The Sultanate of Aussa was a kingdom that existed in the Afar Region in southern Eritrea, eastern Ethiopia and Djibouti from the 18th to the 20th century.

Due to their skills in desert warfare, the Afars managed to remain independent, unlike other similar groups in the region.

According to Richard Pankhurst, these relatively long periods of rule by modern standards pointed to a certain degree of political stability within the state.

[12] William Cornwallis Harris had stated that the town's defence was organised by the ruler Yusuf ibn Idjahis, a brave and martial sultan, whose armoury boasted several cannons and matchlocks.

[13] The Debne-Wemas, according to this account were not intimidated by this reverse returned with fresh allies from the coast that they rallied and had achieved a murderous defeat of the Mudaitos.

[11][14] Sultan Mahammad ibn Hanfadhe defeated and killed Werner Munzinger in 1875, who was leading an Egyptian army into Ethiopia.

As a result, the Ethiopian Emperor Menelik II stationed an army near Aussa to "make sure the Sultan of Awsa would not honor his promise of full cooperation with Italy" during the First Italo–Ethiopian War.

[21] Upon a visit to Rome, Sultan Mohamed Yayyo met Benito Mussolini and declared a speech of his loyalty towards the Italian Empire in Palazzo Venezia.

[22] Duce, dal tempo più lontano, la mia famiglia e state nemica degli abissini, nemici della potenti Italia.

I offer you this carpet which was already by the Negus Mikael and which later, Lij Iyasu gifted to my father: I am delighted that this rug, made for the Abyssinian sovereigns, is today property of the Founder of the Empire.

Aussa, which had been more-or-less self-governing until the Sultan's ascension in 1944, had been greatly weakened in power by the centralising forces of Haile Selassie's government.

Following the dissolution of Eritrea's federal government and its transformation into a centrally-administered province, Afar leaders met again in Assab in 1963 and supported the creation of an autonomous region.