The
Ajuuraan state or
Ajuuraan sultanate[1](
Somali:
Saldanadda Ajuuraan,
Arabic: سلطنة أجوران) was a
Somali Muslim empire[2][3][4] that ruled over large parts of the
Horn of Africa in the
Middle Ages. Through a strong centralized administration and an aggressive military stance towards invaders, the Ajuuraan Empire successfully resisted an
Oromo invasion from the west and a
Portuguese incursion from the east during the Gaal Madow and the Ajuuraan-Portuguese wars. Trading routes dating from the ancient and early medieval periods of
Somali maritime enterprise were strengthened or re-established, and foreign trade and commerce in the coastal provinces flourished with ships sailing to and coming from a many kingdoms and empires in
East Asia,
South Asia,
Europe, the
Near East,
North Africa and
East Africa.