Albeit the family claimed descent from the
Persian Sasanian rulers of Iran, they were in reality a branch of the
House of Mihran, one of the
Seven Great Houses of Iran. Its first was
Peroz, who dislodged the Gusharid of Gugark, thus initiating Mihranid rule there. During this period, the Mihranids enjoyed warm relations with the newly established
Chosroid dynasty of
Iberia, also a branch of the Mihranids. Peroz was the son-in-law of
Mirian III, the first Christian king of Iberia. Although Peroz refused to convert to Christianity, he still remained loyal to the Iberian king. He and his followers finally converted during the rule of the Mirian III's son and successor
Aspacures III (). Gugark was normally subject to the Kingdom of Armenia, but fell under the authority of Iberia after the Sasanians and Romans partitioned Armenia in 387. Not much earlier, the Iberian Kingdom had fallen under the authority of the Sasanians after an invasion by the
King of Kings ()
Shapur II ().
Varsken travelled to the Iranian court in 470, where he converted to Zoroastrianism and shifted his allegiance from the Iberian monarchy to the Sasanian Empire. As a reward for his conversion, he was given the viceroyalty of
Caucasian Albania and a daughter of Peroz in marriage. Espousing his pro-Iranian position, he attempted to force his family to convert to Zoroastrianism, including his first wife
Shushanik (a daughter of Vardan), which eventually resulted in her
martyrdom. His policies were unacceptable to the Iberian king
Vakhtang I (), who had him killed and then revolted against Iran in 482. The Vahram-Arshusha V sided with the Sasanians during the
Byzantine–Sasanian War of 602–628, and was captured at the
Battle of Nineveh on 12 December 627. In the 8th century, the lands and titles of the Mihranids was acquired by the Armenian
Bagratuni princes, thus marking the end of the Mihranids of Gugark. ==List of ==