A member of the Kyriacid dynasty that governed over Kakheti since the end of the 9th century, he reigned for 34 years at a time when Bagrationi prince Bagrat III was attempting to unify Georgian lands.
His older brother Phadla died[1] before 957, making him the heir to the throne of this Georgian Orthodox principality, at a time when the latter was in the midst of conflict with the neighboring Kingdom of Abkhazia.
When King Leon III of Abkhazia, who controlled Georgian lands from the Black Sea to the border of Kakheti, acceded his throne in 957, he agreed to peace with between the two states and gave his daughter to wed David.
According to medieval chronicler Leontius of Ruisi, he reigned "wisely" for 34 years[4] from the Dzveli Galavani ("Old Walls") Fortress in Telavi, maintaining an unstable peace with Abkhazia and sharing the region of Kartli with it.
For me, I await to meet you on the shores of the Ksani.Bagrat III, at the helm of a powerful army of Abkhazians and Kartlians, crossed the bridge of Mtskheta[1] and invaded Tianeti, at the north of Kakheti.