As the head of the Mukhrani branch of the royal Bagrationi dynasty of Kartli, he was Prince (batoni) of Mukhrani and ex officio commander of the Banner of Shida Kartli and Grand Master of the Household (msakhurt-ukhutsesi) at the court of Georgia from 1778 to 1801.
In 1783, Ioane signed, together with Prince Garsevan Chavchavadze, the Treaty of Georgievsk whereby Georgia was promised Russian protection[1] and preservation of its throne under the House of Bagrationi.
[2] From 1786 to 1795, he was a military governor of the Erivan Khanate, Georgia's tributary state.
He was responsible for putting down a revolt against Heraclius' hegemony in the Nakhichevan Khanate in 1786 and commanded elements of Georgian troops at the disastrous battle against the Iranian invasion of Tbilisi in 1795.
[3][4] Prince Ioane was married to Princess Ketevan of Georgia, daughter of King Heraclius II.