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Tariq ibn-Ziyad
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Tariq ibn Ziyad or Taric bin Zeyad (died 720), known in Spanish history and legend as Taric el Tuerto (Taric the one-eyed), was a Berber Muslim and Umayyad general who led the conquest of Visigothic Hispania in 711 under the orders of the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I. According to the historian Ibn Khaldoun, Tariq Ibn Ziyad was from a Berber tribe of Algeria.
Tariq ibn Ziyad is considered to be one of the most important military commanders in Iberian history.
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Encyclopedia
Tariq ibn Ziyad or Taric bin Zeyad (died 720), known in Spanish history and legend as Taric el Tuerto (Taric the one-eyed), was a Berber Muslim and Umayyad general who led the conquest of Visigothic Hispania in 711 under the orders of the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I. According to the historian Ibn Khaldoun, Tariq Ibn Ziyad was from a Berber tribe of Algeria.
Tariq ibn Ziyad is considered to be one of the most important military commanders in Iberian history. He was initially the deputy of Musa ibn Nusair in North Africa, and was sent by his superior to launch the first thrust of a conquest of the Visigothic Kingdom (comprising modern Spain and Portugal). Some claim that he was invited to intervene by the heirs of the Visigothic King, Wittiza, in the Visigothic civil war.
Some others claim that his name Tariq ibn Ziyad (meaning Tariq son of Ziyad) was more a nickname given to him by historians than a real name, because he was a Berber with probably a Berber non-Arab name, and he converted to Islam shortly before he invaded Spain. To change his name to Tariq and especially to change his father's name to Ziyad is seriously doubted.
On April 29, 711, the armies of Tariq landed at Gibraltar (the name Gibraltar is derived from the Arabic name Jabal al Tariq, which means mountain of Tariq, or the more obvious Gibr Tariq, meaning rock of Tariq).
The 17th century Muslim historian Al Maggari wrote that upon landing, Tariq burned his ships and then made a speech, well-known in the Muslim world, to his soldiers. The historical accuracy of this Arabic speech is rejected by a number of historians because the Berber warriors (fresh Islam converts) and probably Tariq himself were not proficient in the Arabic language in any possible way; let alone understand an Arabic constructed speech, very well written, and full of metaphors and rhetorical devices. While the most probable scenario is that Tariq gave a short and simple speech in Berber. This speech was translated to Arabic and edited and re-edited over centuries to produce the following literary piece:
The Berber Moorish armies swept through Hispania and, in the summer of 711, won a decisive victory when the Visigothic king, Roderic, was defeated and killed on July 19 at the Battle of Guadalete. Afterwards, Tariq was made governor of Hispania but eventually was called back to Damascus by the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I, where he spent the rest of his life in a prison.
Namesakes
See also
External links
- Ibn Abd-el-Hakem,
- Edward Gibbon, Chapter 51
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