Mahra Sultanate

The Mahra Sultanate, known in its later years as the Mahra State of Qishn and Socotra (Arabic: الدولة المهرية للبر وسقطرى Ad-Dawlah al-Mahreyah Llbar wa-Suquṭrah) or sometimes the Mahra Sultanate of Ghayda and Socotra (Arabic: سلطنة المهرة في الغيضة وسقطرى Salṭanat al-Mahrah fī al-Ghayḍā’ wa-Suquṭrah) 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.

In 1886, the Sultanate became a British protectorate and later joined the Aden Protectorate. The Sultanate was abolished in 1967 upon the founding of the People's Republic of South Yemen and is now part of the Republic of Yemen.

The Sultanate was inhabited by the Mahri 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 in Oman, blood lineage ties in Somalia and Somaliland with the Mehri in Somalia Arab Salah tribe, cultural traditions like a modern South Arabian language, Arabic incursions, 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 1967, with the departure of the British from the larger southern Arabian region, the Aden-based South Yemeni government divided the Mahra region, creating the Al Mahra Governorate. Socotra was administered by the Aden Governorate until 2004, when it was placed under the Hadhramaut Governorate. In 2013, however, Socotra was removed from the Hadramaut Governorate and created a governorate (Socotra Governorate) in its own right.