View source for Solomon I

{{short description|King of Imereti}}
{{distinguish|Salomon I}}
{{for|the bishop|Solomon I (bishop of Constance)}}
{{more citations needed|date=June 2024}}
{{Infobox royalty
|name            = Solomon I
|title           = 
|image           = Solomon I the Great, king of Imereti.jpg
|caption         = 
|succession      = [[List of Georgian monarchs|King of Imereti]] 
| moretext = ([[Style of the Georgian sovereign|more...]])
|reign           = 1752–1784
|coronation      = 
|predecessor     = [[Alexander V of Imereti]]<br>[[Teimuraz of Imereti]]
|successor       = [[Teimuraz of Imereti]]<br>[[David II of Imereti]]
|spouse          = 
|issue           = 
|house           = [[Bagrationi dynasty]]
|house-type      = Dynasty
|father          = [[Alexander V of Imereti]]
|mother          = Tamar [[Abashidze]]
|birth_date      = 1735
|birth_place     = 
|death_date      = {{death year and age|1784|1735}}
|death_place     = 
|place of burial = 
|signature       = Solomon I of Imereti signature.svg
|signature_type = [[Khelrtva]]
|religion        = [[Georgian Orthodox Church]]
}} 
'''Solomon I the Great''', ({{lang-ka|სოლომონ I დიდი}}) (1735 – April 23, 1784), of the [[Bagrationi Dynasty]], was a [[List of monarchs of Georgia|king]] (''[[mepe]]'') of [[Kingdom of Imereti|Imereti]] from 1752 to 1765 and again from 1767 until his death in 1784.

==Biography==
Solomon was a son of [[Alexander V of Imereti]] by his second wife, Princess Tamar [[Abashidze]] and succeeded upon his father's death in 1752. He immediately launched a series of stringent measures against the renegade nobles and slave trade from which they profited in conjunction with the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman authorities]]. In 1752, the aristocratic opposition staged a coup, but Solomon quickly regained the crown and began a program of reforms aimed at stabilizing the kingdom torn apart by chronic civil wars{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}. The Ottomans, which saw Imereti as the sphere of their influence, sent in an army, but Solomon succeeded in mobilizing his nobles around him and defeated the invaders at the [[Battle of Khresili]] in 1757. The same year, he forged an alliance with his kinsman, [[Heraclius II of Georgia|Heraclius II]], who ruled in eastern Georgia. He defeated two more Ottoman invasions (20,000 strong and 13,000 strong). The Ottoman instigated invasion of North Caucasus tribes, one of which succeeded, while second one was thwarted. Briefly, Ottomans took Kutaisi in 1765 and placed his cousin, [[Teimuraz of Imereti|Teimuraz]] on the throne. In 1767, Solomon managed to stage a comeback, and freed Imereti of Turks again. Next year, another [[Russo-Turkish War (1768-1774)|Russo-Turkish]] war broke out, and in May 1769, Solomon traveled to [[Tbilisi]] to meet with Heraclius II. The two kings decided to request five [[Russian Empire|Russian]] regiments and join the war with the Ottoman Empire in exchange of the guarantee that Georgian interests would be protected in the final Russo-Turkish peace deal. The Russians sent a small force under General [[Gottlieb Heinrich Totleben]], but the general's rudeness and condescension alienated the Georgians; Totleben was quickly recalled from Georgia. A few of the battles Solomon was involved in was the 1769 [[siege of Şorapani]] and the 1770–1771 [[Siege of Poti (1770–1771)|siege of Poti]].

After the war was over, Solomon was able to force his autonomist vassals, princes of [[Principality of Mingrelia|Mingrelia]] and [[Principality of Guria|Guria]], into submission, and continued antagonizing the Ottoman hegemony in the region. Ottomans had no choice but to sign a treaty with Imereti, by which Imereti was no longer Ottoman vassal, slave trade was not even mentioned, with symbolic tribute of 60 women annually (did not stipulate them to be Georgians, and Solomon never honored this clause anyway){{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}. 

He crushed the Ottoman-sponsored insurrection in [[Principality of Abkhazia|Abkhazia]] in 1779, and made a series of forays into the Turkish-controlled southwestern historic Georgian lands. He died in March 1784 and was buried at the [[Gelati Monastery]]. He was canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church on 22 December 2016, his feast day set for 23 April ([[New Style|NS]] 10 April).<ref>{{cite news|title=წმინდა სინოდმა წმინდანებად ორი მეფე - ბაგრატ მესამე და სოლომონ პირველი, ასევე, კათოლიკოს-პატრიარქი კალისტრატე ცინცაძე შერაცხა|url=http://geotimes.ge/index.php?m=5&news_id=36445|accessdate=25 December 2016|work=Georgian Times|date=22 December 2016|archive-date=26 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226055950/http://geotimes.ge/index.php?m=5&news_id=36445|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Solomon I was married three times; first, to Princess Tinatin [[House of Shervashidze|Shervashidze]], second to Princess Mariam [[Dadiani]], daughter of [[Otia Dadiani]] (died 1778), [[Principality of Mingrelia|Prince of Mingrelia]], and third, Princess Gulkan [[Tsulukidze]] (1730–1800). He had five children, three sons and two daughters:
*Prince David, born of Solomon's first marriage to Tinatin Shervashidze. 
*Prince [[Alexander, son of Solomon I of Imereti|Alexander]] (1760–1780), born by Mariam Dadiani. He led a revolt against Solomon in 1778.
*Princess [[Princess Darejan of Imereti (1756–1827)|Darejan]] ([[:ka:დარეჯან ბატონიშვილი (სოლომონ I-ის ასული)|ka]]) (1756–1827), born by Mariam Dadiani. She married, in 1768, Prince Kaikhosro [[Abashidze]]. Their son, Prince Ivane [[List of Georgian princely families|Abashidze]], was a pretender to the throne of Imereti in 1820.
*Princess Mariam (1769–1845), born by Mariam Dadiani. She married Prince Elizbar [[Eristavi]] of [[Duchy of Ksani|Ksani]] (1738–1813).
*Prince Bagrat, an extramarital son.

==Ancestry==
{{ahnentafel
|collapsed=yes |align=center
|boxstyle_1=background-color: #fcc;
|boxstyle_2=background-color: #fb9;
|boxstyle_3=background-color: #ffc;
|boxstyle_4=background-color: #bfc;
|1= 1. '''Solomon I of Imereti'''
|2= 2. [[Alexander V of Imereti]]
|3= 3. Tamar [[Abashidze]]
|4= 4. [[George VII of Imereti]]
|5= 5. A concubine  
|6= 6. [[Levan Abashidze (died 1757)|Levan Abashidze]]
|7=  
|8= 8. [[Alexander IV of Imereti]]
|9= 9. A concubine 
|10= 
|11= 
|12= 12. [[George VI of Imereti]]
|13= 
|14= 
|15=
}}

==References==
{{commons category}}
{{Reflist}}
*{{in lang|ka}} [http://www.people.istoria.ge/show.php?id=132 სოლომონ I (Solomon I)]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}. ''People.Istoria.Ge''. Accessed on September 23, 2007.

{{s-start}}
{{succession box 
| before=[[Alexander V of Imereti|Alexander V]]
| title=[[King of Imereti]]
| after=[[Teimuraz of Imereti|Teimuraz]]
| years=1752–1766
}}
{{succession box 
| before=Teimuraz
| title=King of Imereti
| after=[[David II of Imereti|David II]]
| years=1768–1784
}}
{{s-end}}
{{Triarchy in Georgia}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solomon 01 Of Imereti}}
[[Category:1735 births]]
[[Category:1784 deaths]]
[[Category:Bagrationi dynasty of the Kingdom of Imereti]]
[[Category:Kings of Imereti]]
[[Category:18th-century people from Georgia (country)]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox monarchs]]
[[Category:People of the Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774)]]