Muslim Emirate of Crete

Since the establishment of the first Islamic state, Muslims have been involved in the race for sovereignty over the Mediterranean, the maritime power center of the medieval world. H. III./M. IX. The first half of the century witnessed two major developments for the Muslim presence in the Mediterranean: One of these was the conquest of Sicily by the Tunisian Aghlabids, who were subjects of the Abbasids, and the other was the conquest of Crete by Andalusian Muslims. It is a historical fact that these two large and strategic islands of the Mediterranean were conquered almost one after the other (824/5-827) and that they focused on their resources unanimously. Andalusian refugees, who managed to conquer Crete permanently for the first time, established a Muslim emirate on the island, ostensibly subordinate to the Abbasids, and this political structure existed in 350 H./AD. He continued until 961. Muslim rule, which would last for about a century and a half until the island was taken back by the Byzantines, was in the name of the Eastern Mediterranean; It will undertake the critical task of Sicily in the Central Mediterranean. The Muslims who hold these two islands have a clear superiority and influence over the Mediterranean; It is not a coincidence that this superiority began to lose rapidly after the second half of the 10th century, when Crete was lost. In this context, the Emirate of Crete is a very important breaking point in terms of being the determining factor in the eternal Islam-Byzantine struggle in the east.

Although the island of Crete is geographically close to Anatolia and remained under Ottoman rule for more than two centuries, it is seen that the first Muslim domination on the island has not yet become a subject of serious scientific study in our country. Our aim in preparing this study is to return this much delayed interest to Muslim Crete and to present the solid data that has been put forward on the subject in the world to date, for the benefit of our new generation historians, who we believe will carry these studies even further.

(From the Promotional Bulletin)

Dough Type: 2nd Dough

Number of Pages: 305

Size: 13.5 x 21

First Printing Year: 2020

Number of Printings: 1st Edition

Language: Turkish