Bagrat I. (Kuropalat)

Bagrat I. (* around 822 ; † 876 ) was Kuropalates from 830 to 876 and from 842 Prince of Inner Kartlien .

Life

Bagrat I. was the middle son of Aschot I. Kuropalates. Due to his minority and that of his brothers, his principality was in a phase of weakness and could not play an active role in Georgian politics. When Muhammad ibn Chalid ibn Yazid became governor of Armenia in 842 , Bagrat allied himself with them against the rebellious Emir of Tbilisi , Sahak, and was awarded Kartli in thanks.

Sahak (Ishak) ibn Isma'il ruled around 830-853 as emir in Tbilisi and all Georgian princes had to pay the kharaj to him. After the armies of Bagrat and the new Armenian governor had united, Sahak advanced against them. Kakheti forces fought on the side of Sahak. At Rech there was a battle that ended in a draw.

Since Sahak had become too powerful, in 853 the caliph al-Mutawakkil (847-862) sent his general Bugha the Turks with a huge army to the Caucasus. This took Tbilisi by storm and had Sahak executed. No sooner had Sahak been murdered than the Abkhazian King Dimitri II (837–871) took action against Muhammad ibn Chalid. The latter sent Bagrat with General Zirab against him, and both of them defeated the Abkhazians with great losses. After Bagrat was on the march back, he was attacked on the way by Gardabans in Kakheti and defeated. Bugha, who tried to intervene, suffered the same fate.

After another defeat, Bugha slowly withdrew from the Caucasus and confirmed Muhammad ibn Khalid as governor of Armenia. In the sixties the king of Abkhazia managed to reoccupy parts of Kartli. It has now become increasingly the plaything of the Abkhazians , Armenians and Arabs .

The various Bagratid lines allied themselves with the most diverse sides, depending on their interests. Kuropalates Bagrat had 3 sons: David I. sd, Adarnase, dies († 874) before his father and Aschot († 885).

predecessor	Office	successor
Ashot I.	Kuropalat of Georgia 830–876	David I.