The lost fortress of Tajara

The ruins of an exhausted battlefield may be all that remains of Tajara, an alquía once strategically placed at the heart of the Granadan valley, now submerged in the countryside of rural Spain. In Arab sources, it was referred to as Al-Tayarat. Questions about its location abound, as Tajara del Monte's location is uncertain. Al-Udri, an important researcher and historian of the Al-Andalus, mentioned three alquerías within the district of Elvira – Taŷarat al-Ŷabal (Tájara del Monte), Taŷarat al-Wadi, and Taŷarat al-Laŷam. Researchers and historians speculate that Taŷarat al-Ŷabal is the most likely candidate for Tajara del Monte, a contender backed by its mention in Ibn al-Jatib's critical work Al-Ihata fi ajbar Garnata.

Ibn al-Jatib provided information about the installation of the Arab leader Uqba b. Nuaym in the alqueria of Sikanb, which, according to him, belonged to the Al-Tayarat district.

There is also evidence of the struggle between Muslim and Christian forces in chroniclers of the period, which reference its destruction by the military campaign led by Don Álvaro de Luna in 1431. Tajara (also known as Taxara) was a crucial component of the Guerra de Granada, a clash which also came to a head in 1483, when it was destroyed once again by the military forces of Fernando the Catholic, requiring the intervention of the Marqués de Cádiz Rodrigo Ponce de León y Núñez.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata