House Melantha, a prominent noble house, governed the Melantha Province situated within the Tapani sector. The house's most celebrated figure was Shey Tapani, who unified the Tapani Sector. House Melantha subsequently held dominion over the sector for sixteen generations. By the era of the New Order, House Melantha's influence had waned, although it remained a significant player in Tapani politics, second only to House Mecetti. However, under the leadership of High Lord Bal Jaset, previously an advisor to Emperor Palpatine, House Melantha cultivated a close relationship with the Empire. There were beliefs that they were positioning themselves to seize control of the Sector in the event of an Imperial takeover. Rumors circulated that Melantha supported several Dark Jedi, further endearing them to Palpatine. The Covert Activities Cadre was established to secretly further the house's objectives.
Although House Melantha was an ancient house of great importance, they had only governed the sector a few times since the time of Shey Tapani's Empire. Nevertheless, the nobles of House Melantha desired to bring back the glory of past times and they saw this as a possibility with the rise of the Empire.
House Melantha started building strong connections with the Imperial Court. During this period, several dozen moffs and governors came from Melantha, and hundreds of lower-ranking officials worked as bureau chiefs, ministers, navy captains, and similar roles.
House Melantha possessed a solid financial base, both inside and outside the sector. It had large investments in foreign megacorporations and channeled those funds back into the sector. It owned many businesses within the sector and had spread out its assets to ensure its survival if its local assets were taken or destroyed. During the time of the Empire, Melantha had some valuable Imperial shipping contracts.
Melantha also operated a HoloNet transceiver that allowed them to be several days ahead of the rest of the sector in terms of following events on Coruscant and other worlds.
House Melantha was allied with House Barnaba. Originally, this was an alliance of convenience because Melantha did not care for House Barnaba's obsession with style, parties, and appearances. However, as time passed, the alliance grew stronger, and the two houses became close allies.
During the Rebellion era, House Melantha maintained a formidable fleet consisting of eleven capital ships, including two Victory II-class Star Destroyers and five Dreadnaught-class heavy cruisers. These ships were well-maintained, and the crews underwent constant training. Melantha also had several squadrons of snub fighters manned by highly trained and disciplined pilots.
- Lord Bal Jaset (High Lord)
- Lord Vaskel Savill
- Lady Cynthia Maladori
- Lord Sef Falken
- Lady Barleos
- Baron Shep Jion