After the Mongol invasion of 1241, the rebuilt coastal cities of Budjak (Maurocastro and Licostomo) came under the domination of Genoese traders. The interior however remained under the direct Mongol rule of the Golden Horde. According to a widespread view in Romanian historiography, sometime during the 14th century Wallachia's princes of the House of Basarab extended their authority over part of the territory. The same theory asserts that the region remained under Wallachian influence until the early 15th century, during the reign of Mircea the Elder, when the area was integrated into Moldavia by prince Alexander the Kind. The name Bessarabia, derived from the name of the Wallachian ruling house, is the main argument for this theory, thought the name, attested only in the late 15th century, may arise from a cartographic confusion. Nogai Tatars, who had settled herds in the region after the 1240s, inhabited the steppe, while Romanians inhabited the surrounding hills and the port cities.