Mirimanidze

The Mirimanidze ("sons of Miriman") were a Georgian noble family of Armenian ethnicity whose members rose in prominence in the service of Iran’s Safavid dynasty. Hailing from Somkhiti, the clan produced numerous high-ranking figures in the Safavid state, and especially flourished in the 17th century, during the reign of the kings Abbas I (r. 1588-1629), Safi (r. 1629-1642) and Abbas II (r. 1642-1666). The complex identity of the family made then contemporary historians often describe the ethnic origins quite differently as compared to each other. In the later Safavid era, Hosaynqoli Khan (Vakhtang VI of Kartli), the last Safavid vali (governor) of Georgia, confirmed the family as belonging to the t'avadi (upper class nobles).

With members of the Mirimanidze clan having returned to Christianity (Georgian Orthodox) from Shia Islam, they were included in the Treaty of Georgievsk (1783) as the Melikishvili. This guaranteed for their noble status later in the Russian Empire as the Melikovs along with a branch, the Loris-Melikovs (Armenian Apostolic).

The Mirimanidze were originally hereditary Meliks of Somkhiti, a region nowadays located around the Armenian-Georgian borderlands. At the time, Somkhiti was located in the most southern part of Georgian Lower Kartli, and was therefore subjected to Safavid influence and rule from its earliest days. Somkhiti originally meant "the place where the Armenians live", and in the 18th century, the termination was largely replaced with "Somkheti" (სომხეთი, [sɔmxɛtʰi]) as a Georgian exonym for Armenia. Armenians in general were (and are) referred to in Georgian as Somekhi (sing., სომეხი). The word "Mirimanidze" itself refers to Malek Miriman, who was permitted to rule Somkhiti by king (shah) Tahmasp I (r. 1514–1576). The family is therefore named after him.

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