 Under Turkish influence, in the 17th century the majority of the Avar tribes adopted the Islam.The consolidation of Islam in Avaristan in the 18th century resulted in a series of religious wars against the Georgian states, these sporadic forays are also known as Lekianoba in Georgian historiography.The references to these raids appear in the Epic poetry of Avars; the names of rulers who lead the most devastating attacks, Umma-Khan, Nursal-Bek, and Mallachi, are mentioned in Georgian sources.