Özet:

Despite the fact that maritime activities were not very warmly considered during the reign of the Rashīdūn Caliphate (11-40/632-661), the concerns the al-Shām [Syrian] governor Muʻāwiya b. Abī Sufyān (d. 60/680) had about the dangers that could come from the seas became a reality that every Muslim could feel with the landing of the Byzantine Empire in Alexandria in 25 AH (645). Muʻāwiya made a good assessment of the new situation and asked Caliph ʻUthmān b. ʻĀffān (23-35/644-656) for permission to organize an operation to Cyprus, despite his previous requests for an expedition to carry out djihādi [jihad] activities in the seas having been repeatedly rejected. Muʻāwiya did receive permission to go on an expedition, provided that he complied with the conditions set by the caliph, and organized a landing in Cyprus with a fleet of 1,700 ships under his command in 28 AH (648-649 AD), achieving a great victory and large amounts of plunder. However, once the terms of the treaty were abandoned, a second expedition was made to the island of Cyprus with 500 ships in 33 AH (653-654 AD). At the end of this operation, a military unit consisting of 12,000 people was placed on the island. With the two victories of the Muslim Arabs during this time, a new era began in the Mediterranean and condominium [joint administration] was established in Cyprus until the Byzantine Empire seized the island in 353 AH (965 AD). The present study chronologically examines and evaluates in the light of the information from Islamic and Christian sources the preparations for the Cyprus landings under Caliph ʻUthmān’s reign and during the Umayyad (41-132/661-750) and ʻAbbāsid (132-656/750-1258) Caliphates, the outcomes of these military campaigns, and the dual administration of the island with the Byzantine Empire until 353 AH (965), as well as both sides’ struggle for dominion over Cyprus.  

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