[1][2] The name was also sometimes the title of chiefs or kings of the Serer people of the Senegambia region which includes modern day Senegal and the Gambia.
[9] Although the later lamanes were always descendants of the Serer village and town founders (the original lamanes), and their families ruled the Kingdoms of Sine, Saloum and Baol etc., the power they previously enjoyed as lamanes diminished, but they continued to make up the land-owning class.
As such, they were extremely powerful if not as true kings as guardians of Serer traditions and beliefs and could dethrone a reigning monarch if threatened.
They created sanctuaries and shrines in honour of the Pangool (Serer ancestral spirits and Saints).
[13] They are the predecessors of the Serer priestly class (the Saltigue).