Wadi Al-Safra
Wadi Al-Safra
A wadi between Yanbu and Madinah. In Jumada I 1227 / early 1812 — some notices say 1226 — Tusun's column was ambushed here. The march was delayed, not ended: Madinah fell later the same year.
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Practical information verified separately from the historical record.
Before you go: Check with the operator or a local guide before departure; field access details have not yet been verified.
Why visit?
Dates an ambush on the Yanbu-Madinah road, and refuses to end the war with it.
Wadi al-Safra is the road between Yanbu and Madinah. The card is the wadi; the fight is an event in it, usually placed at al-Khayf.
In Jumada I 1227 / January 1812 — some notices 1226 — First Saudi forces met Tusun Pasha coming from Yanbu. Overall command is given to Abd Allah ibn Saud in Saud's lifetime. Uthman al-Mudaifi is named on the height; Jabir ibn Jabbara of Yanbu on a flank. Ibn Bishr is the chronicle backbone; a trench across the wadi and thousands of riflemen are later detail, told not counted.
Numbers disagree: Tusun eight to fourteen thousand in modern tables; five thousand Ottoman dead is a circulating figure, not a roll. Hadi ibn Qarmala and Duhaym ibn Busays are named among Saudi dead. Tusun fell back to Yanbu. The column was broken, not the war: Madinah fell later the same year.
Greatest ambush and half the army annihilated are dropped. The generated image is a reconstruction, not a disposition document.
Historical milestones
Related events
معركة وادي الصفراء وقعت قرب المدينة المنورة سنة 1812م، وكانت مواجهة مبكرة بين قوات الدولة السعودية الأولى والحملة العثمانية المصرية، وانتهت بتعثر تقدم الحملة في مرحلتها الأولى.
قاد إبراهيم باشا المرحلة الأخيرة من الحملة عبر الحناكية والقصيم والوشم حتى وصلت القوات إلى الدرعية سنة 1818م.
تقدمت حملة أحمد طوسون من ينبع نحو المدينة، وواجهت قوات الدولة السعودية في وادي الصفراء ضمن أولى مراحل الحرب.