8/12/2019 History of Mlaga

1/50

History of Mlaga

Mlaga, byEdward Gennys Fanshawe,1857

The history of Mlaga, shaped by the city's location in the south of Spain on the western shore of the

Mediterranean Sea, spans about 2,800 years, makingMlagaone of theoldest cities in the world.The

first inhabitants to settle the site may have been theBastuli,an ancientCeltiberiantribe. The Phoenicians

founded the colony ofMalakahere about 770 BC, and from the 6th century BC it was under the

hegemony ofancient Carthagein north Africa. From 218 BC the city was ruled by the Roman

Republicand then at the end of the 1st century during the reign o fDomitianit was federated with

theRoman Empireas Malaca(Latin). Thereafter it was governed under its own municipal code of law,

the Lex Flavia Malacitana, which granted free-born persons the privileges ofRoman citizenship.[1]

The Romanization of Mlaga was, as in most of southernHispania Ulterior,effected peacefully through

the foedus aequum; a treaty recognizing both parties as equals, obligated to assist each other in

defensive wars or when otherwise summoned. During this period, under the rule of the Roman Republic,

the Municipium Malacitanumbecame a transit point on theVia Herculea,which revitalised the city both

economically and culturally by connecting it with other developed enclaves in the interior of Hispania and

with other ports of the Mediterranean Sea.

The decline of the Roman imperial power in the 5th century led to invasions ofHispania

BaeticabyGermanic peoplesand by theByzantine Empire.InVisigothic Spain,the Byzantines took

Malaca and other cities on the southeastern coast and founded the new province ofSpaniain 552.

Malaca became one of the principal cities of the short-lived Byzantine Provincia Spaniae(Latin); it lasted

until 624, when the Byzantines were expelled from the peninsula. After theMuslim Arab conquestof

Hispania (711718), the city, then known as Mlaqa ( ), was encircled by walls, next to whichGenoese and Jewish merchants settled in their own quarters. In 1026 it became the capital of the Taifa of

Mlaga,an independent Muslim kingdom ruled by theHammudiddynasty in theCaliphate of Crdoba,

http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Edward_Gennys_Fanshawe?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Edward_Gennys_Fanshawe?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Edward_Gennys_Fanshawe?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/List_of_cities_by_time_of_continuous_habitation?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/List_of_cities_by_time_of_continuous_habitation?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/List_of_cities_by_time_of_continuous_habitation?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Bastuli?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Bastuli?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Bastuli?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Celtiberians?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Celtiberians?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Celtiberians?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Ancient_Carthage?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Ancient_Carthage?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Ancient_Carthage?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Roman_Republic?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Roman_Republic?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Roman_Republic?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Roman_Republic?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Domitian?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Domitian?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Domitian?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Roman_Empire?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Roman_Empire?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Roman_Empire?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Roman_citizenship?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Roman_citizenship?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-1http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-1http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-1http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hispania_Ulterior?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hispania_Ulterior?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hispania_Ulterior?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Via_Augusta?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Via_Augusta?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Via_Augusta?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hispania_Baetica?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hispania_Baetica?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hispania_Baetica?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hispania_Baetica?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Germanic_peoples?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Germanic_peoples?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Germanic_peoples?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Byzantine_Empire?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Byzantine_Empire?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Byzantine_Empire?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Visigothic_Spain?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Visigothic_Spain?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Visigothic_Spain?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Spania?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Spania?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Spania?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Umayyad_conquest_of_Hispania?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Umayyad_conquest_of_Hispania?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Taifa_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Taifa_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Taifa_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Taifa_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hammudid?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hammudid?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hammudid?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Caliphate_of_C%C3%B3rdoba?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Caliphate_of_C%C3%B3rdoba?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Caliphate_of_C%C3%B3rdoba?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Edward_Gennys_Fanshawe,_Malaga,_Augt_14th_1857_(Spain).jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Edward_Gennys_Fanshawe,_Malaga,_Augt_14th_1857_(Spain).jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Edward_Gennys_Fanshawe,_Malaga,_Augt_14th_1857_(Spain).jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Edward_Gennys_Fanshawe,_Malaga,_Augt_14th_1857_(Spain).jpghttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Caliphate_of_C%C3%B3rdoba?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hammudid?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Taifa_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Taifa_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Umayyad_conquest_of_Hispania?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Spania?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Visigothic_Spain?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Byzantine_Empire?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Germanic_peoples?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hispania_Baetica?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hispania_Baetica?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Via_Augusta?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hispania_Ulterior?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-1http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Roman_citizenship?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Roman_Empire?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Domitian?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Roman_Republic?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Roman_Republic?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Ancient_Carthage?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Celtiberians?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Bastuli?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/List_of_cities_by_time_of_continuous_habitation?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Edward_Gennys_Fanshawe?qsrc=3044&lang=en

8/12/2019 History of Mlaga

2/50

which existed for four distinct time-periods: from 1026 to 1057, from 1073 to 1090, from 1145 to 1153 and

from 1229 to 1239 when it was finally conquered by the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada.

The siege of Mlaqa by theCatholic Monarchsin 1487 was one of the longest of theReconquista.The

Muslim population was punished for its resistance by enslavement or death. UnderCastilliandomination,

churches and convents were built outside the walls to unite the Christians and encourage the formation of

new neighborhoods. In the 16th century, the city entered a period of slow decline, exacerbated by

epidemics of disease, several successive poor food crops, floods, and earthquakes.

With the advent of the 18th century the city began to recover some of its former prosperity. For much of

the 19th century, Mlaga was one of the most rebellious cities of the country, contributing decisively to

the triumph of Spanishliberalism.Although this was a time of general political, economic and social crisis

in Mlaga, the city was a pioneer of theIndustrial Revolutionon theIberian peninsula,becoming the first

industrialised city in Spain. This began the ascendancy of powerful Mlagan bourgeoisfamilies, some of

them gaining influence in national politics. In the last third of the century, during the short regime of

theFirst Spanish Republic,the social upheavals of theCantonal Revolutionof 1873 culminated in the

proclamation of the Canton of Mlaga on 22 July 1873. Mlaga political life then was characterized by a

radical and extremist tone. The federal republican (republicanismo federal)movement gained strong

support among the working classes and encouraged insurrection, producing great alarm among the

affluent.

A new decline of the city began in 1880. The economic crisis of 1893 forced the closing of the La

Constancia iron foundry and was accompanied by the collapse of the sugar industry and the spread of

thephylloxerablight, which devastated the vineyards surrounding Mlaga. The early 20th century was a

period of economic readjustment which produced a progressive industrial dismantling and fluctuating

development of commerce. Economic depression, social unrest and political repression made it possible

forpetite bourgeoisrepublicanism and the labour movement to consolidate their positions.

In 1933, during the Second Spanish Republic, Mlaga elected the first deputy of theCommunist Party of

Spain,or Partido Comunista de Espaa(PCE). In February 1937 the nationalist army, with the help of

Italian volunteers, launched an offensive against the city under the orders ofGeneral Queipo de Llano,

occupying it on 7 February. Local repression by the Francoist military dictatorship was perhaps the

harshest of the civil war, with an estimated 17,00020,000 citizens shot and buried in mass graves at the

cemetery of San Rafael.

During the military dictatorship, the city experienced an expansion of tourism from abroad to theCosta del

Sol,igniting an economic boom in the city beginning in the 1960s. After the end of the Francoist military

dictatorship, the first candidate for mayor on the ticket of the Spanish Socialist Workers Party or Partido

http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Emirate_of_Granada?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Emirate_of_Granada?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Emirate_of_Granada?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Catholic_Monarchs?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Catholic_Monarchs?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Catholic_Monarchs?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Reconquista?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Reconquista?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Reconquista?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Crown_of_Castile?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Crown_of_Castile?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Liberalism_and_radicalism_in_Spain?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Liberalism_and_radicalism_in_Spain?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Liberalism_and_radicalism_in_Spain?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Industrial_Revolution?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Industrial_Revolution?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Industrial_Revolution?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Iberian_peninsula?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Iberian_peninsula?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Iberian_peninsula?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Bourgeois?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Bourgeois?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Bourgeois?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/First_Spanish_Republic?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/First_Spanish_Republic?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/First_Spanish_Republic?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Cantonal_Revolution?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Cantonal_Revolution?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Cantonal_Revolution?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Phylloxera?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Phylloxera?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Phylloxera?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Petite_bourgeoisie?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Petite_bourgeoisie?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Petite_bourgeoisie?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Spain?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Spain?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Spain?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Spain?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Gonzalo_Queipo_de_Llano?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Gonzalo_Queipo_de_Llano?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Gonzalo_Queipo_de_Llano?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Costa_del_Sol?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Costa_del_Sol?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Costa_del_Sol?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Costa_del_Sol?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Costa_del_Sol?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Gonzalo_Queipo_de_Llano?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Spain?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Communist_Party_of_Spain?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Petite_bourgeoisie?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Phylloxera?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Cantonal_Revolution?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/First_Spanish_Republic?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Bourgeois?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Iberian_peninsula?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Industrial_Revolution?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Liberalism_and_radicalism_in_Spain?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Crown_of_Castile?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Reconquista?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Catholic_Monarchs?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Emirate_of_Granada?qsrc=3044&lang=en

8/12/2019 History of Mlaga

3/50

Socialista Obrero Espaol(PSOE) was elected, and remained in office until 1995, when the conservative

Popular Party or Partido Popular(PP) won the municipal elections and have governed since.

Prehistory and antiquity

The territory now occupied by theProvince of Mlagahas been inhabited since prehistoric times, as

evidenced by the cave paintings of the Cueva de la Pileta(Cave of the Pool) inBenaojn,artefacts found

at sites such as theDolmen of MenganearAntequeraand the Cueva del Tesoro (Treasure Cave)

near Rincn de la Victoria, and the pottery, tools and skeletons found inNerja.Paintings of seals from the

Paleolithic and post-Paleolithic eras found in theNerja Cavesand attributed toNeanderthalsmay be

about 42,000 years old and could be the first known works of art, according to Jos Luis Sanchidrin of

the University of Crdoba.

Phoenician Malaka

Archaeological site of Cerro del Villar

The first colonial settlement in the area, dating from the late 8th century BC, was made by seafaring

Phoenicians fromTyre, Lebanon,on an islet in the estuary of theGuadalhorceRiver at Cerro del Villar

(the coastline of Mlaga has changed considerably since that time, as river silting and changes in river

levels have filled the ancient estuary and moved the site inland) .[2]

Although the island was ill-suited for habitation, it is likely the Tyrians chose to settle it because of its

strategic location, the possibilities for trade, and the excellent natural harbour. Sailboats heading towards

the Strait of Gibraltar would have found protection there from powerful sea-currents and strong westerly

winds. From Cerro del Villar the Phoenicians began trading with coastal indigenous villages and the small

community at present-day San Pablo near the mouth of the riverGuadalmedina.Gradually the centre of

commerce was moved to the mainland and the new trading colony of Malaka was founded, which was

from the 8th century BC a vibrant commercial centre. The name Malakamay be derived from

thePhoenicianword for "salt" (mlk), asfish was saltednear the harbour.[3]

http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Province_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Province_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Province_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Benaoj%C3%A1n?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Benaoj%C3%A1n?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Benaoj%C3%A1n?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Cueva_de_Menga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Cueva_de_Menga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Cueva_de_Menga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Antequera?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Antequera?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Antequera?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Nerja?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Nerja?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Nerja?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Caves_of_Nerja?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Caves_of_Nerja?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Caves_of_Nerja?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Neanderthal?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Neanderthal?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Neanderthal?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Tyre,_Lebanon?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Tyre,_Lebanon?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Tyre,_Lebanon?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Guadalhorce?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Guadalhorce?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Guadalhorce?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Aubet2001-2http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Aubet2001-2http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Aubet2001-2http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Guadalmedina?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Guadalmedina?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Guadalmedina?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Phoenician_language?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Phoenician_language?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Saltfish?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Saltfish?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Saltfish?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-3http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-3http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-3http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cerro_del_Villar.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cerro_del_Villar.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cerro_del_Villar.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cerro_del_Villar.jpghttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-3http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Saltfish?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Phoenician_language?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Guadalmedina?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Aubet2001-2http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Guadalhorce?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Tyre,_Lebanon?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Neanderthal?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Caves_of_Nerja?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Nerja?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Antequera?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Cueva_de_Menga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Benaoj%C3%A1n?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Province_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=en

8/12/2019 History of Mlaga

4/50

Economic development in the colony of Malaka included industries for the production of sea salt and

possibly of purple dye. The Phoenicians had discovered in the waters off the coast murex sea snails,the

source of the famedTyrian purple.The city had its own mint (sikkain the Phoenician language) and

minted coinage. The Phoenician colonial period lasted approximately from 770 to 550 BC.

Phoenician trade routes

The dominance of the Phoenicians as a Mediterranean trading power waned after the destruction of Tyre

by the Babylonian kingNebuchadnezzarin 572 BC.Cyrus the GreatconqueredCanaanin 539 BC, and

Phoenician influence declined further. Their influence did not disappear entirely in the western

Mediterranean, however, as their place was taken by the Carthaginians, whose capital city

ofCarthagehad been founded as a Phoenician trading outpost in 814 BC. It is likely that much of the

Phoenician population migrated to Carthage and other colonies following the Persian conquest. Having

gained independence around 650 BC, Carthage soon developed its own considerable mercantile

presence in the Mediterranean.[2]

Greek Mainake

The Phoenician settlements were more densely concentrated on the coastline east of Gibraltar than they

were further up the coast. Market rivalry had attracted the Greeks to Iberia, who established their own

trading colonies along the northeastern coast before venturing into the Phoenician corridor. They were

encouraged by the Tartessians, who may have desired to end the Phoenician economic

monopoly.Herodotusmentions that around 630 BC, thePhocaeansestablished relations with King

Arganthonios (670550 BC) ofTartessos,who gave them money to build walls around their city. [4]Later

they founded Mainake (Greek: Maink) on the Mlaga coast (Strabo. 3.4.2).[5]

Recent archaeological investigations have reopened the debate about the location of Mainake.

TheMassaliote Periplusplaces the city under Tartessian dominion on an island with a good harbour; its

author emphasises that the city was on an island close to the river of the same name, and surrounded by

saltwater lagoons. Geomorphological and paleo-environmental studies have shown that the Phoenician

http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Murex?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Murex?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Murex?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Tyrian_purple?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Tyrian_purple?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Tyrian_purple?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Nebuchadnezzar?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Nebuchadnezzar?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Nebuchadnezzar?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Cyrus_the_Great?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Cyrus_the_Great?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Cyrus_the_Great?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Canaan?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Canaan?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Canaan?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Carthage?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Carthage?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Carthage?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Aubet2001-2http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Aubet2001-2http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Aubet2001-2http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Herodotus?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Herodotus?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Herodotus?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Phocaea?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Phocaea?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Phocaea?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Tartessos?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Tartessos?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Tartessos?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-CrawfordBen-Tor2007-4http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-CrawfordBen-Tor2007-4http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-CrawfordBen-Tor2007-4http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-5http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-5http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-5http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Massaliote_Periplus?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Massaliote_Periplus?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Massaliote_Periplus?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PhoenicianTrade_EN.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PhoenicianTrade_EN.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PhoenicianTrade_EN.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PhoenicianTrade_EN.svghttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Massaliote_Periplus?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-5http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-CrawfordBen-Tor2007-4http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Tartessos?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Phocaea?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Herodotus?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Aubet2001-2http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Carthage?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Canaan?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Cyrus_the_Great?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Nebuchadnezzar?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Tyrian_purple?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Murex?qsrc=3044&lang=en

8/12/2019 History of Mlaga

5/50

colony of Cerro del Villar, at the mouth of the Guadalhorce, was situated on an ancient island, now a rise

in an alluvial flood plain west of Mlaga.[6]

The Periplus, a merchants' guidebook possibly dating to as early as the 6th century BC, which described

the sea routes used by traders from Phoenicia and Tartessos, contains the most ancient identification of

Malaca as Mainake. It gives an account of a sea voyage circa 525 BC from Massalia(Marseille) along the

western Mediterranean. The part referring to the Iberian Peninsula is preserved in theOra Maritima(The

Maritime Shores) of the Latin writer Rufus FestusAvienus,who wrote down excerpts much later, during

the 4th century. Lines 425431, which come after a description of the Pillars of Herakles (The Straits of

Gibraltar), say that Mainake is close to the island of Noctiluca:

hos propter autem mox iugum Barbetium est Malachaeque flumen urbe cum cognomine Menace priore

quae vocata est saeculo. Tartessiorum iuris illic insula antistat urbem, Noctilucae ab incolis sacrata

pridem. in insula stagnum quoque tutusque portus. oppidum Menace super.

In English:

Near them [the Tartessians] is Cape Barbetium and the river Malacha with the town of the same name,

formerly called Menace, under Tartessian dominion. In front of the town lies an island formerly dedicated

by the inhabitants to Noctiluca. On the island is a marsh and a safe harbour; the town of Menace is

above.[6]

Greek and Phoenician colonies about 550 BC

The mythical Greek colony of Mainake existed for at least two centuries. The name appears to be derived

from the Greek: (man). There are several ancient documents that mention its existence and

discuss its intensive commercial activity. Strabo and other ancient historians placed it east of Malaka, but

recent archaeological investigations suggest that the site of the 8th century BC Phoenician settlement at

Cerro del Villar, less than three miles (4 km) west of the original site of Malaka, corresponds to the

location of the Greek colony. According to the ancient sources it was gradually abandoned after the battle

http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Aubet.2C_p.187-6http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Aubet.2C_p.187-6http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Aubet.2C_p.187-6http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Marseille?qsrc=3044&lang=en#Prehistory_and_classical_antiquityhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Marseille?qsrc=3044&lang=en#Prehistory_and_classical_antiquityhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Marseille?qsrc=3044&lang=en#Prehistory_and_classical_antiquityhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Ora_Maritima?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Ora_Maritima?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Ora_Maritima?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Avienus?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Avienus?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Aubet.2C_p.187-6http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Aubet.2C_p.187-6http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Aubet.2C_p.187-6http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Battle_of_Alalia?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Battle_of_Alalia?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ancient_colonies.PNGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ancient_colonies.PNGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ancient_colonies.PNGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ancient_colonies.PNGhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Battle_of_Alalia?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Aubet.2C_p.187-6http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Avienus?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Ora_Maritima?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Marseille?qsrc=3044&lang=en#Prehistory_and_classical_antiquityhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Aubet.2C_p.187-6

8/12/2019 History of Mlaga

6/50

of Alaliaand the consequent collapse of the Phocaean Greek trade, which led the native inhabitants to

shift their residence to the Phoenician-Punic Malaka.[7]

The Greek historian and geographerStrabo(64 BC24 AD) says in hisGeographicathat in his time

some thought this colony was the city of Malaca, a supposition he contradicted by pointing out that the

ruins of Mainake could still be seen near Malaca and showed the regular urban plan of the Greeks,

versus the haphazard Semitic layout of Malaka:

The first city on this coastline is Malaca, which is as far distant from Calpe as Gades is. It is a market for

the nomad tribes from the opposite coast, and it also has great establishments for salting fish. Some

suppose it to be the same as Maenaca, which tradition reports to be the farthest west of the Phocaean

cities; but this is not true. On the contrary, the city of Maenaca is farther away from Calpe, and is now in

ruins, though it still preserves traces of having been a Grecian city, whereas Malaca is nearer, and

Phoenician in its configuration. [Calpe is an ancient name forGibraltar].[8][9]

The layout of ancient Malaka is unknown, but its location on a hill at the foot of Mount Gibralfarosuggests

it was a more dense and irregular urban cluster than neighboring Cerro del Villar, that is, Mainake. Traces

of ancient landings there, as of a port, correspond with the description in the Periplous. The ruins

mentioned by Strabo were still visible in the 1st century BC, and could only belong to a place that was

already vacated in the Roman period, as occurred in Cerro del Villar but not in Malaka. The Phoenician

city at Cerro del Villar lay in ruins at the beginning of the 6th century BC, when it was apparently resettled

by the Phocaean Greeks.[10]

Carthage created itshegemonyin part to resist Greek encroachments in the Phoenician sphere of

influence. The Phoenicians initially (750650 BC) did not resist the Greeks, but after the Greeks had

reached Iberia sometime later than 638 BC, Carthage emerged as the leader of the Phoenician

resistance. During the 6th century BC, mostly under the leadership of theMagoniddynasty, Carthage

established an empire which would commercially dominate the Western Mediterranean. [11]

Dominion of Carthage

Nebuchadnezzar II had conqueredCanaanin 572 BC with the intention of appropriating the rich Tyrian

trade, and with the transition to Carthaginian domination of the western Mediterranean, Malaka became in

573 BC a colony of the Punic empire of Carthage, which sent its own settlers. The mercantile nature of

the city, which developed during Phoenician rule, had taken hold, as well as such idiosyncratic cultural

features as the religious cults devoted to the godsMelkartandTanit.

The second half of the sixth century BC marks the transition between the Phoenician and

thePunicperiods of Mlaga.

http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Battle_of_Alalia?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Battle_of_Alalia?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-7http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-7http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-7http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Strabo?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Strabo?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Strabo?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Geographica?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Geographica?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Geographica?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Gibraltar?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Gibraltar?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Gibraltar?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-8http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-8http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-8http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Gibralfaro?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Gibralfaro?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Gibralfaro?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Aubet.2C_p.200-10http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Aubet.2C_p.200-10http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Aubet.2C_p.200-10http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Greek-Punic_wars?qsrc=3044&lang=en#Carthaginian_Hegemonyhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Greek-Punic_wars?qsrc=3044&lang=en#Carthaginian_Hegemonyhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Greek-Punic_wars?qsrc=3044&lang=en#Carthaginian_Hegemonyhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Magonid?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Magonid?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-11http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-11http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-11http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Canaan?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Canaan?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Canaan?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Melkart?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Melkart?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Melkart?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Tanit?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Tanit?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Tanit?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Punic?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Punic?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Punic?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Punic?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Tanit?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Melkart?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Canaan?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-11http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Magonid?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Greek-Punic_wars?qsrc=3044&lang=en#Carthaginian_Hegemonyhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Aubet.2C_p.200-10http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Gibralfaro?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-8http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-8http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Gibraltar?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Geographica?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Strabo?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-7http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Battle_of_Alalia?qsrc=3044&lang=en

8/12/2019 History of Mlaga

7/50

When the Phoenician city-states of the eastern Mediterranean were assimilated into the Persian empire in

the 6th century BC, Carthage took advantage of their diminishing control over maritime trade. For two

hundred years the Phoenician settlements had maintained close relationships with the "mother cities" on

the coast of Syria and Lebanon, but from the mid-6th century, these connections shifted to the north

African city of Carthage as it expanded its hegemony. [12]With the arrival of the Magonid dynasty around

550 BC, Carthaginian foreign policy seems to have changed dramatically. Carthage now took the lead,

establishing itself as the dominant Phoenician military power in the western Mediterranean. Although a

Punic-Etruscan fleet of 120 ships was defeated by a Greek force of Phocaean ships in the naval Battle of

Alaliabetween 540 BC and 535 BC, and Carthage lost two more major naval battles withMassalia,it still

managed to close theStrait of Gibraltarto Greek shipping and thus contained the Greek expansion in

Spain by 480 BC.

Carthage proceeded to destroy Tartessos and to drive the Greeks from southern Iberia. It defended its

trade monopoly in the western Mediterranean vigilantly, attacking the merchant ships of its rivals. During

the 3rd century BC, Carthage made Iberia the new base for its empire and its campaigns against the

Roman Republic. Although they had little influence in the hinterland behind the coastal mountains, the

Carthaginians occupied most of Andalusia, expanding along the northern Mediterranean coast and

establishing a new capital at Cartagena.

The Romans conquered the city as well as the other regions under the rule of Carthage after th ePunic

Warsin 218 BC.

Roman Malaca

Roman statue of Urania, the muse of Astronomy. It decorated theperistyleof a villa near Malaca.

http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-12http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-12http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-12http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Battle_of_Alalia?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Battle_of_Alalia?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Battle_of_Alalia?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Battle_of_Alalia?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Massalia?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Massalia?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Massalia?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Strait_of_Gibraltar?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Strait_of_Gibraltar?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Strait_of_Gibraltar?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Punic_Wars?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Punic_Wars?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Punic_Wars?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Punic_Wars?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Peristyle?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Peristyle?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Peristyle?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Urania_(M.A.N._Madrid)_01.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Urania_(M.A.N._Madrid)_01.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Urania_(M.A.N._Madrid)_01.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Urania_(M.A.N._Madrid)_01.jpghttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Peristyle?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Punic_Wars?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Punic_Wars?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Strait_of_Gibraltar?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Massalia?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Battle_of_Alalia?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Battle_of_Alalia?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-12

8/12/2019 History of Mlaga

8/50

The Romans unified the people of the coast and interior under a common power; Roman settlers in

Malaca exploited the local natural resources and introduced Latin as the language of the ruling classes,

establishing new manners and customs that gradually changed the culture of the native people. Malaca

was integrated into the Roman Republic as part of Hispania Ulterior, but Romanisation seems to have

progressed slowly, as indicated by the discovery of inscriptions dating to the 1st century AD written in the

Phoenician alphabet. During this period the Municipium Malacitanumbecame a transit point on theVia

Herculea,which revitalised the city both economically and culturally by connecting it with other developed

enclaves in the interior of Hispania and with other ports of the Mediterranean Sea.

With the fall of the Republic and the advent of the Roman Empire,the territory of Malaca, which had

already been occupied for two centuries by the Romans, was framed administratively as one of four legal

convents into which the province ofBaetica,newly created by order ofCaesar Augustus,was divided.

Baetica by this time was rich and completely Romanised; the EmperorVespasianrewarded the province

by granting it theius latii,which extended the rights of Roman citizenship (latinitas)to its inhabitants, an

honour that secured the loyalty of the Baetian elite and the middle class.

According to the Greek geographer Strabo, the city had an irregular plan, in the manner of the Phoenician

cities. The Romans began the construction of important public works: theFlavian dynastyimproved the

port andAugustusbuilt the Roman theatre. Thereafter the EmperorTitusof the Flavian family granted

Malaca its privileges as a municipality.

Reproduction of the Lex Flavia Malacitana, Loringiano Museum

Malaca reached a high cultural and civic development in this period, having been converted into a

federated city of the empire, and was governed by its own code of laws, the Lex Flavia Malacitana. The

presence of an educated populace and their patronage of the arts had a significant bearing on this. The

great Roman baths, remains of which have been found in the subsoil of the Pintor Nogales and the

Cistercian Abbey, also belong to this period, as well as numerous sculptures now preserved in theMuseo

de Mlaga.

http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Via_Augusta?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Via_Augusta?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Via_Augusta?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Via_Augusta?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Roman_Empire?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Roman_Empire?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Roman_Empire?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Baetica?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Baetica?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Baetica?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Caesar_Augustus?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Caesar_Augustus?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Caesar_Augustus?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Vespasian?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Vespasian?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Vespasian?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Latin_Rights?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Latin_Rights?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Latin_Rights?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Flavian_dynasty?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Flavian_dynasty?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Flavian_dynasty?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Augustus?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Augustus?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Augustus?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Titus?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Titus?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Titus?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Museo_de_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Museo_de_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Museo_de_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Museo_de_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leyes_romanas_de_Malaca.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leyes_romanas_de_Malaca.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leyes_romanas_de_Malaca.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Leyes_romanas_de_Malaca.jpghttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Museo_de_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Museo_de_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Titus?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Augustus?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Flavian_dynasty?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Latin_Rights?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Vespasian?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Caesar_Augustus?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Baetica?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Roman_Empire?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Via_Augusta?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Via_Augusta?qsrc=3044&lang=en

8/12/2019 History of Mlaga

9/50

The Roman theatre, which dates from the 1st century BC, was rediscovered by accident in 1951. The

theatre is well preserved but has not been completely excavated. The Augustan character of the

inscriptions found there date it from this period. The theatre must have been abandoned in the 3rd

century since it was covered with a dump, rich in small finds, of the 3rd4th centuries. The upper part of

the stage was not covered, and its material was reused by the Arabs in the Alcazaba.[13]

Roman amphitheatre

The economy and the wealth of the territory were dependent mainly on agriculture in the inland areas, the

abundance of the fishery in the waters off the coast, and the productions of local artisanal works. Among

noteworthy Malacan products for export were wine, olive oil and thegarummalacitano, a fermented fish

sauce famed throughout the empire and in demand as a luxury item in Rome. Regarding social aspects

such as religious devotions in Malaca, adherence to a particular cult was a function of ethnicity. In 325,

the year of theCouncil of Nicaea,Malaca figured as one of the few Roman enclaves in Hispania where

Christianity was strongly rooted. Previously, there had been frequent uprisings of an anti-Roman

character catalyzed by the opposition to paganism of those Hispano-Romans affiliated with Christianity.

Spain's present languages, its religion, and the basis of its laws originate from the Roman period. The

centuries of uninterrupted Roman rule and settlement left a deep and enduring imprint upon the culture of

what is now Mlaga.

Germanic invasions and Visigothic rule

In the 5th century,Germanic peoples,including theFranks,Suevi,Vandals,andVisigoths,as well as

theAlansofSarmatiandescent, crossed thePyreneesmountain range into the Iberian peninsula. The

Visigoths eventually emerged as the dominant power, and in about 511, they moved onto the Malaca

coast. However, Hispania remained relatively Romanized under their ruleit did not see a decline in the

perpetuation of classical culture comparable to that in Britain, Gaul, Lombardy and Germany. The

Visigoths adopted Roman culture and language, and maintained more of the old Roman institutions. They

had a respect for the legal codes that resulted in continuous frameworks and historical records for most of

http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Alcazaba_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Alcazaba_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-13http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-13http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-13http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Garum?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Garum?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Garum?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Germanic_peoples?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Germanic_peoples?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Germanic_peoples?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Franks?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Franks?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Franks?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Suevi?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Suevi?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Suevi?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Vandals?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Vandals?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Vandals?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Visigoths?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Visigoths?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Visigoths?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Alans?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Alans?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Alans?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Sarmatian?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Sarmatian?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Sarmatian?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Pyrenees?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Pyrenees?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Pyrenees?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Roman_Malaga.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Roman_Malaga.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Roman_Malaga.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Roman_Malaga.jpghttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Pyrenees?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Sarmatian?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Alans?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Visigoths?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Vandals?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Suevi?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Franks?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Germanic_peoples?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Garum?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-13http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Alcazaba_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=en

8/12/2019 History of Mlaga

10/50

the period between 415, when Visigothic rule in parts of Spain began, and 711, when it is traditionally

said to end. The Catholic bishops were the rivals of Visigothic power and culture until the end of the 6th

and beginning of the 7th centurythe period of transition fromArianismto Catholicism in the Visigothic

kingdomexcepting a brief incursion of Byzantine power.

Under Visigothic rule, Malaca became an episcopal see. The earliest known bishop was Patricius,

consecrated about 290, and present at the Council of Eliberis (Elvira).

After the division of the Roman Empire and itsfinal crisisin 476, Malaca was one of the areas of the

peninsula affected by further migrations of the Germanic tribes, especially theSilingiVandals, who during

the 5th century introduced the Arian heresy to western Europe. The province lost much of the wealth and

infrastructure achieved under Roman rule, but maintained a certain prosperity, even as it suffered the

destruction of some of its most important towns, as at Acinipo, Nescania, and Singilia Barba, which were

not rebuilt.[14]

Byzantine Malaca

Visigothic Hispania and the Byzantine province of Spania circa 560 AD

The Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (482565) conceived a military and foreign policy, the Recuperatio

Imperii, to recover the territories which had formerly comprised the Western Roman Empire and were

under the rule of the barbarians. It was led by his brilliant general,Belisarius,and succeeded in regaining

North Africa, southern Iberia and most of Italy. Malaca and the surrounding territory were conquered in

552; Malaca then became one of the most important cities of the Byzantine province of Spania.

The city was conquered and sacked again by the Visigoths under King Sisebutin 615. In 624, during the

reigns of the Visigothic kingSuintilaand the Byzantine EmperorHeraclius,the Byzantines definitively

abandoned their last settlements in the narrow area they still held.

http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Arianism?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Arianism?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Arianism?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Decline_of_the_Roman_Empire?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Decline_of_the_Roman_Empire?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Decline_of_the_Roman_Empire?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Silingi?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Silingi?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Silingi?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-14http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-14http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-14http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Belisarius?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Belisarius?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Belisarius?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Sisebut?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Sisebut?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Sisebut?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Suintila?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Suintila?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Suintila?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Heraclius?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Heraclius?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Heraclius?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hispania_560_AD.PNGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hispania_560_AD.PNGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hispania_560_AD.PNGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hispania_560_AD.PNGhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Heraclius?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Suintila?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Sisebut?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Belisarius?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-14http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Silingi?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Decline_of_the_Roman_Empire?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Arianism?qsrc=3044&lang=en

8/12/2019 History of Mlaga

11/50

It is known that Sisebut devastated much of the city, and although it remained an episcopal see and the

site of a mint built bySisenand,its population was drastically reduced and its prosperous economy

ruined. There is clear documentary evidence of the violent destruction of at least one commercial district.

Such was the devastation that the first Islamic invaders of the old Visigothic county of Malacitana initially

had to locate their capital in the interior, atArchidona.

Eight centuries of Arab rule

TheChronicle of 754,covering the years 610 to 754, indicates the Arabs began disorganised raids and

only undertook to conquer the peninsula with the fortuitous deaths of Roderic and much of the Visigothic

nobility. They were probably killed at theBattle of Guadaleteagainst an invading force of Muslim Arabs

and Berbers under the command ofriq ibn Ziyad.Roderic was the last king of the Visigoths, but his

disputed succession to the throne and the resulting internal conflict may have contributed to the collapse

of the Visigoth kingdom before the advance of the Moorish invaders. The Visigoths elected their kings

outright rather than making the throne hereditary byright of succession,butRoderichad apparently led a

coup and usurped the throne in 711.[15]Hearing of Tariq's landing, Roderic had gathered his followers and

engaged the Arab-Berber invaders, making several expeditions against them before he was deserted by

his troops and killed in battle in 712.[16]After Roderics defeat, the Muslim armies, reinforced by more

troops from Africa, faced little opposition as they moved north. By 714, the Muslims were in control of all

of Hispania, except for a narrow strip along the north coast. Malacitana was settled by Arabs and

Berbers, while much of the indigenous population fled into the mountains. The Muslims called the city

Mlaqa (Arabic: ), designating it as part of the region of al-Andalus. The military and politicalleaderAbd al-Aziz ibn Musabecame governor of the city, but his tenure did not last long. For forty years

following his assassination in 716, al-Andalus was filled with chaos and turmoil as the Hispano-Romano

residents rebelled against Muslim rule, until in 743 Mlaga came decisively under Arab domination.

The invading forces were mostly Berber tribesmen from the Maghreb (the northwest of Africa), under

Arab leadership. They and the other Muslim soldiers fighting with them were united by their religion. After

the battle of Guadalete the city passed into the hands of the Arabs, and the bishopric was suppressed.

Mlaga then became for a time a possession of the Caliphate of Cordova. After the fall of the Umayyad

dynasty, it became the capital of a distinct kingdom (taifa), dependent on Granada. [17]

TheMuladi,or Muwallads, were in almost constant revolt against the Arab and Berber immigrants who

had carved out large estates for themselves, which were farmed by Christian serfs or slaves. [18]The most

famous of these revolts was led by a rebel namedUmar ibn Hafsunin the region of Mlaga and the

Ronda mountains. Ibn Hafsun ruled over several mountain valleys for nearly forty years, having the castle

obastro (Arabic: ) as his residence. He rallied disaffected muwallads and mozrabs to his cause,

and eventually renounced Islam in 889 with his sons and became a Christian. He took the name Samuel

http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Sisenand?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Sisenand?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Sisenand?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Archidona?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Archidona?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Archidona?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Chronicle_of_754?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Chronicle_of_754?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Chronicle_of_754?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Battle_of_Guadalete?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Battle_of_Guadalete?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Battle_of_Guadalete?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/%E1%B9%AC%C4%81riq_ibn_Ziyad?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/%E1%B9%AC%C4%81riq_ibn_Ziyad?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/%E1%B9%AC%C4%81riq_ibn_Ziyad?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Primogeniture?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Primogeniture?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Primogeniture?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Roderic?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Roderic?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Roderic?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-15http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-15http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Collins.2C_p.133-16http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Collins.2C_p.133-16http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Collins.2C_p.133-16http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Abd_al-Aziz_ibn_Musa?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Abd_al-Aziz_ibn_Musa?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Abd_al-Aziz_ibn_Musa?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-17http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-17http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-17http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Muladi?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Muladi?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Muladi?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Ammari.2C_p.62-18http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Ammari.2C_p.62-18http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Ammari.2C_p.62-18http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Umar_ibn_Hafsun?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Umar_ibn_Hafsun?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Umar_ibn_Hafsun?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Umar_ibn_Hafsun?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Ammari.2C_p.62-18http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Muladi?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-17http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Abd_al-Aziz_ibn_Musa?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Collins.2C_p.133-16http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-15http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Roderic?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Primogeniture?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/%E1%B9%AC%C4%81riq_ibn_Ziyad?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Battle_of_Guadalete?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Chronicle_of_754?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Archidona?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Sisenand?qsrc=3044&lang=en

8/12/2019 History of Mlaga

12/50

and proclaimed himself not only the leader of the Christian nationalist movement, but also the champion

at the same time of a regular crusade against Islam. However, his conversion soon cost him the support

of most of his Muwallad supporters who had no intention of ever becoming Christians, and led to the

gradual erosion of his power.[19]

When Hafs, son of Umar ibn Hafsun, finally laid down his arms in 928 and surrendered the town of

Bobastro,Abd-al-Rahman IIIimposed the Islamic system of civil organisation in Mlaqa province. This

allowed a new population distribution that encouraged urban development and the proliferation of farms in

rural areas, as opposed to the pattern offeudalismdominant in the rest of Europe. The farmers practiced

intensive irrigation-based agriculture, while artisanry and trade flourished in the citiesleading to

prosperity and an era of peace in the province.

Alcazaba of Mlaga

Surrounded by a walled enclosure with five large gates, Mlaqa city itself thrived; the Alcazaba,a Moorish

citadel, was built in the mid-11th century on Mount Gibralfaro, a hill in the centre of the city overlooking

the port. The fortress comprised two walled enclosures situated to conform to the steep terrain. The

Alcazaba was fortified with three walls towards the sea, and two facing the town.Antonio de

Nebrijacounted, in the circumference of the castle, 110 large towers, and a great number of turrets, the

largest of which were those that surrounded the Atarazanas.[20]New suburbs formed as the city expanded,

including walled neighbourhoods, within which evolved theadarvescharacteristic of medieval Islamic

cities; these were streets leading to private homes, with a gate at the beginning. The banks of the Wad-al-

Medina(Guadalmedina river) were lined with orchards, and crossed from east to west by a route that

connected the harbor and the fortress inside the city walls. Near the enclosure rose neighborhoods

settled by Genoese and Jewish merchants, independent of the rest of the city. The Jewish quarter of

themedinaproduced one of Mlaqa's most illustrious sons: the Jewish philosopher and poet, Solomon

Ibn Gabirol, who would be the first to use the term "Paradise City" to refer to his hometown.

Besides the splendidAlcazaba,the marble gate of theNasridshipyards (atarazanas), and part of the

Jewish quarter, other vestiges of Moorish Mlaqa remain today: a section of the monumental cemetery of

http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-19http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-19http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-19http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Abd-al-Rahman_III?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Abd-al-Rahman_III?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Abd-al-Rahman_III?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Feudalism?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Feudalism?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Feudalism?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Alcazaba_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Alcazaba_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Alcazaba_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Antonio_de_Nebrija?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Antonio_de_Nebrija?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Antonio_de_Nebrija?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Antonio_de_Nebrija?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Carter.2C_p.308-309-20http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Carter.2C_p.308-309-20http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Carter.2C_p.308-309-20http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Medina?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Medina?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Medina?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Alcazaba_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Alcazaba_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Alcazaba_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Nasrid_dynasty?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Nasrid_dynasty?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Nasrid_dynasty?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Malaga_Alcazaba_25-9-2007a.JPGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Malaga_Alcazaba_25-9-2007a.JPGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Malaga_Alcazaba_25-9-2007a.JPGhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Malaga_Alcazaba_25-9-2007a.JPGhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Nasrid_dynasty?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Alcazaba_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Medina?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Carter.2C_p.308-309-20http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Antonio_de_Nebrija?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Antonio_de_Nebrija?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Alcazaba_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Feudalism?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Abd-al-Rahman_III?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-19

8/12/2019 History of Mlaga

13/50

Yabal Faruh, considered the largest in Andalusian Spain, has been excavated on the slopes of Mount

Gibralfaro. Two burial mosques, part of a mausoleum, and the remains of a pantheon (a temple dedicated

to all the gods) have been preserved as well on Calle Agua. The mosques date from about the 12th and

13th centuries and were built on a quadrangular plan with single naves and mihrabs.

Taifa of Mlaqa

Mlaga lustreware found at the Alcazaba

In 1026 Mlaqa became the capital of theTaifa of Mlaga,an independent Muslim kingdom which existed

for four distinct periods: it was ruled by theHammudiddynasty as the Rayya Cora in theCaliphate of

Crdobafrom 1026 to 1057, by the Zir dynasty from 1073 to 1090, by the Hassoun from 1145 to 1153

and the Zannun from 1229 to 1239 when it was finally conquered by the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada.

Vestiges of the urban plan of this era are preserved in the historical centre: in its two principal

monuments, the Alcazaba and the castle of Gibralfaro; and La Coracha, a walled passage of double

ramparts built to secure communication between the fortress and the Alcazaba. Mlaqa had two suburbs

outside the walls and enjoyed a thriving trade with the Maghreb.The city had an important pottery

industryterra cotta tiles were fired there and its ornamental vases, called Mlagan lustreware, came to

be recognized throughout the Mediterranean. Trade was regulated by the "Proper Governance of the

Souk", a treatise onHisba(business accountability) written by Abu Abd Allah al-Saqati of Mlaqa, in the

13th century.[21]

Nasrid Mlaqa

After the death in 1238 of Ibn Zannun, the last king of the Mlaqa Taifa, the city was captured in 1239

byMohammed I ibn Nasrand became part of the Moorish kingdom of Granada. His brother Isma`il

became the governor of Mlaqa during Mohammed's reign (until 1257). When Isma'il died, Mohammed

ibn Al-Ahamar raised his nephews Mohammed and Abu Said Faraj, the latter of whom would become

http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Mihrab?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Mihrab?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Mihrab?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Taifa_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Taifa_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Taifa_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hammudid?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hammudid?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Caliphate_of_C%C3%B3rdoba?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Caliphate_of_C%C3%B3rdoba?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Caliphate_of_C%C3%B3rdoba?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Caliphate_of_C%C3%B3rdoba?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Emirate_of_Granada?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Emirate_of_Granada?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Emirate_of_Granada?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Maghreb?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Maghreb?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Maghreb?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hisbah_(business_accountability)?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hisbah_(business_accountability)?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hisbah_(business_accountability)?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-21http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-21http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-21http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Mohammed_I_ibn_Nasr?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Mohammed_I_ibn_Nasr?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Mohammed_I_ibn_Nasr?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alcazaba-IMG_2914.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alcazaba-IMG_2914.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alcazaba-IMG_2914.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Alcazaba-IMG_2914.jpghttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Mohammed_I_ibn_Nasr?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-21http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hisbah_(business_accountability)?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Maghreb?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Emirate_of_Granada?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Caliphate_of_C%C3%B3rdoba?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Caliphate_of_C%C3%B3rdoba?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hammudid?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Taifa_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Mihrab?qsrc=3044&lang=en

8/12/2019 History of Mlaga

14/50

governor of Mlaqa in his father's place. Mlaqa remained under the rule of the Nasrid dynasty till the

reconquista of the Catholic Monarchs.

During the reign of the Nasrids, Mlaqa became a centre of shipbuilding and international trade.[22]

In 1279, Muhammad II signed an economic and trade agreement with the Republic of Genoa,[23]

and

Genoese traders obtained a privileged position in the port. By the mid-fourteenth century, Mlaqa was the

maritime gateway of the Nasrid kingdom, assuming many of the functions formerly held by Almera.[24]

The Genoese established a network of trade centres under their control around the Mediterranean Sea

and connected the Iberian trade with that of northern Africa by Atlantic routes as well. Many of these

communities organised cooperative institutions known as consulados(consulates) to connect merchants

regionally and internationally. A ship's registry (logbook) written by Filippo de Nigro in 1445 shows that

Mlaqa was an important part of this trade network and describes the regional system controlled by the

GenoeseSpinola family.As a stopover on the coastal navigation routes, Mlaqa became a crucialbusiness hub with the rise of associated commercial activity. [25]

Fine ceramics made in Mlaqa were frequentlygiven as diplomatic gifts. In the mid-15th century the king

of Granada sent ambassadors to the Mameluke sultan in Cairo bearing them as presents. The workshops

for their manufacture were located in the suburb known as Fontanalla in the foothills of the mountain El

Ejido.[25]

http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-22http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-22http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-22http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-23http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-23http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-24http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-24http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-24http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Spinola_family?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Spinola_family?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Spinola_family?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Porras.2C_2010-25http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Porras.2C_2010-25http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Porras.2C_2010-25http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Porras.2C_2010-25http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Porras.2C_2010-25http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Porras.2C_2010-25http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PuertaMercado(Malaga)_01.jpghttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Porras.2C_2010-25http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-Porras.2C_2010-25http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Spinola_family?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-24http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-23http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-22

8/12/2019 History of Mlaga

15/50

Nasrid Arch of the Atarazanas

The Mlaqa shipyards, theAtarazanas, were built during the reign (13541391) of Mohammed V to

strengthen his political and military power.[26]Constructed as a naval workshop, with probably some limited

use as a warehouse, the main building was one of Mlaqa's largest and most impressive, and was noted

for its seven monumental horseshoe arches. During this period the coast was further inland and the

Atarazanas was at the edge of the sea, so low that the water flowed in and formed a basin capacious

enough to contain 20 galleys. The walls around it were eighty feet high; the arches, for the reception of

ships, were sixty feet high by thirty wide, and twelve feet thick, and each of these arches had its own

gate.[27]The southern facade was described byHieronymus Mnzerin 1494: it had six open arches

providing access to a high vaulted nave with transverse ribs under which the ships anchored. The

seventh arch, located on the left, and still in existence today, was the entranceway to a large columned

courtyard.[28]There are two heraldic shields above the arch, designed in Castilian style and having

diagonal bands inscribed in Arabic with the Nasrid motto, Wah l ghlib il Allh(There is no victor other

than God). At the western corner was a square tower attached to the portal and from there a wall joined

the Borch Hayta, or Torre del Clamor, which closed the natural inlet between it and the Genoese castle,

which is no longer extant. The tower served as a minaret for the muezzin to call the faithful to prayer at

the mosque.

At this time about 15,000 people lived in Mlaqa; most of them were Muslims strictly observant of

religious orthodoxy as taught by theFuqah',the expert jurists of Islamic law. There was a sizable

minority of Jews, while the presence of Christians was reduced to those captives taken in war, enslaved,

and forced to labour in the shipyards, where light ships were built for patrolling the coast. The small

colony of foreign traders was mostly Genoese. The governor of the city was typically a Moorish prince

serving as a representative of the Sultan, and resided in the Alcazaba with his retinue of personal

secretaries and lawyers. The large massive city walls, with their many towers, monumental gates and

moat, all surmounted by the fortress of Gibralfaro, made the defences of the city nearly impregnable.

The generally mountainous land around Mlaqa did not favour agriculture, but the Muslim peasants

organised an efficient irrigation system, and with their simple tools were able to grow crops on the slopes;

spring wheat being the staple of their diet. An unusual feature of Mlaq iviticulturewas the interplanting of

grape vines and fig trees, grown mostly in the Axarquaarea east of Mlaqa. The raising of livestock,

absent pigs because of Muslim dietary restrictions, played only a secondary role in the local economy.

The production of olives was low, and olive oil was actually imported from theAljarafe.Other fruit and nut

trees, such as figs, hazelnuts, walnuts, chestnuts, and almonds were abundant and provided important

winter foodstuffs, as did the mulberry trees introduced by the Arabs, their fruit being used to make juice.

http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-26http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-26http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-27http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-27http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-27http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hieronymus_M%C3%BCnzer?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hieronymus_M%C3%BCnzer?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hieronymus_M%C3%BCnzer?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-28http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-28http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-28http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Faq%C4%ABh?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Faq%C4%ABh?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Faq%C4%ABh?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Viticulture?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Viticulture?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Viticulture?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Axarqu%C3%ADa?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Axarqu%C3%ADa?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Axarqu%C3%ADa?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Albaida_del_Aljarafe?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Albaida_del_Aljarafe?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Albaida_del_Aljarafe?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:PuertaMercado(Malaga)_01.jpghttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Albaida_del_Aljarafe?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Axarqu%C3%ADa?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Viticulture?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Faq%C4%ABh?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-28http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Hieronymus_M%C3%BCnzer?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-27http://uk.ask.com/wiki/History_of_M%C3%A1laga?lang=en#cite_note-26

8/12/2019 History of Mlaga

16/50

Trade in hides and skins and leatherworking was a major industry in Mlaqa, as was metalsmithing,

especially of knives and scissors; gold inlaid ceramics and porcelain were manufactured as well. The

production of silk textiles was still important and closely linked to the Moorish sector of the population.

Light ships for patrolling the coast were built in the Atarazanas.

In 1348, while the black plague ravaged Europe, the Alcazaba and the castle of Gibralfaro took their final

shape. The city had several gates that allowed passage through the walls, some of which still stand

today, such as the Puerta Oscura(Dark Gate) and the Puerta del Mar(Sea Gate). Looming over the port,

theAlcazabawas the Moorish citadel built on the hill called Mount Gibralfaro in the centre of the city, on

whose summit was the castle. The citadel and the castle were connected by a corridor known as La

Corachabetween two zig-zagging walls that followed the contours of the land. Erected in the 11th

century, the Alcazaba combined defensive fortifications with residential palaces and inner gardens; it was

fortified with three walls towards the sea, and two facing the town.Antonio de Nebrijacounted, in the

circumference of the castle, 110 large towers, besides a great number of turrets. The same walls also

enclosed the whole compound, though each building had its own entrance. The Puerta de los

Arcos(Gate of the Arch) of the Torre del Tinel(Tower of Tinel) was the entrance to the Nasrid palace in

the enclosure dating to the 13th and 14th centuries. Remnants of the old city wall remain today in Calle

Alamos and Calle Carreteria.

The Capitulation of Granadato Ferdinand and Isabella, by Francisco Pradilla

In May 1487 Ferdinand and Isabella began theirsiege of Mlaqa,which after a desperate resistance was

compelled to surrender. The victory was a bloody episode in the war for the conquest of the Kingdom of

Granada, but the Christian religion was restored, and with it the episcopal see. The Catholic Monarchs

had already taken the city of Ronda by storm on 22 May 1485. Its warden ( arraez), the Moorish chieftain

Hamet el Zegr (Hamad al-Tagri), refused Ferdinand and Isabella's offer to accept his vassalage, and

took refuge in Mlaqa, where he led the Muslim resistance. The siege began on May 5, 1487; the Nasrid

http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Alcazaba_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Alcazaba_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Alcazaba_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Antonio_de_Nebrija?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Antonio_de_Nebrija?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Antonio_de_Nebrija?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Siege_of_M%C3%A1laga_(1487)?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Siege_of_M%C3%A1laga_(1487)?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Siege_of_M%C3%A1laga_(1487)?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:La_Rendici%C3%B3n_de_Granada_-_Pradilla.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:La_Rendici%C3%B3n_de_Granada_-_Pradilla.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:La_Rendici%C3%B3n_de_Granada_-_Pradilla.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:La_Rendici%C3%B3n_de_Granada_-_Pradilla.jpghttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Siege_of_M%C3%A1laga_(1487)?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Antonio_de_Nebrija?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Alcazaba_of_M%C3%A1laga?qsrc=3044&lang=en

8/12/2019 History of Mlaga

17/50

troops held out till August, when only the Alcazaba, under the command of the merchant Ali Dordux, and

the fortress of the Gibralfaro, under the command of Hamet el Zegr and Ali Derbal, still resisted.

TheCatholic Monarchsbesieged Mlaqa for six months, one of the longest sieges in theReconquista.

They cut off the supplies of food and water to the city, forcing its Muslim garrison to eventually surrender.

On 13 August the Castilian army, over 45,000 strong, took the city defended by 15,000 African (Magreb)

mercenaries and Mlaqi warriors. King Ferdinand decided to make an example of the resistors and

refused to grant them an honorable capitulation, The civilian population was punished by enslavement or

execution, with the exception of twenty-five families allowed to stay as Mudjar converts in the Moorish

compound.

On August 18, Ali Dordux, after negotiating his group's status as mudejars, surrendered the citadel, but

Gibralfaro had to be taken by assault, and its defenders were sold as slaves, while Hamet el Zegr was

executed. The conquest of Mlaqa was a final blow to the Nasrid kingdom of Granada, which lost its

principal maritime port.

The troops who served in the army of the Spanish victors were paid by the customary division of

properties, the repartimientos. Between 5,000 and 6,000 Christians from Extremadura, Leon, Castile,

Galicia and theLevanterepopulated the province, of which about a thousand settled in the capital, now

called by its Castilian name, Mlaga. The city spread beyond its walls with the creation of the religious

convents of La Trinidad, Los Angeles, Santuario de la Victoria, and the Capuchin monastery.

Early Modern Era

The Mudjars (14851501)The word Mudjaris a Medieval Spanish corruption of the Arabic word Mudajjan gninaem ,"domesticated", in reference to the Muslims who submitted to the rule of the Christian monarchs. By this

means many Islamic communities survived in the Mlaga area after the Reconquista, protected by the

capitulations they signed during the war. These covenants were feudal in nature: the Moors recognized

the sovereignty of the Catholic Monarchs, surrendered their fortresses, delivered all Christian captives,

and committed to continue paying traditional taxes. In return, they received protection for their persons

and property, and legal assurances that their beliefs, laws and social customs would be respected.

TheTreaty of Granadahad protected religious and cultural freedoms for Muslims and Jews in the

imminent transition from being the Emirate of Granada to being a province of Castile. After thefall of

Granadain January 1492, Mudjars kept their protected religious status, but in the mid-16th century, they

were forced to convert to Christianity. From that time, because of suspicions that they were not truly

converted, they were known asMoriscos.In 1610 those who refused to convert to Christianity were

expelled from Mlaga.

http://uk.ask.com/wiki/Catholic_Monarchs?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Catholic_Monarchs?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Catholic_Monarchs?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Reconquista?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Reconquista?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Levante,_Spain?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Levante,_Spain?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Levante,_Spain?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Treaty_of_Granada_(1491)?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Treaty_of_Granada_(1491)?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Treaty_of_Granada_(1491)?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Battle_of_Granada?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/Battle_of_Granada?qsrc=3044&lang=enhttp://uk.ask.com/wiki/