Maritime Activities During The Period of Caliph ʻUthmān b. ‘Affān (23-35/644-656)

Abstract

ʻUthmān b. ʻAffān shined through the sea victories at the time of his caliphate. Muʻāwiya b. Abī Sufyān (d. 60/680), the governor of Syria (Shām), was the first statesman to realize that as long as Byzantium’s rule in the sea continued, their dominance in Bilād al-Shām and Egypt was under threat and that the struggle against Byzantium could not be carried out without the support of the navy. Although Muʻāwiya’s requests for naval expeditions were initially rejected by ‘Uthmān just like the former Caliph ‘Umar b. al-Khaṭṭāb (13-23/634-644), he accepted his request to sail only if certain conditions were met. Under the leadership of Muʻāwiya b. Abī Sufyān, who accelerated his maritime activities with the permission of ʻUthmān, the Muslim Arabs made expeditions to Cyprus, Arados, Sicily, Rhodes, Cos, Crete Islands and Andalusia. According to the information given by the sources, Muslim Arabs who made the sea expedition also to Istanbul in this period, defeated the Byzantine navy under the command of Emperor Constans II (641-668) around Antalya Phoenix in the battle called Dhāt al-Sawārī [The Battle of Masts] in Islamic history in 31 (652) or 34 (655). This was the first major naval victory achieved by Muslim Arabs and it ended Byzantium’s dominance in the Eastern Mediterranean. In this article, the reasons for the sailing of Muslims, the activities carried out in coastal cities in maritime sense, the preparations made before the landing operations and the results of the expeditions will be evaluated in the light of both Islamic and Christian sources.