耶律大石
Accounts of the battle are given in a number of sources, for example in Sadr al-Din al-Husayni's Arabic chronicle of the Seljuks. He wrote that "there was no unanimity" among the emirs of Sanjar, therefore, soon after the start of the battle, Sanjar's troops began to retreat leaving him "with a small number of soldiers." Seeing that the enemy gained advantage in the battle and were close to Sultan's location, Abu'l Fadl advised Sanjar to put an ordinary soldier in his own place, and save himself, which Sanjar did. Abu'l Fadl, however, remained with the soldier who played the role of the Sultan until the end of the battle, and was soon captured. Many emirs perished in the battle; some of those who were captured were executed at once. Turkan-Khatun was released for ransom of 500 thousand dinars, Emir Kumach and his son – for 100 thousand dinars, and Abu'l-Fadl was freed without ransom when Yelü Dashi learned that the sons of the ruler of Segestan seized their father's possessions. The Kara-Khitan ruler said the following: “Such hero should not be executed!”. After the defeat, Sanjar intended to go to Balkh, and his path lay close to the enemy’s location, “since it was impossible to go by other roads.” However, Yelü Dashi ordered not to intervene; Al-Husayni attributes the following words to the Kara-Khitan ruler: “To close the path for the one who retreats means to force him into a desperate battle. And one who does not value his life and does not think about the consequences, can win".