and from Bekri it is nineteen leagues. The Prince, Nasruddawla, was over a hundred years old and had many sons, to each of whom he had given a district. In the city of Akhlat they speak three languages: Arabic, Persian, and Armenian. It is my supposition that this is why they named the town Akhlat. Their commercial transactions are carried out in puls (possibly ancient Roman and Greek coins), and their rotel (Armenian money) is equivalent to three hundred dirhems." With the decline of the Seljuks, and the new political upheaval presented by the invasions of the Khwarezmian Empire and the Mongol Empire, Ahlat became briefly disputed between the Ayyubids, the Kingdom of Georgia and the Sultanate of Rum (the Anatolian branch of the Seljuq dynasty). In the 12th century, Ahlat and its adjacent territory was conquered and vassalized by the Kingdom of Georgia. In this period Georgians called city by name Khlati, modified native Armenian name Khlat. Following the Battle of Köse Dağ (1243) and the fall of Baghdad (1258), Ahlat, "together with eastern Anatolia and upper Mesopotamia", became part of the Mongol Empire. The Mongols added Ahlat to the Ilkhanate division, and in the ensuing period, the Ilkhanid rulers minted coins in Ahlat. According to Hamdallah Mustawfi (died 1349), the revenues provided by Ahlat under the Ilkhanids, amounted up to 51,500 dinars. After the Ilkhanate, Ahlat became part of the Jalayirids and then the Ak Koyunlu. In the early 16th century, the Ottomans expanded into Eastern Anatolia (Western Armenia), taking control of the town for the first time under Sultan Selim I (1512-1520). Nevertheless, Ahlat remained only loosely under Ottoman control at the time, for it was considered to be a border district between the Ottoman Empire and Safavid Empire. In 1526, during the reign of king (shah) Tahmasp I (1524-1576), Ahlat was in Safavid hands, and its governor was Delu Montasha Ustajlu. In 1533, during the Ottoman–Safavid War of 1532–1555, Ahlat was taken by the Ottoman army led by Grand Vizier Pargalı Ibrahim Pasha. In 1548, Ahlat was recaptured by the Safavids, who then sacked it. During Suleiman the Magnificent's reign (1520-1566), Ahlat eventually became a solid part of the Ottoman Empire. However, "in practise", Ahlat remained de facto under the control of various local Kurdish chiefs until the mid-19th century, when the central Ottoman government in Constantinople imposed direct rule on the town. Vital Cuinet estimated