 Complete the following phrase:  From the 16th century onwards, the Persians and Ottomans started consolidating their authority over the entire Caucasus, and divided and consolidated most of its territory for themselves. By the mid-16th century, what is now Eastern Georgia, Dagestan, Azerbaijan, and Armenia was under Safavid Persian rule, while what is now Western Georgia fell under Ottoman Turkish suzerainty. Although Dagestan was once briefly gained by the Ottoman Turks through the Ottoman-Safavid War of 15781590, Dagestan and many of its Avar inhabitants stayed under Persian suzerainty for many centuries. However, many ethnic groups in Dagestan, including many Avars, retained relatively high amounts of freedom and self-rule. After losing the Caucasus briefly in the early 18th century, following the disintegration of the Safavids and the 