ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Shuʿayb ibn ʿUmar al-Qurṭubī al-Ballūṭī (), known as Kouroupas () in the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

sources, was the tenth and last emir of Crete, ruling from 949 to the Byzantine reconquest of the island in 961.

Reign and loss of Crete

The surviving records on the internal history and rulers of the

Emirate of Crete The Emirate of Crete ( or , ; ) was an Arab Islamic state that existed on the Mediterranean island of Crete from the late 820s to Siege of Chandax, the reconquest of the island by the Byzantine Empire in 961. Although the emirate recognized the ...

are very fragmentary. Following the studies of George C. Miles with the aid of

numismatic Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inclu ...

evidence, he is tentatively identified as a son of the eighth emir, Shu'ayb II, who ruled , himself the great-great-grandson of the conqueror of

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

and founder of the

, Abu Hafs Umar. The beginning of his reign is placed in 949, in succession to his uncle Ali. By the Byzantine chroniclers he is chiefly called "Kouroupas", apparently from an Arabic

surname In many societies, a surname, family name, or last name is the mostly hereditary portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family. It is typically combined with a given name to form the full name of a person, although several give ...

''al-Qurtubi'', "from Cordoba", whence the family had originally come. Byzantines under Nikephoros Phokas besiege Chandax

The 14th-century Egyptian historian al-Nuwayri reports that the Byzantine emperor

Romanos II Romanos II (; 938 – 15 March 963) was Byzantine Emperor from 959 to 963. He succeeded his father Constantine VII at the age of twenty-one and died suddenly and mysteriously four years later. His wife Theophano helped their sons Basil II ...

dispatched three embassies to the island, seeking to conclude a peace treaty in exchange for the payment of an annual sum to Abd al-Aziz, with the purpose of concealing the ongoing preparations for a campaign to recover the island. This report is mostly considered legendary by modern scholars. At the head of a huge fleet and army, Nikephoros Phokas sailed in June or July 960, landed on the island, and defeated the initial Muslim resistance. A long siege of the emirate's capital of Chandax followed, which dragged over the winter into 961. The city was finally stormed on 6 March 961. At this time, Abd al-Aziz is described by Theodosios the Deacon as small, pale, bald, and very ill, but an eloquent and flattering speaker. In vain, the emir sent for aid to the

Fatimids The Fatimid Caliphate (; ), also known as the Fatimid Empire, was a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries CE under the rule of the Fatimid dynasty, Fatimids, an Isma'ili Shi'a dynasty. Spanning a large area of North Africa ...

Ifriqiya Ifriqiya ( '), also known as al-Maghrib al-Adna (), was a medieval historical region comprising today's Tunisia, eastern Algeria, and Tripolitania (roughly western Libya). It included all of what had previously been the Byzantine province of ...

and the

Caliphate of Cordoba A caliphate ( ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; , ), a person considered a political–religious successor to the Islamic prophet Muhammad and a leader of the enti ...

in Spain; the Muslim rulers sent envoys to him, but, impressed by the Byzantine might, they refrained from intervening.

Later life

After the capture of Chandax, Abd al-Aziz was taken captive with his family to

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

, where they were paraded at Nikephoros Phokas' triumphal procession. They were then given rich presents and an estate to settle by Romanos II. The Byzantine sources report that the emperor considered making Abd al-Aziz a

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

, but the latter refused to convert to Christianity. One of his sons, however, al-Nu'man, or

Anemas Anemas () was the name of a Byzantine aristocratic family, attested from the 9th to the 15th centuries. The origin and etymology of the name are uncertain; it may be connected to ''anemos'', "wind", although the philologist Phaedon Koukoules sugg ...

in Greek, converted and entered Byzantine service, until he was killed at the

Siege of Dorostolon The Battle of Dorostopol or Dorystolon was fought in 971 between the Byzantine Empire and forces of Kievan Rus'. The Byzantines, led by John I Tzimiskes, were victorious. Background During the course of the Rus'-Bulgarian war, Svyatoslav I of ...

in 971. Some modern researchers consider it possible that the later Byzantine aristocratic family of the same name descended from him.

References

Sources

* * * * {{s-end 10th-century Arab people 10th-century monarchs in Europe Arab people of the Arab–Byzantine wars Emirs of Crete Prisoners of war held by the Byzantine Empire People from Crete Dethroned monarchs