Tariq ibn Ziyad

Tariq ibn Ziyad was a commander serving the Umayyad governor Musa ibn Nusayr in North Africa. In 711 he led a force across the strait that later took its name from Jabal Tariq, or Gibraltar. His army defeated the Visigothic king Roderic and advanced through southern and central Iberia, opening the way for further Umayyad forces and the establishment of al-Andalus.

The surviving accounts were written after the conquest and disagree about Tariq’s origins, the size and composition of his army, his relations with Musa and the speeches attributed to him. Even so, his campaign represents the decisive military beginning of Muslim rule in Iberia. Later traditions made him both a heroic conqueror and a figure within stories of Visigothic betrayal.