The Khazars fight a series of wars during the seventh and eighth centuries against the Umayyad Caliphate, which is attempting simultaneously to expand its influence into Transoxiana and the Caucasus.

The First Arab-Khazar War is fought in the 640s and early 650s and ends with the defeat of an Arab force led by Abd ar-Rahman ibn Rabiah outside the Khazar town of Balanjar, after a battle in which both sides use siege engines on the others' troops.