MALTA

On the surface, Malta looks like a beautiful Mediterranean paradise; a group of islands consisting of Malta, Gozo and Comino that offers picturesque locations and a breakaway for tourism and recreational breaks. But when we go deeper, Maltese history is blended with a unique combination of European-Arab texture, a chapter of European colonisation in Europe and an all another entity - Sovereign Military Order of Malta - the only 'country' without a land. Here's a brief account of this mysteriously curious group of islands. 

Malta has been part of several empires, both European and African. Till the 9th century AD, it was annexed by the Romans, the Vandals (when they migrated to north Africa) and the Byzantine (which can be said as an extension of the Roman empire itself). The Aghlabids under the Abbasid Caliphate (750 AD - 1517) that expanded from Algeria to Pakistan covering the entire Arabian peninsula and the Caucasus, had a bit of it in Europe such as Sicily, Crete and Malta. This also included a brief rule by the Berber Zirid dynasty (972 - 1148) and centuries later an attack by the Hafsid Dynasty (not really conquered though) and finally the Ottomans who seized the islands in 1565. 

The medieval era of Malta was under certain European empires as well. Between 1190 to 1428, the County of Malta became fiefdom of Sicily and in 1530, Malta was possessed by Knights of St. John Hospitaller or Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem. An interesting Catholic military order (Christian religious society of knights) that was headquartered at various places at various times. During this time, this order was administrated from Malta till 1798. The knights didn't belong to a single nation; French, Hungarians, Italians etc. In fact, its difficult to trace the origin of a particular nationality as the headquarter of the knights shifted from Jerusalem to Rhodes to Malta. Thus, Malta becomes one of the few countries that was once administrated by a military order not sticking to one single nationality. However, the language spoken by the knights in the medieval era was Latin. This Order continues even till today with a slight variation in administration. Although the knights were expelled out in 1798 and a French occupation was followed by British (that continued till 1964), the Order was recognised as a sovereign state in 1822. In 1834, the headquarter was moved to Palazzo di Malta, Rome. In 1869, the Palazzo and Villa Malta became the only sovereign possessions of the modern Order, this time the language being Italian. Autonomy was granted to the Order in 1969, a permanent observer status in 1994, Italian as the official language in 1997 and the usage of upper portion of Fort St. Angelo (in Birgu, Malta) for official usage for 99 years was granted in 2001. 

Coming to the political history of Maltese islands, the 1798 French invasion opened doors of modern colonisation to the islands. The same year the British occupied Gozo and the year next to it was granted a British protection. Angst between the British and French resulted in a peace treaty signed in 1801. Although a treaty was signed the next year by which the British were to restore Malta to St. John Knights, it didn't actually was enforced and the British occupation continued till 1813 when it was made a Crown Colony. In 1964, Malta achieved independence and in 2004, it became part of the European Union. 

A brief about military Orders in Europe - apart from St. John Knights and Sovereign Military Order of Malta, Europe had another one known as the Teutonic Order, that is in practice since 1192. There are several religious Orders as well that although doesn't have any sovereign power but is of immense importance in the Christian legal world.