Simon I of Kartli

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Simon I
King of Kartli
(more...)
Reign1556–1569
1578–1599
PredecessorLuarsab I of Kartli
David XI of Kartli
SuccessorDavid XI of Kartli
George X of Kartli
Born1537
Died1611
Constantinople, Yedikule Fortress
Burial
Svetitskhoveli Cathedral
SpouseNestan-Darejan of Kakheti, Queen of Kartli
IssueGeorge X of Kartli
DynastyBagrationi
FatherLuarsab I of Kartli
MotherTamar of Imereti
ReligionGeorgian Orthodox Church, later Shia Islam
KhelrtvaSimon I's signature

Simon I the Great (

Kartli from 1556 to 1569 and again from 1578 to 1599. His first tenure was marked by war against the Persian domination of Georgia. In 1569 he was captured by the Persians, and spent nine years in captivity. In 1578 he was released and reinstalled in Kartli. During this period (i.e. his second tenure), he fought as a Persian subject against the Ottoman domination of Georgia.[1][2] In 1599 Simon I was captured by the Ottomans and died in captivity.[1] During 1557 to 1569 he was known as Mahmud Khan (Persian: محمود خان, romanized: Mahmūd Khān) and from 1578 to 1599 as Shahnavaz Khan (Persian: شاهنواز خان, romanized: Shāhnavāz Khān). He was also referred to as Simon the Mad (Turkish: Deli Simon) by the Ottomans.[3]

First reign and struggle against Persia

The eldest son of the heroic king

Prince Giorgi of Kakheti. His brother, David, recently submitted to the Safavid Shah Tahmasp I, converted to Islam, and returned with a Persian army to claim the crown. Simon blockaded Tbilisi and won the battles at Dighomi (1567) and Samadlo (1569), but he was finally defeated and taken prisoner at P'artskhisi, 1569. David, now known as Daud Khan, was made by Persians a tributary king of Kartli. Simon was sent to Persia where he refused to convert to Islam and was imprisoned at the fortress of Alamut
for nine years.

Second reign and struggle against the Ottomans

A battle of Simon with the Erzurum army. A 16th-century Ottoman miniature.
The Fortress of the Seven Towers, where Simon died around 1611.

When the peace between the Safavids and the Ottomans collapsed and the Turkish general

Rudolph II and Philip II of Spain. The negotiations, however, failed to yield any serious results.[4]

In 1580 Simon I repulsed Ottoman invasion of Kartli, and in 1582 defeated main Ottoman army on the field of Mukhrani, which had a lasting impact as Ottomans were at the height of their power and such a defeat shuttered the myth of their invincibility. Simon I's Persian monolingual seal of the same period reads: "Allah, who has no equal, knows that Semiyun (Simon) is a slave of the Shah from the bottom of his heart, 933 (1585)".[5]

From 1588 to 1590, Simon interfered on three occasions into a power struggle in the western Georgian kingdom of Imereti, and though victorious over Levan of Imereti at the Battle of Gop'anto (1588), he was finally defeated at Op'shkviti and driven out with the help of the Turks. Finally, the Ottomans prevailed and their recently appointed commander, Ferhad Pasha, was able to conquer Kartli by 1588. Simon had to make peace with the Sublime Porte and agreed to pay an annual tribute. By a peace treaty signed in Constantinople on March 21, 1590, the Safavids also recognised all of Georgia as an Ottoman possession. Simon, however, resumed his struggle against the occupants in 1595, and retook Gori after a long-lasting siege in 1599. In response, sultan Mehmed III sent a large punitive force led by Jafar Pasha, beylerbey of Tabriz in 1599.[6] Simon met it at Nakhiduri, but he was severely defeated and taken captive while retreating.[6]

Upon the Simon's arrest the Sultan Mehmed III made the following order:

From Morocco to the Caspian Sea, from the Caucasus to the Persian Gulf, I order to exhibit the carpets in all of my realm and to celebrate for 3 days the arrest of King Simon.

Simon was sent to Constantinople where the Georgian noblewoman

Svetitskhoveli Cathedral at Mtskheta
next to his father.

Family and children

Simon married in 1559 Nestan-Darejan (died c. 1612), daughter of Levan I of Kakheti. They had six children, four sons and two daughters:

  • Prince Giorgi (c. 1560 – 1606), King of Kartli as George X;
  • Prince Luarsab (fl. 1561–1589), taken as a hostage to Iran in 1582;
  • Prince Aleksandre (fl. 1561–1589);
  • Prince Vakhtang (fl. 1600);
  • Princess Elene (fl. 1583–1609), wife of
    Atabag of Samtskhe
    ;
  • Princess Fahrijan-Begum (fl. 1582), who married Shahzada Sultan Hamza Mirza (died in 1578 or 1586), son of Shah
    Mohammed Khodabanda
    .

References

  1. ^ a b c Rota 2017, p. 53.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Rayfield 2012, p. 176.
  3. ISBN 978-975-6372-15-9
    , p. 206
  4. ISBN 0-7146-3492-1
    .
  5. ^ Beradze 2012, p. 466.
  6. ^ a b Mikaberidze 2015, p. 490.

Sources

Further reading

  • გუჩუა ვ., სვანიძე მ., ქართველი ხალხის ბრძოლა დამოუკიდებლობისა და პოლიტიკური მთლიანობის აღდგენისათვის XVI საუკუნეში. საქართველოს ისტორიის ნარკვევები, IV, თბ., 1973
  • მამისთვალიშვილი ე., საქართველოს საგარეო პოლიტიკური ურთიერთობანი XV საუკუნის მეორე ნახევარსა და XV I საუკუნეში (ევროპული წყაროების მიხედვით), თბ., 1981.
  • ტაბაღუა ი., საქართველო ევროპის არქივებსა და წიგნსაცავებში, III, თბ., 1987
  • ტარდი ლ., უნგრეთ-საქართველოს ურთიერთობა XVI საუკუნეში, თბ., 198
  • ბატონიშვილი ვახუშტი, აღწერა სამეფოსა საქართველოსა, `ქართლის ცხოვრება~, ტ. IV. თბილისი, 1973.
  • ბერი ეგნატაშვილი, ახალი ქართლის ცხოვრება, ქართლის ცხოვრება, ტექსტი დადგენილია ყველა ძირითადი ხელნაწერის მიხედვით ს. ყაუხჩიშვილის მიერ, ტ.II, თბილისი, 1959.
  • ისქანდერი მუნშის ცნობები საქართველოს შესახებ, სპარსული ტექსტი ქართული თარგმანითა და შესავლითურთ გამოსცა ვლ. ფუთურიძემ, თბილისი, 1969.
  • მუსტაფა ნაიმა, ცნობები საქართველოსა და კავკასიის შესახებ, თურქული ტექსტი ქართული თარგმანით, გამოკვლევითა და შენიშვნებით გამოსაცემად მოამზადა ნ. შენგელიამ, თბილისი, 1979.
  • გ. თოფურიძე, მუსტაფა სელიანიქი საქართველოს შესახებ, თსუ-ს შრომები, 91, თბილისი, 1962.
  • ს. ჯიქია, მ. სვანიძე, საქართველო-თურქეთის ურთიერთობის ისტორიიდან, `მაცნე~, ისტორიის სერია, 1966, #6.
  • ვალ. გაბაშვილი, თბილისი XVI_XVII სს-ის აღმოსავლურ წყაროებში, თსუ-ს შრომები, ტ.99, თბილისი, 1962.
  • საქართველოს ისტორიის ნარკვევები, ტ.IV, თბილისი, 1973.
  • მ. სვანიძე, საქართველო-ოსმალეთის ურთიერთობის ისტორიიდან XVI_XVII სს. თბილისი, 1971.
  • ც. აბულაძე, სიმონ მეფის არზა სულთან მურად III-ს, მრავალთავი, ტ.XII, თბილისი, 1980.
  • თ. ნატროშვილი, დელი-სვიმონი, საქართველო ათასწლეულთა გასაყარზე, თბილისი, 2005.
  • Danişmend I.H. Izahlı Osmanlı Tarihi Kronolojisi. V. III.
  • Kirzioğlu, Osmanlilarin Kafkas Ellerini Fethi. Ankara 1998.
  • Roin Shantadze, I. Simon’un Sanatkar Kişiliği, "Cveneburebi", Istanbul, 2004
  • Tardy L., Le Roi Simon Ier à la lumière des sources d’Europe Centrale contemporaines de son èpoque. I partie. “Bedi Kartlisa. Revue de Kartvèlologie”
  • Hammer J., Geschichte des osmanischen Reiches, II B Pest, 1834.
Preceded by
King of Kartli

1556–1569 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
King of Kartli

1578–1599 		Succeeded by
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