Simon (king of Imereti)

After the death of his father (1695), Tsarevich Simon was brought up at the court of the Kartlian king Heraclius I. In 1698, the Turkish sultan ordered the Akhaltsikhe Pasha, Salim Pasha, to expel King Archil from Imereti . Selim Pasha asked the Kartlian king Heraclius to send Tsarevich Simon, son of Alexander, to him. Simon was sent by Heraclius to Akhaltsikhe . In 1699, Selim Pasha with the Turkish army entered Imereti . Many notable imers began to pass from Archil to the side of Simon. In the fall, Archil left for Racha and left his nephew Vakhtang there, for the Caucasus was snowy and could not pass with the household. Archil walked along Liahvi, moved to Tagauri, wintered there and went to Russia in the spring.

Akhaltsikhe Pasha Selim Pasha occupied Kutaisi and placed Simon on the royal throne in Imereti , and he returned to Akhaltsikhe . The new Imereti king Simon married Anika, daughter of George Abashidze. Soon, Simon quarreled with Queen Tamara, the sister of his wife Anika Abashidze. Many Imeretians remained faithful to Queen Tamara. Simon fled to Kartli , and Georgy Abashidze , father of Simon's wife, began to rule in Imereti . The Gurian prince Mamia Gurieli decided to place Simon on the royal throne and asked the Akhaltsikhe pasha to send him. At the request of Pasha, the Kartlian king Heraclius I (Nazarali Khan) sent Tsarevich Simon to Akhaltsikhe . From there, Simon was taken to Guria. Mamia Gurieli forced Simon to divorce his wife Anika and marry his sister. Large Imeretian nobles Abashidze and Lipartiani gathered troops in Sachilao, inviting the prince of Mamia Gurieli to kill Simon and take the royal throne himself. Mamia Gurieli refused to kill himself to kill the king and allowed them to do so. In 1701, assassins killed the Imereti king Simon.

• Vakhtang Guruli, Merab Vachnadze, Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakhtadze . History of Georgia (from ancient times to the present day).