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 it ruled over large parts of the greater somalia region during the Middle Ages. Its rise to prominence began during the 13th and 14th centuries and by the 15th century, Ajuran was Africa's only 'hydraulic empire'.