked after for future generations to come.
When Fassar returned, he did not seek the permission of Jegan. Instead, he lit a
fire at Sagne Folo. When Jegan came out of his house, he saw a gigantic fire lit
before him, he couldn't believe his eyes. He pronounced the spirit of his brother
Ndik, and said - "that paal (blacksmith) who left all that baggage here has lit himself a
fire." Jegan not only looked after the estate when his guest was away plotting
behind his back, but to see the guest performing such sacrilege was beyond his
comprehension.
Jegan rushed to the edge of the fire, he then started cutting down trees to
his "ndaak" (estate). By cutting down the young trees, their moisture content would
help slow down the fire, thereby preventing it from burning into his ndaak. The
next day, the "paal" came back and said to Jegan - "the king greets you". He then
recounted for Jegan his encounter with the king and the division of the fields.
Jegan was not amused. He then led Fassar to the fields to see the effect of the
fire. They saw that it stretched behind NjuuJoof in the opposite direction towards
Xuuxnan. "The damage has been done. This cannot be remedied and since a paal like
you have failed to follow custom, I the noble one would grant you a yal - bakh
provided you follow custom from now on" - said Jegan . As a result, Fassar was
granted land. He continued to pay tribute to Jegan and accepted Jegan as the original founder and
over lord. Even his descendants to this day accepts Jegan as the original founder and
pay tribute to the Joof Family at Tukar. Settlers who came later seek the
permission of the Joof family and not the Chaw Family.
From the days of Fassamane's sacrilege in NjuuJoof, no king or family noble or
otherwise dared performed such an act. Few years will pass when the Kama-Kama (the
Kama Clan or Kama Family) had an audience with Jegan . They wanted to settle in the area and
requested permission from the Laman (Jegan). Jegan offered them a generous portion of
his land. However, Kumba Kama, the paternal ancestor of the Kama-Kama and
generally referred to as Amad Kumba Kama, refused to fulfilled his side of the
bargain - that he had agreed with Jegan according to Serer Land and Contract Law . So Jegan told him - "since you have
refused, I will take back my land and you and your family will no longer farm here." The Kama Clan were barred from settling in Tukar/NjuuJoof. Centuries will pass since Jegan when the Clan Joof granted the Kama Clan permission to settle.
However, the Kama Family were over taxed by the Joof Family unlike any body else in the Kingdom. The ultimate punishment.

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