Beginning of the Arab Conquest of Sicily

Timeline

1. 827Kairouan · TunisiaAghlabid emir Ziyadat Allah I assembled troops and a fleet at Kairouan and appointed Asad ibn al-Furat as commander of the expedition. The expedition was nominally at the request of the Sicilian rebel Euphemius, but in reality aimed to expand the North African regime's influence in the Mediterranean.
2. 827Mazara del Vallo · SicilyThe Arab expeditionary force landed near Mazara on the southwestern coast of Sicily, defeated the Byzantine garrison, and established a beachhead, marking the beginning of the systematic conquest of Sicily; the war then spread across the island and lasted for decades.