| Kalbids بنو كلب | |
|---|---|
| Emirs | |
| Country | |
| Founded | 948 |
| Founder | Al-Hasan ibn Ali al-Kalbi |
| Final ruler | Hasan as-Samsam |
| Titles | Emir of Sicily |
| Dissolution | 1053 |
TheKalbids (Arabic:بنو كلب,romanized: Banū Kalb) were aMuslim Arab dynasty which ruled theEmirate of Sicily from 948 to 1053. They were formally appointed by theFatimids, but gained, progressively,de facto autonomous rule.
The Kalbids descended from the Arab tribe ofBanu Kalb, members of which frequently served as governors, administrators and high-ranking officials inIfriqiya (central North Africa) during theUmayyad period (c. 670s–750). During the rule of theAghlabids in Ifriqiya (800–909), the fortunes of the Kalb declined as the rulers there favored the tribe's rivals from theQays–Mudar group. When theFatimids conquered Ifriqiya in 909, the Kalb, having been an important military and religious support for the Fatimids, were quick to attain high influence in the new regime. By this time, the Kalbids were allied with theKutamaBerbers, a mainstay of theFatimid army.[1]
In 827, in the midst of internalByzantine conflict, theMuslim conquest of Sicily began: the Aghlabids arrived atMazara inSicily, with a fleet of 10,000 men under the command ofAsad ibn al-Furat.Palermo was conquered in 831 and became the new capital.[2]Syracuse fell in 878[3] and in 902 the last Byzantine outpost,Taormina, was taken.[4] At the same time various Muslim incursions into southern Italy occurred, with new Emirates being founded inTropea,Taranto andBari. During this period there were constant power struggles amongst the Muslims. Nominally the island was under rule of the Aghlabids and afterward their Fatimid successors.
After successfully suppressing a revolt the Fatimid caliph appointedal-Hasan al-Kalbi (948–953) asEmir of Sicily, the first of the Kalbid dynasty. The Fatimids appointed the Kalbids as rulers via proxy[5] before they shifted their capital fromIfriqiya toCairo in 969. Raids into southern Italy continued under the Kalbids into the 11th century, and in 982 a German army underOtto II was defeated byAbu'l-Qasim in theBattle of Stilo nearCrotone inCalabria. The dynasty began a steady period of decline under the reign ofYusuf al-Kalbi (990–998) who entrusted the island to his sons and created space for interference from theZirids of Ifriqiya. Underal-Akhal (1017–1037) the dynastic conflict intensified, with factions allying themselves variously withByzantium and the Zirids. Even though neither of these powers could establish themselves in Sicily permanently, underHasan as-Samsam (1040–1053) the island fragmented into small fiefdoms. The Kalbids died out in 1053,[6] and in 1061 theNormans of southern Italy arrived underRoger I of Sicily and began their conquest, which was completed in 1091. The Muslims were allowed to remain and played an important role in the administration, army and economy of the Norman kingdom until the 12th century.
The Kalbites focused their efforts on theIslamization of Sicilian society, notably in 962 with a large ceremony, where fourteen thousand children werecircumcised simultaneously; after aByzantine offensive, crushed in 965 at the Battle of the Ditch or Rametta, the Fatimid CaliphMu'izz had the Kalbite emir enacted a policy ofIncastellamento in 967, a movement which profoundly transformed the social structure of the region. It forced a regrouping of all inhabitants in a small number of cities (one per district), each guarded by a castle and equipped with aFriday mosque, essential to ensure political fidelity andreligious indoctrination. It was not just a question of bringing Islam into the Sicilian way of life, but also of conveying theShiite message on which the dynasty is based.[7]
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Under the Kalbid dynasty, Sicily, and especially Palermo, was an important economic centre of theMediterranean. The Muslims introduced lemons, Seville oranges and sugar cane, as well as cotton and mulberries for sericulture, and built irrigation systems for agriculture.[8] Sicily was also an important hub for trade between the Near East, North Africa and the Italian maritime republics such asAmalfi,Pisa andGenoa.