page_title: Kingdom of Georgia
section_title: Unification of the Georgian State
hierarchical_section_title: Kingdom of Georgia / History / Unification of the Georgian State
caption_attribution_description: Bedia Cup (upper part of a chalice, 999 AD, Georgia
context_page_description: The Kingdom of Georgia, also known as the Georgian Empire, was a medieval Eurasian monarchy which emerged circa 1008 AD. It reached its Golden Age of political and economic strength during the reign of King David IV and Queen Tamar the Great from 11th to 13th centuries. Georgia became one of the pre-eminent nations of the Christian East, their pan-Caucasian empire stretching, at its largest extent, from Eastern Europe and the North Caucasus to the northern portion of Iran and Anatolia, while also maintaining religious possessions abroad, such as the Monastery of the Cross in Jerusalem and the Monastery of Iviron in Greece. It was the principal historical precursor of present-day Georgia.
  Lasting for several centuries, the kingdom fell to the Mongol invasions in the 13th century, but managed to re-assert sovereignty by the 1340s. The following decades were marked by the Black Death, as well as numerous invasions under the leadership of Timur, who devastated the country's economy, population, and urban centers. The Kingdom's geopolitical situation further worsened after the fall of the Byzantine and then Empire of Trebizond.
context_section_description: At the end of the 10th century David III of Tao invaded the Kartli and gave it to his foster-son Bagrat III and installed his father Gurgen as his regent, who was also crowned as "King of the Iberians" in 994. Through his mother Gurandukht, sister of the childless Abkhazian king Theodosius III (c. 975-978), Bagrat was a potential heir to the realm of Abkhazia.
  Kingdom of Abkhazia was engulfed into complete chaos and feudal warfare under the rule of Bagrat's uncle Theodosius the Blind, a weak and inauspicious king. In 978, the former duke of Kartli, Ivane Marushisdze, aided by David III, forced Theodosius to abdicate the throne in favour of his nephew Bagrat. The latter proceeded to Kutaisi to be crowned King of the Abkhazia. Bagrat's descent from both Bagratid and Abkhazian dynasties made him an acceptable choice for the nobles of the realm who were growing weary of internecine quarrels.  
  In 1008, Gurgen died, and Bagrat succeeded him as "King of the Iberians", thus becoming the first King of a unified realm of Abkhazia and Iberia. After he had secured his patrimony, Bagrat proceeded to press a claim to the easternmost Georgian kingdom of Kakheti-Hereti and annexed it in or around 1010, after two years of fighting and aggressive diplomacy. Anxious to create more stable and centralized monarchy, Bagrat eliminated or at least diminished the autonomy of the dynastic princes. In his eyes, the most possible internal danger came from the Klarjeti line of the Bagrationi. To secure the succession to his son, George I, Bagrat lured his cousins, on pretext of a reconciliatory meeting and threw them in prison in 1011. Their possessions passed to Bagrat and his progeny. Their children – Bagrat, son of Sumbat, and Demetre, son of Gurgen – fled to Constantinople from where they would try to retrieve patrimonial lands with the Byzantine aid, for the last time in 1032, but to no avail.
  Bagrat's reign, a period of uttermost importance in the history of Georgia, brought about the final victory of the Georgian Bagratids in the centuries-long power struggles. Bagrat's foreign policy was generally peaceful and the king successfully manoeuvred to avoid the conflicts with both the Byzantine and Muslim neighbours even though David's domains of Tao remained in the Byzantine and Tbilisi in the Arab hands.
caption: The Bedia Chalice donated by Bagrat to the Bedia Monastery is an important piece of Georgian metal art. c. 999 AD
exif: {}