Aznauri

Aznauri(Georgian:აზნაური,IPA:[ˈaznauɾi];pl.aznaurni,აზნაურნი, oraznaurebi,აზნაურები) was a class ofGeorgian nobility.

The word derives fromMiddle Persianāznāvar,which, in turn, corresponds semantically to Middle PersianāzādandAvestanāzāta-( "nobility" ).The term is related toPahlaviāzāt-ān,"free" or "noble", who are listed as the lowest class of the free nobility in the Hajjiabad inscription of KingShapur I(240-270), and parallels to theazatofArmenia.It first appears in "The Martyrdom of Saint Shushanik",a 5th-century work of Georgianhagiographicliterature. A later chronicle, that ofLeonti Mroveli,derives "aznauri" from the semi-legendary rulerAzon(Georgian –uriis a common adjectival suffix), whose 1,000 soldiers defected him and were subsequently named aznauri by Azon’s victorious rivalParnavaz.This etymology is patently false.

The stratification within thefeudal aristocracy of Georgia,generically known as "aznauri", already became apparent in the 9th-10th century. A higher substratum began to be distinguished by adding the title of "didebuli", i.e., the aznauri who held "dideba", an especially high courtier office. Later in the Middle Ages, a clearer distinction was made between an aznauri (now dependent noble), and atavadiandmtavari(dynastic prince); from the 15th century, the aznauri was considered aqma(literally, "vassal" ) of his lord, either secular or ecclesiastic. This form of dependence was later subjected to a formal regulation underVakhtang VI’s Code of Laws which was codified between 1705 and 1708, and loosely governed aGeorgian version of feudalism(batonq’moba) even after theRussian annexation of Georgiaearly in the 19th century. Subsequently, in the 1820s, the status of aznauri was equated to that of the (untitled)dvoryanstvoof Russia.