Mahra State of Qishn and Socotra | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1432–1967 | |||||||||
 Flag | |||||||||
.svg) Map of Mahra in 1923 | |||||||||
.svg) Location of Mahra within the Arabian peninsula in 1923 | |||||||||
| Capital | Shihr (until 1495) Qishn Tamrida/Hadibu | ||||||||
| Common languages | Arabic, Mehri | ||||||||
| Religion | Islam | ||||||||
| Demonym(s) | Mahri | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | 1432 | ||||||||
• British protectorate | 1886 | ||||||||
• Dissolved | 30 November 1967 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Yemen Oman | ||||||||
| History of Yemen |
|---|
 Yemen portal |
.jpg)
The Mahra Sultanate, known in its later years as the Mahra State of Qishn and Socotra (Arabic: الدولة المهرية للبر وسقطرى Al-Dawlah al-Mahrīyah lil-Barr wa-Suquṭrā) or sometimes the Mahra Sultanate of Ghayda and Socotra (Arabic: سلطنة المهرة في الغيضة وسقطرى Salṭanat al-Mahrah fī al-Ghayḍah wa-Suquṭrā) 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 became 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 Republic of South Yemen. With the departure of the British from the larger southern Arabian region, the Aden-based South Yemeni government divided the sultanate, creating the Al Mahra Governorate and Socotra was administered by the Aden Governorate. The sultanate is now part of the Republic of Yemen and the Sultanate of Oman.