The Conquest of Crete

al-Baladhuri relates that Junada raided Crete, and in the days of al-Walid part of it was conquered and then closed again. Humayd ibn Mu'ayyif al-Hamadhani raided it in the caliphate of al-Rashid and conquered part of it. ¹

In the caliphate of al-Ma'mun, Abu Hafs Umar ibn Isa al-Andalusi, known as al-Iqritishi, raided it, conquered one fort and settled in it. Then he kept conquering one thing after another until no Byzantine was left in it, and he destroyed their forts. ¹

al-Maqqari gives a reason for the rule of the Andalusians over Crete: rebels from the suburb of Cordoba reached Alexandria and then rose up there, and 'Abd Allah ibn Tahir, governor of Egypt for al-Ma'mun, defeated them and sent them across to the island. They remained there until the Franks took it. ²

The date is approximate and derived, around 824 CE.