The Sasanians abolish the monarchy; the country is governed by presiding princes (erismtavari).
580
At the end of the 6th century (around 580) Sasanian Iran abolished the kingship in Kartli; the country came to be ruled by erismtavaris, «heads of the people», princes under the overlordship of Iran and later Byzantium.
The royal title vanished for almost two centuries. Real power lay with the noble houses, and the country became a bargaining chip in the wars of the great powers.
The age of the erismtavaris was a time of fragmentation and external dependence, but also of the survival of the Georgian church and culture, which later made it possible to restore statehood.