The area's population was devastated by the Turco-Mongol incursions. In 1484, Yaqub bin Uzun Hasan of the Aq Qoyunlu devastated the principality. Islam began to spread in the area among both Georgians and Armenians.

In the XVI century, as mentioned, the Ottoman Empire conquered the region of Javakheti. Toward the end of the same century, in an effort to maximize tax collection,