[1] It was used for different purposes throughout the history: it was first a control tower built by the Aghlabids on the coast, then the seat of the municipal government, and then the main army barracks.

The kasbah was established as a part of a coastal surveillance and security campaign carried out by the Aghlabid state's main troops, which gained independence and proceeded to conquer Ifriqiya in the early 9th century.

Among these newly constructed towers was the kasbah, built as the watchtower of Sfax, on top of an ancient palace in the south of Mahares they inherited from previous civilizations that ruled the region.

Along with the development of the Aghlabid Dynasty, and the expansion of the ribat in the city occupied the south-west corner, the kasbah became the state's centerpiece, where the seat of the government was located.

It also acted as the seat of the governors who managed the supervision of the city over the successive dynasties that traded the rule of Ifriqiya as a whole or the modern Tunisian region, namely the Fatimids, Zirids, Almohads and Hafsids.