Chinhahsan

Chinhahsan (also transliterated Chinaksen; Somali: Jinacsani) is a city in eastern Ethiopia. Located in the Misraq Hararghe Zone of the Oromia Region, this city has a latitude and longitude of 9°30′N 42°42′E with an elevation of 1816 meters above sea level.

Chinhahsan is a settlement with stone walls built at the foot of an oval hill; on the hill are ruins of fortifications possibly of Abyssinian origins. This is one of several places where local tradition claims that Imam Ahmed Gragn was born of a Christian priest and a Moslem woman. About half a kilometer away are the remains of an ancient ketema or fortified enclosure named Derbiga, which different legends state was built either by a giant named Arla or by the Ethiopian Emperor Zara Yaqob. Huntingford speculates that Chinhahsan is the modern name for Dakkar, one of the capitals of the Adal Sultanate.

The writer Nega Mezlekia, an Amhara from Jijiga who had joined the Western Somali Liberation Movement, relates how he participated in an attack on a Derg military training camp in Chinhahsan. No prisoners were taken in the attack; those who surrendered were shot dead. Early in the Ogaden War, Chinhahsan was captured by Somali units as they advanced on Dire Dawa; it was recaptured by Ethiopian units between 5 and 9 February 1978.

In late January 2009, the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation completed a 27-km electric power line 27 kilometers in length from Jijiga to Chinhahsan, while constructing six power distributors in the town. This provided 24-hour electric service to Chinhahsan for the first time.