Draft:Hammadid capture of Tlemcen (1102)

Hammadid Capture of Tlemcen (1103)
One of the gateways of Tlemcen
Date July 1103 Location Tlemcen, Algeria 34°52′58″N 01°19′00″W Result Hammadid victory
Belligerents
Hammadid dynasty Sanhadja Banu Hilal	Almoravid dynasty
Commanders and leaders
Al-Mansur	Yusuf ibn Tashfin Tashfin ibn Tin'ama
Strength
24,000	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

Battle

Al-Mansur moved to counter the Almoravid-Zenata attack, rallying all forces that he could muster against the Almoravids in the Central Maghreb and Ifriqiya. He prepared a substantial army, estimated by Ibn al-Khatib to be twelve divisions, or 24,000 men, while Ibn Khaldun estimated it at around twenty thousand strong. His forces included Sanhadja warriors as well as contingents from the tribes of Athbaj, Zughba, and Rabi'ah among the Hilalian Arabs. In Shawwal 496 (July - August 1103), Al-Mansur marched towards Tlemcen with his army. He reached the Astasif River, now known as Wadi Safsaf, about 4 km west of Tlemcen, and sent his vanguard to the capital of Tashfin ibn Tin'amar.

The Almoravid governor, realizing he could not withstand Al-Mansur, had already evacuated Tlemcen and retreated to Tessala. However, Al-Mansur encountered him at Tesala and defeated him. Tashfin then took refuge in the mountain of Al-Sakhrah. Al-Mansur's soldiers entered Tlemcen to plunder it. During the plunder, Hawwa, the wife of Tashfin, came out of the city and approached Al-Mansur, throwing herself at his feet and pleading for mercy due to the shared Sanhadja ancestry between the Almoravids and the Hammadids. The emir welcomed her, honored her plea, and withdrew his troops, returning to his capital the following morning. The campaign lasted about a year.