The family can be traced back to the 11th century: one of the princes (mtavari) Gelovani is mentioned as a minister in the Government of Queen Tamar.

The local Svanetian tradition holds it that the Gelovani arrived in the early Mediaeval Age from the Arabian peninsula, where they had been the keepers of the sacred Black Stone of Kaaba before the era of Islam.

Following the annexation of Georgia by Russia in the late 18th century, the House of Gelovani was recognised in the Princely status—or knyaz in Russian—by the Highly Instituted Commission of the Russian Empire under the Ruling Senate Governance.

Prince Varlam Gelovani was a deputy of the Russian State Fourth Duma in 1912-1914 and a close friend of Alexander Kerensky.

The House of Gelovani historically intermarried with the other princely families of Georgia, such as Chikovani, Dadiani, Yashvili, Tarkhan-Mouravi etc.