page_title: Abu Hafs Umar al-Iqritishi
section_title: Establishment of the emirate and campaigns against Byzantium
hierarchical_section_title: Abu Hafs Umar al-Iqritishi / Establishment of the emirate and campaigns against Byzantium
caption_attribution_description: English: A monk shows the Cretan Saracens where to build Chandax
context_page_description: Umar ibn Hafs ibn Shuayb ibn Isa al-Balluti, surnamed al-Ghaliz and later al-Iqritishi, and usually known as Abu Hafs, was the leader of a group of Andalusian refugees who seized control of Alexandria and, after being expelled from the city by the Abbasids, conquered the Byzantine island of Crete, becoming the first Emir of Crete.
context_section_description: Abu Hafs was responsible for the construction of Chandax, to where the Andalusians transferred the capital from the inland site of Gortyn, consolidating Muslim rule over the island, and repelling the first, hastily assembled, Byzantine attempts to recover the island under Photeinos and Krateros.  He recognized the suzerainty of the Abbasid Caliphate, but he ruled as a de facto independent prince.
  The Andalusians also occupied several of the Cyclades during these early years. Michael II's admiral Ooryphas managed to evict the Arabs from the Aegean islands, but failed to retake Crete. The overtures of Theophilos (r. 829–842) to Abd ar-Rahman II of Córdoba, proposing a joint action against the Andalusian exiles, came to nothing, and in October 829, the Andalusians destroyed an imperial fleet off Thasos, undoing much of the work of Ooryphas and opening the Aegean and its coasts to pillage. Later the Andalusians attacked Euboea (c. 835–840), Lesbos (837), and the coasts of the Thracesian Theme, where they destroyed the monastic centre of Mount Latros.  They were heavily defeated, however, by the local strategos, Constantine Kontomytes.
  After the death of Theophilos in 842, another expedition to recover Crete was launched under the personal leadership of the powerful logothetes and regent Theoktistos. Although it succeeded in occupying much of the island, Theoktistos had to abandon the army due to political intrigues in Constantinople, and the troops left behind were slaughtered by the Arabs.
  From numismatic evidence, it appears that Abu Hafs died in c. 855 and was succeeded by his son, Shu'ayb ibn Umar.
caption: A monk shows the Andalusians where to build Chandax, miniature from the Madrid Skylitzes
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