[2] Ashotan followed the tradition of the Georgian royals of patronizing the Iviron monastery on Mount Athos.
During the Safavid invasion of Georgia in 1554, Ashotan joined his brothers, Vakhtang and Archil, in their refuge at the court of their sister, Dedisimedi, in Samtskhe.
Back to his demesne, Ashotan successfully defended Mukhrani against the attack by the highlanders of Pkhovi in 1561, but he himself died in the battle.
[2] The identity of Ashotan's wife is not known, but he had a daughter, Ketevan (c. 1560 – 13 September 1624), who was married to King David I of Kakheti.
She was tortured to death at the order of Shah Abbas I of Persia for having refused to convert to Islam and was subsequently canonized as a saint by the Georgian Orthodox Church.