Sumbat I of Klarjeti

Sumbat I სუმბატ I
Prince of Klarjeti
Reign	c. 870 – 899
Successor	Bagrat I
Dynasty	Bagrationi
Religion	Eastern Orthodox Church

Sumbat I (Georgian: სუმბატ I) (died 899) was a Georgian prince of the Bagratid dynasty of Tao-Klarjeti and hereditary ruler of Klarjeti from c. 870 until his death.

A son of Adarnase II of Tao-Klarjeti, Sumbat received the province of Klarjeti as an appanage where he ruled with the title of mampali, which seems to have passed on to Sumbat and his progeny after the extinction of the line of Guaram Mampali. He also bore the Byzantine title of antipatos patrician (antipatrikios, ανθύπατος πατρίκιος). Sumbat had a residence at Artanuji (modern Ardanuç, Turkey), which towards the end of the 9th century began to develop into a thriving trading centre. Hence comes his territorial epithet Artanujeli (არტანუჯელი), i.e., "of Artanuji". Sumbat is referred to as "the Great" by Constantine Porphyrogenitus, author of De Administrando Imperio, where his name is rendered as Symbatius.

Apart from Klarjeti, Sumbat must also have possessed Adjara and Nigali, since the latter two appear among the possessions of his son David (died 943). Sumbat also had a younger son Bagrat (died 900). The Art Museum of Georgia in Tbilisi possesses a late 9th-century reliquary cross whose donation inscription refers to Khosrovanush, wife of Sumbat, and her sons Bagrat and David. Khosrovanush is unattested elsewhere.

Genealogy

Georgian monarchs family tree of Bagrationi dynasty of Tao-Klarjeti

Ancient MONARCHS of Iberia Adarnase I founder of the dynasty; Prince of Tao r. ~780 (775/786) d. 807 daughter of Nerse Ashot I Prince of Iberia r.813–826 Latavri Princess of Iberia Adarnase II co-ruler r.830–867 Bagrat I Prince of Iberia r.826–876 Guaram Mampali co-ruler r.830–881 Gurgen I Grand Duke of Tao r.881–891 Ashot the Beautiful d. 867 Sumbat I Grand Duke of Klarjeti r.870–889 Adarnase David I Prince of Iberia r.876–881 Ashot Nasra Grand Duke of Samtskhe, Shavsheti and Artaani r.881–888 Ashot the Immature Grand Duke of Tao r.908–918 Adarnase III Grand Duke of Tao r.891–896 Bagrat I Grand Duke of Klarjeti r.889–900 David I Grand Duke of Klarjeti r.889–943 Adarnase IV Prince of Iberia r.881–888 King of the Iberians r.888–923 David Grand Duke of Tao r.896–908 Gurgen Grand Duke of Tao r.918–941 Dinar Queen of Hereti Adarnase II Ashot the Swift David d. 908 Gurgen I Sumbat II Grand Duke of Klarjeti r.961–966 David II King of the Iberians r.923–937 Bagrat I Grand Duke of Tao r.941–945 Sumbat I King of the Iberians r.954–958 Ashot II Grand Duke of Tao r.937–954 Bagrat d. 922 Gurgen d. 968 David II Grand Duke of Klarjeti r.988–993 Bagrat II d. 988 Adarnase V Grand Duke of Tao r. 945–961 Adarnase IV d. 983 Bagrat II King of the Iberians r.958–994 Gurgen Sumbat III Grand Duke of Klarjeti r.993–1011 David III Grand Duke of Tao r. 966–1001 Bagrat II Grand Duke of Tao r. 961–966 Gurgen King of the Iberians r.994–1008 Demetrius d. 1028 Bagrat III of Klarjeti King of Klarjeti r.1027–1028 Bagrat III King of Georgia r.1008–1014 BAGRATIONI of united Georgia

Bibliography

• Rayfield, D. (2013) Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia, Reaktion Books, ISBN 9781780230702
• Rapp, S. H. Jr. (2016) The Sasanian World Through Georgian Eyes, Caucasia and the Iranian Commonwealth in Late Antique Georgian Literature, Sam Houston State University, USA, Routledge, ISBN 9781472425522
• Settipani, C. (2006) Continuité des élites à Byzance durant les siècles obscurs. Les princes caucasiens et l'Empire du VIe au IXe siècle, Paris, ISBN 9782701802268