Thao - Klardzhet princedom

Feudal state in southwest Georgia, arisen in the beginnings of IX century. The founder of the Thao - Klardzhet princedom was Ashot Bagrationi. He restored a fortress and the city of Artanudzhi which became the large trading - craft centre of Georgia and Near East. Princes Bagrationi, basing on support of Byzantium, quickly expanded their posessions and started a struggle for clearing of the Georgian lands from under the Arabian yoke. Proprietors of the Thao-Klardzhet princedom received the Byzantian court titles. Since the end of IX century they have accepted a title "king the Georgian", and the princedom began to be called the Georgian empire. The Thao - Klardzhet princedom achieved the best bloom during David III Kuropalat board (died in 1001). In the empire there were big civil works, extention of the church-cloister centers network. The Thao - Klardzhet princedom was a part of the incorporated Georgian empire with Bagrat III from the family of Bagrationi.