Principality of Iberia and
Principate of Iberia are conventional terms to describe an
early medieval aristocratic regime in
Caucasian Georgia. 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 principate 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. This polity was centered on the core region in what is now central and eastern Georgia known as
Kartli to the natives and as
Iberia to
Classical and
Byzantine authors. Its borders fluctuated greatly as the presiding princes of Iberia confronted the Persians, Byzantines,
Khazars,
Arabs, and the neighboring
Caucasian rulers throughout this period.