 He was initially a servant of Musa ibn Nusair in North Africa, and was sent by his superior to launch the first thrust of an invasion of the Iberian peninsula.Some claim that he was invited to intervene by the heirs of the Visigothic King, Wittiza, in the Visigothic civil war.On April 29, 711, the armies of Tariq landed at Gibraltar (the name "Gibraltar" is derived from the Arabic name "Jabal Tariq", which means "mountain of Tariq", or the more obvious "Gibr Al-Tariq", meaning "rock of Tariq").