Resumo
Across the southern Senegambia jalaŋ are powerful places (usually trees, caves or standing stones) where a spirit or djinn is believed to live. During the Kingdom of Kaabu (13th-19th C) jalaŋ were central to the operation of political power, anchoring the landscape onto the past, regulating the operation of political agents in the present, and shaping the future through predictions and rulings. While their origin is uncertain, jalaŋ have since at least the 13th century coexisted with Islam; sometimes in parallel, sometimes as integrated elements of a more syncretic ‘maraboutic’ form of Islam. In this paper I shall discuss the nature of jalaŋ and their archaeological footprint as well as their complex interactions with world religions, Islam in particular.