What used to be called historical-particularist approach to anthropological theory, as also structuralism, has in recent decades fallen into neglect, but this author believes that contemporary anthropological theorists would do well not to overlook work of formerly renowned British anthropologist, Sir Edward Evans-- Pritchard, who stressed historical distinctiveness of societies rather than attempting to lump all human societies into single typological framework. His study of Nuer revealed society very different from kind of common universality that many contemporary theorists are prone to ascribe to all forms of human organization, and one at very early stage of kinship and political evolution. He also concentrated on trying to determine how specific societies may differ from each other rather than how similar they may appear superficially to each other. Key Words: Evans-Pritchard, social structure, historical particularism, functionalism, Nuer. 0. Introduction Edward E. Evans-Pritchard, - E-P as he was affectionately known - was one of most renowned and influential anthropologists of his time (1902-'73). Social anthropology was his passion and he remained truly committed to advancement of social anthropology. E-P is, as one of his Oxford colleagues commented, the one figure with whom more than anything else, all that is creative in Oxford Social had come to be identified (Jain 1974: 3). This opinion is reaffirmed in remark of another scholar that is bound to be said more than once that his death (1973, Sept 10th) marked end of an epoch in Social Anthropology (Lienhardt, 1974: 304). Beidelman writes that E-P made important contributions in varied fields ranging from anthropology of politics, kinship, and history, to economics, religion and folklore (1974: 559). Among many themes with which he is associated, 'segmentary' interpretation of Nuer society takes place of honor. I quote: problems on which he left really profound mark are those of lack of centralized order among Nuer, and those of lack of reason among Azande (Gellner 1981: xiv). The objective of this paper is to assess general contribution of E-P's analysis of segmentary structures among Nuer. The paper consists of three parts. The first provides very brief life-sketch of E-P. The second focuses on E-P's analysis of segmentary structure among Nuer. The final section attempts at critical appraisal of E-P in light of preceding discussion. 1. A Brief Life-Sketch E-P was born in Sussex in 1902, second son of late Rev. Thomas J. Evans-Pritchard. From Oxford University where he took B.A in modern history, he attended London School of Economics where he obtained his doctorate in under Prof. E.R.A Seligman, and subsequently taught from 1928-36. Indeed, it was Seligman who was responsible for launching him on his anthropological career. E-P was influenced by C.G and B.Z Seligman, B. Malinowski and A.M. Hocart, and E. Durkheim. He virtually ignored Max Weber throughout his career, despite their common concern with religious and political institutions. He rejected Radcliffe-Brown's quest for science of society and what he regarded as latter's simplistic functionalism although he owed debt to French sociological tradition. Social anthropology, for E-P was moral and natural science and he considered that role of anthropologist was akin to that of historian (Beidelman 1979: 176-77; Srinivas 1973: 323). E-P's distinguished academic career included services in various capacities to Fuad University of Cairo (Fuad), as well as Yale and Cambridge. In 1946, he succeeded Radcliffe-Brown as Professor of Social at Oxford, only retiring from that Chair in 1970. M. N. Srinivas remembers him as a stimulating teacher though his methods were unorthodox (1973: 323). …