Ashot I also known as Ashot Kukhi (died 918) was a Georgian

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

 prince of the Bagratid dynasty of Tao-Klarjeti

Tao-Klarjeti

Tao-Klarjeti is the term conventionally used in modern history writing to describe the historic south-western Georgian principalities, now forming part of north-eastern Turkey and divided among the provinces of Erzurum, Artvin, Ardahan and Kars...

 and hereditary ruler of Tao

Tao (historical region)

Tao is a historical region in the territory of modern Turkey roughly corresponding to the Taochi of Greeks and Tayk of Armenians. It was a province within various Georgian Bagratid states from the 8th to the 16th century, when the region was conquered by the Ottoman Empire.-External references:*...

 with the title of eristavt-eristavi

Eristavi

Eristavi was a Georgian feudal office, roughly equivalent to the Byzantine strategos and normally translated into English as "duke". In the Georgian aristocratic hierarchy, it was the title of the third rank of prince and governor of a large province...

, "duke of dukes". He was nicknamed kukhi, meaning "the Immature".

Ashot was the younger son of Gurgen I of Tao. After the death of his elder brother Adarnase in 896, he probably stepped in and co-reigned with his nephew David who was still underage at that time. When David died in 908, Ashot became a sole ruler which he remained until his own death in 918.

The Georgian chronicles Kartlis Tskhovreba and contemporary hagiography such as the Vita of Grigol Khandzteli by Giorgi Merchule

Giorgi Merchule

thumb|Icon of Giorgi MerchuleGiorgi Merchule was a 10th-century Georgian monk and writer who authored "The Vita of Grigol Khandzteli", a hagiographic novel dealing with the life of the prominent Georgian churchman St. Grigol Khandzteli .Giorgi was a monk at the Georgian Orthodox monastery of...

 evidence that Ashot was a keen supporter of monasticism and cultural projects in Tao-Klarjeti. He sponsored the construction of a cathedral at Tbeti in Shavsheti (now Cevizli, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

) and installed as its first bishop Stepane Mtbevari

Stepane Mtbevari

Stepane Mtbevari , Stephen of T'beti, was a 10th-century hierarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church and religious writer. Mtbevari, "of T'beti", is the title indicating his holding of the diocese of T'beti, centered on the eponymous monastery in Shavsheti...

 from whom Ashot commissioned the hagiographic novel Martyrdom of Mikel-Gobron

Gobron

Gobron also known as Mikel-Gobron or Michael-Gobron was a Christian Georgian military commander who led the defense of the fortress of Q'ueli against the Sajid emir of Azerbaijan. When the fortress fell after a 28-day-long siege, Gobron was captured and beheaded, having rejected inducements to...

. A statue purportedly showing Ashot Kukhi which was removed from Tbeti towards the end of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 is now on display at the Art Museum of Georgia

Art Museum of Georgia

The Art Museum of Georgia , officially known as Shalva Amiranashvili Museum of Fine Arts , is one of the most important museums in Georgia...

 in Tbilisi

Tbilisi

Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...

.