Berbers

Abd al-Rahman I (731-788) was the Umayyad prince who survived the Abbasid destruction of his family, reached Iberia after five years as a fugitive, and in 756 founded the Emirate of Cordoba. Thirty years of near-continuous revolt shaped the state he built.

Musa ibn Nusayr (c. 640-716 CE) was the Umayyad governor of North Africa who completed the conquest of the Maghreb, authorized Tariq ibn Ziyad's crossing into Spain, and personally led the second wave of the conquest of the Iberian Peninsula.

Tariq ibn Ziyad (c. 670-720 CE) was the Berber commander who led the Muslim crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar in 711 CE and defeated the Visigothic kingdom of Spain, establishing Al-Andalus and giving his name to Gibraltar (Jabal Tariq).

Uqba ibn Nafi (c. 622-683 CE) was the Arab commander who conquered North Africa for Islam, founded the city of Qayrawan (Kairouan) in Tunisia, and reportedly rode his horse into the Atlantic Ocean declaring he had reached the end of the land. He was martyred by Berber forces in 683 CE.