Balearic Islands their state. However, the Cordoban emirate disintegrated in civil war and partition in the early eleventh century, breaking into smaller states called "taifa". Mujahid al-Siqlabi, the ruler of the Taifa of Dénia, sent a fleet and seized control of the islands in 1015, using it as the base for subsequent expeditions to Sardinia and Pisa. In 1050, the island's governor Abd Allah ibn Aglab rebelled and established the independent Taifa of Mallorca. For centuries, the Balearic sailors and pirates had been masters of the western Mediterranean. But the expanding influence of the Italian maritime republics and the shift of power
Balearic Islands the world). Both were extremely fertile in all produce, except wine and olive oil. They were celebrated for their cattle, especially for the mules of the lesser island; they had an immense number of rabbits, and were free from all venomous reptiles. Amongst the snails valued by the Romans as a diet was a species from the Balearic isles called "cavaticae" because they were bred in caves. Their chief mineral product was the red earth, called "sinope", which was used by painters. Their resin and pitch are mentioned by Dioscorides. The population of the two islands is stated by Diodorus