Sagrajas Totally Explained

Everything about Sagrajas totally explained

The Battle of Sagrajas (October 23, 1086), also called Zallaqa, was a battle between the Almoravid 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 battle ground because of the tremendous amount of blood shed this day, and this gives rise to its name in Arabic.

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. 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.

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 lead 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.

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 don't 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 wasn't 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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