The surveillance system in nasrid times: the watchtowers of the Axarquía of Málaga

Abstract

In this research work we focus on a territory belonging to the current province of Malaga: the ancient Axarquía and the ṭā‘a of Comares, where the watchtowers and those that contained towers during the Middle Ages are analyzed from an archaeological, historical and geographical perspective. Despite some work carried out so far on those watchtowers that are preserved in the province of Malaga, through the use of documentation related to the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries we have identified up to 31 watchtowers. The location of these allows us to know what was the strategy of surveillance of the territory and the road in the east of Malaga, thus demonstrating a powerful nasrid military restructuring and a high interest in the surveillance and control of the Axarquía, which stood out for being an extensive territory with high demography due to the large number of settlements and a strong agricultural production.