Azats

(in Persian, “free”; in Armenian “free,” “noble”). (1) In Iran under the Sassanids, the lower stratum of the privileged estate of horsemen (artashtaran)—medium and small landowners—who were free of taxes and obliged to serve in the cavalry in wartime.

(2) In Armenia in the early Middle Ages, medium and small feudal lords; more generally, all feudal lords as distinct from the anazats (“unfree”)—that is, city dwellers and peasants.