page_title: Kingdom of Africa
section_title: Economy
hierarchical_section_title: Kingdom of Africa / Administration / Economy
caption_attribution_description: Italy, Norman Kings of Sicily. Roger II of Sicily. 1105-1154. AV Tarì (12mm, 0.92 g). Palermo mint. Circular Kufic legend citing Roger as King; pellet in center IC CX NI KA flanking cross; marginal legend with mint (madīna Ṣiqilliyya) and date (missing, c. 1140-54). MEC 14, 201-3.
context_page_description: The Kingdom of Africa was an extension of the frontier zone of the Siculo-Norman state in the former Roman province of Africa, corresponding to Tunisia and parts of Algeria and Libya today. The main primary sources for the kingdom are Arabic; the Latin sources are scanter.
  The Sicilian conquest of Africa began under Roger II in 1146–1148. Sicilian rule consisted of military garrisons in the major towns, exactions on the local Muslim population, protection of Christians, and the minting of coin. The local aristocracy was largely left in place, and Muslim princes controlled the civil government under Sicilian oversight. Economic connections between Sicily and Africa, which were strong before the conquest, were strengthened, while ties between Africa and northern Italy were expanded. Early in the reign of William I, the Kingdom of Africa fell to the Almohad Caliphate. Its most enduring legacy was the realignment of Mediterranean powers brought about by its demise and the Siculo-Almohad peace finalised in 1180.
context_section_description: Control of Africa gave Sicily control of all the sea routes between the western and eastern Mediterranean. Roger II taxed shipping, although he seems to have allowed the local Muslims princelings to collect some tariffs of their own. Ibn Abī Dīnār states that the wāli of Gabès collected taxes in Roger's name. Because of Sicily's good relations with Fatimid Egypt, Italian merchant ships could travel along the entire north African shore in peace during this period. Roger also taxed the overland caravan routes from Morocco to Egypt ("Kairouan" and "caravan" are cognates.) More profitable than these were the trans-Saharan caravans carrying paiole gold dust for the mints of northern African and southern Italy. An important stopping point for these was Bougie, which Roger may have attacked during this period, but over which he could not extend authority, although he did maintain links with the deposed emir Yahyā ibn al-ʿAzīz. 
  At Mahdia, Roger I and William I minted dinars of pure gold, 22 mm in diameter and weighing 4.15 g with Cufic inscriptions, probably for internal circulation in Africa. The only two known coins were first discovered by the Tunisian scholar H. H. Abdul-Wahab in 1930. They were a close imitation of a type minted by the Fatimid caliph az-Zāhir (1020–35) over a century earlier. In Fatimid fashion, the coins have inscriptions in two concentric circles with two lines of text in the centre. The circular text is the same on both sides, while the central text differs. In Roger's coin, it reads "Struck by order of the sublime king (al-malik al-muʿaẓẓam) Roger, the powerful through God [Allah], in the city of Mahdia, in the year 543 [of the Hegira]", that is, 1148/49, in the outer circle and "Praise be to God, it is fitting to praise him and, indeed, He is deserving and worthy [of praise]" in the inner circle.  The obverse centre reads "The King Roger", while the reverse centre contains his laqab "The powerful through God" (al-muʿtazz bi-ʾllāh). William's coin is similar, but is dated to is dated to 549 (1154/5) and replaces Roger's Arabic laqab with his own, al-Hādī bi-Amr Allāh ("the Guide according to the command of God"). It has been observed that the inscriptions bear a resemblance to those of Robert Guiscard's tarì struck at Palermo in 1072. In both cases the mint would have been staffed entirely by Muslims.
caption: A gold Sicilian tarì minted at Palermo during Roger II's reign. Sicily depended on African gold for its mints, but the dinars of Africa were of superior gold to the tarìs of Sicily.[31]
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