According to I. M. Lewis, Sayyid Mohammed Abdullah Hassan's men invaded Jijiga in March 1900. Although the attackers suffered heavy losses, which allowed the Ethiopian authorities to declare a victory, Sayyid Mohammed's men recovered livestock that the Ethiopians had taken from the Somalis and proved that his was a force to be reckoned with. However, Richard Pankhurst states that Jijiga was founded in 1916 by Fitawrari Tekle Hawariat Tekle Mariyam, who had the town methodically organized in a square grid of streets.