On the Expansion of Arab Power

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When Islamic armies defeated the Romans ruling Egypt in the 7th century, naval power was not a high priority in Muslim military strategy. The Romans, who were the enemies of Muslims on the European continent, were called Byzantines, and they held different views regarding navigation.
The Byzantines used to sail their ships to invade the territories of Egypt newly conquered by the Arabs. The Roman strategy of sending naval fleets to attack Arab-settled territories was an old tradition. Byzantium inflicted great damage by sending navies to Muslim territories throughout North Africa in this manner.
When the Byzantine fleet attacked the city of Barca, they not only annihilated the Arabs but also assassinated the ruler of North Africa. Consequently, the Arabs changed their negative attitude toward naval power and decided to do exactly what their enemy, Byzantium, was using.
The Arabs chose Alexandria as their main base where the fleet would anchor. The Caliph of the Arab Empire, which had expanded from Persia to North Africa in the late 7th century, also judged that there was a high possibility of maritime battles occurring due to the Arab Empire's protectorates. He advised the chief administrator in Ifriqiya, North Africa, which was held by the Arabs, that the only way to prevent any provocation from enemies at major ports was to build a massive fleet.
The Arabs expected that once the fleet under construction was completed, they would possess the ability to fight Westerners on both land and sea. They devised a very aggressive plan: to land on the European shores.
The ships built in Tunis achieved great success. Ibn Khaldun recorded that it was because of these ships that Sicily, the most populous island in the Mediterranean, was conquered. While the island of Sicily was valuable, it did not compare to the Iberian Peninsula, specifically the region of modern-day Spain, in the eyes of the Muslims.
The Iberian Peninsula was the most attractive land among the territories conquered by Muslims. Al-Maqari expressed such sentiments clearly: "To us, Andalusia is the prize seized by cavalrymen who drove their warhorses at full speed to conquer a fertile land."
The landscape of the Iberian Peninsula was praiseworthy. Because flowing water, fruit trees, and forests could be seen everywhere in the Iberian Peninsula, the conquerors, who came from relatively arid and treeless lands, compared the Iberian Peninsula to the Garden of Eden. The poet Ibn Khafaja sang of the forested areas in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula as if they were paradise. In his poetry, he compared the sweet life offered by the peninsula to appetizing fruits, late afternoon shade, and delicious dreams.
Without a moment's delay, the Arabs utilized the flowing waters and forests of the Iberian Peninsula. Since there were many rivers that allowed ships to travel deep into the interior, they quickly utilized the natural resources of the Iberian Peninsula by building many large shipyards along the riverbanks and coasts.
The Muslim fleet achieved impressive feats. Ibn Khaldun described it in a bellicose tone: "They achieved victories all over the sea. Their strength and superiority grew increasingly powerful, and no Christian nation could contend with their fleet."
By the 10th century, most ports in the Mediterranean were filled with Arabs and military supplies, and countless Muslim ships moved constantly across those waters. Christian ships did not dare to appear. Ultimately, the Mediterranean became an Arab lake instead of a European sea.
In every respect, the Arab fleet transformed the Mediterranean—which had been the primary means of communication for the Roman Empire and its successors for nearly 100 years as Europe's waterway—into an Arab lake.
As Christians retreated from the Mediterranean, the center of political power in Western Europe shifted northward. As the center changed from Spain and Italy toward France and Germany, the resulting cultural, economic, political, religious, and social changes can still be felt today.
While Christian cities in the Mediterranean stagnated under the threat of exploitation and looting, new ports flourished in the coastal areas ruled by Muslims. The immense wealth generated by Islam through trade across the entire Mediterranean is revealed through the development of Cairo from the 10th to the 12th century.
Cairo became the center of the Islamic world, surpassing Baghdad. In 985, the traveler Abu Abdallah al-Muqaddasi left his impressions that Cairo had become the center of the world. His claim that he knew of no city more brilliant in the world meant that Cairo had become the greatest city of all.
In the 11th century, Nasir Khusraw, a great Persian poet, visited Cairo and marveled at the diverse and abundant goods. "No one has seen such a market anywhere else. All kinds of rare items were there."
As the Arabs dominated the Mediterranean region and its surrounding lands, Cairo's transportation issues were easily resolved. Throughout Egyptian history, there was no era when such a vast amount of resources from so many regions could be brought in for immediate use.
However, this prosperous situation did not last. The Arab world lost its strength due to corruption and division. The historian Al-Maqari biasedly described such a situation as being caused by the Europeans, the cruel enemies of God, attacking the divided Muslims. Ibn Khaldun explained as follows: "Islands such as Sicily, Crete, and Malta invaded and took away wealth. Then they sent armies to the Syrian coast and seized a significant portion of that region."
By the 15th century, because Muslims paid vast amounts of gold to Europeans to purchase goods and slaves, the balance of international payments tilted in favor of Europe. Using this trade as a stepping stone, the Republic of Venice developed its shipping industry and dominated the eastern Mediterranean; through this process, they used the metal currency they secured to purchase luxury goods from the Orient and resell them to the European market. Thanks to the profits gained from this intermediary trade, the Republic of Venice became the wealthiest nation in Europe during the Renaissance.
The simultaneous decline of the Muslim world and the rise of the power of the Republic of Venice represented another great upheaval in the cyclical concept of Mediterranean history.