Sumbat I of Klarjeti

Sumbat I სუმბატ I
Prince of Klarjeti
Reign	c. 870 – 899
Successor	Bagrat I
Dynasty	Bagrationi
Father	Adarnase II of Tao-Klarjeti
Religion	Eastern Orthodox Church

Sumbat I(Georgian:სუმბატ I) (died 899) was aGeorgianprince of theBagratid dynastyofTao-Klarjetiand hereditary ruler ofKlarjetifrom c. 870 until his death.

A son ofAdarnase II of Tao-Klarjeti,Sumbat received the province of Klarjeti as an appanage where he ruled with the title ofmampali,which seems to have passed on to Sumbat and his progeny after the extinction of the line ofGuaram Mampali.He also bore theByzantine titleofantipatospatrician(antipatrikios,ανθύπατος πατρίκιος). Sumbat had a residence at Artanuji (modernArdanuç,Turkey), which towards the end of the 9th century began to develop into a thriving trading centre. Hence comes his territorial epithet Artanujeli (არტანუჯელი), i.e., "of Artanuji". Sumbat is referred to as "the Great" byConstantine Porphyrogenitus,author ofDe Administrando Imperio,where his name is rendered as Symbatius.

Apart from Klarjeti, Sumbat must also have possessedAdjaraandNigali,since the latter two appear among the possessions of his sonDavid(died 943). Sumbat also had a younger sonBagrat(died 900). TheArt Museum of GeorgiainTbilisipossesses a late 9th-century reliquary cross whose donation inscription refers to Khosrovanush, wife of Sumbat, and her sons Bagrat and David. Khosrovanush is unattested elsewhere.