Aschot I. (Iberien)

Ashot I Kuropalates (end of the 8th cent. / 813-830), presiding prince of Iberia. His father Adarnase (786- end of the 8th cent.) was the son of Vasak, the second son of Ashot II Bagratuni (732-748), presiding prince of Armenia for the Caliph.

Recognised as the presiding prince of Iberia by both the Byzantine Emperor and the Abbasid Caliph, Ashot I initially ruled over a territory that comprised the lands from Kvemo Tao (“Lower Tao”) in the southwest to Shida Kartli (“Inner Kartli”) in the northeast. However, in 827/828 he was expelled from his eastern possessions by Khalid b. Yazid, the Arab vice king of Caucasia. Ashot fled to Klarjeti, where he restored the castle of Artanuji (Turk. Ardanuç) and made it his residence. The political centre of Iberia was consequently transferred from central Kartli to the south-western provinces of Tao-Klarjeti.