The Battle of Faḥṣ al-JullÃÂb was fought on Thursday 15 October 1165 between the invading Almohads and the king of Murcia, Ibn Mardanësh.
An Almohad army under sayyids Abà « Ḥafá¹£ ÿUmar and Abà « Saÿëd ÿUthmÃÂn, the brothers of the Caliph Abà « YaÃ¿á¸³à «b Yà «suf, went on the offensive against Ibn Mardanësh in the summer of 1165. They captured Andújar in September, harried Galera, Caravaca, Baza and Sierra de Segura, then captured Cúllar and Vélez on their approach to Murcia.
Ibn Mardanësh called a general levy and sought the assistance of his Christian allies from the Kingdom of Castile to augment his standing army of salaried troops. The Almohad armies were composed of Berbers, Arabs and slaves. The core was composed of Berbers from Tinmal. Others came from Harga and HintÃÂta tribes. Arab reinforcements, mostly from the RiyÃÂḥ, Athbaj and Zughba clans of the Banà « HilÃÂl, had been brought over from Marrakesh in July.
Ibn Mardanësh went out to defend Lorca and was met by an Almohad force advancing from the castle of Vélez. Battle was met south of Murcia, near Alhama (al-Ḥamma) at a place called the "merchant's field", Faḥṣ al-JullÃÂb, in the valley of the GuadalentÃÂn. Ibn Mardanësh and his men were routed. The king took refuge in the city while the victors plundered the countryside. The Almohads were incapable of seriously threatening the walled city. Letters announcing the victory were sent to Seville and Marrakesh, the latter arriving on 31 October. In the letters, the battle was compared to the Battle of Dhà « ḲÃÂr, when the Arabs routed the Persians in the time before Islam.
After the battle, Abà « Saÿëd ÿUthmÃÂn went to Córdoba while Abà « Ḥafá¹£ ÿUmar took most of the army to Marrakesh, where the caliph rewarded each soldier with a turban, a cloak and a bolt of linen, each cavalryman with 20 gold dënÃÂrs and each leader of the Almohad and Arab troops with 100 gold dënÃÂrs. The names of all were recorded.
Although some Christians participated on the side of Murcia, the battle is known only from Muslim sources. Among those histories that describe the battle are Ibn ÿIdhÃÂrë's BayÃÂn, Ibn á¹¢ÃÂḥib al-á¹¢alÃÂt's Mann, Ibn al-AbbÃÂr's Takmila, á¹¢afwÃÂn ibn Idrës's ZÃÂd, al-MarrÃÂkushë's Muÿjib, al-á¹¢afadë's WÃÂfë, Ibn Abë Zarÿ's Anës, Ibn al-Athër's KÃÂmil, Ibn al-Khaá¹Âëb's IḥÃÂá¹Âa and al-Maḳḳarë's Nafḥ.