It was inhabited by Humans which formed the Grissmath Dynasty and was used as the government's capital. The nearby bleak, desert planet Nam Chorios was used by the Dynasty as a penal colony from around 700 BBY and prisoners were sent there for generations.
Meridian's surface was eventually reduced to a charred radioactive wasteland and the Grissmath Dynasty faded out of history. However, those on Nam Chorios survived the extinction of their mother civilization.