Commander · died c. 720

Tariq ibn Ziyad

A Berber commander who crossed into Spain in 711 at the rock still named after him, Gibraltar. He defeated King Roderic at Guadalete and took Toledo before being recalled to Damascus.

At a glance

Lived: died c. 720
Role: Commander
Era: The Umayyads of Damascus
Chapter: 4. Al-Andalus and the Subcontinent

Battles

711
Battle of Guadalete
Decisive Muslim victory. Tariq crossed from Morocco at the rock that still bears his name, Gibraltar (Jabal Tariq).

Tariq ibn Ziyad's world

750: The Umayyads of Damascus

Muawiya ruled from Damascus and named his son Yazid as heir, the first time the caliphate passed from father to son. Karbala followed in 680. Then came the largest expansion in Islamic history: Spain in 711, Sindh in 712 and Central Asia up to the Syr Darya.

See the 750 map Read chapter 4

People of the same era

Husayn ibn Ali Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz Muhammad bin Qasim Qutayba ibn Muslim

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