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In my continuing research of the "Origins of the name Vadala": I add the following:
Italy was invaded by many peoples. The South of Italy and Sicily were invaded by Normans, who eventually conquered what remained of the Byzantine holdings in mainland Italy along with the Arab possessions in Sicily.
The First Arab Invasion of Sicily 652 AD
In 535, Emperor Justinian I made Sicily a Byzantine province, and for the second time in Sicilian history, the Greek language became a familiar sound across the island. As the power of the Byzantine Empire waned, Sicily was invaded by the Arab forces of Caliph Uthman in AD 652. However, this was a short lived invasion and the Arabs left soon after.
Under Arab control from Tunisia and Egypt
In around 700, the island of Pantelleria was captured by Arabs, and it was only discord among the Arabs that prevented Sicily being next. Instead, trading arrangements were agreed and Arab merchants established themselves in Sicilian ports.
Then, in 827 a Sicilian coup failed against an unpopular Byzantine governor. Euphemius, a wealthy landowner, who overcame the imperial garrison in Siracusa, declared himself Emperor and invited Ziyadat Allah I of Aghlabids, the Aghlabid Emir of Tunisia to help him. The response was a fleet of 100 ships and 10,000 troops under the command of Asad ibn al-Furat, which consisted largely of Arabized Berbers from North Africa and Spain.
After resistance at Siracusa, the Muslims gained a foothold in Mazara del Vallo. Palermo fell after a long siege in 831, but Siracusa held out until 878. From 842 to 859 the Arabs captured Messina, Modica, Ragusa and Enna. In 902 Taormina, the last Byzantine stronghold also fell to the Arabs and by 965 all of Sicily was under Arab control and Palermo became one of the largest cities in the world.
The Emirate of Sicily
In succession Sicily was ruled by the Sunni Aghlabid dynasty in Tunisia and the Shiite Fatimids in Egypt. The Byzantines took advantage of temporary discord to occupy the eastern end of the island for several years.
After suppressing a revolt the Fatimid caliph Ismail al-Mansur appointed Hassan al-Kalbi (948-964) as Emir of Sicily. He successfully managed to control the Byzantines and founded the Kalbid dynasty. Raids into Southern Italy continued under the Kalbids into the 11th century, and in 982 a German army under Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor was defeated near Crotone in Calabria.
With Emir Yusuf al-Kalbi (990-998) a period of steady decline began. Under al-Akhal (1017-1037) the dynastic conflict intensified, with factions within the ruling family allying themselves variously with the Byzantine Empire and the Zirids.
By the time of Emir Hasan as-Samsam (1040-1053) the island had fragmented into several small fiefdoms. As a virtually independent emirate, Sicily played a privileged role as bridge between Africa and Europe.
The conquered Sicilian population were permitted freedom of worship, but only if they accepted the status of a dhimmi. As dhimmi they were subjected to a system of taxation -- the jizya, or poll tax, and the kharaj or land tax but were exempt from paying the zakat which was an obligatory income tax on all Muslims. There were restrictions on repairing or building new churches. The dhimmi could not bear arms or ride a horse and were required to wear distinctive clothes so that they could be easily identified as dhimmi. This subservient and financially burdensome condition could be alleviated simply by submitting to Islam. This situation resulted in the spread of Islam among the inhabitants (whether by honest conviction or economic and societal compulsion). However, many Greek Christian communities managed to survive as dhimmi until the arrival of the Normans -- especially in the hill towns of Northeastern Sicily. These Sicilians generally welcomed the Norman invaders.
The Cathedral of Palermo.The Arabs initiated land reforms which in turn, increased productivity and encouraged the growth of smallholdings, a dent to the dominance of the landed estates. The Arabs further improved irrigation systems. A description of Palermo was given by Ibn Hawqual, a Baghdad merchant who visited Sicily in 950. A walled suburb called the Kasr (the palace) is the center of Palermo until today, with the great Friday mosque on the site of the later Roman cathedral. The suburb of Al-Khalisa (Kalsa) contained the Sultan's palace, baths, a mosque, government offices and a private prison. Ibn Hawqual reckoned 7,000 individual butchers trading in 150 shops.
In addition to Andalusian Arabs and other Arabs, there were Berbers, black Africans, Persians, Greeks, Jews, Slavs and Lombards. Western Sicily particularly prospered with Berbers settling in the Agrigento area coupled with Bedouin, Syrians and Egyptian Arabs in Palermo.
Muslim rule in Sicily slowly came to an end following an invitation by the Emirs of Catania and Siracusa for a Norman invasion. The Normans, under Count Roger de Hauteville (Altavilla) attacked Sicily in 1061, beginning a thirty year struggle against the Saracens. In 1068, Roger and his men defeated the Arabs at Misilmeri but the most crucial battle was the siege of Palermo in 1072 & the complete take over of the Island by defeating the Last Emir of Noto in 1091.
A large scale Muslim rebellion broke out in 1190, triggering organized resistance and systematic reprisals and marked the final chapter of Islam in Sicily. The “Muslim problem” characterized Hohenstaufen rule in Sicily under Henry VI (1194-97) and his son Frederick II (1197-1250). In the 1220s, in order to stamp out the Muslim rebellion, Frederick adopted a programmatic extermination of Sicilian Islam, marked by expulsion and forced deportation to the Apulian town of Lucera. The annihiliation of Sicilian Islam was completed by the late 1240s, when the final deportations to Lucera took place.
The rich history of Sicily has seen it in the orbit of many greater powers, for the longest periods of its history — Greek, Roman, Spanish, and now Italian — and fashioning an orbit of its own. Although today part of the Republic of Italy, it has its own unique culture.
In Sicily, around Catania is a town named Vadala' (hyphen added). The term Vadala translates to Valley of God (i.e Va da Ala), or Valley of God.
Ronald J Vadala
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