Arab forces took Derbent—the strategic "Caspian Gates" corridor—turning it into a key strongpoint for operations and administration in the eastern Caucasus and a conduit for the spread of Islam in Dagestan.
A major Umayyad offensive under Habib ibn Maslama seized Theodosiopolis (Erzurum) and pushed deeper into Armenia, accelerating the subordination of Armenian and Iberian (Kartli) elites to caliphal authority through tribute and negotiated submission.
Armenian elites, led by Theodore Rshtuni, navigated between Byzantium and the Arabs and ultimately accepted Arab overlordship in exchange for recognition of local authority—an arrangement that shaped early Islamic governance in Armenia.
After the 7th-century conquests, the caliphate organized Armenia, Iberia, and Albania into the province of Arminiya, governed by an ostikan (governor) from Dvin—an administrative framework that formalized Arab rule in much of the Caucasus.
Armenian forces under Smbat Bagratuni defeated an Arab garrison force near Vardanakert, briefly strengthening Armenian bargaining power before Umayyad reassertion of control.
In a major escalation of coercive control, Arab authorities killed large numbers of Armenian nobles at Nakhchivan (often dated to 705), undermining the nakharar elite and tightening caliphal dominance in Armenia.
During renewed Arab–Khazar conflict, Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik captured Derbent (713/714 in many accounts), reinforcing it as a frontier colony and launch point for campaigns north of the Caucasus.
Umayyad forces under al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah defeated Khazar forces near Derbent in 722, helping stabilize the eastern Caucasus frontier temporarily and enabling further advances toward Khazar-held towns.
After successes around Derbent, Umayyad troops captured Balanjar (dated to 21 August 722 in some reconstructions), a significant Khazar-linked fortified center, illustrating the reach—but also the logistical limits—of caliphal power north of the Caucasus.
Khazar forces inflicted a major defeat on the Umayyads at Ardabil (7–9 December 730), killing commander al-Jarrah ibn Abdallah and exposing Azerbaijan and the southern Caucasus to Khazar raids, a shock that drove renewed Umayyad mobilization.
Marwan ibn Muhammad (later Caliph Marwan II) campaigned across the Caucasus (735–737), breaking pockets of resistance and reinforcing Arab authority in eastern Georgia (Kartli), an effort closely tied to frontier security against Byzantines and Khazars.
As Arab power consolidated in Kartli, an emir was installed in Tbilisi (traditionally dated to 736), establishing a durable Muslim political center and commercial hub that linked Transcaucasia to wider Islamic trade networks.
In 737, Marwan led the climactic Umayyad offensive against the Khazars, advancing via key Caucasus corridors and compelling a negotiated settlement; while later sources describe submission and even conversion claims, the campaign primarily ended large-scale warfare for decades.
After the Abbasid Revolution (750), the new caliphal regime inherited Arminiya and related frontier structures, continuing reliance on governors (ostikans) and local intermediaries while recalibrating taxation and military obligations on the Byzantine–Khazar frontier.
During the Abbasid suppression of the Armenian rebellion (850–855), general Bugha al-Kabir captured leading Caucasian nobles and sacked and burned Tbilisi while crushing resistance across Armenia, Iberia, and Albania—reasserting caliphal power after decades of instability.
Early Muslim forces began raiding into Armenia from al-Jazira (Upper Mesopotamia), marking the start of sustained Arab military pressure on the northern frontier zone between Byzantium and the former Sasanian lands.
Arab caliphates and early Islamic rule in the Caucasus (7th–9th centuries)
