Simon II of Kartli
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Simon II (Georgian: სიმონ II), also known as Svimon or Semayun Khan (born ca early 1610s - died 1630 or 1631), was a Persian-appointed king (actually, khan) of Kartli, eastern Georgia, from 1619 to 1630/1631.
A son of Bagrat Khan, a Georgian convert to Islam, he was brought up Muslim in Isfahan, Persia. Upon the death of his father in 1619, Simon, still in his minority, was installed by Shah Abbas I as a khan of Kartli and a Georgian noble, also a convert, Giorgi Saakadze, was appointed as a vekil (regent) and vizier to him. Largely unpopular with his Christian subjects, his "khanate" never stretched beyond the capital Tbilisi and the Lower Kartli province, particularly the districts of Somkhiti and Sabaratiano, occupied by Persian forces. In March 1625, his vizier Saakadze sided with the opposition in Kartli and the neighbouring Kakheti and led the Georgian forces to destroy a Persian army at the Battle of Martqopi. Simon and his Persians fled Tbilisi to the fortress of Aghjakala in Lower Kartli and the rebels gave Kartli to Teimuraz I of Kakheti. Following the victory over the Georgians at the Battle of Marabda on July 1, a Persian general Isa Khan reinstated Simon in Tbilisi, but a significant portion of Kartli remained largely under the control of Teimuraz and Saakadze. Shah Abbas utilised the rivalry among the rebel leaders to divide them. Soon after 1626, one of the rebel nobles and a powerful mountainous lord, Zurab of Aragvi, defected to Simon, but later entered in a secret alliance with the insurgents and, in 1630 (or 1631), murdered the khan while sleeping, sending his severed head to Teimuraz, who subsequently was able to restore his authority in Kartli.
[edit] External links
- (English) Kings of Kartli at the Royal Ark
- Svimon II (In Georgian)
| Preceded by Bagrat Khan |
King of Kartli 1619-1630/1631 |
Succeeded by union with Kakheti |
