Marwan's 737 expedition was the climax of the Arab–Khazar wars, but its actual results were meagre. Although the Arab campaigns after Ardabil may indeed have discouraged the Khazars from further warfare, any recognition of Islam or of Arab supremacy by the "khagan" was evidently conditional upon the presence of Arab troops deep in Khazar territory, and such presence could not be sustained for long. Furthermore, the credibility of the conversion of the "khagan" to Islam is disputed: al-Baladhuri's account, which probably is closer the original sources, suggests that it was not the "khagan" but a minor lord who converted to Islam and was placed in charge of the Khazars at al-Lakz—in itself, according to Blankinship, an indication of the implausibility of the conversion of the "khagan", if the Khazar Muslim converts had to be removed to safety in Umayyad territory. The conversion of the "khagan" is also apparently contradicted by the fact that the Khazar court embraced Judaism as its official faith, a decision which clearly owed a great deal to the determination of the Khazars to avoid assimilation by, and emphasize their independence from, both the Christian Byzantine and the Muslim Arab empires.