The Mihranids were the ruling dynasty of Caucasian Albania

Caucasian Albania

Albania is a name for the historical region of the eastern Caucasus, that existed on the territory of present-day republic of...

 in the early Middle Ages. They claimed to be of Sassanian Persian descent but were probably of Parthia

Parthia

Parthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasty, rulers of the Parthian Empire....

n origin.

The dynasty was founded when certain Mihran, a distant relative of Sasanids, settled in the region of Gardman

Gardman

Gardman was one of the eight districts of the ancient province of Utik' in the Kingdom of Armenia and simultaneously, together with the district of Tush, an Armenian principality. In the Early Middle Ages a feudal state of Gardman emerged on the area of Caucasian Albania...

 in Utik

Utik

Utik was a historic province of the Kingdom of Armenia and a region of Caucasian Albania. Most of the region is located within present-day Azerbaijan immediately west of the Kura River while a part of it lies within the Tavush province of present-day northeastern Armenia.-History:According to...

. He was probably a member of a branch of the Mihranid family

House of Mihran

The House of Mihrān was a leading Iranian noble family , one of the Seven Great Houses of the Sassanid Persian Empire which claimed descent from the earlier Arsacid dynasty...

 which was listed among the Seven Great Houses of Iran, and whose two other lines ruled Iberia

Caucasian Iberia

Iberia , also known as Iveria , was a name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli , corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia...

 (Chosroid Dynasty

Chosroid Dynasty

The Chosroids were a dynasty of the kings and later of the presiding princes of the early Georgian state of Iberia, natively known as Kartli, from the fourth to the ninth centuries. Of Iranian origin and a branch of the Mihranid House, the family accepted Christianity as their official religion c...

) and Gogarene. Mihran's family came to power, when Mihran's great-grandson killed almost all the members of the previous ruling dynasty – "the Eṙanšahiks, the ancient native Armenian

Armenians

Armenian people or Armenians are a nation and ethnic group native to the Armenian Highland.The largest concentration is in Armenia having a nearly-homogeneous population with 97.9% or 3,145,354 being ethnic Armenian....

 (haykazean [original emphasis]) family....Sparing only Zarmihr Eṙanšahik."

The most prominent representatives of the family in the 7th century were Varaz-Grigor, his son Javanshir

Javanshir

Javanshir , in old Albanian Our Lion, in Persian young lion, was the prince of Caucasian Albania from 643 to 681, hailing from the region of Gardman. His deeds are the subject of legends and epic...

, and Varaz-Trdat I. Mihranids assumed a Persian title of Arranshahs (i.e. shah

Shah

Shāh is the title of the ruler of certain Southwest Asian and Central Asian countries, especially Persia , and derives from the Persian word shah, meaning "king".-History:...

s of Arran, Persian name of Albania). The family's rule came to an end after the assassination of Varaz-Trdat II by Nerseh Pilippean in 822-23.

Subsequently Sahl Smbatean

Sahl Smbatean

Sahl Smbatjan Eṙanshahik was an Armenian prince of Arran and Shaki, who played a considerable role in the history of eastern Caucasus during the 9th century and was the ancestor of the House of Khachen established in 821 .-Name:...

, a descendant of the aforementioned Arranshahik (Eṙanšahik) family, assumed the title of Arranshah
and ruled significant part of Caucasian Albania.