Murray Last

Murray Last
Name	Murray Last
Birth date	1940s
Birth place	Australia
Occupation	Anthropologist, historian, academic
Alma mater	University of Cambridge, University of Ibadan
Notable works	The Sokoto Caliphate (1977), The Sokoto Caliphate 1804–1903 (1980s lectures)
Awards	Fellowship of the British Academy (candidate)

Murray Last Murray Last is an Australian-born anthropologist and historian known for his scholarship on Nigeria, the Sokoto Caliphate, and the legacy of Usman dan Fodio. Trained in British and Nigerian institutions, he combined fieldwork among Hausa and Fulani communities with archival research in London and Zaria. His work influenced studies of Islamic reform movements, colonial administration, and oral history methodologies in West Africa.

Early life and education

Last was born in Australia and pursued higher education in the United Kingdom and Nigeria. He studied at the University of Cambridge where he encountered scholars of African history and anthropology linked to the British Academy and the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. He undertook postgraduate research at the University of Ibadan and conducted fieldwork in northern Nigeria, collaborating with researchers from the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan and the Centre of West African Studies, Birmingham.

Career and research

Last held academic posts that connected British and Nigerian academic networks, contributing to conversations in journals affiliated with the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland and the African Studies Association. His research combined ethnography among Hausa communities, archival work in colonial records at institutions like the National Archives (United Kingdom) and libraries in Zaria, and engagement with Islamic manuscripts preserved in Sokoto and Kano. He worked alongside historians such as John Iliffe, D. W. Brokke and anthropologists linked to debates launched by scholars from the School of Oriental and African Studies and the University of Cambridge.

Last emphasized primary sources produced by actors within the Sokoto polity and interlocutors across the Sahel, drawing on networks of marabouts, emirs, and colonial administrators recorded in the holdings of the British Library and regional archives. His methodological interventions responded to interventions by historians of reform movements like Joseph Schacht and scholars of African Islam including John Hunwick and Ibrahim S. Al-Bashir.

Work on the Sokoto Caliphate and Usman dan Fodio

Last is best known for detailed studies of the Sokoto Caliphate established by Usman dan Fodio after the 1804 jihad and its political, religious, and social institutions through the 19th century. He examined the roles of emirs, lesser chiefs, and Sufi networks, situating Sokoto within wider Sahelian connections to Timbuktu, Kano, and Bornu. His work reappraised colonial-era accounts produced by officers of the Royal Niger Company and officials of the British Empire by juxtaposing them with oral traditions preserved by Hausa bards and Fulani clerical families. He engaged debates about legitimacy, jihad, and reform that intersect with studies by Paul E. Lovejoy on slavery and scholars addressing Islamic law such as Charles Pellat.

Last traced the legal and administrative mechanisms through which the Sokoto leadership maintained authority, exploring correspondence, fatwas, and sanad traditions held in private and institutional collections in Sokoto and Kano. He analyzed the interaction between Sokoto elites and colonial agents during the period of Scramble for Africa and indirect rule under figures linked to the Colonial Office.

Publications and major works

His monograph on the Sokoto polity and several influential articles appeared in venues associated with the Journal of African History, the Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, and collections edited by scholars from SOAS University of London and the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. Major publications engaged with the historiography of Usman dan Fodio and included annotated translations of Hausa and Arabic texts originating from clerical circles in northern Nigeria. His bibliographic and critical essays were cited by historians such as Michael Brett, Michael Cook, and area specialists affiliated with the International Africa Institute.

Awards and recognition

Last’s scholarship earned recognition from institutions and learned societies connected to African studies, including nominations and fellowships linked to the British Academy and research grants from foundations associated with the Leverhulme Trust and networks of the African Studies Association. His work is frequently referenced in course syllabi at departments such as the University of Ibadan, Ahmadu Bello University, and SOAS University of London.

Personal life and later years

Last maintained long-term ties with northern Nigeria, often returning to archival repositories in Sokoto and consulting with traditional authorities such as emirs and Islamic scholars associated with the Qadiriyya and Tijaniyya orders. In later years he continued to publish on topics relating to Sahelian history and the legacies of 19th-century reformers in contemporary debates involving institutions like Nigerian National Archives and university departments at Ahmadu Bello University.

Category:Australian anthropologists Category:Historians of Nigeria