The Emirate of Bari () was a short-lived

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

state in

Apulia Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Ot ...

(in present-day

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

), ruled by

Berbers Berbers, or the Berber peoples, also known as Amazigh or Imazighen, are a diverse grouping of distinct ethnic groups indigenous to North Africa who predate the arrival of Arab migrations to the Maghreb, Arabs in the Maghreb. Their main connec ...

.Bondioli, L. M. (2018). "Chapter 23 Islamic Bari between the Aghlabids and the Two Empires". In The Aghlabids and Their Neighbors. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004356047_024 Controlled from the Southern Italian city of

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

, it was established in about 847 CE when the region was taken from the

Byzantine Empire 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 History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

, but fell in 871 to the army of the Carolingian emperor Louis II. The emirate is notable for being the only Muslim state ever established on the Italian mainland.

Foundation

Bari first became the object of Aghlabid raids in late 840 or early 841, when it was briefly occupied. According to Al-Baladhuri, Bari was conquered from the Byzantine Empire by Kalfün around 847, a '' mawla''—perhaps a servant or escaped slave—of the Aghlabid Emir of Africa.Kreutz, 38. Kalfün (Khalfun) was probably of Berber stock, possibly from the

Emirate of Sicily The island of SicilyIn Arabic, the island was known as (). was under Islam, Islamic rule from the late ninth to the late eleventh centuries. It became a prosperous and influential commercial power in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, with ...

originally. The conquest was seen by contemporary

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

as unimportant, having been carried out by a minor figure without the support of any other Muslim state. However, Kalfün's successor Mufarrag ibn Sallam sent requests to Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil in

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

as well as to his provincial governor of

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

asking for recognition of the conquest with the title of '' wali'', a

governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

ruling over a province of the

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

, which was granted. Mufarrag expanded Muslim influence and enlarged the territory of the emirate.

Rule of Sawdan

The third and last emir of Bari was Sawdan (also known as Soldan), who came to power around 857 after the murder of his predecessor Mufarrag. He invaded the lands of the Lombard Principality of Benevento, forcing Prince Adelchis to pay tribute. In 864 he finally obtained the official investiture requested initially by Mufarrag. In the middle of the 860s, a Frankish monk named Bernard and two companions stopped in Bari on a pilgrimage to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

.Kreutz, 39. They successfully petitioned Sawdan for letters of safe-conduct all the way through Egypt and the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

. According to the ''Itinerarium Bernardi'', Bernard's record of the event, Bari, the ''civitatem Sarracenorum'', had formerly belonged to the "Beneventans". The

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

'' Chronicle of Ahimaaz'' records that Sawdan, the last emir of Bari, ruled the city wisely and was on good terms with the eminent

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

scholar Abu Aaron. Christian

monastic Monasticism (; ), also called monachism or monkhood, is a religious way of life in which one renounces worldly pursuits to devote oneself fully to spiritual activities. Monastic life plays an important role in many Christian churches, especially ...

chronicles, however, portray the emir as ''nequissimus ac sceleratissimus'': "most impossible and wicked". Certainly Muslims raids on Christians (and Jews) did not cease during Sawdan's reign. There is evidence for high civilisation in Bari at this point.Drew, 135.Kreuger, 761. Giosuè Musca suggests that the emirate was a boon to the regional economy, and that during this time the slave trade,

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

trade, and trade in

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

flourished. Under Sawdan the city of Bari was embellished with a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

s, and

public works Public works are a broad category of infrastructure projects, financed and procured by a government body for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community. They include public buildings ( municipal buildings, ...

. In 859, Lambert I of Spoleto joined Gerard, count of Marsi, Maielpoto, gastald of Telese, and Wandelbert, gastald of Boiano, to prevent Sawdan from re-entering Bari after a campaign against Capua and the Terra di Lavoro. Despite a bloody battle, the emir successfully entered his capital. The emirate of Bari lasted long enough to enter into relations with its Christian neighbours. According to the '' Chronicon Salernitanum'', ambassadors (''legati'') were sent to Salerno where they stayed in the episcopal palace, much to the dismay of the bishop. Bari also served as a refuge for at least one political rival of the Carolingian emperor Louis II, a man of Spoleto who fled to it during a revolt.Kreutz, 40.

Fall

In 865, Louis II, perhaps pressured by the Church, always uncomfortable with a Muslim state in Italy's midst, issued a

capitulary A capitulary (medieval Latin ) was a series of legislative or Public administration, administrative acts emanating from the Franks, Frankish court of the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties, especially that of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Em ...

calling upon the fighting men of northern Italy to gather at Lucera in the spring of 866 for an assault on Bari. It is unknown, from contemporary sources, whether this force ever marched on Bari, but in the summer of that year the emperor was touring the

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

with his empress, Engelberga, and receiving strong urging from the Lombard princes— Adelchis of Benevento, Guaifer of Salerno, and Landulf II of Capua—to attack Bari again. It was not until the spring of 867 that Louis took action against the emirate. He immediately besieged Matera and Oria, recently conquered, and burnt the former.Kreutz, 41. Oria was a prosperous locale before the Muslim conquest; Barbara Kreutz thus conjectures that Matera resisted Louis while Oria welcomed him: the former thus was razed. This may have severed communications between Bari and Taranto, the other pole of Muslim power in Southern Italy. Louis established a garrison at Canosa on the frontier between Benevento and Bari, but retired to the former by March 868. It was probably at about this time that Louis entered into negotiations with the new Byzantine emperor, Basil I. A marriage between Louis's daughter and Basil's eldest son, Constantine, was probably discussed in return for Byzantine naval assistance in the taking of Bari.Kreutz, 42. The ''Chronicon Salernitanum'' inconsistently attaches the initiative for such talks to Louis and then Basil. The joint attack was projected for late in the summer of 869 and Louis remained at Benevento planning as late as June. The Byzantine fleet—of four hundred ships if the '' Annales Bertiniani'' are to be trusted—arrived under the command of Nicetas with the expectation that Louis would hand over his daughter immediately.Kreutz, 43. This he refused to do, for no known reason, but perhaps because Nicetas had refused to recognise his imperial title, since Louis later refers in a letter to the commander's "insulting behaviour".Kreutz, 44. Perhaps, however, the fleet simply arrived too late in autumn. In 870 the Bariot Muslims stepped up their raids, going so far as to ravage the Gargano Peninsula including the Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo.Kreutz, 45. The Emperor Louis organised a response, fighting his way deep into

and

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

but bypassing major population centres like Bari or Taranto. A few towns were apparently freed of Muslim control and the various Muslim bands encountered were universally defeated. Probably encouraged by these successes, Louis attacked Bari with a ground force of Franks, Germans and Lombards and aided by a fleet of '' Sclavini''. In February 871 the citadel fell and Sawdan was captured and taken to Benevento in chains. The report found in the '' De Administrando Imperio'' of Constantine Porphyrogenitus that the Byzantines played a major role in the city's fall is probably a concoction. In the siege of Arab Bari (868–871) participated and Domagoj with fleet of Ragusa which, according to Constantine VII transported

Croats The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central Europe, Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian Cultural heritage, ancest ...

and other Archons of Slavs on their ships to Longobardia.Vedran Duančić; (2008) ''Hrvatska između Bizanta i Franačke'' (in Croatian) p. 17

/ref>

List of emirs

*Kalfün (Khalfun), 841–852 *Mufarrag ibn Sallam, 852–857 *Sawdan (Sawdān), 857–871

Notes

Bibliography

Primary sources

The following are available as part of Sources of Lombard History at the Institut für Mittelalter Forschung:
''Chronica Sancti Benedicti Casinensis''
* Erchempert
''Historiola''
See too the letter of Emperor Louis II to Emperor Basil I, written in 871 after the capture of Bari, i
English translation

Secondary sources

* *Di Branco, Marco; Wolf, Kordula. (2013
"Berbers and Arabs in the Maghreb and Europe, medieval era"
''The Encyclopedia of Global Human Migration'', ed. Immanuel Ness, vol. 2. Chichester, pp. 695–702. *Kreutz, Barbara M. (1996)
Before the Normans: Southern Italy in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries
'. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. . *Musca, Giosuè (1964). ''L'emirato di Bari, 847–871''. (Università degli Studi di Bari Istituto di Storia Medievale e Moderna, 4.) Bari: Dedalo Litostampa. **Drew, K. F. (1965
Review
of ''L'emirato di Bari, 847–871'', Giosuè Musca. '' The American Historical Review'', 71:1 (Oct.), p. 135. **Krueger, Hilmar C. (1966
Review
of ''L'emirato di Bari, 847–871'', Giosuè Musca. '' Speculum'', 41:4 (Oct.), p. 761. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bari, Emirate of

Emirate An emirate is a territory ruled by an emir, a title used by monarchs or high officeholders in the Muslim world. From a historical point of view, an emirate is a political-religious unit smaller than a caliphate. It can be considered equivalent ...

9th century in Italy Spread of Islam Islam in Italy Former Islamic monarchies in Europe 871 disestablishments States and territories established in the 840s Former emirates Arab–Byzantine wars 847 establishments Medieval Apulia