Battle of Sagrajas

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Battle of Sagrajas
Part of the Reconquista
Date October 23, 1086 Location North of Badajoz Result Decisive Almoravid victory
Belligerents
Castile	Almoravids
Commanders
Alfonso VI	Yusuf ibn Tashfin
Strength
2,500[1][2]	About 12,000
Casualties and losses
2,500	Unknown but high

The Battle of Sagrajas (October 23, 1086), also called Zallaqa (Arabic: معركة الزلاقة‎), was a battle between the Almoravid General Yusuf ibn Tashfin and Castilian King Alfonso VI. The battleground was called az-Zallaqah (in English slippery ground) because the warriors were slipping all over the ground due to the tremendous amount of blood shed that day, and this gives rise to its name in Arabic.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] 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. He marched with his army to the north of al-Andalus until he reached az-Zallaqah. The Almoravid army accumulated warriors from all over al-Andalus and Yusuf's army reached 30,000 warriors.

Alfonso VI of Castile reached the battleground with some 2,500 men, including 1,500 cavalry, in which 750 were knights,^[3] 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.

[edit] Battle

The battle started on Friday at dawn with an attack from Castile. Yusuf ibn Tashfin divided his army into 3 divisions. 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. 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.

[edit] Aftermath

At least half the Castilian army was lost. One lone source claims that only 500 knights returned to Castile, although others do not support this low figure, so it seems that most of the nobility survived. 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 several generations while both sides regrouped.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• France, John, Western Warfare in the Age of the Crusades, 1000-1300 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1999), ISBN 0801486076
• 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.
• Lewis, David Levering, God's Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe, 570 to 1215 (New York: W & W Norton Inc, 2008), ISBN 0393064727.
• 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.
• Smith, C. (1989-92). Christians and Moors in Spain, Aris & Phillips