Kartli in the context of "Bagratuni dynasty"

In Greco-Roman geography, Iberia (Ancient Greek: Ἰβηρία Iberia; Latin: Hiberia; Parthian: wurğān; Middle Persian: wiručān) was an exonym for the Georgian kingdom of Kartli or Iveria (Georgian: ქართლის სამეფო or ივერიის სამეფო), known after its core province. The kingdom existed during Classical Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, either as an independent state or as a dependent of larger empires, notably the Sassanid and Roman empires. Iberia, centered on present-day eastern Georgia, was bordered by Colchis in the west, Caucasian Albania in the east and Armenia in the south.

Its population, the Iberians (Iverians), formed the nucleus of the Kartvelians (i.e., Georgians). Iberia, ruled by the Pharnavazid, Artaxiad, Arsacid and Chosroid royal dynasties, together with Colchis to its west, would form the nucleus of the unified medieval Kingdom of Georgia under the Bagrationi dynasty.

The Christianization of Iberia (Georgian: ქართლის გაქრისტიანება, romanized: kartlis gakrist'ianeba) refers to the spread of Christianity in the early 4th century as a result of the preaching of Saint Nino in the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli, known as Iberia in classical antiquity. The then-pagan king of Iberia Mirian III declared Christianity to be the kingdom's state religion. According to Roman historian Sozomen, this led the king's "large and warlike barbarian nation to confess Christ and renounce the religion of their fathers", as the polytheistic Georgians had long-established anthropomorphic idols, known as the "Gods of Kartli". The king would become the main sponsor, architect, initiator and an organizing power of all building processes.

Per Socrates of Constantinople, the "Iberians first embraced the Christian faith" alongside the Abyssinians, present day Ethiopians but the exact date of the event is still debated. The kings of Georgia and Armenia were among the first monarchs anywhere in the world to convert to the Christian faith. Prior to the escalation of the Armeno-Georgian ecclesiastical rivalry and the Christological controversies, their Caucasian Christianity was extraordinarily inclusive, pluralistic and flexible that only saw the rigid ecclesiological hierarchies established much later, particularly as "national" churches crystallised from the 6th century. Despite the tremendous diversity of the region, the Christianization process was a pan-regional and a cross-cultural phenomenon in the Caucasus, Eurasia's most energetic and cosmopolitan zones throughout the late antiquity, hard enough to place Georgians and Armenians unequivocally within any one major civilization.

The Kingdom of Kartli (Georgian: ქართლის სამეფო, romanized: kartlis samepo) was a late medieval and early modern monarchy in eastern Georgia, centred on the province of Kartli, with its capital at Tbilisi. It emerged in the process of a tripartite division of the Kingdom of Georgia in 1478 and existed, with several brief intervals, until 1762 when Kartli and the neighbouring Georgian kingdom of Kakheti were merged through dynastic succession under the Kakhetian branch of the Bagrationi dynasty. Through much of this period, the kingdom was a vassal of the successive dynasties of Iran, and to a much shorter period Ottoman Empire, but enjoyed intermittent periods of greater independence, especially after 1747.

Vakhtang I Gorgasali (Georgian: ვახტანგ I გორგასალი, romanized: vakht'ang I gorgasali; c. 439 or 443 – 502 or 522), of the Chosroid dynasty, was a king (mepe) of Iberia, natively known as Kartli (eastern Georgia) in the second half of the 5th and first quarter of the 6th century.

He led his people, through an ill-fated alliance with the Byzantine Empire, into a lengthy struggle against Sasanian Iranian hegemony, which ended in Vakhtang's defeat and weakened the kingdom of Iberia. Tradition also ascribes to him the reorganization of the Georgian Orthodox Church and the foundation of Tbilisi, Georgia's modern capital.

The Pharnavazid (Georgian: ფარნავაზიანი, romanized: parnavaziani) is the name of the first dynasty of Georgian kings of Kartli (Iberia) preserved by The Georgian Chronicles. Their rule lasted, with intermissions, from the 3rd century BC to the 2nd century AD. The main male line is reported to have become extinct early on and followed by houses related to it in the female line. By the close of the 2nd century AD, the Pharnavazid rule came to an end and the Arsacid dynasty took over the crown of Iberia.

The Arsacid dynasty or Arshakiani (Georgian: არშაკიანი, romanized: arshak'iani), a branch of the Arsacid dynasty of Parthia, ruled the ancient Kingdom of Iberia (Kartli, eastern Georgia) from c. 189 until 284 AD. The Arsacid dynasty of Iberia was succeeded by the Chosroid dynasty.

Mirian III (Georgian: მირიან III) was a king (mepe) of Iberia or Kartli (Georgia), contemporaneous to the Roman emperor Constantine the Great (r. 306–337). He was the founder of the royal Chosroid dynasty.

According to the early Medieval Georgian annals and hagiography, Mirian was the first Christian king of Iberia, converted through the ministry of Nino, a Cappadocian female missionary. Following the Christianization of Iberia, he is credited with having established Christianity as his kingdom's state religion and is regarded by the Georgian Orthodox Church as a saint and was canonized as Saint Equal to the Apostles King Mirian (Georgian: წმინდა მოციქულთასწორი მეფე მირიანი).