Legal Pluralism as a Colonial Project in Africa

Colonial legal systems in Africa were not neutral administrative arrangements. They were deliberate political constructions designed to consolidate imperial power while preserving the appearance of continuity with existing legal institutions. This book provides a sustained legal-historical account of how the British built and operated such a system in Northern Nigeria between 1900 and 1960.

Drawing on an extensive range of sources, including Fulani jihad literature, colonial reports, court records, legal writings, memoirs, and the underutilised Hausa-language newspaper Gaskiya ta fi Kwabo, the book reconstructs the development of a plural legal order that combined English and Islamic law under colonial rule. It demonstrates that the jurisdictional ambiguities created by overlapping English and Islamic legal institutions enabled British officials to consolidate colonial authority, while providing opportunities for enslaved women, colonial-trained Islamic jurists, and anti-colonial activists to challenge, negotiate, and reshape that authority from within.

This volume will be essential reading for researchers and students of African history, colonial history, Islamic legal history, and socio-legal studies. It will also appeal to readers interested in the relationship between law, power, and resistance in colonial and postcolonial societies.