Global InformationMirimanidze information
The Mirimanidze family ("sons of Miriman") were a Georgian noble family of Armenian ethnicity whose members rose in prominence in the service of Safavid Iran. 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). Due to the complex character of the family's identity, they were often described in different terms by contemporaneous historians. In the late Safavid era, Hosaynqoli Khan (Vakhtang VI of Kartli), vali (governor) of Kartli, 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 inclusion in the Georgievsk Treaty guaranteed for their noble status later in the Russian Empire as the Melikovs along with a branch, the Loris-Melikovs (Armenian Apostolic).