Alimirah Hanfere was born in area the village of
Fursi, which is today divided between the
Amhara Region and the
Afar Region. He was said to have been born around 1919, but at his death was said to be 95 years old, suggesting he was born earlier. A member of the Aussa
Mudaito Dynasty, and the youngest of three children, with two older sisters, Fatima and Medina, his father was Hanfare Aydahis and mother was Hawy Omar. His grandfather,
Mahammad ibn Hanfere, was himself Sultan of Aussa from 1862 to 1902, who declared his loyalty to Emperor
Menelik II and defeated an Egyptian force led by
Werner Munzinger attempting to invade Ethiopia in 1875. His father was killed while his mother was pregnant with Alimirah, and she herself died when Alimirah was young, leaving him to be raised by his eldest sister, Fatima. Fatima married
Fitawrari Yayyo Hamadu, an important leader of the Aussa, second only to the Sultan,
Mohammad Yayyo. Yayyo Hamadu was entrusted with the transport of goods between the port of
Assab and the capital
Addis Ababa by camel
caravans, making him wealthy and also facilitating a close friendship with
Ras Tafari Makonnen, the future
Haile Selassie I. When
Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935, Sultan Muhammad agreed to not resist the Italians in exchange for being allowed their autonomy. When the Aussas made a visit to Rome in 1939, Yayyo and Alimirah, his son-in-law, visited the imprisoned
Leul Ras Imru Haile Selassie, whom they helped financially and pleaded (unsuccessfully) to be released. Upon Ethiopia's liberation in 1941, Yayyo and Alimirah captured nearly a thousand Italian soldiers and brought them to Addis Ababa to commemorate the Emperor's return.
Rise to power While the actions of Yayyo and Alimirah strengthened their friendship with Haile Selassie, it was against the wishes of Sultan Mohammed, who sought to follow by the terms of his agreement with the Italians and leave their troops alone. Furthermore, Sultan Mohammed sought to place the Aussa Sultanate under British administration in the manner of
Eritrea and
the Ogaden. This was greatly opposed by many Aussa and Yayyo, who said "Our emperor is back, the white people were defeated," causing a major rift between the two; Sultan Mohammed dismissed Yayyo in 1942. One day sometime in 1944, Yayyo was called to join the Sultan after prayers. Concluding this was a ruse to have him killed, Yayyo instead fled to Addis Ababa after expressing his thoughts to Emperor Haile Selassie. While both agreeing that the Sultan should be removed, Yayyo felt that he would not be accepted by the Afars as Sultan, as he did not come from the senior Aydahisso branch of the
Mudaito dynasty. Instead, he proposed that Alimirah, who did come from the Aydahisso clan, become Sultan. Six months after this incident, the plot was set into action. Alimirah was made a
Dejazmach, and Yayyo restored to his title of
Fitawrari, and several thousand soldiers of the
Kebur Zabagna (Imperial Guard) were placed under their control. The force led by Yayyo and Alimirah set out to
Asaita to oust the Sultan, taking a fortnight to travel. To keep their advance a secret, they detained any Afar person they saw travelling on the way, placing them in one of several empty trucks provided for that purpose, and arranged for the prohibition of any travel past the town of
Bati, a key trading post to the Afar regions. Upon eventually being warned of the force's advance when they were only a day away, Sultan Mohammed dismissed them and even chastised his son for attempting to rally the palace guard in defense, convinced that such an attempt was impossible. Thus, when the force arrived in Asaita the following day, it faced virtually no resistance, with only one guard on duty. Sultan Mohammed was deposed, and, after being assured his family members would not be killed (as was typical in Afar power struggles), was sent to Addis Ababa, where he died of natural causes some time later. ==Reign as Sultan==