Emirate of Crete
Encyclopedia
The Emirate of Crete was a Muslim
state that existed on the Mediterranean island of Crete
from the late 820s to the Byzantine
reconquest of the island in 961.
Crete was conquered by a group of Andalusian
exiles, who landed on the island in ca. 824 or in 827/828 and quickly established an independent state there. Numerous Byzantine attempts to recover the island failed disastrously, and for the approximately 135 years of its existence, the emirate (called Iqritish or Iqritiya by the Arabs) was one of the major foes of Byzantium. Crete commanded the sea lanes of the Eastern Mediterranean and functioned as a forward base and safe haven for corsair fleets from the Muslim world that ravaged the Byzantine-controlled shores of the Aegean Sea
. The emirate's internal history is less well-known, but all accounts point to considerable prosperity deriving not only from piracy, but also from extensive trade and agriculture. The emirate was brought to an end by Nikephoros Phokas
, who launched a huge campaign against it in 960–961.
in the mid-7th century. It had suffered a first raid in 654 and again in 674/675, and parts of the island were temporarily occupied during the reign of the Abbasid
Caliph al-Walid I (r. 705–715). Nevertheless, the island was never conquered and despite occasional raids in the 8th century it remained securely in Byzantine hands; Crete was too far from the Arab naval bases in the Levant
for an effective expedition against it to be undertaken.
(r. 820–829), a group of Andalusian
exiles landed on Crete and began its conquest. These exiles had a long history of wanderings behind them. They were the survivors of a failed revolt against the emir Al-Hakam I
of Córdoba
in 818. In the aftermath of its suppression, the citizens of the Cordovan suburb of al-Rabad were exiled en masse. Some settled in Morocco
, but others, numbering over 10,000, took to piracy, probably joined by other Andalusians. Some of the latter group, under the leadership of Umar ibn Hafs ibn Shuayb ibn Isa al Balluti, commonly known as Abu Hafs
, landed in Alexandria
and took control of the city until 827, when they were besieged and expelled by the Abbasid
general Abdullah ibn Tahir al-Khurasani. The exact chronology of their landing in Crete is uncertain. Following the Muslim sources, it is usually dated to 827 or 828, after the Andalusians' expulsion from Alexandria. Byzantine sources however seem to contradict this, placing their landing soon after the suppression of the large revolt of Thomas the Slav
(821–823). Further considerations regarding the number and chronology of the Byzantine campaigns launched against the invaders and prosopographical questions of the Byzantine generals have led other scholars like Vasileios Christides and Christos Makrypoulias to propose an earlier date, ca. 824.
Under the terms of their agreement with Ibn Tahir, the Andalusians and their families left Alexandria in 40 ships. Historian Warren Treadgold estimates them at some 12,000 people, of whom ca. 3,000 would be fighting men. According to Byzantine historians, the Andalusians were already familiar with Crete, having raided it in the past. They also claim that the Muslim landing was also initially intended as a raid, and was transformed into a bid for conquest when Abu Hafs himself set fire to their ships. However, as the Andalusian exiles had brought their families along, this is probably later invention. The Andalusians' landing-place is also unknown; some scholars think that it was at the north coast, at Suda Bay or near where their main city and fortress Chandax ' onMouseout='HidePop("25379")' href="/topics/Heraklion">Heraklion
) was later built, but others think that they most likely landed on the south coast of the island, and then moved to the more densely populated interior and the northern coast.
As soon as he learned of the Arab landing, Emperor Michael II reacted and sent successive expeditions to recover the island. Byzantium's ability to respond effectively however was curtailed by the losses suffered during the revolt of Thomas the Slav
, and, if the landing occurred in 827/828, by the diversion of ships and men to counter the gradual conquest of Sicily
by the Tunisia
n Aghlabids. The first expedition, under Photeinos, strategos
of the Anatolic Theme
, and Damian, Count of the Stable
, was defeated in open battle, where Damian was killed. The next expedition was sent a year later and comprised 70 ships under the strategos of the Cibyrrhaeots Krateros. It was initially victorious, but the over-confident Byzantines were then routed in a night attack. Krateros managed to flee to Kos
, but there he was captured by the Arabs and crucified
. Ch. Makrypoulias suggests that these campaigns must have taken place before the Andalusians completed their construction of Chandax, where they transferred the capital from the inland site of Gortyn
.
littoral to frequent and devastating raids.
The Andalusians also occupied several of the Cyclades
during these early years, but Michael II organized another large-scale expedition, recruiting an entire new marine corps, the Tessarakontarioi, and building new ships. Under the admiral Ooryphas, this fleet managed to evict the Arabs from the Aegean islands, but failed to retake Crete. Michael II's successor Theophilos
(r. 829–842) sent an embassy to Abd ar-Rahman II
of Córdoba, trying to win him over to a joint action against the Andalusian exiles, but beyond Abd ar-Rahman's giving his assent to any action against them, this came to nothing. In October 829, the Cretans destroyed an imperial fleet was destroyed off Thasos
and then proceeded to lay waste Mount Athos
. Later they attacked Lesbos (837) and the coasts of the Thracesian Theme
, where they destroyed the monastic centre of Mount Latros, but were heavily defeated by the local strategos
, Constantine Kontomytes.
After the death of Theophilos in 842, new measures to confront the Cretan threat were undertaken by the new Byzantine regime: in 843 a new maritime theme, that of the Aegean Sea
, was established to better deal with the Saracen raids, and another expedition to recover Crete was launched under the personal leadership of the powerful logothetes and regent Theoktistos
. Although it succeeded in occupying much of the island, Theoktistos had to abandon the army due to political intrigues in Constantinople
, and the troops left behind were slaughtered by the Arabs. In an effort to weaken the Saracens, in 853 several Byzantine fleets engaged in coordinated operations in the Eastern Mediterranean, and attacked
the Egyptian naval base of Damietta
, capturing weapons intended for Crete. Despite some Byzantine successes against the Arabs in the following years, the Cretans resumed their raids in the early 860s, attacking the Peloponnese
, the Cyclades and Athos. In 866, the Byzantine Caesar
Bardas
assembled another large-scale expeditionary force to subdue Crete, but his murder at the hand of Basil the Macedonian only two weeks after the fleet set sail from the capital spelled the end of the undertaking.
In the early 870s, the Cretan raids reached a new intensity: their fleets, often commanded by Byzantine renegades, ranged the Aegean and further afield, reaching the Dalmatia
n coasts. On one occasion a Cretan fleet even penetrated into the Marmara Sea and unsuccessfully attacked Proconnesos; the first time since the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople in 717–718 that a Muslim fleet had come so close to the capital itself. In 873 and again in 874 however, they also suffered two successive heavy defeats at the hands of the new Byzantine admiral, Niketas Ooryphas. After the latter battle in particular, Ooryphas took many prisoners, whom he tortured extensively in revenge for their raids. These victories apparently led to a temporary truce, and it appears that the Cretan emir Saipes (Shuayb I ibn Umar) was obliged to pay tribute to Byzantium for about a decade.
Raids nevertheless soon resumed, in which the Cretans were joined by North African and Syrian fleets. The Peloponnese in particular suffered considerably from their raids, but also Euboea
and the Cyclades: the island of Patmos
came under Cretan control, and Naxos
was forced to pay them tribute. Athens
may have been occupied in ca. 896–902, and in 904, a Syrian fleet led by Leo of Tripoli
sacked
the Byzantine Empire's second city, Thessalonica. The Saracens of Crete co-operated closely with their Syrian counterparts, who often used Crete as a base or a stop-over, as during Leo of Tripoli's fleet return from Thessalonica, when many of the over 20,000 Thessalonian captives were sold or gifted as slaves in Crete. In 911, another large-scale expedition of well over 100 ships was launched against Crete, headed by the admiral Himerios
, but it was forced to leave the island after a few months and was then destroyed in battle off Chios
by a combined Cretan and Syrian fleet.
Cretan piracy reached another high in the 930s and 940s, devastating southern Greece, Athos and the western coasts of Asia Minor
. As a result, Emperor Constantine VII
(r. 913–959) sent another expedition in 949. This too was routed in a surprise attack, a defeat which Byzantine chroniclers ascribe to the incompetence and inexperience of its leader, the eunuch chamberlain Constantine Gongyles
. Emperor Constantine did not give up, and during the last years of his reign began preparing another expedition. In the event, it would be carried out under his successor, Romanos II
(r. 959–963), who entrusted its leadership to the capable general Nikephoros Phokas. At the head of a huge fleet and army, Phokas sailed in June or July 960, landed on the island and defeated the initial Muslim resistance. A long siege of Chandax followed, which dragged over the winter to 961, until the city was stormed on 6 March.
The city was pillaged, and its mosques and walls were torn down. The inhabitants either killed or carried off into slavery, while the island's last emir, Abd al-Aziz ibn Shuayb (Kouroupas), and his son al-Numan (Anemas) were taken captive and brought to Constantinople, where Phokas celebrated a triumph
. The island was converted into a Byzantine theme, and the remaining Muslims were converted to Christianity by missionaries like Nikon "the Metanoeite". Among the converts was the prince Anemas, who entered Byzantine service and fell at Dorostolon, in the war of 970–971 against the Rus'
.
The picture painted by the few and scattered pieces of evidence from the Muslim world however is that of an ordered state with a regular monetary economy and extensive trade links, and there is evidence that Chandax was a cultural centre of some importance. The survival of numerous gold, silver and copper coins, of almost constant weight and composition, testifies to a strong economy and a high living standard among the population. The economy was strengthened by extensive trade with the rest of the Muslim world, especially with Egypt
, and by a booming agriculture: the need to sustain an independent state, as well as access to the markets of the Muslim world, led to an intensification of cultivation. It is also possible that sugar cane was introduced to Crete at the time.
It is unclear what happened to the island's Christians after the Muslim conquest; the traditional view is that most were either converted or expelled. There is evidence however from Muslim sources for the continued survival of Christians on Crete, although according to the same sources the Muslims, whether descendants of the Andalusians or more recent migrants, formed the majority. There is also some evidence of rival factions on the island, either Christian or Muslim, as when Theodosius the Deacon
reports the "inhabitants of crags and caves" under their leader Karamountes descending from the mountains during Nikephoros Phokas' siege of Chandax.
The son of the last emir, Al-Numan ibn Abd al-Aziz, Anemas in Greek sources, was captured and served in the Byzantine army, falling at the Battle of Dorostolon
in 971.
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
state that existed on the Mediterranean island of Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
from the late 820s to the Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
reconquest of the island in 961.
Crete was conquered by a group of Andalusian
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
exiles, who landed on the island in ca. 824 or in 827/828 and quickly established an independent state there. Numerous Byzantine attempts to recover the island failed disastrously, and for the approximately 135 years of its existence, the emirate (called Iqritish or Iqritiya by the Arabs) was one of the major foes of Byzantium. Crete commanded the sea lanes of the Eastern Mediterranean and functioned as a forward base and safe haven for corsair fleets from the Muslim world that ravaged the Byzantine-controlled shores of the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
. The emirate's internal history is less well-known, but all accounts point to considerable prosperity deriving not only from piracy, but also from extensive trade and agriculture. The emirate was brought to an end by Nikephoros Phokas
Nikephoros II
Nikephoros II Phokas was a Byzantine Emperor whose brilliant military exploits contributed to the resurgence of Byzantine Empire in the tenth century.-Early exploits:...
, who launched a huge campaign against it in 960–961.
History
Crete had been the target of Muslim attacks since the first wave of the Muslim conquestsMuslim conquests
Muslim conquests also referred to as the Islamic conquests or Arab conquests, began with the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He established a new unified polity in the Arabian Peninsula which under the subsequent Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates saw a century of rapid expansion of Muslim power.They...
in the mid-7th century. It had suffered a first raid in 654 and again in 674/675, and parts of the island were temporarily occupied during the reign of the Abbasid
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
Caliph al-Walid I (r. 705–715). Nevertheless, the island was never conquered and despite occasional raids in the 8th century it remained securely in Byzantine hands; Crete was too far from the Arab naval bases in the Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
for an effective expedition against it to be undertaken.
Conquest of Crete
At some point in the second half of the reign of Byzantine Emperor Michael IIMichael II
Michael II , surnamed the Amorian or the Stammerer , reigned as Byzantine emperor from December 820 to his death on 2 October 829, and the first ruler of the Phrygian or Amorian dynasty....
(r. 820–829), a group of Andalusian
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
exiles landed on Crete and began its conquest. These exiles had a long history of wanderings behind them. They were the survivors of a failed revolt against the emir Al-Hakam I
Al-Hakam I
Al-Hakam Ibn Hisham Ibn Abd-ar-Rahman I was Umayyad Emir of Cordoba from 796 until 822 in the Al-Andalus .Al-Hakam was the second son of his father, his older brother having died at an early age. When he came to power, he was challenged by his uncles Sulayman and Abdallah, sons of Abd ar-Rahman I...
of Córdoba
Caliphate of Córdoba
The Caliphate of Córdoba ruled the Iberian peninsula and part of North Africa, from the city of Córdoba, from 929 to 1031. This period was characterized by remarkable success in trade and culture; many of the masterpieces of Islamic Iberia were constructed in this period, including the famous...
in 818. In the aftermath of its suppression, the citizens of the Cordovan suburb of al-Rabad were exiled en masse. Some settled in Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, but others, numbering over 10,000, took to piracy, probably joined by other Andalusians. Some of the latter group, under the leadership of Umar ibn Hafs ibn Shuayb ibn Isa al Balluti, commonly known as Abu Hafs
Abu Hafs (pirate)
Umar ibn Hafs ibn Shuayb ibn Isa al Balluti, surnamed al-Ghaliz and later al-Ikritishi , and usually known as Abu Hafs , was a Muwallad corsair who was primarily active between 816 and 827...
, landed in Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
and took control of the city until 827, when they were besieged and expelled by the Abbasid
Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate or, more simply, the Abbasids , was the third of the Islamic caliphates. It was ruled by the Abbasid dynasty of caliphs, who built their capital in Baghdad after overthrowing the Umayyad caliphate from all but the al-Andalus region....
general Abdullah ibn Tahir al-Khurasani. The exact chronology of their landing in Crete is uncertain. Following the Muslim sources, it is usually dated to 827 or 828, after the Andalusians' expulsion from Alexandria. Byzantine sources however seem to contradict this, placing their landing soon after the suppression of the large revolt of Thomas the Slav
Thomas the Slav
Thomas the Slav was a 9th-century Byzantine military commander, most notable for leading a wide-scale revolt against Emperor Michael II the Amorian in 820–823....
(821–823). Further considerations regarding the number and chronology of the Byzantine campaigns launched against the invaders and prosopographical questions of the Byzantine generals have led other scholars like Vasileios Christides and Christos Makrypoulias to propose an earlier date, ca. 824.
Heraklion
Heraklion, or Heraclion is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete, Greece. It is the 4th largest city in Greece....
) was later built, but others think that they most likely landed on the south coast of the island, and then moved to the more densely populated interior and the northern coast.
As soon as he learned of the Arab landing, Emperor Michael II reacted and sent successive expeditions to recover the island. Byzantium's ability to respond effectively however was curtailed by the losses suffered during the revolt of Thomas the Slav
Thomas the Slav
Thomas the Slav was a 9th-century Byzantine military commander, most notable for leading a wide-scale revolt against Emperor Michael II the Amorian in 820–823....
, and, if the landing occurred in 827/828, by the diversion of ships and men to counter the gradual conquest of Sicily
History of Islam in southern Italy
The history of Islam in southern Italy begins with the Islamic conquest and subsequent rule of Sicily and Malta, a process that started in the 9th century. Islamic rule over Sicily was effective from 902, and the complete rule of the island lasted from 965 until 1061...
by the Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
n Aghlabids. The first expedition, under Photeinos, strategos
Strategos
Strategos, plural strategoi, is used in Greek to mean "general". In the Hellenistic and Byzantine Empires the term was also used to describe a military governor...
of the Anatolic Theme
Anatolic Theme
The Anatolic Theme , more properly known as the Theme of the Anatolics was a Byzantine theme in central Asia Minor...
, and Damian, Count of the Stable
Count of the Stable
The Count of the Stable was a late Roman and Byzantine office responsible for the horses and pack animals intended for use by the army and the imperial court...
, was defeated in open battle, where Damian was killed. The next expedition was sent a year later and comprised 70 ships under the strategos of the Cibyrrhaeots Krateros. It was initially victorious, but the over-confident Byzantines were then routed in a night attack. Krateros managed to flee to Kos
Kos
Kos or Cos is a Greek island in the south Sporades group of the Dodecanese, next to the Gulf of Gökova/Cos. It measures by , and is from the coast of Bodrum, Turkey and the ancient region of Caria. Administratively the island forms a separate municipality within the Kos peripheral unit, which is...
, but there he was captured by the Arabs and crucified
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is an ancient method of painful execution in which the condemned person is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross and left to hang until dead...
. Ch. Makrypoulias suggests that these campaigns must have taken place before the Andalusians completed their construction of Chandax, where they transferred the capital from the inland site of Gortyn
Gortyn
Gortyn, Gortys or Gortyna is a municipality and an archaeological site on the Mediterranean island of Crete, 45 km away from the modern capital Heraklion. The seat of the municipality is the village Agioi Deka...
.
The "pirate" emirate
Having repulsed the early Byzantine attacks, Abu Hafs slowly consolidated his control of the entire island, and installed himself as the island's ruler. He recognized the suzerainty of the Abbasid Caliphate, but ruled as a de facto independent prince. The conquest of the island was of major importance, as it transformed the naval balance of power in the Eastern Mediterranean and opened up the hitherto secure Aegean SeaAegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
littoral to frequent and devastating raids.
The Andalusians also occupied several of the Cyclades
Cyclades
The Cyclades is a Greek island group in the Aegean Sea, south-east of the mainland of Greece; and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The name refers to the islands around the sacred island of Delos...
during these early years, but Michael II organized another large-scale expedition, recruiting an entire new marine corps, the Tessarakontarioi, and building new ships. Under the admiral Ooryphas, this fleet managed to evict the Arabs from the Aegean islands, but failed to retake Crete. Michael II's successor Theophilos
Theophilos (emperor)
Theophilos was the Byzantine emperor from 829 until his death in 842. He was the second emperor of the Phrygian dynasty, and the last emperor supporting iconoclasm...
(r. 829–842) sent an embassy to Abd ar-Rahman II
Abd ar-Rahman II
Abd ar-Rahman II was Umayyad Emir of Córdoba in the Al-Andalus from 822 until his death.He was born in Toledo, the son of Emir Al-Hakam I...
of Córdoba, trying to win him over to a joint action against the Andalusian exiles, but beyond Abd ar-Rahman's giving his assent to any action against them, this came to nothing. In October 829, the Cretans destroyed an imperial fleet was destroyed off Thasos
Thasos
Thasos or Thassos is a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea, close to the coast of Thrace and the plain of the river Nestos but geographically part of Macedonia. It is the northernmost Greek island, and 12th largest by area...
and then proceeded to lay waste Mount Athos
Mount Athos
Mount Athos is a mountain and peninsula in Macedonia, Greece. A World Heritage Site, it is home to 20 Eastern Orthodox monasteries and forms a self-governed monastic state within the sovereignty of the Hellenic Republic. Spiritually, Mount Athos comes under the direct jurisdiction of the...
. Later they attacked Lesbos (837) and the coasts of the Thracesian Theme
Thracesian Theme
The Thracesian Theme , more properly known as the Theme of the Thracesians , was a Byzantine theme in western Asia Minor , comprising the ancient regions of Ionia, Lydia and parts of Phrygia and Caria....
, where they destroyed the monastic centre of Mount Latros, but were heavily defeated by the local strategos
Strategos
Strategos, plural strategoi, is used in Greek to mean "general". In the Hellenistic and Byzantine Empires the term was also used to describe a military governor...
, Constantine Kontomytes.
After the death of Theophilos in 842, new measures to confront the Cretan threat were undertaken by the new Byzantine regime: in 843 a new maritime theme, that of the Aegean Sea
Aegean Sea (theme)
The Theme of the Aegean Sea was a Byzantine province in the northern Aegean Sea, established in the mid-9th century. As one of the Byzantine Empire's three dedicated naval themes , it served chiefly to provide ships and troops for the Byzantine navy, but also served as a civil administrative...
, was established to better deal with the Saracen raids, and another expedition to recover Crete was launched under the personal leadership of the powerful logothetes and regent Theoktistos
Theoktistos
Theoktistos was an influential senior Byzantine official during the reigns of Michael II and his son Theophilos, and regent for the underage Michael III...
. Although it succeeded in occupying much of the island, Theoktistos had to abandon the army due to political intrigues in Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, and the troops left behind were slaughtered by the Arabs. In an effort to weaken the Saracens, in 853 several Byzantine fleets engaged in coordinated operations in the Eastern Mediterranean, and attacked
Sack of Damietta (853)
The Sack of Damietta in 853 was a major success for the Byzantine Empire. On 22 May 853, the Byzantine navy attacked the port city of Damietta on the Nile Delta, whose garrison was absent at the time...
the Egyptian naval base of Damietta
Damietta
Damietta , also known as Damiata, or Domyat, is a port and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt. It is located at the intersection between the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile, about north of Cairo.-History:...
, capturing weapons intended for Crete. Despite some Byzantine successes against the Arabs in the following years, the Cretans resumed their raids in the early 860s, attacking the Peloponnese
Peloponnese
The Peloponnese, Peloponnesos or Peloponnesus , is a large peninsula , located in a region of southern Greece, forming the part of the country south of the Gulf of Corinth...
, the Cyclades and Athos. In 866, the Byzantine Caesar
Caesar (title)
Caesar is a title of imperial character. It derives from the cognomen of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator...
Bardas
Bardas
Bardas was a Byzantine noble and high-ranking minister. As the brother of Empress Theodora, he rose to high office under Theophilos . Although sidelined after Theophilos' death by Theodora and Theoktistos, in 856 he engineered Theoktistos' fall and became the regent for his nephew, Michael III...
assembled another large-scale expeditionary force to subdue Crete, but his murder at the hand of Basil the Macedonian only two weeks after the fleet set sail from the capital spelled the end of the undertaking.
In the early 870s, the Cretan raids reached a new intensity: their fleets, often commanded by Byzantine renegades, ranged the Aegean and further afield, reaching the Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea. It stretches from the island of Rab in the northwest to the Bay of Kotor in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south....
n coasts. On one occasion a Cretan fleet even penetrated into the Marmara Sea and unsuccessfully attacked Proconnesos; the first time since the Second Arab Siege of Constantinople in 717–718 that a Muslim fleet had come so close to the capital itself. In 873 and again in 874 however, they also suffered two successive heavy defeats at the hands of the new Byzantine admiral, Niketas Ooryphas. After the latter battle in particular, Ooryphas took many prisoners, whom he tortured extensively in revenge for their raids. These victories apparently led to a temporary truce, and it appears that the Cretan emir Saipes (Shuayb I ibn Umar) was obliged to pay tribute to Byzantium for about a decade.
Raids nevertheless soon resumed, in which the Cretans were joined by North African and Syrian fleets. The Peloponnese in particular suffered considerably from their raids, but also Euboea
Euboea
Euboea is the second largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. The narrow Euripus Strait separates it from Boeotia in mainland Greece. In general outline it is a long and narrow, seahorse-shaped island; it is about long, and varies in breadth from to...
and the Cyclades: the island of Patmos
Patmos
Patmos is a small Greek island in the Aegean Sea. One of the northernmost islands of the Dodecanese complex, it has a population of 2,984 and an area of . The highest point is Profitis Ilias, 269 meters above sea level. The Municipality of Patmos, which includes the offshore islands of Arkoi ,...
came under Cretan control, and Naxos
Naxos
-Places:*Naxos , an island in the Cyclades group**Naxos , a town and former municipality on the island of Naxos**Naxos , a Greek government division created from the former Cyclades Prefecture in 2011...
was forced to pay them tribute. Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
may have been occupied in ca. 896–902, and in 904, a Syrian fleet led by Leo of Tripoli
Leo of Tripoli
Leo of Tripoli was a Greek renegade and pirate serving Arab interests in the early tenth century. Born in the Byzantine Empire to Christian parents, he later converted to Islam and took employment with his former captors as an admiral....
sacked
Sack of Thessalonica (904)
The Sack of Thessalonica in 904 by Saracen pirates was one of the worst disasters to befall the Byzantine Empire in the 10th century. A Muslim fleet, led by the renegade Leo of Tripoli, and with the imperial capital of Constantinople as its initial target, sailed from Syria...
the Byzantine Empire's second city, Thessalonica. The Saracens of Crete co-operated closely with their Syrian counterparts, who often used Crete as a base or a stop-over, as during Leo of Tripoli's fleet return from Thessalonica, when many of the over 20,000 Thessalonian captives were sold or gifted as slaves in Crete. In 911, another large-scale expedition of well over 100 ships was launched against Crete, headed by the admiral Himerios
Himerios (admiral)
Himerios , also Himerius, was a Byzantine administrator and admiral of the early 10th century, best known as the commander of the Byzantine navy during its struggles with the resurgent Muslim navies in the period 900–912.-Life:...
, but it was forced to leave the island after a few months and was then destroyed in battle off Chios
Chios
Chios is the fifth largest of the Greek islands, situated in the Aegean Sea, seven kilometres off the Asia Minor coast. The island is separated from Turkey by the Chios Strait. The island is noted for its strong merchant shipping community, its unique mastic gum and its medieval villages...
by a combined Cretan and Syrian fleet.
Byzantine reconquest
Asia Minor
Asia Minor is a geographical location at the westernmost protrusion of Asia, also called Anatolia, and corresponds to the western two thirds of the Asian part of Turkey...
. As a result, Emperor Constantine VII
Constantine VII
Constantine VII Porphyrogennetos or Porphyrogenitus, "the Purple-born" was the fourth Emperor of the Macedonian dynasty of the Byzantine Empire, reigning from 913 to 959...
(r. 913–959) sent another expedition in 949. This too was routed in a surprise attack, a defeat which Byzantine chroniclers ascribe to the incompetence and inexperience of its leader, the eunuch chamberlain Constantine Gongyles
Constantine Gongyles
Constantine Gongyles was a Byzantine eunuch and court official who led a failed expedition against the Emirate of Crete in 949.Nothing is known of Constantine's early life, except that he came from Paphlagonia. The Life of St...
. Emperor Constantine did not give up, and during the last years of his reign began preparing another expedition. In the event, it would be carried out under his successor, Romanos II
Romanos II
Romanos II was a Byzantine emperor. He succeeded his father Constantine VII in 959 at the age of twenty-one, and died suddenly in 963.-Life:...
(r. 959–963), who entrusted its leadership to the capable general Nikephoros Phokas. At the head of a huge fleet and army, Phokas sailed in June or July 960, landed on the island and defeated the initial Muslim resistance. A long siege of Chandax followed, which dragged over the winter to 961, until the city was stormed on 6 March.
The city was pillaged, and its mosques and walls were torn down. The inhabitants either killed or carried off into slavery, while the island's last emir, Abd al-Aziz ibn Shuayb (Kouroupas), and his son al-Numan (Anemas) were taken captive and brought to Constantinople, where Phokas celebrated a triumph
Roman triumph
The Roman triumph was a civil ceremony and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publicly celebrate and sanctify the military achievement of an army commander who had won great military successes, or originally and traditionally, one who had successfully completed a foreign war. In Republican...
. The island was converted into a Byzantine theme, and the remaining Muslims were converted to Christianity by missionaries like Nikon "the Metanoeite". Among the converts was the prince Anemas, who entered Byzantine service and fell at Dorostolon, in the war of 970–971 against the Rus'
Rus' (people)
The Rus' were a group of Varangians . According to the Primary Chronicle of Rus, compiled in about 1113 AD, the Rus had relocated from the Baltic region , first to Northeastern Europe, creating an early polity which finally came under the leadership of Rurik...
.
Legacy
The island's Arab period remains relatively obscure, due to a paucity of surviving evidence regarding its internal history. Furthermore, other than a few place names recalling the Saracens' presence, no major archaeological remains from the period survive in Crete, possibly due to deliberate Byzantine destructions after 961. This has influenced the way the emirate is regarded in general: scholars, relying mostly on Byzantine accounts, have traditionally viewed the Emirate of Crete through a Byzantine lens as a quintessential "corsair's nest" and little else.The picture painted by the few and scattered pieces of evidence from the Muslim world however is that of an ordered state with a regular monetary economy and extensive trade links, and there is evidence that Chandax was a cultural centre of some importance. The survival of numerous gold, silver and copper coins, of almost constant weight and composition, testifies to a strong economy and a high living standard among the population. The economy was strengthened by extensive trade with the rest of the Muslim world, especially with Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, and by a booming agriculture: the need to sustain an independent state, as well as access to the markets of the Muslim world, led to an intensification of cultivation. It is also possible that sugar cane was introduced to Crete at the time.
It is unclear what happened to the island's Christians after the Muslim conquest; the traditional view is that most were either converted or expelled. There is evidence however from Muslim sources for the continued survival of Christians on Crete, although according to the same sources the Muslims, whether descendants of the Andalusians or more recent migrants, formed the majority. There is also some evidence of rival factions on the island, either Christian or Muslim, as when Theodosius the Deacon
Theodosius the Deacon
Theodosius the Deacon or Theodosios Diakonos was a Byzantine poet who lived in the 10th century. He is known only through his The Sack of Crete , an epic poem in 1039 twelve-syllable lines, written in 962/963 to celebrate the recapture of the island of Crete from the Arabs in 961 by Nikephoros...
reports the "inhabitants of crags and caves" under their leader Karamountes descending from the mountains during Nikephoros Phokas' siege of Chandax.
List of emirs
The succession of the emirs of Crete has been established by Arab and Byzantine sources, but chiefly through their coinage. The dates of their reigns are therefore largely approximate:| Name | Name in Greek sources | Reign |
|---|---|---|
| Abu Hafs Umar I ibn Shuayb ibn Isa al-Ghaliz al-Iqritish Abu Hafs (pirate) Umar ibn Hafs ibn Shuayb ibn Isa al Balluti, surnamed al-Ghaliz and later al-Ikritishi , and usually known as Abu Hafs , was a Muwallad corsair who was primarily active between 816 and 827... |
Apohapsis | 827/828 – ca. 855 |
| Shuayb I ibn Umar | Saipes or Saet | ca. 855–880 |
| Abu Abdallah Umar II ibn Shuayb | Babdel | ca. 880–895 |
| Muhammad ibn Shuayb al-Zarkun | Zerkounes | ca. 895–910 |
| Yusuf ibn Umar II | ca. 910–915 | |
| Ali ibn Yusuf | ca. 915–925 | |
| Ahmad ibn Umar II | ca. 925–940 | |
| Shuayb II ibn Ahmad | 940–943 | |
| Ali ibn Ahmad | 943–949 | |
| Abd al-Aziz ibn Shuayb II | Kouroupas | 949–961 |
The son of the last emir, Al-Numan ibn Abd al-Aziz, Anemas in Greek sources, was captured and served in the Byzantine army, falling at the Battle of Dorostolon
Battle of Dorostolon
The Battle of Dorostolon was fought in 971 between the Byzantine Empire and forces of Kievan Rus. The Byzantines, led by John I Tzimisces, were victorious.- Background:...
in 971.