Ajuran Sultanate

Ajuuraan Sultanate
*Dawladdii Ajuuraan* (Somali)
دولة الأجورانية (Arabic)
Ajuuraan Sultanate Dawladdii Ajuuraan (Somali); دولة الأجورانية (Arabic)
	(Mogadishu area) flag according to 1576 Portuguese map
	1576 Portuguese map of the Mogadishu area
	Kelafo the location of the Ajuran Sultanate in western Ethiopia by 1915
Capital	Mareeg (initially); Qelafo; Merca; Mogadishu; E
Common languages	Somali; Arabic;
Religion	Sunni Islam (state)
Government	Monarchy
Sultan, Imam
• 16th century	Rasul ibn Ali
• 20th century	Olol Dinle
History
• Established	13th century
• Ajuran-Portuguese battles	16th century
• Oromo invasions	16th century
• overthrown in the Banaadir By the Hiraab Imamate in the 17th century	17th century
• Overthrown in Southern Somalia by former Ajuraan general Ibrahim Adeer who founded the Geledi Sultanate he had conquered half the entirety of southern Somalia from the Ajuran Empire.; Leaving only kelafo in the western margins of Ethiopia to the Ajuran Empire.;	17th century
• Second Italo-Ethiopian War	20th century
• Disestablished	17th century southern Somalia; 20th century in western Ethiopia;
Currency	Ajuran; Mogadishan;
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Mogadishu Sultanate
	Tunni Sultanate
Geledi Sultanate
Hiraab Imamate
Today part of	Somalia; Ethiopia

The Ajuran Sultanate (Somali: Saldanadda Ajuuraan, Arabic: سلطنة الأجورانية), natively referred to as Ajuuraan, and often simply Ajuran/Ajur, was a Muslim empire in the Horn of Africa that thrived from the late medieval and early modern period. Founded by Somali Sultans its rise to prominence began during the 13th and 14th centuries and by the 15th century, it was Africa's only 'hydraulic empire'. Through a strong centralized administration and an aggressive military stance towards invaders, the Ajuran Empire successfully resisted Oromo invasions from the west and fought against Portuguese incursions from the east.

The Ajuran were among the great centres of commerce in the contemporary African world. Trading routes dating from ancient and early medieval periods of Somali maritime enterprise were strengthened and re-established, foreign trade and commerce in the coastal provinces flourished with ships sailing to and from kingdoms and empires in the Near East, East Asia, and the wider world. The Ajuran are believed to be the first Africans to have contact with China.