 The period after the Muslim conquests in the 7th century, up to the late 15th century, was mostly marked by domination by other empires, such as by the successive Arab Caliphates, the Seljuk Empire, the Ilkhanate, the Timurid Empire and the Ak Koyunlu and Kara Koyunlu, amongst others.Some periods of greater military independence were, intermittently, achieved under the Bagratids and, albeit located outside the Armenian Highlands, the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia.From the early 16th century, Eastern Armenia came under the rule of the successive dynasties of Iran, namely the Safavids, followed by the Afsharids and Qajars.