Abstract:

Byzantine Imperial II. Basileios couldn’t get involved in the events happened in the East in the first years of his sovereignty because of the rebellions and Bulgarian threat in the Balkans. However, the Imperial turned his way to the East after having ruled out all the threats and in the first years of the 11st century, when the King of Iberia Taikli David died, he entered Iberia Region in order to do the necessities of the agreement signed beforehand. As a result of the interventions, Byzantine dominated over the regional forces and until the Imperial’s death in 1025, the Iberian field including the Tao- Klarceti Region remained as Byzantine vassal. The change of the rulers in Iberia and Byzantine, in a short time, led to termination of the alliance between these two countries. Nevertheless, whilst IV. Bagrat’s coming to the throne as a child caused internal disorder in the region, the imperial’s mother found the liberation in going to the Byzantine Imperial. As a result of this visit to Byzantine center, the two countries became allies; however, even these agreements couldn’t prevent Orbelyan Liparit from struggling for the throne. During the internal disorders in the Iberia Region, Seljuk States had already reached to these fields and were invading all sides. The invasions that firstly aimed at swaging and spoils continued with the pioneering of Seljuk rulers after the second half of the 11st century. The invasion of Turks for settlement started with Anatolian invasions of Sultan Tuğrul and continued with the invasions in the eras of Sultan Alp Arslan and Melikşah. Tao-Klarceti that we confronted as a field of struggle during the invasions of Seljuk rulers has now been a target field for migrant settler Turkish masses. The fact that Georgian King David settled Kypchak families instead of migrant Turkish masses that were sent away from the region as a result of long struggles caused many changes in the cultural structure of Tao- Klarceti Region. This study discusses the political events in the Tao- Klarceti Region and describes how the Turks dominated the region.

Keywords: