emirate · Italy

Emirate of Bari

847 CE – 871 CE (approx.) · capital Bari

Short-lived Muslim emirate in Apulia, centred on the port of Bari, which raided southern Italy until Louis II took it in 871.

Origins

Arab and Berber soldiers, some of them mercenaries hired by the warring Lombard princes, seized Bari around 847 under a leader named Kalfun. From this base on the Adriatic coast they extended control over much of Apulia.

Rule and society

Under Mufarraj ibn Sallam and then Sawdan, the last emir, Bari sought recognition from the Abbasid caliph and became an emirate with a congregational mosque. It lived largely from raiding and the slave trade, attacking Lombard and Byzantine territory and monasteries, though Sawdan also dealt diplomatically with Christian neighbours, and a Jewish chronicle recalls him as a figure of learning.

Decline and legacy

The Carolingian emperor Louis II besieged Bari for several years with Lombard allies and Byzantine naval help, taking the city in 871 and capturing Sawdan. The Byzantines occupied Bari in 876, and it became the capital of the Theme of Longobardia.

Connections (2)

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Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Emirate of Bari. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/emirate-of-bari
MLA
“Emirate of Bari.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/emirate-of-bari. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Emirate of Bari.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/emirate-of-bari.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Emirate of Bari’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/emirate-of-bari (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻