Merkala

Map of the Emirate of Bari (847–871), founded by the Berber Khalfun al-Barbari. An Islamic state where Arabic, Berber, Greek & Italian Romance languages were spoken. A Huwwara origin for the Emirate and specifically for Khalfun is plausible, as he may have come from Tripolitania ( according to Monica Ruocco, 2023), a region with a significant Huwwara presence, while the Huwwara commander Asbagh ibn Wakil was also active in Sicily around 830, shortly before Bari conquest, although there is no direct evidence for the claim. The Emir illustration represent Sawdan (Soldanos) interacting with a Byzantine envoy during the siege of Benevento and Capua, Ioannis Scylitzae Synopsis Historiarum (v. 11th-13th century) Concerning Sawdan and according to the historian Giosue Musca, the Muslim settlement of Taranto maintained close political ties with the Emirate of Bari and may even have formed an extension of its territory, possibly coming under the rule of Emir Sawdan before 871. The Christian Lombard principalities of Benevento and Salerno, along with the County of Capua, paid tribute to the Muslim Emirate of Bari, although I havent marked these tributary territories on the map. According to Francesco Violante, modern scholarship no longer considers Taranto and Amantea (initially founded by arabs and berbers) to have been true emirates, making Bari the only formally recognized Muslim emirate in mainland Italy during the 9th century, following Sawdan recognition by the Abbasid Caliphate around 863.