Mahra Sultanate

Common card · No. 303897

The Mahra Sultanate, known in its later years as the Mahra State of Qishn and Socotra, or sometimes the Mahra Sultanate of Ghayda and Socotra, and formerly as the Afrari Arab Sultanate, was a sultanate that included the historical region of Mahra and the Guardafui Channel island of Socotra in what is now eastern Yemen. It was ruled by the Banu Afrar dynasty for most of its history. The Sultanate was inhabited by the Mehri people who spoke the Mahri language, a modern South Arabian language. The Mehri share, with their regional neighbours on the island of Socotra and in Dhofar, cultural traditions like a modern South Arabian language, and frankincense agriculture. The region benefits from a coastal climate, distinct from the surrounding desert climate, with seasons dominated by the khareef or monsoon. In 1886, the Sultanate came under the British-ruled Aden Protectorate and later under the Protectorate of South Arabia. The Sultanate was abolished in 1967 upon the founding of the People's...

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