| Battle of Sagrajas | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Reconquista | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Castile |  Almoravids | ||||||
| Commanders | |||||||
| Alfonso VI | Yusuf ibn Tashfin | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| About 15,000 or less | About 30,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| About 7,500 dead | Unknown but high | ||||||
The Battle of Sagrajas (October 23, 1086), also called Zallaqa (Arabic: معركة الزلاقة), was a battle between the Almoravid Yusuf ibn Tashfin and Castilian King Alfonso VI. The Reconquista (a Spanish and Portuguese word for "Reconquest" Arabic: الاسترداد, "Recapturing" was a period Badajoz - (IPA, formerly written Badajos in English the capital of the Spanish province of Badajoz in the autonomous community Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. The Almoravids, was a Berber dynasty from the Sahara that spread over a wide area of North-Western Africa and the Iberian peninsula during Alfonso VI (before June 1040 &ndash June 29 / July 1, 1109) nicknamed the Brave, was King of León from 1065 to 1109 and King of Yusuf ibn Tashfin or Tashafin (reigned c 1061 - 1106 (يوسف بن تاشفين or يوسف بن تشفين was an ethnic Berber and Al-Murabitoon ruler Events 4004 BC - Creation of the world begins according to the calculations of Archbishop James Ussher 42 BC - Arabic (ar الْعَرَبيّة (informally ar عَرَبيْ) in terms of the number of speakers is the largest living member of the Semitic language The Almoravids, was a Berber dynasty from the Sahara that spread over a wide area of North-Western Africa and the Iberian peninsula during Yusuf ibn Tashfin or Tashafin (reigned c 1061 - 1106 (يوسف بن تاشفين or يوسف بن تشفين was an ethnic Berber and Al-Murabitoon ruler Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. Alfonso VI (before June 1040 &ndash June 29 / July 1, 1109) nicknamed the Brave, was King of León from 1065 to 1109 and King of The battleground was called az-Zallaqah (in English slippery ground) because the warriors were slipping all over the battle ground because of the tremendous amount of blood shed this day, and this gives rise to its name in Arabic. Blood is a specialized Bodily fluid that delivers necessary substances to the body's cells such as nutrients and oxygen—and transports Waste products
History of al-Andalus 711 - 1492 |
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711 - 732 Invasions |
1039 - 1085 Taifas |
1085-1145 Almoravids |
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1147 - 1238 Almohads |
1238 - 1492 Kingdom of Granada |
| connected articles |
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Contents |
Preparations
Yusuf ibn Tashfin replied to the call of three Andalusian leaders (Abbad III al-Mu'tamid and others) and crossed to Andalusia with 7,000 warriors from Almoravids. Al-Andalus (الأندلس was the Arabic name given to those parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims or The Umayyad conquest of Hispania ( 711 – 718) began as an army of the Umayyad Caliphate consisting largely of Berbers inhabitants The Battle of Guadalete was fought in 711 or 712 at an unidentified location between the Christian Visigoths of Hispania under their king Roderic The Battle of Toulouse ( 721) was a victory of a Frankish army led by Duke Odo of Aquitaine over an Umayyad army besieging the city of The Battle of Tours (October 10 732 also called the Battle of Poitiers and in معركة بلاط الشهداء (ma‘arakat Balâṭ ash-Shuhadâ’ Battle of Court ||-||-||} Córdoba ( Cordova in English is a City in Andalusia, southern Spain, and the capital of the province of Córdoba. The Caliphate of Córdoba (Arabic خلافة قرطبة ruled the Iberian peninsula ( Al-Andalus) and North Africa from the city of This article is about the Andalusian Muslim general and statesman Al-Mansur (938 - 1002 A taifa (from طائفة ṭā'ifa, plural طوائف ṭawā'if) in the history of Iberia was an independent Muslim -ruled principality The Almoravids, was a Berber dynasty from the Sahara that spread over a wide area of North-Western Africa and the Iberian peninsula during The Almoravids, was a Berber dynasty from the Sahara that spread over a wide area of North-Western Africa and the Iberian peninsula during The Almohad Dynasty (From Arabic الموحدون al-Muwahhidun, i The July 16 1212 battle of Las Navas de Tolosa ( Spanish: Batalla de Las Navas de Tolosa / Arabic: معركة العقاب Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous region of Andalusia, Spain. The Nasrid dynasty or Banuu Nasri (بنو نصر was the last Arab and Muslim dynasty in Spain. The Battle of Granada was the siege of the city of Granada over a period of months leading up to its capitulation on the 2 January 1492 The Reconquista (a Spanish and Portuguese word for "Reconquest" Arabic: الاسترداد, "Recapturing" was a period Al-Andalus (الأندلس was the Arabic name given to those parts of the Iberian Peninsula governed by Muslims or Muhammad Ibn Abbad Al Mutamid (1040 - 1095 was the third and last ruler (reigned 1069&ndash1091 of Seville in Al-Andalus from the Abbadid dynasty. The Almoravids, was a Berber dynasty from the Sahara that spread over a wide area of North-Western Africa and the Iberian peninsula during He marched with his army to the north of al-Andalus until he reached az-Zallaqah. The army of Almoravids accumulated warriors from every place in al-Andalus and his army reached 30,000 warriors.
Alfonso VI of Castile reached the battleground with a sizeable force but found himself outnumbered. The two leaders exchanged messages before the battle. Yusuf ibn Tashfin is reputed to have offered three choices to the Castilians: convert to Islam, to pay tribute (jizyah), or battle. For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. Under Islamic law, jizya or jizyah (جزْية ʤɪzjæh Ottoman Turkish: cizye both derived from Pahlavi and ultimately from Aramaic
Battle
The battle started on Friday at dawn with an attack from Castile. Yusuf Ibn Tashfin divided his army into 3 divisions. A division is a large Military unit or formation usually consisting of around ten to thirty thousand soldiers The first division was led by Abbad III al-Mu'tamid and consisted of 15,000 warriors, the second division consisted of 11,000 warriors led by Yusuf ibn Tashfin and the third division consisted of 4,000 black African warriors with Indian swords and long javelins. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The pilum (plural pila) was a heavy javelin commonly used by the Roman army in ancient times Abbad III al-Mu'tamid and his division battled with Alfonso VI alone till the afternoon, then Yusuf ibn Tashfin and his division joined the battle and circled Alfonso VI and his troops. Alfonso's troops panicked and started to lose ground, then Yusuf ordered the third division of his army to attack and finish the battle.
Aftermath
The Castilian army included some 2,000 mounted knights, but at least half the army of Alfonso was lost. One lone source claims that only 500 knights returned to Castile, although others do not support this low figure. The dead included counts Rodrigo Muñoz and Vela Oveguez. King Alfonso VI sustained an injury to one leg that caused him to limp for the rest of his life.
Casualties were also heavy on the Almoravid side, specially for the hosts led by Dawud ibn Aysa, whose camp was even sacked in the first hours of battle, and by the governor of Badajoz, al-Mutawakkil ibn al-Aftas. The Sevilla governor al-Mu'tamid had been wounded in the first clash but his personal example of valour rallied the al-Andalus forces in the difficult moments of the initial Castilian charge led by Alvar Fañez. Those killed included a very popular imam from Cordoba, Abu-l-Abbas Ahmad ibn Rumayla.
The battle was a decisive victory for the Almoravids but their losses meant that it was not possible to follow it up although Yusuf had to return prematurely to Africa due to the death of his heir.
Castile suffered almost no loss of territory and was able to retain the psychologically important city of Toledo, only occupied the previous year. Instead the Christian advance was halted for four generations while both sides regrouped.
Literature
- Smith, C. (1989-92). Christians and Moors in Spain, Aris & Phillips
- Heath, I. (1989). Armies of Feudal Europe 1066-1300 (2nd ed. ). Wargames Research Group.
- Kennedy, H. (1996). Muslim Spain and Portugal: A political history of al-Andalus. London: Longman.
- Livermore, H. V. (1966). A New History of Portugal. Cambridge University Press.
- Nicolle, D. (1988). El Cid and the Reconquista 1050-1492 (Men-at-Arms 200). Osprey.
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