- Kalbids
.
In
827 , in the midst of internal Byzantine conflict, theAghlabids arrived atMarsala inSicily , with a fleet of 10,000 men under the command ofAsad ibn al-Furat .Palermo was conquered in831 and became the new capital. Syracuse fell in878 and in902 the last Byzantine outpost,Taormina , was taken. At the same time various Muslim incursions into southern Italy occurred, with new Emirates being founded inTaranto andBari . During this period there were constant power struggles amongst the Muslims. Nominally the island was under rule of theAghlabids and later theFatimids .After successfully suppressing a revolt the Fatimid caliph appointed
Hassan al-Kalbi (948 -964 ) asEmir of Sicily, the first of the Kalbid dynasty. The Fatimids appointed the Kalbids as rulers via proxy before they shifted their capital from Ifriqiya to Cairo in 969. Raids into southern Italy continued under the Kalbids into the 11th century, and in982 a German army underOtto II was defeated in theBattle of Stilo nearCrotone inCalabria . The dynasty began a steady period of decline with the Emirate ofYusuf al-Kalbi (990 -998 ) who entrusted the island to his sons and created space for interference from theZirids ofIfriqiya . Underal-Akhal (1017 -1037 ) the dynastic conflict intensified, with factions allying themselves variously with Byzantium and the Zirids. Even though neither of these powers could establish themselves in Sicily permanently, underHasan as-Samsam (1040 -1053 ) the island fragmented into small fiefdoms. The Kalbids died out in1053 , and in1061 theNormans of southern Italy arrived underRoger I of Sicily and began their conquest, which was completed in1091 . The Muslims were allowed to remain and played an important role in the administration, army and economy of the Norman kingdom until the 12th century.Under the Kalbid dynasty, Sicily, and especially Palermo, was an important economic centre of the
Mediterranean . The Muslims introduced lemons, Seville oranges and sugar cane, as well as cotton and mulberries for sericulture, and built irrigation systems for agriculture. Sicily was also an important hub for trade between the Near East, North Africa and the Italian maritime republics such asAmalfi ,Pisa andGenoa .Rulers
* Hassan al-Kalbi (948-954)
* Ahmad ibn Ḥasan (954-969)
* Abū l-Qāsim ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan (969-982)
* Jabir al-Kalbi (982-983)
* Jafar al-Kalbi (983-985)
* Abd-Allah al-Kalbi (985-990)
* Yusuf al-Kalbi (990-998)
* Ja'far al-Kalbi (998-1019)
* al-Akhal (1019-1037)
* Hasan as-Samsam (1040-1053)ee also
*
History of Islam in Southern Italy Literature
*Michele Armari: "Storia dei musulmani di Sicilia," Romeo Prampolini, Catania, 1933-1939 (Italian)
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