Having no children of his own, David adopted his kinsman, the young prince Bagrat, heir to the Bagratid throne of Kartli (Iberia).
He did so at the request of the energetic Georgian nobleman Iovane Marushis-dze.
Through his fortunate bloodlines Bagrat was destined to sit upon two thrones.
Furthermore, through his mother Gurandukht, sister of the childless Abkhazian king Theodosius III, Bagrat was a potential heir to the realm of Abkhazia.
Making a plan for the creation of an all-Georgian state, David occupied Kartli for his foster-son in 976 and repulsed the troops from the easternmost Georgian kingdom of Kakheti, which had recently occupied the western sector of Kartli with its rock-hewn city of Uplistsikhe.
Two years later, in 978, David and Marushis-dze secured the crown of Abkhazia for Bagrat by displacing Theodosius III.

David's good fortunes changed in 987 when he, anxious to make his extensive possessions a hereditary Bagratid domain, joined his long-time friend Bardas Phokas in a rebellion against the emperor Basil.
Once the rebels were defeated by the Byzantine-Rus' forces in 989, Basil dispatched a strong force under John of Chaldea to punish the Georgians, and David had to submit.
Reconciled with the emperor, he was granted, in c. 990, the title of kuropalates again in return for his promise that upon his death the lands previously placed under his sovereignty would revert to the Byzantine Empire.

Another problem arose around the same year, when Bagrat of Abkhazia planned a punitive expedition against the non-submissive duke Rati of Kldekari in Lower Kartli.
Persuaded that his foster-son intended to attack Tao and kill him, David crushed the army led by Bagrat's natural father Gurgen on its march to Kldekari.
As a medieval Georgian chronicler relates:
Bagrat then went [to David] alone, fell at his feet and swore that he was going against Rati. [
David] believed that too and released him in peace.
Having no children of his own, David adopted his kinsman, the young prince Bagrat, heir to the Bagratid throne of Kartli (Iberia). He did so at the request of the energetic Georgian nobleman Iovane Marushis-dze. Through his fortunate bloodlines Bagrat was destined to sit upon two thrones. Furthermore, through his mother Gurandukht, sister of the childless Abkhazian king Theodosius III, Bagrat was a potential heir to the realm of Abkhazia. Making a plan for the creation of an all-Georgian state, David occupied Kartli for his foster-son in 976 and repulsed the troops from the easternmost Georgian kingdom of Kakheti, which had recently occupied the western sector of Kartli with its rock-hewn city of Uplistsikhe. Two years later, in 978, David and Marushis-dze secured the crown of Abkhazia for Bagrat by displacing Theodosius III.
David's good fortunes changed in 987 when he, anxious to make his extensive possessions a hereditary Bagratid domain, joined his long-time friend Bardas Phokas in a rebellion against the emperor Basil. Once the rebels were defeated by the Byzantine-Rus' forces in 989, Basil dispatched a strong force under John of Chaldea to punish the Georgians, and David had to submit. Reconciled with the emperor, he was granted, in c. 990, the title of kuropalates again in return for his promise that upon his death the lands previously placed under his sovereignty would revert to the Byzantine Empire.
Another problem arose around the same year, when Bagrat of Abkhazia planned a punitive expedition against the non-submissive duke Rati of Kldekari in Lower Kartli. Persuaded that his foster-son intended to attack Tao and kill him, David crushed the army led by Bagrat's natural father Gurgen on its march to Kldekari. As a medieval Georgian chronicler relates:
Bagrat then went [to David] alone, fell at his feet and swore that he was going against Rati. [David] believed that too and released him in peace.
David III of Tao