The Avar Khanate (Avar: Awarazul Nutsallhi, Russian: Аварское ханство), a long-lived Muslim (i.e. Avar) state, controlled Western Dagestan (in the North Caucasus) from the early 13th century to the 19th century.Following the fall of the Christian kingdom of Sarir in the early 12th century, the Caucasian Avars underwent a process of Islamization. Military tensions escalated in 1222, when the Tengriist Mongols under Subutai invaded the region.