Jiren | |
|---|---|
Village | |
  Jiren Location within Ethiopia | |
| Coordinates: 7°42′04″N 36°52′20″E / 7.70117°N 36.87219°E | |
| Country | Ethiopia |
| Region | Oromia |
| Zone | Jimma Zone |
| Founded in | 1830 |
| Founded by | Abba Jifar I |
Jiren was the former capital of the Kingdom of Jimma, in the Oromia Region of Ethiopia. Today it is a village or suburb[1] on the outskirts of the city of Jimma, consisting of approximately 2500 unregistered households.[2]
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Jiren was founded in the reign of Abba Jifar I (1830–1855), the first king of the Kingdom of Jimma.[3]
Following the death of Abba Jifar II in 1932, the Kingdom of Jimma was annexed by the Ethiopian Empire and Jiren declined as a political centre. Writing in 1965, Herbert S. Lewis 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".[4] 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 Jimma, the capital of Galla-Sidamo Governorate.[5]