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. In the later Safavid era, Husayn-Qoli Khan (Vakhtang VI of Kartli), the last Safavid wali (governor) of Georgia, confirmed the family as belonging to the t'avadi (upper class nobles).

History

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 were therefore subjected to Safavid influence and rule from the latters' earliest days.[1] Somkhiti originally meant "the place where the Armenians live",[2] 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).[3] The word "Mirimanidze" itself refers to Malek Miriman, who was permitted to rule Somkhiti by king (shah) Tahmasp I (r. 1514–1576). He is therefore the first progenitor of the line.[4]

Though ethnically Armenian, numerous Safavid historians at the time (e.g. Parsadan Gorgijanidze, Fazli Khuzani, Molla Jalal, Arakel of Tabriz, Iskandar Beg Munshi) described the family's origins, and they did so quite differently and not unanimously as compared to each other. Iskander Beg attributed Georgian (Pers. Gorji) roots to one member of the family (Mirman Mirimanidze), Molla Jalal called Tahmaspqoli (an uncle of Mirman Mirimanidze) as Armenian (Pers. Armani).[5] Arakel of Tabriz, who was of Armenian origin himself referred to the Mirimanidzes as Georgian nobles,[5] while Fazli Khuzani finally called Tahmaspqoli and his relatives as being either Georgian, Armenian or Kartlian (Pers. Kartili).[5] This all to evidently illustrate the complex character of the family.[5] Though the Mirimanidzes gained their status from the Safavids and were primarily known for their role in the Safavid ranks, they were also acknowledged as being one of the powerful noble families in the subordinate Kingdom of Kartli. The code of Vakhtang VI, the latter who was the last Safavid wali (governor) of Georgia, placed the family amongst the greatest nobles (didebuli t'avadi) in the beginning of the 18th century.[2] Prince Ioane, son of the last incumbent Georgian king of eastern Georgia (Giorgi XII, r. 1798-1800), gives a brief description regarding the history of various noble families hailing from Georgia. Regarding the Mirimanidze, he states;

“ They were aznauris of the Lords Meliks' relatives. And when Shah Abbas came to Erevan with a huge army and there came king Giorgi of Kartli, [and] king Aleksandre of Kakheti. They fought against the Ottomans in Erevan. The Shah took the castle and made the Ottomans run away. Shah Abbas deprived the Georgian Kings of Lore of surrounding territories and stationed his army there. At the time the Melik of this place came in front of Shah Abbas and accepted Islam. The Shah gave him the rank of t'avadi, the family name of melik, and the land of Lore from the private land of the [Georgian] king as reward.[6] ”

The first Safavid gholam of the family was Tahmaspqoli, who was titled Anis al-Dowle, and was an influential Safavid official who served king Abbas I closely, though he had begun his service before Abbas I's reign.[7] He was the uncle of the most prominent member of the family, namely Mirman Mirimanidze (also known as Safiqoli Khan), the latter who was thus the grandson of Malek Miriman, the progenitor of the family.[4]

Members of the Mirimanidze family later converted back to Christianity, adhering to the Georgian Orthodox Church. After the Russian annexation of Georgia in 1801, the family's noble status was confirmed as per the signed Treaty of Georgievsk of 1783, in which they were described as Melikishvili, lit. "sons of Melik".[1] A branch of the family started to adhere to the Armenian Apostolic Church, and came to be known as Loris-Melikov (i.e. "Meliks of Lori").[2] The Loris-Melikov branch produced several noted individuals in the Russian Empire, most notably Count Mikhail Loris-Melikov (1825–88).[1]

Notable Members

References

  1. 1 2 3 Maeda 2003, p. 255.
  2. 1 2 3 Maeda 2003, p. 254.
  3. ↑ Rapp 2003, pp. 137, 176, 224, 270, 315, 371.
  4. 1 2 Maeda 2003, pp. 253-257.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Maeda 2003, p. 256.
  6. ↑ Maeda 2003, pp. 255-256.
  7. ↑ Maeda 2003, pp. 256-257.

Sources

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