[1] However, the island at that time was not conquered and despite occasional raids in the 8th century, it remained securely in Byzantine hands;[3] Crete was too far from the Arab naval bases in the Levant for an effective expedition to be undertaken against it.

[10] The Andalusians' landing-place is also unknown; some scholars think that it was at the north coast, at Suda Bay or near where their main city and fortress Chandax (Arabic: ربض الخندق, romanized: rabḍ al-kḫandaq, lit.

[16] Losses suffered during the revolt of Thomas the Slav hampered Byzantium's ability to respond, however, and if the landing occurred in 827/828, the diversion of ships and men to counter the gradual conquest of Sicily by the Tunisian Aghlabids also interfered.

[10] The conquest of the island was of major importance as it transformed the naval balance of power in the Eastern Mediterranean and opened the hitherto secure Aegean Sea littoral to frequent and devastating raids.

[22] The Andalusians also occupied several of the Cyclades during these early years, but Michael II organized another large-scale expedition, recruiting an entire new marine corps, the Tessarakontarioi, and building new ships.

[10][28][29] After the death of Theophilos in 842, new measures to confront the Cretan threat were undertaken by the new Byzantine regime: in 843 a new maritime theme, that of the Aegean Sea, was established to better deal with the Arab raids, and another expedition to recover Crete was launched under the personal leadership of the powerful logothetes and regent Theoktistos.

Although it succeeded in occupying much of the island, Theoktistos had to abandon the army due to political intrigues in Constantinople, and the troops left behind were slaughtered by the Arabs.

[30][31] In an effort to weaken the Arabs in 853, several Byzantine fleets engaged in coordinated operations in the Eastern Mediterranean, attacking the Egyptian naval base of Damietta and capturing weapons intended for Crete.

[10][32] In 866, the Byzantine Caesar Bardas assembled another large-scale expeditionary force to subdue Crete, but his murder by Basil the Macedonian only two weeks after the fleet set sail from the capital spelled the end of the undertaking.

[36] These Byzantine victories apparently led to a temporary truce, and it appears that the Cretan emir Saïpes (Shu'ayb ibn Umar) was obliged to pay tribute to Byzantium for about a decade.

[39][40] Nevertheless, the impact of this new wave of Arab raids was felt across the Aegean, where some islands were deserted altogether, and elsewhere coastal sites were abandoned for better protected inland locations.

This too was routed in a surprise attack, a defeat which Byzantine chroniclers ascribe to the incompetence and inexperience of its leader, the eunuch chamberlain Constantine Gongyles.

Muslim inhabitants were either killed or carried off into slavery, while the island's last emir Abd al-Aziz ibn Shu'ayb (Kouroupas) and his son al-Numan (Anemas) were taken captive and brought to Constantinople, where Phokas celebrated a triumph.

Furthermore, other than a few place names recalling the presence of the Arabs, no major archaeological remains from the period survive, possibly due to deliberate Byzantine destruction after 961.

[10][54] The picture painted by the few and scattered references to the Cretan emirate from the Muslim world, on the other hand, is of an ordered state with a regular monetary economy and extensive trade links, and there is evidence that Chandax was a cultural centre of some importance.

[55][56] The survival of numerous gold, silver, and copper coins, of almost constant weight and composition, testifies to a strong economy and a high living standard among the population.

[59] There is also evidence of rival classes on the island as when Theodosius the Deacon reports that the rural Cretans, not rulers of the land but inhabitants of crags and caves, descended from the mountains under their leader Karamountes during the siege of Chandax by Nikephoros Phokas to assist the besieged.