Azadan

The Azadan (Middle Persian: āzādān, Parthian: āzātān; meaning 'free' and 'noble') were a class of Iranian nobles.

[1][2] According to the 1st-century Romano-Jewish historian Josephus (died 100 AD), the Parthian army led by prince Pacorus I during the invasion of Judea consisted of members of the eleutheroi.

[1] The Kingdom of Armenia adopted the same hierarchy as that of the Parthians, which included the azadan class (azat), which was used to label the Armenian middle and lower nobility.

The four ranks consisted of the shahrdaran (vassal kings and dynasts), the wispuhran (princes of royal blood), the wuzurgan (grandees) and the azadan (lower nobility).

According to the 5th-century Byzantine Armenian historian Faustus of Byzantium, the azadan formed the bulk of Shapur II's royal bodyguard regiment.

Sasanian -era rock relief in Bishapur depicting cavalrymen, who were generally drawn from the ranks of the azadan and wuzurgan