Bagrat IV, of the Bagrationi dynasty, was the King (mepe) of Georgia from 1027 to 1072. During his long and eventful reign, Bagrat sought to repress the great nobility and to secure Georgia's sovereignty from the Byzantine and Seljuk Empires. In a series of intermingled conflicts, Bagrat succeeded in defeating his most powerful vassals and rivals of the Liparitid family, bringing several feudal enclaves under his control and reducing the kings of Lori and Kakheti-Hereti, as well as the emir of Tbilisi to vassalage. Like many medieval Caucasian rulers, he bore several Byzantine titles, particularly those of Nobilissimus, Kouropalates, and sebastos.

The Kingdom of Kakheti-Hereti was an early Medieval monarchy in eastern Georgia, centered at the province of Kakheti, with its capital first at Telavi. It emerged in c.  1014 AD, under the leadership of energetic ruler of principality of Kakheti, Kvirike III the Great that finally defeated the ruler of Hereti and crowned himself as a king of the unified realms of Kakheti and Hereti. From this time on, until 1104, the kingdom was an independent and separated state from the united Kingdom of Georgia. The kingdom included territories from riv. Ksani to Alijanchay river and from Didoeti to southwards along the river of Mtkvari.