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Elsewhere in the central Mediterranean, the Aghlabids conquered the island of Malta in 870. [ 42 ] : 208 They also attacked or raided Sardinia and Corsica . [ 9 ] [ 43 ] : 153, 244 Some modern references state that Sardinia came under Aghlabid control around 810 or after the beginning of the conquest of Sicily in 827.
Of all the islands around Sicily, Malta was the last to remain in Byzantine hands, and in 869 a fleet under Ahmad ibn Umar ibn Ubaydallah ibn al-Aghlab al-Habashi attacked it. The Byzantines, having received timely reinforcements, resisted successfully at first, but in 870 Muhammad sent a fleet from Sicily to the island, and the capital Melite ...
The passage does not say that Belisarius conquered the islands, or that the Maltese islands were already in Byzantine hands. In fact, Malta is not included in the Synecdmus of Hierocles, which details a list of cities belonging to the Empire in 527/8. [18] Malta probably passed on to the Byzantines around the time of their conquest of Sicily in ...
The city has withstood a number of sieges, and it was defeated twice – first by the Aghlabids in 870 and then by Maltese rebels in 1798. Today, the city walls are still intact except for some outworks, and they are among the best preserved fortifications in Malta. Mdina has been on Malta's tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites since ...
Malta has been inhabited since 5900 BC. DNA analysis indicates that the first inhabitants originated from various European and African regions of the Mediterranean.They practiced mixed farming after clearing most of the existing conifer forest that dominated the islands, but their agricultural methods degraded the soil until the islands became uninhabitable.
Under the rule of Ziyadat Allah I (r. 817–838), one of the most competent rulers of the dynasty, the Aghlabids embarked on a campaign of conquests in the central Mediterranean, including the conquest of Sicily (starting in 827), the conquest of Malta (870), [5] and expeditions to the Italian mainland (mostly in the 830s and 840s).
The Aghlabid army had only months before landed on Sicily, ostensibly in support of the rebel Byzantine general Euphemius. After defeating local forces and taking the fortress of Mazara, they marched on Syracuse, which was the capital of the island under Roman and Byzantine rule. The siege lasted through the winter of 827–828 and until summer ...
Seeing this, the Byzantine garrison soon capitulated, and Messina was taken. The siege lasted from October 10, 842, to September 29, 843. [1] [2] [3] The victory at Messina allowed the Aghlabids to control the crucial strait of Messina, and there the Aghlabids launched their raids into southern Italy. [4]