Principality of Iberia (Georgian: ქართლის საერისმთავრო, kartlis saerismtavro) was an early medieval aristocratic regime in a core Georgian region of Kartli, called Iberia by classical authors. It flourished in the period of interregnum between the sixth and ninth centuries, when the leading political authority was exercised by a succession of princes. The principality was established shortly after the Sassanid suppression of the local royal Chosroid dynasty, around 580; it lasted until 888, when the kingship was restored by a member of the Bagrationi dynasty. Its borders fluctuated greatly as the presiding princes of Iberia confronted the Persians, Byzantines, Khazars, Arabs, and neighboring Caucasian rulers throughout this period.
The time of the principate was climacteric in the history of Georgia; the principality saw the final formation of the Georgian Christian Church, the first flourishing of a literary tradition in the native language, the rise of the Georgian Bagratid family, and the beginning of cultural and political unification of various feudal enclaves, which would be united to form the Kingdom of Georgia by the early 11th century.
