Almohad victory over Ibn Mardanīsh near Murcia demonstrated the limits of Taifa resistance to Almohad expansion in al-Andalus.
Key Facts
- Date
- Thursday, 15 October 1165
- Location
- Faḥṣ al-Jullāb, Guadalentín valley, 10 miles south of Murcia
- Almohad commanders
- Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar and Abū Saʿīd ʿUthmān, brothers of the Caliph
- Reward per cavalryman
- 20 gold dīnārs
- Reward per troop leader
- 100 gold dīnārs
- Prior Almohad captures
- Andújar (Sept.), Cúllar and Vélez before the battle
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
In the summer of 1165, an Almohad army under the caliph's brothers launched an offensive against Ibn Mardanīsh, the king of Murcia, capturing Andújar in September and raiding Galera, Caravaca, Baza, Sierra de Segura, Cúllar and Vélez as they advanced toward Murcia.
Ibn Mardanīsh mustered a general levy and Christian allies from Castile to defend Lorca, but was intercepted by the Almohad force advancing from Vélez. Battle was joined at the 'merchant's field' near Alhama, roughly ten miles south of Murcia. Ibn Mardanīsh and his army were routed, and he fled to the walled city while the Almohads plundered the surrounding countryside.
After the battle the Almohad army proved unable to take the fortified city of Murcia. Abū Saʿīd ʿUthmān withdrew to Córdoba and Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar returned to Marrakesh, where the caliph rewarded all soldiers. Victory dispatches comparing the battle to the pre-Islamic Battle of Dhū Ḳār reached Marrakesh on 31 October 1165.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Abū Ḥafṣ ʿUmar, Abū Saʿīd ʿUthmān.
Side B
1 belligerent
Ibn Mardanīsh.