It occurred on 27 January 1903, in the town of Dilam south of Riyadh, the capital of the present day Saudi Arabia.

When his plan succeeded, Saud deployed 1,000 fighters in Riyadh before leaving the city with another 3,500 to capture Dilam.

The Rashidis followed Ibn Saud to Dilam in order to finish him off and regain control of the town.

Ibn Saud had however borrowed money from Riyadh merchants and spent it purchasing ammunition and hiring specialist riflemen from Kuwait.

They did not know that Ibn Saud's stock of ammunition was nearly depleted, and that further attacks might well have forced a Saudi retreat instead.