It is likely the original inhabitants of the region were the Harla people.
Harar was part of the Harla Kingdom's domain in the sixth century.
In the Islamic period, the city was under an alliance of confederated states of Zeila.
According to the twelfth-century Iberian Jewish traveler Benjamin of Tudela, the Zeila region was the land of the Havilah, confined by al-Habash in the west.

In the ninth century, Harar was under the Maḥzūmī dynasty's Sultanate of Showa.
It is likely the original inhabitants of the region were the Harla people. Harar was part of the Harla Kingdom's domain in the sixth century. In the Islamic period, the city was under an alliance of confederated states of Zeila. According to the twelfth-century Iberian Jewish traveler Benjamin of Tudela, the Zeila region was the land of the Havilah, confined by al-Habash in the west.
In the ninth century, Harar was under the Maḥzūmī dynasty's Sultanate of Showa.
Harar