Hirmata

Hirmata was a market in the Gibe country of southwestern Ethiopia, at the site that grew into Jimma. Its position on the caravan route between Shewa and Kaffa helped draw traders from many regions. In the early nineteenth century Amhara, Oromo and people from the lake country and the southern kingdoms came to exchange goods here. The growing kingdom of Jimma made the market an important centre of its commercial life.