Warsangali Sultanate

The Warsangali Sultanate was a Somali state founded in 1613 by Garaad Abdulle Mahmud I in the Maakhir coast and Cal Madow mountains region of what is now northeastern Somalia, stretching from the port of Ceelaayo to Bandar Jedid. It was a hereditary monarchy ruled by the Reer Garaad royal family of the Dar al-Sanjali dynasty, whose rulers held the title Garaad until 1764, when Sultan became the official designation, and local militarized lords governed provinces and collected taxes on the supreme ruler's behalf. The sultanate was oriented chiefly toward maritime trade, controlling nine major ports and dominating the Gulf of Aden's frankincense and gum trade with an established shipbuilding tradition, and it lasted nearly three centuries before being succeeded by British Somaliland in 1920.