Ashot I (Iberia)

A relief of Ashot the Great from the 9th century

Ashot I the Great ( Georgian აშოტ I დიდი ; † around 830 ) was a prince of Iberia and after 813 the first Iberian king of Tao-Klardschetien from the Bagratid dynasty . Aschot expanded his sphere of influence from Tao-Klardschetien and placed himself under the protection of the Byzantines in order to fight against the Muslim invaders in the Caucasus . He received the title of Kuropalat from Byzantium and was therefore also called Ashot I. Kuropalat . Aschot was murdered around 829/830 and, being a patron of Christian culture and a friend of the Church, was canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church .

Life

Aschot was the son of the Iberian nobleman Adarnase, who founded the hereditary fiefdom in Tao-Klardschetien and so left his son large estates of the extinct and related ruling families of the Chosroids and Guaramids. At the beginning, Aschot had a hard time asserting himself in Central Iberia ( Inner Kartlien ) against the Arab-Muslim emirate of Tbilisi . Ashot took over the paternal duchy in Klardschetien, where he repaired the fortress of Artanuji , which is said to have been built by the Iberian king Vakhtang I Gorgassali in the 5th century. Aschot received Byzantine protection and was recognized as the prince and Kuropalat of Iberia.

In order to revive the country devastated by Arab invaders and cholera epidemics , he promoted the local monastic communities of Grigol Khandzteli and encouraged the Georgians to settle in the region. As a result, the political and religious center of Iberia shifted from the center to the southwest to Tao-Klardschetien.

From Tao-Klardschetien, Ashot did not always try successfully to take Georgian territory from the Arabs. He conquered the neighboring countries from Tao in the southwest to Shida Kartli in the northeast, including Kola , Artani , Javakheti , Samtskhe and Trialeti . From the former empire of the Chosroids, he was only unable to recapture Kakheti in the east.

When the Arab emirs in the Caucasus broke away more and more from central power, the caliph recognized Ashot as prince of Iberia in order to take action against the rebellious emir in Tbilisi, Isma'il ibn Shu'aib. For his part, the emir supported Ashot's opponents, namely the Kakhetian prince Grigol and the Georgian highland tribes from Mtiulian and Tsanars. Ashot was supported by the Byzantine vassal king from Abkhazia Teodosi II. The armies of Ashot and the Emir met at Ksani and Aschot was able to drive the opposing Kachetes out of Central Iberia as the victor.

But Ashot's luck turned when Kahlid bin Yazid, the viceroy of the caliph in Armenia , undertook a campaign in the Caucasus around 827/828 to restore the caliph's authority. Aschot must have been alive at the time and the information from the Georgian chronicler Sumbat that he was murdered in 826 is doubtful. Aschot died four years later on January 29, 830. He was expelled from Central Iberia by the Arabs and retired to the Nigali Valley, where he was murdered in a church by apostates.

After Aschot's death, his property was divided among his three sons Bagrat I, Adarnase II and Guaram Mampali. His daughter married Teodosi II of Abkhazia.

Web links

Commons : Ashot I of Iberia  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ^ Stephen H. Rapp: Studies in Medieval Georgian Historiography: Early Texts And Eurasian Contexts. Peeters Publishers, 2003, ISBN 90-429-1318-5 .
2. ^ ^{A b c} Ronald Grigor Suny: The Making of the Georgian Nation. Indiana University Press, 1994, ISBN 0-253-20915-3 , pp. 29-30.
3. ^ Rapp: Studies in Medieval Georgian Historiography. 2003, p. 356.
4. ^ Cyril Toumanoff : Date of the death of the Curopalates Ashot. In: Le Museon. LXIX, 1-2: 83-85 (1956).

predecessor	Office	successor
Stephen III	Prince of Iberia around 813–830	Bagrat I. Adarnase II. Guaram Mampali