Battle of Guadalete | |||||||
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Part of Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula | |||||||
The Visigothic retreat in front of the Berber cavalry, as depicted by Salvador Martínez Cubells (1845–1914) | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Visigothic Kingdom | Umayyad Caliphate | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Roderic † | Ṭāriq ibn Ziyad | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
~2,500 (Collins) |
~1,900 (Collins) | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Heavy, including many nobles and the king | ~3,000 |
The Battle of Guadalete was the first major battle of the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, fought in 711 at an unidentified location in what is now southern Spain between the Visigoths under their king, Roderic, and the invading forces of the Umayyad Caliphate, composed mainly of Berbers and some Arabs[1] under the commander Tariq ibn Ziyad. The battle was significant as the culmination of a series of Berber attacks and the beginning of al-Andalus. Roderic was killed in the battle, along with many members of the Visigothic nobility, opening the way for the capture of the Visigothic capital of Toledo.