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 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". 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. ==Notes==