Ashot I of Iberia

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Ashot I
აშოტ I
Iberia
Reign813–826/830
PredecessorStephen III
SuccessorBagrat I of Iberia
Adarnase II of Tao-Klarjeti
Guaram Mampali
Diedc. 826/830
Nigali valley
IssueBagrat I of Iberia
Adarnase II of Tao-Klarjeti
Guaram Mampali
Bagrationi, Queen of Abkhazia
DynastyBagrationi dynasty
FatherAdarnase I of Tao-Klarjeti
ReligionGeorgian 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 Muslim encroachment until being murdered c. 826. Ashot is also known as Ashot I Kouropalates for the Byzantine title of kouropalates that he bore. A patron of Christian culture and a friend of the church, he has been canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church.[1]

Biography

Ashot was the son of the Iberian nobleman

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.[2][3]

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

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.[3]

The Bagrationi's fortunes reversed when

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.[5][6]

Upon Ashot's death, his holdings were allotted to his three sons: Bagrat I, Adarnase II, and Guaram.[3] His daughter was married to Theodosius II of Abkhazia.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ashot I of Iberia.
  1. ^ "† orthodoxy.ge † წმინდანთა ცხოვრება - წმიდა მოწამე აშოტ კურაპალატი, არტანუჯის ტაძარში წამებული (+829)". www.orthodoxy.ge. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
  2. ISBN 90-429-1318-5
  3. ^ a b c Suny 1994, pp. 29–30.
  4. ^ a b Suny 1994, p. 29.
  5. ^ Rapp (2003), p. 356
  6. ^ Toumanoff, Cyril (1956), "Date of the death of the Kouropalates Ashot". Le Muséon, LXIX, 1—2: 83—85

Sources

Preceded by
Stephen III/Interregnum
Prince of Iberia

c. 813–826/830 		Succeeded by
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