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 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.
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.
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