A Revision Of Sardinian History 119
From the second half of the seventh century, Sardinia experienced Islamic
incursions. Until at least the mid-eighth century, these incursions were a fea-
ture of careful Islamic strategy, designed to put strong, simultaneous pressure
on various fronts of the Byzantine Empire. Such pressure must have resulted
in certain moments of occupation or settlement—even if only partial—of the
island’s coastal regions. Around 753, the controversial “incursions” culminated
in a more solid occupation, of some areas of the island, of indeterminable du-
ration, which is evidenced by Sardinians’ obligation to make payments of trib-
ute to the giziyah. It is during this period that Sardinia assumes a position, as
it were, of a “frontier land”; Christian, perhaps, but with an Islamic presence
which influenced the internal equilibrium of the island through these external
relations.
It is difficult to deny with any credibility Islam’s presence in ninth-century
Sardinia in the period when the Aghlabid dynasty exerted the greatest pres-
sure on peninsular Italy. From a strategic point of view, it would have been
absurd for African Muslims to have engaged in military campaigns without the
security of being able to obtain water, salt, provisions, horse-feed, and wood for
repairing ships in the rear lines. Sardinia offered many of these resources, and
provided the ideal bridge offering invaluable support in this regard.9
The eastern coast of Sardinia and the areas around Sulcitana and Tharrense
seem to be the most promising regions for finding traces of Islamic resi-
dence—settlements not necessarily as large as those of the ribat, but useful as
evidence of a depot, which would provide for forays into the Tyrrhenian Sea.
This was, therefore, not a true and proper occupation, but forced co-habita-
tion with the local power, which was not always capable of ousting Muslims
from their positions.10 Furthermore, the conquest of Sicily and expansion in
southern Italy suggest that the Aghlabids decided against a permanent occu-
pation of Sardinia; the emirate did not possess sufficient power—especially
e nuove iscrizioni funerarie senza contesto a Cagliari e dintorni, in L’epigrafe di Marcus
Arrecinus Helius. Esegesi di un reperto,” in L’epigrafe di Marcus Arrecinus Helius: esegesi di
un reperto: i plurali di una singolare iscrizione: atti della giornata di studi (Senorbì, 23 aprile
2010), ed. Antonio Forci (Ortacesus, 2011), pp. 107–134.
9 Piero Fois, “I musulmani nel Mediterraneo nel IX secolo: un affare economico svantag-
gioso? La testimonianza delle fonti arabe,” in Interscambi socio-culturali ed economici fra
le città marinare d’Italia e l’Occidente dagli osservatori mediterranei, eds Bruno Figliuolo
and Pinuccia F. Simbula (Amalfi, 2014), pp. 259–271.
10 Catia Renzi Rizzo, “I rapporti diplomatici fra il re Ugo di Provenza e il califfo ‘Abd ar-
Rahmân III: fonti cristiane e fonti arabe a confronto,” in Il mare, la terra, il ferro. Ricerche
su Pisa medievale (secoli VII–XIII), eds Graziella Berti, Catia Renzi Rizzo, and Marco
Tangheroni (Pisa, 2004), pp. 247–278; Renzi Rizzo, “Pisarum et Pisanorum.”