George XII, then Heir Apparent to the Georgian throne, married her on 13 July 1783 after the death of his first wife, Princess Ketevan Andronikashvili (1754–1782).

In 1802, the newly established Russian administration started deporting the members of Georgian royal family to Russia proper.

Tsitsianov gave orders to Major-General Ivan Petrovich Lazarev that the queen and her children should be immediately removed from Georgia under guard.

[1] Mariam, indignant at the attempt to take her by force, drew the dagger from beneath the cushion and stabbed Lazarev, killing him on the spot.

[3] The tragic story of Queen Mariam was described in several contemporary accounts, based on the reports of eyewitnesses, and found its place in European literature of that time.