[4][5][6] The ancestors of the Hararis moved across the Bab-el-Mandeb, settling in the shores of Somalia and later expanding into the interior producing a Semitic-speaking population among Cushitic and non-Afroasiatic-speaking peoples in what would become Harar.

[10] Sheikh Abadir, the legendary patriarch of the Harari, is said to have arrived in the Harar plateau in the early thirteenth century, where he was met by the Harla, Gaturi and Argobba people.

[19][20][21] In the sixteenth century under Ahmed ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi, the Harari state stretched to large parts of the Horn of Africa.

[27] In the sixteenth century, walls built around the city of Harar during the reign of Emir Nur ibn Mujahid helped preserve Harari identity from being assimilated by the Oromo.

The sixteenth century saw Oromos invading regions of the Horn of Africa from the northern areas of Hargeisa to its southern portions such as Lower Juba, incorporating the Harari people.

[32] Hararis were furious when Muhammad Gasa decided to move the Adal Sultanate's capital from Harar to Aussa in 1577 in response to Oromo threats.

[34] Among the assimilated peoples were Arab Muslims that arrived during the start of the Islamic period, as well as Argobba and other migrants that were drawn to Harar's well-developed culture.

[35] Statistics prove that a Semitic-speaking people akin to the Harari may have inhabited a stretch of land between the Karkaar Mountains, the middle Awash and Jijiga.

[36][37] Following the decline of the Adal Sultanate's ascendancy in the area, a large number of the Harari were in turn reportedly absorbed into the Oromo community.

[39] Hararis supported the designated but uncrowned Emperor of Ethiopia Lij Iyasu, and his presumed efforts to make Harar the capital of an African Islamic empire.

[41] Chafing under imperial Ethiopian rule, Hararis made several attempts to cut ties with Ethiopia and unify Hararghe with Somalia, among them launching the nationalist Kulub movement which was linked to the Somali Youth League.

[44] Haile Selassie's overthrow by the Derg communist regime made minor differences for the Harari; they describe it as "little more than a transition from the frying pan into the fire".

[49][50] After Ethiopians won the war in Ogaden, Derg soldiers began massacring civilians in Harari areas of Addis Ababa for collaborating with Somalis.

[53] According to academic Sarah Vaughan, the Harari People's National Regional State was created to overturn the historically bad relationship between Harar and the Ethiopian government.

The earliest kabir or Islamic teacher in the community was Aw Sofi Yahya, a Harari scholar who was contemporary of the patron saint of Harar called Shaykh Abadir and it was from him that the first Qur'anic school was built around 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the south of the city center.

[85] The Harari people have also spread throughout North America, mainly to Washington D.C., Atlanta, Toronto, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Memphis.

The main room has large steps covered with carpets and pillows, called "Nedeba", where family members and guests take their seats according to their rank.

In the wealthiest families, 4 black clay pots, called "Aflala", are placed on a stone shelf, carved into the wall, where all valuable goods were stored, such as gold, coins, medicine and coffee beans.