In the late 6th – early 7th centuries AD the territory of Albania became an arena of wars between Sassanian Iran, Byzantium and Khazar kaganate, the latter two very often acting as allies. During the Third Perso-Turkic War, the Khazars invaded Albania, and their leader Ziebel declared himself lord of Albania, levying a tax on merchants and the fishermen of the Kura and Araxes rivers, which was "in accordance with the land survey of the kingdom of Persia". The Albanian kings retained their rule by paying tribute to the regional powers.[8] Albania was later conquered by the Arabs during the Islamic conquest of Persia.