A Historical Survey Of Jimma Town (1936-1974)

This study deals with the history of Jimma town from 1936 to 1974. It exploresrnsocial, economic and administrative themes, but also attempts to show therninterrelationship between these themes.rnSocially, the town of Jimma evolved during this period from a home-town of arnrelatively homogenous society and culture to a place of residence for a diverse andrnincreasingly cosmopolitan population. The period of Italian occupation (1936-1941)rnwas socially significant because it saw the first major influx of people into the town ofrnJimma from beyond the borders of the former Kingdom whose name it had inherited.rnThe Post-Liberation period (1941-74) was characterized by the evolution of an evenrnmore complex social fabric than before. An even greater influx of people and greaterrninteraction came about partly because the imperial order retained and enhancedrnJimma’s primacy in the region and partly because economic developments in thernregion attracted thousands of job-seekers to the town.rnEconomically, the story of Jimma during this period was one of both continuityrnand change. It is a story of continuity because Jimma, which had from the veryrnbeginning been a center of trade, continued to be so during this period also. Therernwas significant change, however, because unlike the previous decades in whichrnJimma served as a point of exchange or transit for elite goods (like slaves, ivory andrnmusk) that mostly originated beyond the borders of the Oromo Kingdom, Jimmarnduring this period developed into the chief center for the collection, organization andrnexport of a cash crop (coffee) that grew in the countryside all around it. Economicrnchange involved, therefore, both production and exchange.rnAdministratively, Jimma during this period developed from the center of rule byrna local dynasty that exercised authority over a small kingdom to a capital of a wholernregion. The background for this was set by the ending of the autonomous politicalrnexistence of the Oromo Kingdom of Jimma and its full absorption into the politicalrneconomy of the Ethiopian state on the eve of the Italian occupation of 1936. But therndecision by the Italians to make Jimma the chief center of their activities in the wholernvrnof southwestern Ethiopia was of even greater significance. The imperial system ofrnadministration that was put in place after Liberation simply built on that beginning.rnThe social, economic and administrative history of Jimma are closelyrnintertwined, however. The admixture of peoples and cultures as well as the nature ofrnthe urban social institutions that evolved in the town are closely tied to “the cash croprnrevolution” which brought streams of permanent and temporary residents to the town;rnthe evolution of the town into a chief administrative center as well as the introductionrnof somewhat peculiar administrative and fiscal institutions came about in part due tornthe location of the town in the heart of the “coffee country” as southwestern Ethiopiarncame to be referred to. In short, both the urbanity and the urbanization of Jimma canrnbe explained by the story of coffee production and marketing.rnThis thesis documents these processes extensively and accounts for therngrowth of a major town in modern Ethiopia. After a brief background chapter, it dealsrnwith three themes of social evolution, economic activities and municipal governmentrnand administration. It argues that despite its significant growth Jimma’s developmentrnwas limited due to the fact that it served merely as an outpost for an extractivernsystem that removed resources from the region, not as a place of investment orrntechnology with generative impact on the surrounding countryside

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