Solomon II

Solomon II (born as David) (სოლომონ II; 1772 – February 7, 1815), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was the last king (mepe) of Imereti (western Georgia) from 1789 to 1790 and from 1792 until his deposition by the Imperial Russian government in 1810.

Early life and ascent to the throne
He was born as David to Prince Archil of Imereti, brother of King Solomon I of Imereti, by his wife Helene, daughter of King Heraclius II of Georgia. He grew up at the court of his Grandfather, Heraclius II. During his lifetime, the heirless Solomon I bequeathed the throne to his nephew, David Archil's son, but the influential feudal lords of Imereti, after the death of Solomon I, in 1784, put David George's son (David II) on the throne instead of the young David. In the same year, David II sent ambassadors to Russia and asked the emperor to submit. Dissatisfied with this, the princes - Papuna Tsereteli, Beri Tsulukidze and others contacted David Archil's son and wanted to make him king. From 1788, the Prince of Mingrelia, Grigol Dadiani, joined them and married David Archili's son to his sister Mariam. With the help of disgruntled princes and Heraclius II, David Archil's son won in the battle of Matkhoji (July 11, 1789) and became king in the name of Solomon II (in honor of Solomon I). At that time he was 17 years old.

The struggle for the preservation of royal power
The position of Solomon II was not firm. Defeated David II, who temporarily took refuge in Akhaltsikhe, continued to fight for the throne. In 1790, with the help of Ottoman and Dagestan forces, he conquered Imereti for a very short time. In 1790, Heraclius II helped Solomon, who was locked up with Papuna and Zurab Tsereteli, with his grandson - Ioane. The battle took place in Lomsiant Khevi, where a detachment of 500 men, reinforced by Heraclius's bells, defeated an opponent of 10,000 men. Solomon II regained Imereti.

Political course, attempt to unify Georgia
Solomon II, despite the difficulties, tried to continue the political course of Solomon I and Heraclius II, which was manifested in the attempt to unify Georgia. In June 1790, under the leadership of Solomon Lionidze, a treaty was signed, by virtue of which Solomon II, Grigol Dadiani and Simon Gurieli established a military alliance with the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti against the common enemy, recognized the patronage of Heraclius and entrusted him with relations with Russia. In one of the articles of the agreement, it was said: "I will turn every enemy of yours into an enemy of mine and of my whole kingdom, and I will be an enemy of your enemy and a loving neighbor." This agreement, along with others, was signed by Queen Darejan and Queen Mariam. In 1793, the participants of the treaty asked for common protection from the Russian emperor, but with the truce of January 9, 1792, which was concluded between Russia and the Ottomans (Treaty of Jassy), the superior rights of the Ottomans over Western Georgia were basically confirmed again. The hope of Russian help was not justified this time either.

The battle against the disobedient prince of Mingrelia, Grigol Dadiani
In order to strengthen the royal authority, the king tried to suppress the arrogance of disobedient chiefs and nobles. In 1792, he managed to depose the prince of Mingrelia, Grigol Dadiani (who was his main opponent) and installed his faithful Manuchar as the prince. Manuchar vowed to fight against the slave traders (1795). In 1798, Grigoli moved again, and Manuchar received Salipartiano. In 1802, Solomon invaded Lechkhumi with Manuchar. In the same year, he captured the fortress of Chkvishi, defeated Grigol Dadiani near Salkhino, and declared Dadiani's younger brother Tariel (Otia) as the prince for a short time. Worried, Grigol asked Russia for help. The latter took advantage of the situation in Imereti and in December 1803, Mingrelia received Russian protection. With this, the Russian plan was implemented, according to which the venerable Dadian should be used in the fight for the abolition of the Kingdom of Imereti. Grigol died in 1804, and his son, Levan V (1804-1840), took the prince's throne.

Elaznauri agreement, Russia's subordination
In 1803, Solomon II again asked Russia for protection through the embassy of Leonidze, however, at the same time, he also sent an embassy to the Ottoman Empire, through which he requested help from the power of Russia. Russia found out about this double game of the king, it became known to him that Solomon was ready to go against Russia together with Fath-Ali Shah Qajar (nephew of Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar). Then Pavel Tsitsianov received the task of conquering Imereti. In 1804, the Russians invaded Imereti and forced the people to swear allegiance to the Russian emperor, Alexander I. Solomon was forced to accept the terms offered by Russia. On April 25 the Elaznauri Agreement, by virtue of which Imereti was declared a subject of Russia, although it maintained its political existence and the reign was inviolable. Principality of Guria remained in Imereti. According to the same agreement, Russia stationed troops in Imereti and defended Imereti. In a verbal agreement, Tsitsianov promised Lechkhumi to the king, however, to negotiate this disputed territory, Solomon and Grigol Dadiani met each other in Satchila, where they both swore allegiance to Russia. With this agreement, Russia's new tactics were revealed: they did not seem to abolish the local government, but actually left the king without rights. Solomon himself considered Elaznauri a way to gain time.

Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812) and occupation of Imereti
The king of Imereti placed great hopes on the Russo-Turkish War (1806–1812), because the weakening of these empires would contribute to the strengthening of his kingdom. During the course of the war, in October 1809, the Ottomans under the command of Sherif-Pasha, Serasker of Trebizond, camped between Grigoleti and Maltakva. On November 2, Mamia Gurieli attacked them from behind, after which Russia opened the way to Poti: Russia recognized Mamia for this service independently from the king of Imereti.

In the same year, 1809, the king received an order from the Russian official Tormasov to send a "deputation" to St. Petersburg, which was stipulated by the agreement of 1804. Solomon disobeyed the order and instead demanded the withdrawal of the army from Kutaisi, leaving only 120 men as stipulated in the agreement, fulfilling other promises to Lechkhumi and Tsitsianov. In response to this, the Russians launched a new plan, according to which Guria, Racha, as well as Zurab Tsereteli and Tsulukidze should march against Solomon.

On February 20, 1810, the Russian army moved towards Imereti. Supporters of Solomon fortified in Vartsikhe got confused and retreated, only one thousand fighters remained for Solomon out of 4-5 thousand men. The Russians still forced the population to swear allegiance to the Russian state.

Captivity and first exile
In a letter sent to Major-General Simonovich on March 9, 1810, King Solomon agreed to resign if he was left to live in Imereti. On March 28, he met Tormasov in Variani to negotiate, but was captured and locked in one of the apartments in Tbilisi. From here they promised to send it to St. Petersburg. On May 11, his servant slept in Solomon's bed, gave his clothes to the king, for which the servant was severely punished. Disguised in the clothes of a faithful servant, the king escaped from captivity. There he left the Order of St. Alexander Nevel, which he received from Russia in 1804. During the robbery, he was accompanied by Kaikhosro, Rostom and Simon Tsereteli, Grigol and David Dadiani, Beri Lortkifanidze, Aznauri Gabashvili and others - up to 25 people in total. On the way, a 300-man detachment of Avars attacked them and promised to capture the refugees, but when they found out that it was Solomon, they escorted them to Akhaltsikhe.

The king, a refugee from the Russians, moved to Akhaltsikhe, where Solomon Leonidze and Malkhaz Andronikashvili were waiting for him.

The struggle for independence and the abolition of the kingdom
This is where the preparations for the rebellion began, demanding the fulfillment of the terms stipulated in the 1804 treaty. In a letter dated May 17, 1810, to the Upper Imeretians, Solomon calls them to rebel and writes: "Believe in this, I must end my life for the sake of Imereti." In this rebellion, Solomon was supported by Manuchar and Tariel Dadiani, the chief monk of Lechkhumi, Gelovani, and other princes. The king had five thousand men under the command of Agiashvili at the siege of Kutaisi, and he stationed three thousand in the vicinity of the Kharagalli fortress to block the road for the Russian army. In the direction of Kartli, 1,500 men were camped on the Kortokhi road under the command of Malkhaz Andronikashvili and Rostom Tsereteli, and 2,000 men were stationed near Maglak to prevent the Gurian-Mingrelian army from going to Kutaisi. In a letter dated 1810, Zurab Tsereteli, the king's eunuch in the service of Russia, worriedly writes to his son, Grigol, that the whole of Imereti is united to fight against us.

Against this united army, Russia sent 3200 soldiers from Tbilisi and divided this army into two parts. On June 22, the first clash between the rebels and the Russians took place near Saqqara. The marchers of Andronikashvili and Rostom Tsereteli stopped the units of the Russian troops near Kortok, and on July 29 they besieged Kutaisi who there was Simonovich. In response, Russia sent a new army from Tbilisi under the command of Lieutenant-General Rozen. From that time the rebellion began to decline. Rozen defeated the 5,000-man army of Imereti near the Chkheri castle. After that, the battles took place near the village of Nitskaros and the river Chishura. where Solomon's army was again defeated. The units of Giorgi Tsulukidze's and Zurab Tsereteli's army near Maglak, in agreement with Levan Dadian, defeated the Russians without a fight and opened the way to Kutaisi. Rozen was accompanied by Dadiani, Guriel and a part of the family in Kutaisi. The king, doomed to defeat, once fortified himself in the Khanistsqali valley, but at the end of September he was forced to move to Akhaltsikhe. The Russians abolished the Kingdom of Imereti and introduced Russian rule. By order of Tormasov, Queen Mariam and the king's sister Mariam were exiled to Voronezh.

Final longing and death
Solomon, who was transferred to Akhaltsikhe, does not stop fighting for the country's independence. In a letter dated January 6, 1811, he asks Napoleon for help. But this letter remains unanswered. After that, the king moved to the Ottoman Empire, first to Erzurum, and then to Trabzon, where he was received with honor by the local Pasha, a Georgian prince by origin. From there, Solomon sought the help of the Ottomans, Iran and France, but at this time, political events are developing unfavorably for him: in the terms of the 1812 Russia-Turkey peace treaty (Treaty of Bucharest), nothing is said about the restoration of the rights of the king of Imereti, in the 1813 Russia-Iran peace treaty (Treaty of Gulistan) And the whole of Georgia was declared a sphere of influence of Russia. Thus, Solomon's efforts did not bear fruit, and soon, on February 7, 1815, he died. He was buried at the Saint Gregory of Nyssa Church. The following inscription was carved on the king's tombstone: "I was robbed of the goodness and beauty of the first creation, and I am lying here in a bare and buried tomb, Bagration, the descendant of David, the son of Archilis, King Solomon of all the worlds, for whom I am asking for forgiveness. February 7, Koronikonsa Christ's foot here".

The body of Solomon II, the last reigning Georgian king, was moved from Trebizond to Gelati Monastery, Georgia, in 1990.

Family
Solomon was married to Mariam (1783–1841), daughter of Katsia Dadiani, Prince of Mingrelia, with no children.

Solomon II's attitude towards the church
The spiritual teacher of Solomon II was Saint Hilarion of Georgia-Akhali (in Greek Iesse Kanchaveli, later the monk of Mount Athos). Their close relationship and the same state outlook led to many beneficial changes in the kingdom. In order to develop and strengthen religious and state thinking, the king strengthened the church and promoted worthy people. King Solomon II rewarded the faithful princes of the country with his estates, granted estates and taxes to the Church of Jerusalem in Imereti, renewed Gujar to the Bichvinta Cathedral.

The gold-plated Greek Gospel donated by Solomon II to the Greek Church of Trabzon with the inscription: "Sacrifice, Saint George, the King of the Imeretians, son of Kartli, this Gospel by the second Solomon", is mentioned on the second page of the King's teacher, Jesse Kanchaveli.

On July 27, 2005, the Georgian Orthodox Church canonized Solomon II as a saint for his religious merits and devotion to the homeland.