Hi again, NSV. Thank you for your reply, I enjoy debating this period of Maltese history 
1. Well actually Emir was the title with which they were referred to. It means Commander/Leader (the word Admiral comes from Amir al bahar) or ruler of small state so it is historically accurate that the governor of a major city would take the title of Emir. Hakim can mean both governor and Elder (which has different connotations). They were elected most likely out of respect given the lack of proper power.
From an Italian source:
“ in 948 the Fatimids granted a degree of autonomy to the Kalbid dynasty, whose last "governor" (effectively a hereditary emir), Hasan II (or Al-Samsan), ruled until 1053. By then, Kasyr Yanni (Enna), Trapani, Taormina and Syracuse were also self-declared, localized "emirates." (This word was sometimes used rather loosely to describe any hereditary ruler of a large locality; in law Sicily had been a unified emirate governed from Palermo since 948, but by the 1050s the others had challenged his authority over them.)”
http://www.bestofsicily.com/mag/art168.htm
In 1060, the Sicilian Emir of Syracuse, Ibn al-Timnah, landed at Reggio in Calabria to secure the aid of the Normans against his rival emir, Ibn al-Hawas of Enna. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cerami
You list Benavert https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benavert well here he is referred to as an Emir.
As for Malta being too small to have an Emir, well even Crete was an Emirate at one point so size doesn’t make a difference.
2. This, I agree with you is the bizarre part but Maltese historians have rather neglected this period of history. I studied history at school in Malta until I was 18 yet we never really discussed the Arab rule of Malta...
Realistically, any proof of Arab/Muslim ancestry would have been wiped out under the Christian rule which followed. But names and language persisted... it is an interesting phenomenon.
Since Wettinger, who is the main Maltese historian working today who is an expert on the Muslim period? I can name those who are experts in the period of the Knights or the British but I don’t think the history department of the University of Malta focuses on this period much. Any Maltese scholars on this forum who can help us out?
3. The first Emir’s full name is Al-Hasan ibn Ali al-Kalbi. His father was Ali. He named his son Ali: Abu'l-Qasim Ali ibn al-Hasan al-Kalbi (970–982). This first Emir had a brother called Jafar which is why the name reoccured. Please also note that that list covers just 4 generations and a lot of it is horizontal (brothers and cousins probably).
4. You might be referencing her grandmother? Her son was Isaakios II. Named his daughter after his mother (apparently? Not entirely sure about the accuracy of this. She is left out in the wikipedia entry of Isaakios II but it also has no sources for any of the children listed...daughter of a mistress perhaps?)
1.3.6.7.3. Prince Andronikos Doukas Angelos, (d. 1185), married 1155 to Euphrosyne Kastamonitissa, with issue.
1.3.6.7.3.6. Prince Isaakios II Angelos, (1155-1204), Byzantine Emperor, (r. 1185-1204), married (1) 1181 to Eirene Tornikaina, married (2) 1185 to Princess Margit of Hungary, with issue.
1.3.6.7.3.6.1. (First marriage) Princess Euphrosyne Angelos, married to Jafar VIII, Emir of Malta.
5. Don’t understand your point here, sorry.
6. Seykil is the original name from which the surname is derived. Thanks for the source!
1. Well actually Emir was the title with which they were referred to. It means Commander/Leader (the word Admiral comes from Amir al bahar) or ruler of small state so it is historically accurate that the governor of a major city would take the title of Emir. Hakim can mean both governor and Elder (which has different connotations). They were elected most likely out of respect given the lack of proper power.
From an Italian source:
“ in 948 the Fatimids granted a degree of autonomy to the Kalbid dynasty, whose last "governor" (effectively a hereditary emir), Hasan II (or Al-Samsan), ruled until 1053. By then, Kasyr Yanni (Enna), Trapani, Taormina and Syracuse were also self-declared, localized "emirates." (This word was sometimes used rather loosely to describe any hereditary ruler of a large locality; in law Sicily had been a unified emirate governed from Palermo since 948, but by the 1050s the others had challenged his authority over them.)”
http://www.bestofsicily.com/mag/art168.htm
In 1060, the Sicilian Emir of Syracuse, Ibn al-Timnah, landed at Reggio in Calabria to secure the aid of the Normans against his rival emir, Ibn al-Hawas of Enna. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Cerami
You list Benavert https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benavert well here he is referred to as an Emir.
As for Malta being too small to have an Emir, well even Crete was an Emirate at one point so size doesn’t make a difference.
2. This, I agree with you is the bizarre part but Maltese historians have rather neglected this period of history. I studied history at school in Malta until I was 18 yet we never really discussed the Arab rule of Malta...
Realistically, any proof of Arab/Muslim ancestry would have been wiped out under the Christian rule which followed. But names and language persisted... it is an interesting phenomenon.
Since Wettinger, who is the main Maltese historian working today who is an expert on the Muslim period? I can name those who are experts in the period of the Knights or the British but I don’t think the history department of the University of Malta focuses on this period much. Any Maltese scholars on this forum who can help us out?
3. The first Emir’s full name is Al-Hasan ibn Ali al-Kalbi. His father was Ali. He named his son Ali: Abu'l-Qasim Ali ibn al-Hasan al-Kalbi (970–982). This first Emir had a brother called Jafar which is why the name reoccured. Please also note that that list covers just 4 generations and a lot of it is horizontal (brothers and cousins probably).
4. You might be referencing her grandmother? Her son was Isaakios II. Named his daughter after his mother (apparently? Not entirely sure about the accuracy of this. She is left out in the wikipedia entry of Isaakios II but it also has no sources for any of the children listed...daughter of a mistress perhaps?)
1.3.6.7.3. Prince Andronikos Doukas Angelos, (d. 1185), married 1155 to Euphrosyne Kastamonitissa, with issue.
1.3.6.7.3.6. Prince Isaakios II Angelos, (1155-1204), Byzantine Emperor, (r. 1185-1204), married (1) 1181 to Eirene Tornikaina, married (2) 1185 to Princess Margit of Hungary, with issue.
1.3.6.7.3.6.1. (First marriage) Princess Euphrosyne Angelos, married to Jafar VIII, Emir of Malta.
5. Don’t understand your point here, sorry.
6. Seykil is the original name from which the surname is derived. Thanks for the source!