Founder of the Bagrationi royal house in Tao-Klarjeti; the dynasty's rise begins.
813
In the early 9th century (around 813) Ashot I Bagrationi, granted the Byzantine title of kouropalates, established himself in Tao-Klarjeti in south-western Georgia and founded the royal house of the Bagrationis.
Fleeing the Arabs, Georgian scholars and monks gathered here; the region became a centre of revival, with monasteries such as Opiza and Khandzta, where Grigol of Khandzta worked.
Tao-Klarjeti became a «second Jerusalem» of Georgian culture and the cradle of the future unified kingdom.