He built upon the political and military base his father had provided him, and created the Kingdom of Jimma.
Herbert S. Lewis credits Abba Jifar with having initiated "many administrative and political innovations", despite the lack of specific historical evidence.
The area was important for control of the caravan route between the Kingdom of Kaffa on the one hand, and the provinces of Gojjam and Shewa on the other.
[2] Abba Jifar was also the first king of Jimma to embrace Islam, owing his conversion in 1830 to Abdul Hakim,[3] a trader from Gondar.
Lewis notes that as of 1960, Abdul Hakim's tomb in Jiren was still a venerated site.