the following year, the georgian prince gurgen, natural father of bagrat iii, marched to take david’s inheritance, but was thwarted by the byzantine general nikephoros ouranos, dux of antioch, forcing the successor georgian bagratids to recognize the new rearrangement. despite these setbacks, bagrat was able to become the first king of the unified georgian state in 1008. he died in 1014, and his son, george i, inherited a longstanding claim to those territories in tao which were in byzantine hands.