Cretan Saracens
| Emirate of Crete | ||||||||||
| Iqritish | ||||||||||
| De facto independent, under suzerainty of the Abbasid Caliphate | ||||||||||
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| Capital | Chandax (Heraklion) | |||||||||
| Languages | Arabic, Greek | |||||||||
| Religion | Sunni Islam | |||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | |||||||||
| Emir | ||||||||||
| • | 820s – c. 855 | Abu Hafs Umar I (first) | ||||||||
| • | 949–961 | Abd al-Aziz ibn Shu'ayb (last) | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | |||||||||
| • | Andalusian exiles land on the island | 824/827 | ||||||||
| • | Byzantine reconquest | 961 | ||||||||
| Currency | Gold dinar, dirham | |||||||||
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| Today part of |
 Greece
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The Emirate of Crete (called Iqritish or Iqritiya in Arabic) 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. Although the emirate recognized the suzerainty of the Abbasid Caliphate and maintained close ties with Tulunid Egypt, it was de facto independent.
A group of Andalusian exiles conquered Crete in c. 824 or in 827/828, quickly establishing an independent state. The Byzantines launched a campaign that took most of the island back in 842 and 843 under Theoktistos, but the reconquest was not completed and was soon reversed. Later attempts by the Byzantine Empire to recover the island failed, and for the approximately 135 years of its existence, the emirate was one of the major foes of Byzantium. Crete commanded the sea lanes of the Eastern Mediterranean and functioned as a forward base and haven for Muslim corsair fleets 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.
Crete had been the target of Muslim attacks since the first wave of the Muslim conquests 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 Umayyad 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.
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Wikipedia