Gozo since the Great Calamity : resilience, affluenza, vulnerability

Abstract

The ‘Drawn Sword of Islam’ Admiral Turgut Reis relished the juicy grapes washed in the clear water of Ghajn Abdul as he oversaw the capitulation of the island. After a one week siege, the citadel surrendered and all the inhabitants were taken to the galleys at Mgarr ix-Xini to be transported to the slave market in Tarhuna, North Africa. The town, villages and hamlets were ransacked and burned. The 40 inhabitants allowed to remain on the island were old and sterile, ensuring that life will not survive. Redemption from slavery was remote for the 5000 destitute inhabitants. The day of retribution had finally arrived and the death sentence had been executed. The bastion walls where Turgut’s brother had been burnt were now a gaping hole. His tormented spirit could now rest in peace and enjoy eternal bliss surrounded by beautiful maidens, precious stones, delicious food, and ever flowing water. Bismi-llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīm.