Salim Iqritishi (1 January 842-1 July 886) was the Emir of Crete from 1 January 867 AD to 5 May 872 AD and Sultan of Crete from 5 May 872 to 1 July 886 (preceding Yunus ibn Salim).
Biography[]
Salim Iqritishi was born on Crete in 842, the son of a Sunni Muslim Andalusian corsair. By 867 AD, he had secured the allegiance of the island's Muslim community and become the ruler of the Emirate of Crete. He married the Greeks Theochariste and Zenobia and the Berbers Siddiqa and Kenwa, converting his Greek wifes to Islam. Having come from a family of pirates, he hoped to conquer Byzantine possessions in the Aegean Sea and expand his empire. By year's end, he seized the Cyclades and Euboea from the Byzantines and deposed their rulers after they refused to convert to Islam. He granted Naxos to his Marshal Innokentios and Euboea to taffounnout; in early 868, he also fathered two sons - Musa (by Theochariste) and al-Rashid (by Kenwa) - and a daughter, Rafiqa, by Zenobia. In September 868, he foiled a plot by Innokentios to overthrow him, and he replaced him with Sheikh Lubb of Naxos, a fellow Andalusian.
Hajj to Mecca[]
On 28 December 868, Salim went on the hajj to Mecca with Lubb as his companion, leaving Theochariste as regent. On 6 January 869, Salim discovered that the captain and crew of the ship he and the pilgrims were sailing on were preparing to sell them as slaves at the next port, so Salim and the other pilgrims rose up against the crew. Salim ran his sword through the treacherous captain's gut, forcing the crew to surrender the ship to him. After this prestigious event, he set sail for Mecca, landing in Arabia in January 869. He grew depressed after having a false illusion of a tea house in the desert, but he later gave bread to an old man in return for hearing Ka'b ibn Malik's hadith saying "Two hungry wolves loose among sheep do not cause as much damage as that caused to a man's deen by his greed for money and reputation." On 6 February 869, he arrived in Mecca and changed into his white religious clothes, and, on 7 February, his wound from the ship battle healed, leaving behind a nasty scar. He humbly shouted only thrice while circling the Ka'aba, then performed the Sa'i run between the hills of Safa and Marwah (to remember Ishmael's mother's search for water), helped a poor village on his way back from Mecca, and returned to Crete on 22 March as a humbled hajajj.
Family life[]
On 27 October 869, he fathered another son with Kenwa, al-Din ibn Salim. In January 870, he ended Kenwa's plot to kill Musa, his primary heir, and he had her convert from Ibadism to Sunni Islam in February. On 28 June 870, he began his celebration of Ramadan, distributing alms to the poor and reciting the Quran through Tarawih prayers. On 27 July, he held Eid dinner with his court, including Lubb and Sheikh Gauda of al-Hanim; his rival Wali Taffounnout of Euboea declined his invitation. Salim then gave gifts to all four of his wives, and Ramadan endedon 2 August. On 3 September, he learned that the people of Naxos had embraced the Sunni faith, and, that same month, he sought a blacksmith to forge him a fine sword. Ali the Weaponsmith from al-Hanim came to his court on 23 November 870, and Salim told him to forge a scimitar. However, when he found Ali having an affair with Theochariste on 22 December, he had Ali executed; on 31 December, he divorced Theochariste. On 28 January 871, he married Valeria, another Greek woman. On 26 March, he divorced Siddiqa, who was unable to conceive a child due to her weak physique; on 1 April, he fathered a fifth child, Aliyah bint Salim. On 13 April, he married Xene, another Greek woman. He proceeded to fight the Bogomilist heresy in Chandax, and, in 872, he seized Cephalonia. He then assumed the title of "Sultan", having founded three duchies. After deposing the local Byzantine rulers, he gave Zakynthos to Musa, Cephalonia to al-Rashid, and Corcyra to al-Din. On 27 November 872, Kenwa gave birth to Daniyah bint Salim. Throughout 873, he fathered Yunus ibn Salim with Valeria, Abdul-Rahman ibn Salim with Zenobia, and Rahat bint Salim with Xene. In 874, he fathered Faris ibn Salim with Valeria, Saad ibn Salim and Husayn with Kenwa. On 24 May 874, he was gifted the eunuch Sulayman by a travelling merchant caravan; he made him Court Eunuch and a commander. He made his commander Abdul Wali of his newly-founded mosque at Matala on 5 November 874, while he founded the city of Malia and gave it to his commander Bilal on 1 January 875. That same day, he discovered that Zenobia was plotting to kill his eldest son Musa, and he convinced her to end her plot. In the spring of 875, he held the Furusiyya tournament, and he also began to work on a book praising God. Jyad perished during the tournament, and the Marshal of Cephalonia Abbad placed third, the commander of Korkyra Apollonios placed second, and the court eunuch Sulayman placed first.
In 876, Salim and his army took advantage of a Byzantine civil war to conquer Calabria in southern Italy, establishing a strong foothold on the Italian peninsula. He divided Italy among his sons: Yunus gained Catanzaro, Abdul-Rahman gained Cosenza, and Faris gained Reggio. Yunus, now the most powerful of the sons, became the new heir of the sultanate; however, al-Rashid then became the most powerful when he was made Emir of the Aegean Islands. During Ramadan in October 876, Salim became a temperate person, changing his personality. On 9 November, the day before Eid ul-Fitr, it was reported that Euboea had adopted the Sunni faith. On 21 February 877, he founded the city of Lefkas on Cephalonia, and he granted it to his son Husayn. On 10 August 878, he joined the Hermetic Society as a Neophyte, showing an interest in medicine. He was then told of a letter mentioning lost texts at a local antiquary, a mosque in Reggion, and in the ancient library ruins of Beersheba, so he funded an expedition to Beersheba. On 9 January 879, his son al-Rashid died of typhus at the age of 10. On 2 June 879, he found hieroglyphs in the underground hidden chamber at Beersheba, discovering an ancient text. On 27 February880, Neophyte Lord Mayor Lazaros of Adana asked Salim to build a laboratory, and he agreed to do so; however, he wanted it to be efficient and accessible. His impressive, expensive laboratory was completed in August. He later took up a friendship with Cardinal Pasquale of Settimo after inviting him to stargaze with him. On 5 January 881, he founded the city of Nicotera in Reggio and Strongoli in Cosenza, and, on 10 January, he made his son Saad Sheikh of Cephalonia. On 21 April 882, Bishop Hethum of Arca asked Salim to help him gather ingredients, gathering herbs in the hills. As a reward, Salim ranked up to Initiate. He then made Wali Tifilwit of Hermoupolis' widow, the former Walia Thekla of Hermoupolis, his apprentice in the society, and they eventually began a sexual affair on 20 February 883. On 16 May 883, he asked for Thekla's star sign, cajoling her into letting him make sweet, illicit love in her bed; he soon fell in love with her. On 23 June 883, he divorced Kenwa after she had become obese, slothful, and cruel, but he sent her money and ensured that she left for her son al-Din's court while on good terms with him. On 6 July 883, he remarried to Thekla, his lover. In 884, his son Musa came of age and married Titi bint Ahmad, and Salim made several vain attempts to win her love.
On 25 June 884, Salim and Thekla, among other cultists, took part in a ritual to contact the divine, and Salim asked about the stars. He agreed to Thekla's request to observe the sky, and he conducted much astrology research with his tools. Later in the year, he took the scullery maid Ahu as a mistress. On 14 January 885, the people of Catanzaro embraced the Sunni faith. On 14 February 886, he forced his of-age son al-Din to abandon his plot to kill Musa, and, on 1 March, he had Titi arrested for plotting to kill him. However, he died on 1 July 886 after suffering a heart attack while having sex with Zenobia. He was 44 years old.