Ashot I of Iberia

Ashot I აშოტ I
Prince of Iberia Kouropalatēs
Relief of Ashot I at Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia
Presiding prince of Iberia
Reign	813–826/830
Predecessor	Stephen III
Successor	Bagrat I of Iberia Adarnase II of Tao-Klarjeti Guaram Mampali
Died	c. 826/830 Nigali valley
Issue	Bagrat I of Iberia Adarnase II of Tao-Klarjeti Guaram Mampali Bagrationi, Queen of Abkhazia
Dynasty	Bagrationi dynasty
Father	Adarnase I of Tao-Klarjeti
Religion	Georgian Orthodox Church

Ashot I the Great (Georgian: აშოტ I დიდი ashot I didi) (died 826/830) was a presiding prince of Iberia (modern Georgia), first of the Bagratid family to have attained to this office c. 813. From his base in Tao-Klarjeti, he fought to enlarge the Bagratid territories and sought the Byzantine protectorate against the Arab encroachment until being murdered c. 826. Ashot is also known as Ashot I Kouropalates for the Byzantine Kouropalates title he wore. A patron of Christian culture and a friend of the church, he has been canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church.

Biography

Ashot was the son of the Iberian nobleman Adarnase who had founded the Bagratoni hereditary fiefdom in Tao-Klarjeti (now northeast Turkey) and bequeathed to his son extensive possessions acquired upon the extinction of his Guaramid and Chosroid cousins. Ashot initially failed to gain a foothold in central Iberia (Shida Kartli), his efforts being dashed by the Arab control of Tiflis. Ashot established himself in his patrimonial duchy of Klarjeti, where he restored the castle of Artanuji said to have been built by the Iberian king Vakhtang I Gorgasali in the 5th century, and received the Byzantine protection, being recognized as the presiding prince and Kouropalates of Iberia. To revive the country devastated by the Arabs and cholera epidemics, he patronized the local monastic communities established by Grigol Khandzteli, and encouraged the settlement of the Georgians in the region. As a result, the political and religious center of Iberia was effectively transferred from central Iberia to the south-west, in Tao-Klarjeti.

From his base in Tao-Klarjeti, Ashot fought to recover more Georgian lands from the Arab hold and, though not always successful, succeeded in taking much of the adjoining lands from Tao in the southwest to Shida Kartli in the northeast, including Kola, Artani, Javakheti, Samtskhe, and Trialeti. Of the former Chosroid possessions, only Kakheti to the east eluded him. With local Arab emirs in the Caucasus growing ever more independent, the Caliph recognized Ashot as the prince of Iberia in order to counter the rebellious emir of Tiflis Isma’il ibn Shu’aib c. 818. The emir had enlisted support of Ashot’s foe—the Kakhetian prince Grigol—and the Georgian highland tribes of Mtiulians and Tsanars. Ashot, joined by the Byzantine vassal king of Abkhazia, Theodosius II, met the emir on the Ksani, winning a victory and pushing the Kakhetians from central Iberian lands.

The Bagrationi' fortunes reversed when Khalid b. Yazid, the Caliph's viceroy of Armīniya, moved in to reinforce the central Arab authority in the Caucasian polities in 827/8. Ashot I must have been still alive at that time, and the information provided by the 11th-century Georgian chronicler Sumbat, according to which Ashot was murdered in 826, is doubtful. It is more likely that the event took place four years later, on January 29, 830. Driven by the Arabs from central Iberia, Ashot fell back to the Nigali valley where he was assassinated by renegades at the altar of a local church.

Upon Ashot's death, his holdings were allotted to his three sons: Bagrat, Adarnase, and Guaram. His daughter was married to Theodosius II of Abkhazia.

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

Sources

• Suny, Ronald Grigor (1994). The Making of the Georgian Nation. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0253209153. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)