Jiren was the former capital of the

Kingdom of Jimma The Kingdom of Jimma ( om, Mootummaa Jimmaa) was an Oromo kingdom in the Gibe region of Ethiopia that emerged in the 18th century. It shared its western border with Limmu-Ennarea, its eastern border with the Sidamo Kingdom of Janjero, and w ...

, in the

Oromia Region Oromia (Amharic: ) ( om, Oromiyaa) is a regional state in Ethiopia and the homeland of the Oromo people. The capital of Oromia is Addis Ababa. It is bordered by the Somali Region to the east; the Amhara Region, the Afar Region and the Benis ...

of Ethiopia. Today it is a village or suburb on the outskirts of the city of

Jimma Jimma () is the largest city in southwestern Oromia Region, Ethiopia. It is a special zone of the Oromia Region and is surrounded by Jimma Zone. It has a latitude and longitude of . Prior to the 2007 census, Jimma was reorganized administrativ ...

, consisting of approximately 2500 unregistered households.

History

King Abba Jifar Palace, Jimma, Ethiopia (15045604967)

Jiren was founded in the reign of Abba Jifar I (1830–1855), the first king of the Kingdom of Jimma. Following the death of

Abba Jifar II ''Moti'' Abba Jifar II ( om, Mootii Abbaa Jifaar; 1861 – 1932) was King of the Gibe Kingdom of Jimma (r. 1878–1932). Reign Abba Jifar II was king of Jimma, and the son of Abba Gomol and Queen Gumiti. He had several wives: Queen Limmiti ...

in 1932, the Kingdom of Jimma was annexed by the

Ethiopian Empire The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that histori ...

and Jiren declined as a political centre. Writing in 1965,

Herbert S. Lewis Herbert S. Lewis (born May 8, 1934) is a Professor Emeritus of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he taught from 1963 to 1998. He has conducted extensive field research. Biography Early life Although born across the Hudso ...

observed that the palace complex had disappeared and it had "shrunken to a settlement of a few hundred people who run some shops, bars and brothels". Most of its residents moved to Hirmata, which in 1936 was amalgamated with Jiren by the Italian colonial administration to form the new city of

, the capital of

Galla-Sidamo Governorate Galla-Sidamo Governorate was one of the six governorates of Italian East Africa. It was formed in 1936 from parts of the conquered Ethiopian Empire following the Second Italo-Ethiopian War with the capital was Jimma. In November 1938 some territ ...

Notes

References

* * {{Oromia-geo-stub Populated places in the Oromia Region