After the Egyptians left Harar in 1885, Britain took possession of Jaldessa and stationed a garrison of 19 Indians and 20 Somalis, however, these soldiers were soon imprisoned by the troops of Amir Abdullahi who took control of the area.

The party of Italian explorer Count Pietro Porro was ambushed and slaughtered at Jaldessa in April 1886, which provided Menelik II of Shewa with an excuse to attack Harar.

[4] Between the Shewan victory at Chelenqo and the foundation of Dire Dawa, Jaldessa was the seat of the various governors, such as the Armenian Sarkis Terzian and later Ato Mersha Nahusenay.

[5] Early in the Ogaden War, Jaldessa was captured by Somali units as they closed in on Dire Dawa; it was recaptured 4 February 1978 by the Ethiopian Ninth Division with Cuban tank and artillery shock troops.

[6] In 2008, the United States of America selected Jaldessa as one of seven locations where servicemen of the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa worked with Ethiopian veterinarians to vaccinate more than 20,000 animals: cattle were inoculated against blackleg and anthrax, while sheep and goats were inoculated against contagious caprine pleuro-pneumonia and peste des petits ruminants.