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The Kingdom of the Iberians was a medieval Georgian monarchy under the Bagrationi dynasty which emerged circa 888 AD, succeeding the Principality of Iberia, in historical region of Tao-Klarjeti, or upper Iberia in north-eastern Turkey as well parts of modern southwestern Georgia, that stretched from the Iberian gates in the south and to the Lesser Caucasus in the north.
Bagrat III, of the Georgian Bagrationi dynasty, was King of Abkhazia from 978 on and King of Georgia from 1008 on. He united these two titles by dynastic inheritance and, through conquest and diplomacy, added more lands to his realm, effectively becoming the first king of the Kingdom of Georgia. Before Bagrat was crowned as king, he had also reigned in Kartli as co-ruler with his father Gurgen from 976 to 978.
Adarnase II, sometimes known as Adarnase I, was a Georgian Bagratid prince and a co-ruler of Tao-Klarjeti with his brothers — Bagrat I Kuropalates and Guaram Mampali — with the title of eristavt-eristavi.
Bagrat I was a Georgian prince of the Bagratid dynasty of Tao-Klarjeti and the ruler of Klarjeti from 889 until his death. There is some confusion in dating Bagrat's death. According to the 11th-century chronicler Sumbat Davitis-Dze, Bagrat died on April 20, Easter Sunday of the year 129 of the Georgian era. However, Easter Sunday in 909 fell on April 16; the year that would coincidence with the given date would be 900.
The Kingdom of Abkhazia, also known as Abasgia or Egrisi-Abkhazia, was a medieval feudal state in the Caucasus which was established in the 780s. Through dynastic succession, it was united in 1008 with the Kingdom of the Iberians, forming the Kingdom of Georgia.
George II, of the Leonid dynasty was a king of Abkhazia from 923 to 957 AD. His lengthy reign is regarded as a zenith of cultural flowering and political power of his realm. Despite being independent and locally titled as a Mepe (king), he is also regarded as Exousiastes, the title that was addressed to him by Byzantines.
Gurgen also known as Gurgen Magistros, Gurgen II Magistros of the Bagrationi dynasty, was King of Iberia-Kartli with the title of the King of Kings of the Georgians from 994 until his death in 1008. Magistros was a title bestowed upon him by the Byzantine Emperor Basil II.
David III Kuropalates or David III the Great, also known as David II, was a Georgian prince of the Bagratid family of Tao, a historic region in the Georgian–Armenian marchlands, from 966 until his murder in 1000 or 1001. Kuropalates was a Byzantine courtier title bestowed upon him in 978 and again in 990.
The Kingdom of Georgia, also known as the Georgian Empire, was a medieval Eurasian monarchy that was founded in 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 and its pan-Caucasian empire and network of tributaries stretching from Eastern Europe to Anatolia and northern frontiers of Iran, 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.
Bagrat I was the King of Abkhazia between 882 and 894. He was the second son of Demetrius II of the Anchabadze dynasty.
Bagrat II (937–994) was a Georgian prince of the Bagratid dynasty of Tao-Klarjeti and the titular king of Iberia-Kartli from 958 until his death. He was also known as Bagrat Regueni, "Regueni" being a moniker rendered in English as "the Simple".
Adarnase IV was a member of the Georgian Bagratid dynasty of Tao-Klarjeti and prince of Iberia, responsible for the restoration of the Iberian kingship, which had been in abeyance since it had been abolished by Sasanian Empire in the 6th century, in 888.
Gurgen II "the Great" was a Georgian prince of the Bagratid dynasty of Tao-Klarjeti and hereditary ruler of Tao with the title of eristavt-eristavi, "duke of dukes". He also bore the Byzantine title of magistros.
Sumbat III was a Georgian prince of the Bagrationi dynasty of Tao-Klarjeti and the last sovereign of Klarjeti from 993 until being dispossessed by King Bagrat III of Georgia in 1011.
Q'ueli or Q'uelis-tsikhe was a medieval Georgian fortress atop the homonymous mountain of the Arsiani Range, now within the boundaries of Turkey, where it is known as Kol Kalesi or Kuvel Kalesi. Its Georgian name is alternatively transliterated as Qveli, Kveli, K'veli, Qvelis-ts'ikhe or Qvelis-c'ixe. First appearing in the early 10th-century Georgian sources, Q'ueli was one of the principal fortifications of the province of Samtskhe until being conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century.
Prince Bagrat III was a Georgian prince of the Bagrationi dynasty from Tao-Klarjeti.
Gurandukht or Guarandukht was a queen of Kartli by marriage to Gurgen of Kartli, and regent during the minority of her son from 975. She was a daughter of King George II of Abkhazia and wife of the Bagratid royal Gurgen of Kartli.
The unification of the Georgian realm was the 10th-century political movement that resulted in the consolidation of various Georgian Crowns into a single realm with centralized government in 1008, the Kingdom of Georgia, or Sakartvelo. Originally initiated by the powerful local aristocracy of the eristavs, due to centuries-long power struggles and aggressive wars of succession between the Georgian monarchs, arising from their independent ruling traditions of classical antiquity and its Hellenistic-era monarchical establishments in Colchis and Iberia. The initiative was supported by David III the Great of the Bagrationi dynasty, the most powerful ruler in the Caucasus at the time, who would put prince royal Bagrat, his kin and foster-son, on Iberian throne, who would eventually be crowned as a King of all-Georgia. David's Bagratid successors would become the champions of national unification, just like the Rurikids or the Capetians, but despite their enthusiasm, some of the Georgian polities that had been targeted for unification did not join the unification freely and would actively fight against it throughout this process, mostly seeking help and support from the Byzantine Empire and the Abbasid Caliphate. Even though, 1008 unification of the realm would unite most of western and central Georgian lands, the process will continue to the east, and eventually, would reach its total completion under King David IV the Builder. This unprecedented political unification of lands and the meteoric rise of Bagrationi power would inaugurate the Georgian Golden Age and creation of the only medieval pan-Caucasian empire attaining its greatest geographical extent, that would dominate entire Caucasus in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries. The centralizing power of the crown started to weaken in the 14th century, and even though the tide turned back under King George V the Brilliant, the reunification came up to be short-lived; unified realm would evaporate after invasions of Mongols and Timur that would result in its total collapse in the 15th century.