Ashot I of Iberia

Ashot I აშოტ I
Prince of Iberia Kouropalatēs
Ashot Kurapalates, first Bagrationi King of Georgia, 829 AD
King of Georgia
Reign	813–830
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
Father	Adarnase I of Tao-Klarjeti
Religion	Georgian Orthodox Church

Ashot I the Great (Georgian: აშოტ I დიდი) (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. 830. Ashot is also known as Ashot I Curopalates for the Byzantine title he wore. A patron of Christian culture and a friend of the church, he has been canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church.

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 curopalates 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.