Sicily and encouraged the growth of smallholdings, undermining the dominance of the latifundia. The Arabs further improved irrigation systems. The language spoken in Sicily under Arab rule was Siculo-Arabic and Arabic influence is still present in some Sicilian words today. Although the language is extinct in Sicily, it has developed into what is now the Maltese language on the islands of Malta today. A description of Palermo was given by Ibn Hawqal, an Arab merchant who visited Sicily in 950. A walled suburb, called the Al-Kasr (the palace), is the centre of Palermo to this day, with the great Friday mosque
Roger II of Sicily the fleet by two Greeks, first Christodulus and then George of Antioch, whom he made in 1132 "ammiratus ammiratorum" or "Emir of Emirs", in effect prime vizier. (This title later became the English word admiral). Roger made Sicily the leading maritime power in the Mediterranean. Roger II had a kingdom where a Muslim scholar such as al-Idrisi could draw from a variety of intellectual traditions, because Sicily is positioned in the center of the Mediterranean and was a major stopping point for people traveling across the Mediterranean. Sicily had been run by several different groups in its history and Sicily