Scholarship, trade and politics: Andalusian contribution to the Mediterranean standing of Tripoli (3rd/9th–5th/11th centuries)

Abstract

Given the lack of local sources, the history of Tripoli as a global Mediterranean city remains unclear until the Ottoman conquest of the 16th century. Given that documentary record, the exploration of the rich Arabic tradition written in al-Andalus provides a fresh insight into how Tripoli constructed its Mediterranean stature prior to the 11th century. First, the systematic analysis of Islamic biographical literature (ṭabaqāt) shows Tripoli was one of the most visited cities by the Andalusian scholars across the Islamic world. It also reveals they were in close contact with the Tripolitanian Mālikī networks. Eventually, The Tripolitanian elites took advantage, of that specific Andalusian connection, and using the rivalry between the caliphal powers at the dawn of the 11th century they assured the independence of the city for the first time while rejecting the Fatimid-Zirid power and recognizing the sovereignty of the Spanish Umayyads.

A 5th/11th century chronicler from Tripoli

“…24In 399/1009, the governor of the city Falfūl b. Khazrūn tried to reject the Fatimid-Zirid power by recognizing the caliph of Cordoba Muḥammad II al-Mahdī as the rightful imām (Montel, 2021, 147–148). This initiative is viewed as the first manifestation of the autonomous aspirations of the city (Brett, 1986, 80–81).…”