| Alimirah Hanfere | |
|---|---|
| 10th Sultan of the Aussa Sultanate | |
| Reign | 1975–2011 |
| Titles | Garad |
| Born | 1921 |
| Died | April 24, 2011 |
| Predecessor | Mahammad Yayyo (1927–1944) |
| Dynasty | Mudaito Dynasty |
| Religious beliefs | Islam |
Sultan Alimirah Hanfere (sometimes written as Hanfare) (c. 1921 – April 24, 2011) was an Afar ruler. He was the most recent Sultan of the Aussa Sultanate, an Afar state which existed in present-day eastern Ethiopia.[1]
Hanfere was a member of the royal Mudaito Dynasty that governed the Aussa Sultanate from 1734 onwards, following the ascension to the throne of Kedafu.
Hanfere was a political exile during Ethiopia's Derg military junta, but returned from Saudi Arabia in 1991 following the regime's collapse. The Ethiopian Review described him as a "leader of the Afar ethnic community in eastern Ethiopia" and "a staunch advocate of Ethiopia’s unity."[1]
Sultan Alimirah died on April 24, 2011, at approximately the age of 95. He was buried in the northeastern town of Asaita, the former capital of the Afar Region.[1]
His son Hanfadhe Alimirah Hanfadhe was enthroned as his successor and new sultan of Aussa in November 2011 in Asaita near the ancient Aussa oasis. Prominent Afar leaders claimed him being the new "sultan of Afar", but it is doubtful that the other seven autonomous Afar sultans in Ethiopia, Djibouti and Eritrea recognize his authority.