![Gustave Dore Crusades Edward I kills his attempted assassin](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Gustave_Dore_Crusades_Edward_I_kills_his_attempted_assassin.jpg)
The Order of Assassins or simply the Assassins ( fa, حَشّاشین, Ḥaššāšīn, ) were a
Nizārī Ismāʿīlī order and sect of
Shīʿa Islam that existed between 1090 and 1275 CE. During that time, they lived in the mountains of
Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
and in
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, and held a strict subterfuge policy throughout the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
through the covert murder of Muslim and Christian leaders who were considered enemies of the
Nizārī Ismāʿīlī State. The modern term
assassination
Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...
is believed to stem from the tactics used by the Assassins.
Nizārī Ismāʿīlīsm formed in the late 11th century after a succession crisis within the
Fatimid Caliphate
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Isma'ilism, Ismaili Shia Islam, Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the ea ...
between
Nizār ibn al-Mustanṣir and his half-brother, caliph
al-Musta‘lī. Contemporaneous historians include Arabs
ibn al-Qalanisi
Abū Yaʿlā Ḥamzah ibn al-Asad ibn al-Qalānisī ( ar, ابو يعلى حمزة ابن الاسد ابن القلانسي; c. 1071 – 18 March 1160) was an Arab politician and chronicler in 12th-century Damascus.
Biography
Abu Ya‘la ('father ...
and
Ali ibn al-Athir
Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ash-Shaybānī, better known as ʿAlī ʿIzz ad-Din (Arabic), Dīn Ibn al-Athīr al-Jazarī ( ar, علي عز الدین بن الاثیر الجزري) lived 1160–1233) was an Arab people, ...
, and the Persian
Ata-Malik Juvayni
Atâ-Malek Juvayni (1226–1283) ( fa, عطاملک جوینی), in full, Ala al-Din Ata-ullah (), was a Persian historian and an official of the Mongol state who wrote an account of the Mongol Empire entitled '' Tarīkh-i Jahān-gushā'' (' ...
. The first two referred to the Assassins as ''
batiniyya
Batiniyya ( ar, باطنية, Bāṭiniyyah) refers to groups that distinguish between an outer, exoteric ('' zāhir'') and an inner, esoteric ('' bāṭin'') meaning in Islamic scriptures. The term has been used in particular for an allegoristic ...
'', an epithet widely accepted by Ismāʿīlīs themselves.
Overview
The
Nizari Isma'ili State
The Nizari state (the Alamut state) was a Shia Nizari Ismaili state founded by Hassan-i Sabbah after he took control of the Alamut Castle in 1090 AD, which marked the beginning of an era of Ismailism known as the "Alamut period". Their people wer ...
, later known as the Assassins, was founded by
Hassan-i Sabbah
Hasan-i Sabbāh ( fa, حسن صباح) or Hassan as-Sabbāh ( ar, حسن بن الصباح الحميري, full name: Hassan bin Ali bin Muhammad bin Ja'far bin al-Husayn bin Muhammad bin al-Sabbah al-Himyari; c. 1050 – 12 June 1124) was the ...
. The state was formed in 1090 after the capture of
Alamut Castle
Alamut ( fa, wikt:الموت, الموت, meaning "eagle's nest") is a ruined mountain fortress located in the Alamut region in the South Caspian Sea, Caspian province of Qazvin near the Masudabad, Qazvin, Masoudabad region in Iran, approximately ...
in modern Iran, which served as the Assassins' headquarters. The Alamut and
Lambsar castles became the foundation of a network of
Isma'ili fortresses throughout Persia and Syria that formed the backbone of Assassin power, and included Syrian strongholds at
Masyaf,
Abu Qubays Abu Qubays may refer to the following places:
* Abu Qubays (mountain), a mountain near Mecca, Saudi Arabia
*Abu Qubays, Syria
Abu Qubays ( ar, أبو قبيس also spelled ''Abu Qobeis'', ''Abu Qubais'' or ''Bu Kubais''; also known as Qartal) is ...
,
al-Qadmus
Al-Qadmus ( ar, القدموس, also spelled al-Qadmous or Cadmus) is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Tartus Governorate, located northeast of Tartus and southeast of Baniyas. Nearby localities include Kaff al-Jaa and Ma ...
and
al-Kahf
Al-Kahf ( ar, الكهف, ; The Cave) is the 18th chapter (sūrah) of the Quran with 110 verses ( āyāt). Regarding the timing and contextual background of the revelation (''asbāb al-nuzūl''), it is an earlier "Meccan surah", which mean ...
. The Nizari Isma'ili State was ruled by Hassan-i Sabbah until his death in 1124. The Western world was introduced to the Assassins by the works of
Marco Polo
Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...
who understood the name as deriving from the word
hashish
Hashish ( ar, حشيش, ()), also known as hash, "dry herb, hay" is a drug made by compressing and processing parts of the cannabis plant, typically focusing on flowering buds (female flowers) containing the most trichomes. European Monitorin ...
.
[
]
The rulers of the Nizari Isma'ili State were religious leaders, at first ''da'i
A da'i ( ar, داعي, dāʿī, inviter, caller, ) is generally someone who engages in Dawah, the act of inviting people to Islam.
See also
* Dawah
* Da'i al-Mutlaq, "the absolute (unrestricted) missionary" (Arabic: الداعي المطلق)
* ...
'' and later Imams''.'' Prominent Assassin leaders operating in Syria included al-Hakim al-Munajjim, the physician
A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
-astrologer
Astrology is a range of divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of celestial objects. Dif ...
(d. 1103), Abu Tahir al-Sa’igh, the goldsmith (d. 1113), Bahram al-Da'i (d. 1127), and Rashid ad-Din Sinan, renowned as the greatest Assassin chief (d. 1193).
While Assassins typically refers to the entire sect, only a group of disciples known as the ''fida'i
"" ( ar, فدائي ; lit. " Fedayeen warrior"), is the national anthem of Palestine.
History
The anthem was adopted by the Palestinian Liberation Organization in 1996, in accordance with Article 31 of the Palestinian Declaration of Independenc ...
'' actually engaged in conflict. Lacking their own army, the Nizari relied on these warriors to carry out espionage and assassinations of key enemy figures. The preferred method of killing was by dagger, nerve poison or arrows. The Assassins posed a substantial strategic threat to Fatimid, Abbasid
The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...
, and Seljuk Seljuk or Saljuq (سلجوق) may refer to:
* Seljuk Empire (1051–1153), a medieval empire in the Middle East and central Asia
* Seljuk dynasty (c. 950–1307), the ruling dynasty of the Seljuk Empire and subsequent polities
* Seljuk (warlord) (di ...
authority. Over the course of nearly 300 years, they killed hundreds - including three caliphs, a ruler of Jerusalem and several Muslim and Christian leaders. The first instance of murder in the effort to establish a Nizari Isma'ili state in Persia was the assassination of Seljuk vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called ''katib'' (secretary), who was a ...
Nizam al-Mulk
Abu Ali Hasan ibn Ali Tusi (April 10, 1018 – October 14, 1092), better known by his honorific title of Nizam al-Mulk ( fa, , , Order of the Realm) was a Persian scholar, jurist, political philosopher and Vizier of the Seljuk Empire. Rising fro ...
in 1092.
Other notable victims of the Assassins include Janah ad-Dawla, emir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...
of Homs
Homs ( , , , ; ar, حِمْص / ALA-LC: ; Levantine Arabic: / ''Ḥomṣ'' ), known in pre-Islamic Syria as Emesa ( ; grc, Ἔμεσα, Émesa), is a city in western Syria and the capital of the Homs Governorate. It is Metres above sea level ...
, (1103), Mawdud ibn Altuntash
Mawdud ibn Altuntash ( ar, شرف الدولة المودود) (also spelled Maudud or Sharaf al-Dawla Mawdûd) (died October 2, 1113) was a Turkic military leader who was atabeg of Mosul from 1109 to 1113. He organized several expeditions to recon ...
, atabeg
Atabeg, Atabek, or Atabey is a hereditary title of nobility of Turkic origin, indicating a governor of a nation or province who was subordinate to a monarch and charged with raising the crown prince. The first instance of the title's use was wit ...
of Mosul
Mosul ( ar, الموصل, al-Mawṣil, ku, مووسڵ, translit=Mûsil, Turkish: ''Musul'', syr, ܡܘܨܠ, Māwṣil) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. The city is considered the second large ...
(1113), Fatimid vizier Al-Afdal Shahanshah
Al-Afdal Shahanshah ( ar, الأفضل شاهنشاه, al-Afḍal Shāhanshāh; la, Lavendalius/Elafdalio; 1066 – 11 December 1121), born Abu al-Qasim Shahanshah bin Badr al-Jamali was a vizier of the Fatimid caliphs of Egypt. According to a ...
(1121), Seljuk atabeg Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi
Qasīm al-Dawla Sayf al-Dīn Abū Saʿīd Āqsunqur al-Bursuqī (), also known as Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi, Aqsonqor il-Bursuqi, Aksunkur al-Bursuki, Aksungur or al-Borsoki, was the atabeg of Mosul from 1113–1114 and again from 1124–1126.
Accessi ...
(1126), Fatimid caliph al-Amir bi-Ahkami’l-Lah (1130), Taj al-Mulk Buri
Taj al-Muluk Buri ( ar, تاج الملوك بوري; died 6 June 1132) was an atabeg of Damascus from 1128 to 1132. He was initially an officer in the army of Duqaq, the Seljuk ruler of Damascus, together with his father Toghtekin. When the lat ...
, atabeg of Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
(1132), and Abbasid caliphs al-Mustarshid (1135) and ar-Rashid (1138). Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سهلاحهدین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
, a major foe of the Assassins, escaped assassination twice (1175–1176). The first Frank known to have been killed by the Assassins was Raymond II, Count of Tripoli, in 1152. The Assassins were acknowledged and feared by the Crusaders, losing the ''de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' King of Jerusalem
The King of Jerusalem was the supreme ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, a Crusader states, Crusader state founded in Jerusalem by the Latin Church, Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade, when the city was Siege of Jerusalem (1099), conqu ...
, Conrad of Montferrat, to an Assassin's blade in 1192 and Lord Philip of Montfort of Tyre in 1270.
During the rule of Imam
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...
Rukn al-Din Khurshah
Rukn al-Dīn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad Khurshāh (or Khwarshāh) () (1230-1257) was the son of ‘Alā’ ad-Dīn Muḥammad III and the 27th Isma'ili Imam. He was also the fifth and final Nizari Isma'ili Imam who ruled at Alamut. The Imam was the ...
, the Nizari Isma'ili State declined internally, and was eventually destroyed as Khurshah surrendered the castles after the Mongol invasion of Persia
The Mongol conquest of Persia comprised three Mongol campaigns against Islamic states in the Middle East and Central Asia between 1219 and 1256. These campaigns led to the termination of the Khwarazmian dynasty, the Nizari Ismaili state, and th ...
. Khurshah died in 1256 and, by 1275, the Mongols
The Mongols ( mn, Монголчууд, , , ; ; russian: Монголы) are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, Inner Mongolia in China and the Buryatia Republic of the Russian Federation. The Mongols are the principal membe ...
had destroyed and eliminated the order of Assassins.
Accounts of the Assassins were preserved within Western, Arabic, Syriac, and Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
sources where they are depicted as trained killers, responsible for the systematic elimination of opposing figures. European orientalists in the 19th and 20th centuries also referred to the Isma'ili Assassins in their works, writing about them based on accounts in seminal works by medieval Sunni Arab
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagree ...
and Persian authors, particularly ibn al-Qalanisi's '' Mudhayyal Ta'rikh Dimashq'' (''Continuation of the Chronicle of Damascus''), ibn al-Athir's '' al-Kāmil fit-Tārīkh'' (''The Complete History''), and Juvayni's '' Tarīkh-i Jahān-gushā'' (''History of the World Conqueror'')''.''
Origins
Hassan-i Sabbah
Hasan-i Sabbāh ( fa, حسن صباح) or Hassan as-Sabbāh ( ar, حسن بن الصباح الحميري, full name: Hassan bin Ali bin Muhammad bin Ja'far bin al-Husayn bin Muhammad bin al-Sabbah al-Himyari; c. 1050 – 12 June 1124) was the ...
was born in Qom
Qom (also spelled as "Ghom", "Ghum", or "Qum") ( fa, قم ) is the seventh largest metropolis and also the seventh largest city in Iran. Qom is the capital of Qom Province. It is located to the south of Tehran. At the 2016 census, its popul ...
, ca. 1050, and did his religious studies in Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
with the Fatimids. Sabbah's father was a Qahtanite
The terms Qahtanite and Qahtani ( ar, قَحْطَانِي; Arabic transliteration, transliterated: Qaḥṭānī) refer to Arab people, Arabs who originate from South Arabia. The term "Qahtan" is mentioned in multiple ancient Arabian inscriptio ...
Arab, said to be a descendant of Himyaritic kings, having emigrated to Qom from Kufa. His support of Nizar ibn al-Mustansir in the succession crisis resulted in his imprisonment and deportation. He made his way to Persia where, through subterfuge, he and his followers captured Alamut Castle in 1090. This was the beginning of the Nizari Isma'ili State and the Assassins. Hassan-i Sabbah was not a direct descendant of Nizar and so a ''da'i'' rather than an Imam. It was Isma'ili doctrine that he kept Nizar's lineage intact through the so-called "concealed Imams". Sabbah adapted the fortress to suit his needs not only for defense from hostile forces, but also for indoctrination of his followers. After laying claim to the fortress at Alamut, Sabbah began expanding his influence outwards to nearby towns and districts, using his agents to gain political favour and to intimidate the local populations. Spending most of his days at Alamut producing religious works and developing doctrines for his order, Sabbah would never again leave his fortress. Murder for religious purposes was not new to the region, as the strangler sects of southern Iraq dating to the eighth century have shown. The strangler sects were stopped by the Umayyads Umayyads may refer to:
*Umayyad dynasty, a Muslim ruling family of the Caliphate (661–750) and in Spain (756–1031)
*Umayyad Caliphate (661–750)
:*Emirate of Córdoba (756–929)
:*Caliphate of Córdoba
The Caliphate of Córdoba ( ar, خ ...
; the Assassins would not be by the later caliphates.
Shortly after establishing their headquarters at Alamut Castle, the sect captured Lambsar Castle, to be the largest of the Isma'ili fortresses and confirming the Assassins' power in northern Persia. The estimated date of the capture of Lambsar varies between 1096 and 1102. The castle was taken under the command of Kiya Buzurg Ummid
Kiyā Buzurg-Ummīd ( fa, کیا بزرگ امید; died 1138) was a ''dawah, dāʿī'' and the second ruler (''da'i'') of the Nizari Ismaili state#Rulers and Imams, Nizari Isma'ili State, ruling Alamut Castle from 1124 to 1138 CE (or 518—532 A ...
, later Sabbah's successor, who remained commandant of the fortress for twenty years. No interactions between the Christian forces of the First Crusade
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic ru ...
and the Assassins have been noted, with the latter concentrating on the Muslim enemies of the former. Other than a mention of Tancred's 1106 taking of Apamea (see below) in ''Gesta Tancredi ''Gesta Tancredi in expeditione Hierosolymitana'' (The Deeds of Tancred in the Crusade), also known by its full title ''Gesta Tancredi Siciliae Regis in expeditione Hierosolymitana, is'' usually called simply ''Gesta Tancredi'', is a prosimetric hi ...
'', Western Europe likely first learned of the Assassins from the chronicles of William of Tyre, ''A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea,'' published much later. William coined the phrase "Old Man of the Mountain" to describe the Nizari Isma'ili ''da'i'' at Alamut.
The Assassins were immediately threatened by the forces of Seljuk sultan Malik-Shah I
Jalāl al-Dawla Mu'izz al-Dunyā Wa'l-Din Abu'l-Fatḥ ibn Alp Arslān (8 August 1055 – 19 November 1092, full name: fa, ), better known by his regnal name of Malik-Shah I ( fa, ), was the third sultan of the Great Seljuk Empire from 1072 to ...
, marking the beginning of the Nizari-Seljuk wars. One of Sabbah's disciples named Dihdar Bu-Ali from Qazvin
Qazvin (; fa, قزوین, , also Romanized as ''Qazvīn'', ''Qazwin'', ''Kazvin'', ''Kasvin'', ''Caspin'', ''Casbin'', ''Casbeen'', or ''Ghazvin'') is the largest city and capital of the Province of Qazvin in Iran. Qazvin was a capital of the ...
rallied local supporters to deflect the Seljuks. Their attack on Alamut Castle and surrounding areas was canceled upon the death of the sultan. The new sultan Barkiyaruq, son of Malik-Shah I, did not continue the direct attack on Alamut, concentrating on securing his position against rivals, including his half-brother Muhammad I Tapar
Abu Shuja Ghiyath al-Dunya wa'l-Din Muhammad ibn Malik-Shah ( fa, , Abū Shujāʿ Ghiyāth al-Dunyā wa ’l-Dīn Muḥammad ibn Malik-Šāh; 1082 – 1118), better known as Muhammad I Tapar (), was the sultan of the Seljuk Empire from 1105 to 111 ...
, who eventually settled for a smaller role, becoming ''malik
Malik, Mallik, Melik, Malka, Malek, Maleek, Malick, Mallick, or Melekh ( phn, 𐤌𐤋𐤊; ar, ملك; he, מֶלֶךְ) is the Semitic term translating to "king", recorded in East Semitic and Arabic, and as mlk in Northwest Semitic duri ...
'' (translated as "king") in Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
and Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
.
The first notable assassination was that of powerful Seljuk vizier Nizam al-Mulk
Abu Ali Hasan ibn Ali Tusi (April 10, 1018 – October 14, 1092), better known by his honorific title of Nizam al-Mulk ( fa, , , Order of the Realm) was a Persian scholar, jurist, political philosopher and Vizier of the Seljuk Empire. Rising fro ...
in 1092, who had helped propel Barkiyaruq to lead the sultanate. Sabbah is reputed to have remarked, "the killing of this devil is the beginning of bliss" on hearing to the death of Nizam. Of the 50 assassinations conducted during Sabbah's reign, more than half were Seljuk officials, many of whom supported Muhammad I Tapar. The story (presented here
Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to:
Software
* Here Technologies, a mapping company
* Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here
Television
* Here TV (formerly "here!"), a TV ...
) claiming a friendship among Nizam al-Mulk, Hassan-i Sabbah and Omar Khayyam described by Edward FitzGerald in his translation of ''The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam
''Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám'' is the title that Edward FitzGerald gave to his 1859 translation from Persian to English of a selection of quatrains (') attributed to Omar Khayyam (1048–1131), dubbed "the Astronomer-Poet of Persia".
Alth ...
'' is most certainly false.
The Assassins seized Persian castles of Rudkhan and Gerdkuh in 1096, before turning to Syria. Gerdkuh was re-fortified by Mu'ayyad al-Din Muzaffar ibn Ahmad Mustawfi, a Seljuk who was a secret Isma'ili convert, and his son Sharaf al-Din Muhammad. There they occupied the fortress at Shaizar held by the Banu Munqidh, using it to spread terror to Isfahan
Isfahan ( fa, اصفهان, Esfahân ), from its Achaemenid empire, ancient designation ''Aspadana'' and, later, ''Spahan'' in Sassanian Empire, middle Persian, rendered in English as ''Ispahan'', is a major city in the Greater Isfahan Regio ...
, the heart of the Seljuk Empire. A rebellion by the local population drove the Assassins out, but they continued to occupy a smaller fortress at Khalinjan. In 1097, Barkiyaruq associate Bursuq was killed by Assassins.
By 1100, Barkiyaruq had consolidated his power, and the Assassins increased their presence by infiltrating the sultan's court and army. Day-to-day functions of the court were frequently performed while armored and with weapons. The next year, he tasked his brother Ahmad Sanjar, then ruler of Khorasan
Khorasan may refer to:
* Greater Khorasan, a historical region which lies mostly in modern-day northern/northwestern Afghanistan, northeastern Iran, southern Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan
* Khorasan Province, a pre-2004 province of Ira ...
, to attack Assassin strongholds in Quhistan. The siege at Tabas was at first successful, with the walls of the fortress breached, but then was lifted, possibly because the Seljuk commander had been bribed. The subsequent attack was devastating to the Assassins, but the terms granted were generous and they were soon reestablished at both Quhistan and Tabas. In the years following, the Assassins continued their mission against religious and secular leaders. Given these successes, they began expanding their operations into Syria.
Expansion into Syria
The first ''da'i'' Hassan-i dispatched to Syria was al-Hakim al-Munajjim, a Persian known as the physician-astrologer, establishing a cell in Aleppo
)), is an adjective which means "white-colored mixed with black".
, motto =
, image_map =
, mapsize =
, map_caption =
, image_map1 =
...
in the early 12th century. Ridwan, the emir of Aleppo, was in search of allies and worked closely with al-Hakim leading to speculation that Ridwan himself was a Nizari. The alliance was first shown in the assassination in 1103 of Janah ad-Dawla, emir of Homs and a key opponent of Ridwan. He was murdered by three Assassins at the Great Mosque of al-Nuri in Homs. Al-Hakim died a few weeks later and was succeeded by Abu Tahir al-Sa’igh, a Persian known as the goldsmith.
After the death of Barkiyaruq in 1105, his successor Muhammad I Tapar began his anti-Nizari campaign. While successful in cleaning the Assassins out of parts of Persia, they remained untouchable in their strongholds in the north. An eight-year war of attrition was initiated under the command of Ahmad ibn Nizam al-Mulk
Ḍiyaʾ al-Mulk Aḥmad ibn Niẓām al-Mulk ( fa, ضیاءالملک احمد بن نظامالملک), was a Persian vizier of the Seljuq Empire and then the Abbasid Caliphate. He was the son of Nizam al-Mulk, one of the most famous viziers ...
, the son of the first Assassin victim. The mission had some successes, negotiating a surrender of Khalinjan with local Assassin leader Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-Malik ibn Attāsh, with the occupants allowed to go to Tabas and Arrajan. But ibn Nizam al-Mulk was unable to take Alamut Castle and avenge the deaths of his father and brother Fakhr al-Mulk. During the siege of Alamut,[Wasserman, p. 102] a famine resulted and Hassan had his wife and daughters sent to the fortress at Gerdkuh. After that time, Assassins never allowed their women to be at their fortresses during military campaigns, both for protection and secrecy. In the end, ibn Attāsh did not fulfill his commitment and was flayed alive, his head delivered to the sultan.
In Syria, Abu Tahir al-Sa’igh, Ridwan and Abu'l Fath of Sarmin conspired in 1106 to send a team of Assassins to murder Khalaf ibn Mula'ib
Sayf al-Dawla Khalaf ibn Mulāʿib al-Ashhabī al-Kilābī ( ar, سيف الدولة خلف بن ملاعب الأشهبي الكلابي; died 3 February 1106) was semi-independent emir of Homs and Apamea between 1082 and 1090. He was later resto ...
, emir of Apamea (Qalaat al-Madiq
Qalaat al-Madiq ( ar, قلعة المضيق also spelled Kal'at al-Mudik or Qal'at al-Mudiq; also known as Afamiyya or Famiyyah) is a town and medieval fortress in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Hama Governorate, located north ...
). Some of Khalaf's sons and guards were also killed and, after the murder, Ridwan became overlord of Apamea and its fortress Qal'at al-Madiq, with Abu'l Fath as emir. A surviving son of Khalaf escaped and turned to Tancred
Tancred or Tankred is a masculine given name of Germanic origin that comes from ''thank-'' (thought) and ''-rath'' (counsel), meaning "well-thought advice". It was used in the High Middle Ages mainly by the Normans (see French Tancrède) and espe ...
, who was at first content to leave the city in the hands of the Isma'ilis and simply collect tribute. Later, he returned and captured the city for Antioch
Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ ...
, as the town's residents overwhelmingly approved of Frankish rule. Abu'l Fath was tortured to death, while Abu Tahir ransomed himself and returned to Aleppo. This encounter, the first between the Crusaders and the Assassins, did not deter the latter from their prime mission against the Seljuks.
Some time later, after 1108, Ahmad ibn Nizam al-Mulk himself was attacked by Assassins for revenge but survived. Not so lucky were Ubayd Allah al-Khatib, ''qadi'' of Isfahan, and a ''qadi'' of Nishapur
Nishapur or officially Romanized as Neyshabur ( fa, ;Or also "نیشاپور" which is closer to its original and historic meaning though it is less commonly used by modern native Persian speakers. In Persian poetry, the name of this city is wr ...
, both of whom succumbed to the Assassins' blade.
The Assassins wreaked havoc on the Syrian rulers, with their first major kill being that of Mawdud
Mawdud ibn Altuntash ( ar, شرف الدولة المودود) (also spelled Maudud or Sharaf al-Dawla Mawdûd) (died October 2, 1113) was a Turkic military leader who was atabeg of Mosul from 1109 to 1113. He organized several expeditions to recon ...
, atabeg of Mosul, in 1113. Mawdud was felled by Assassins in Damascus while a guest of Toghtekin, atabeg of Damascus. He was replaced at Mosul by al-Bursuqi, who himself would be a victim of the Assassins in 1126. Toghtekin's son, the great Buri, founder of the Burid dynasty, would fall victim to the Assassins in 1131, dying a year later due to his injuries.
Ridwan died in 1113 and was succeeded as ruler of Aleppo by his son Alp Arslan al-Akhras al-Dawla, Tāj al-Dawla Alp Arslān ibn Riḍwān, nicknamed al-Akhras (the Mute), was the Seljuk dynasty, Seljuk sultan of Aleppo from Anno Domini, AD 1113 (Anno Hegirae, AH 507) until his death in 1114 (508). According to Ibn al-Athīr, he was not ...
. Alp Arslan continued his father's conciliatory approach to the Assassins. A warning from Muhammad I Tapar and a prior attempt of the assassination of Abu Harb Isa ibn Zayd, a wealthy Persian merchant, led to a wholescale expulsion of the Assassins from Aleppo in that same year. Led by militia commander Sāʿid ibn Badī, the attack resulted in the execution of Abu Tahir al-Sa’igh and the brother of al-Hakim al-Munajjim, with 200 other Assassins killed or imprisoned, some thrown from the top of the citadel. Many took refuge with the Banu Munqidh at Shaizar. Revenge was slow but sure, taken out on Sāʿid ibn Badī in 1119. The shiftless Arp Arslan had exiled Sāʿid to Qalʿat Jaʿbar, where he was murdered along with two of his sons by Assassins.
The Assassins struck again in Damascus in 1116. While a guest of Toghtekin's, Kurdish emir Ahmad-Il ibn Ibrāhim ibn Wahsūdān was sitting next to his host when a grieving man approached with a petition he wished be conveyed to Muhammad I Tapar. When Ahmad-Il accepted the document, he was stuck with a dagger, then again and again by a second and third accomplice. It was thought that the real target may have Toghtekin, but the attackers were discovered to be Assassins, likely after Ahmad-Il, the foster brother of sultan.
In 1118, Muhammad I Tapar died and his brother Ahmad Sanjar became Seljuk sultan, and Hassan sent ambassadors to seek peace. When Sanjar rebuffed these ambassadors, Hassan then sent his Assassins to the sultan. Sanjar woke up one morning with a dagger stuck in the ground beside his bed. Alarmed, he kept the matter a secret. A messenger from Hassan arrived and stated, "Did I not wish the sultan well that the dagger which was struck in the hard ground would have been planted on your soft breast". For the next several decades there ensued a ceasefire between the Isma'ilis and the Seljuks. Sanjar himself pensioned the Assassins on taxes collected from the lands they owned, gave them grants and licenses, and even allowed them to collect tolls from travelers.
By 1120, the Assassins position in Aleppo had improved to the point that they demanded the small citadel of Qal'at ash-Sharif from Ilghazi
Najm ad-Din Ilghazi ibn Artuq (died November 8, 1122) was the Turkmen Artukid ruler of Mardin from 1107 to 1122. He was born into the Oghuz tribe of Döğer.
Biography
His father Artuk Bey was the founder of the Artukid dynasty, and had be ...
, then Artuqid emir of Aleppo. Rather than refuse, he had the citadel demolished. The end of Assassin influence in Aleppo ended in 1124 when they were expelled by Belek Ghazi, a successor to Ilghazi. Nevertheless, the ''qadi'' ibn al-Khashahab who had overseen the demolition of Qal'at ash-Sharif was killed by Assassins in 1125. At the same time, the Assassins of Diyarbakir were set upon by the locals, resulting in hundreds killed.
No one was more responsible for the succession crisis that caused the exile of Nizar ibn Mustarstir than the powerful Fatimid vizier al-Afdal Shahanshah
Al-Afdal Shahanshah ( ar, الأفضل شاهنشاه, al-Afḍal Shāhanshāh; la, Lavendalius/Elafdalio; 1066 – 11 December 1121), born Abu al-Qasim Shahanshah bin Badr al-Jamali was a vizier of the Fatimid caliphs of Egypt. According to a ...
. In 1121, al-Afdal was murdered by three Assassins from Aleppo, causing a seven-day celebration among the Isma'ilis and no great mourning among the court of Fatimid caliph al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah
Abu Ali al-Mansur ibn al-Musta'li ( ar, أبو علي المنصور بن المستعلي, Abū ʿAlī al-Manṣūr ibn al-Mustaʿlī; 31 December 1096 – 7 October 1130), better known by his regnal name al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah ( ar, الآمر ...
who resented his growing boldness. Al-Afdal Shahanshah was replaced as vizier by al-Ma'mum al-Bata'ihi who was instructed to prepare a letter of rapprochement between Cairo and Alamut. Upon learning of a plot to kill both al-Amir and al-Ma'mum, such ideas were disbanded, and severe restrictions on dealing with the Assassins were instead put in place.
The next generation
In 1124, Hassan-i Sabbah died, leaving a legacy that reverberated throughout the Middle East for centuries. He was succeeded at Alamut by Kiya Buzurg Ummid
Kiyā Buzurg-Ummīd ( fa, کیا بزرگ امید; died 1138) was a ''dawah, dāʿī'' and the second ruler (''da'i'') of the Nizari Ismaili state#Rulers and Imams, Nizari Isma'ili State, ruling Alamut Castle from 1124 to 1138 CE (or 518—532 A ...
.
The appointment of a new ''da'i'' at Alamut may have led the Seljuks to believe the Assassins were in a weakened position, and Ahmad Sanjar launched an attack on them in 1126. Led by Sanjar's vizier Mu'in ad-Din Kashi, the Seljuks again struck at Quhistan and also Nishapur
Nishapur or officially Romanized as Neyshabur ( fa, ;Or also "نیشاپور" which is closer to its original and historic meaning though it is less commonly used by modern native Persian speakers. In Persian poetry, the name of this city is wr ...
in the east, and at Rudbar to the north. In the east, the Seljuks had minor successes at a village near Sabzevar, where the population was destroyed, their leader leaping from the mosque's minaret, and at Turaythirth in Nishapur, where the attackers "killed many, took much booty, and then returned." At best, the results were not decisive, but superior to the routing the Seljuks received in the north, with one expedition driven back, losing their previous booty, and another having a Seljuk commander captured. In the end, the Isma'ili position was better than before the offensive. In the guise of a peace offering of two Arabian horses, Assassins gained the confidence of Mu'in ad-Din Kashi and killed him in 1127.
At the same time, in Syria, a Persian named Bahram al-Da'i, the successor to Abu Tahir al-Sa’igh who had been executed in Aleppo in 1113, appeared in Damascus reflecting cooperation between the Assassins and Toghtekin, including a joint operation against the Crusaders. Bahram, a Persian from Asterabad (present-day Gorgan), had lived in secrecy after the expulsion of the Assassins from Aleppo and was the nephew of an Assassin Abu Ibrahim al-Asterbadi who had been executed by Barkiyaruq in 1101. Bahram was most likely behind the murder of al-Bursuqi in 1126, whose assassination may have been ordered by the Seljuk sultan Mahmud II
Mahmud II ( ota, محمود ثانى, Maḥmûd-u s̠ânî, tr, II. Mahmud; 20 July 1785 – 1 July 1839) was the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839.
His reign is recognized for the extensive administrative, ...
. He later established a stronghold near Banias. During an attack on the Lebanese valley of Wadi al-Taym, Bahram captured and tortured to death a local chieftain named Baraq ibn Jandal. In retaliation, his brother Dahhak ibn Jandal killed Bahram in 1127. So great was the fear and hatred of the Assassins that the messenger delivering Bahram's head and hands to Cairo was rewarded with a robe of honor. That fear was justified as caliph al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah
Abu Ali al-Mansur ibn al-Musta'li ( ar, أبو علي المنصور بن المستعلي, Abū ʿAlī al-Manṣūr ibn al-Mustaʿlī; 31 December 1096 – 7 October 1130), better known by his regnal name al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah ( ar, الآمر ...
was murdered at court in 1130 by ten Assassins.
The Isma'ili response to the Seljuk invasion of 1126 was multi-faceted. In Rudbar, a new and powerful fortress was built at Maymundiz and new territories acquired. To the east, the Seljuk stronghold of Sistan
Sistān ( fa, سیستان), known in ancient times as Sakastān ( fa, سَكاستان, "the land of the Saka"), is a historical and geographical region in present-day Eastern Iran ( Sistan and Baluchestan Province) and Southern Afghanistan (N ...
was raided in 1129. That same year, Mahmud II, son of Muhammad I Tapar, and sultan of Isfahan, decided to sue for peace with Alamut. Unfortunately, the Isma'ili envoys to Mahmud II were lynched by an angry mob following their audience with the sultan. The demand by Kiya Buzurg Ummid for punishment of the perpetrators was refused. That prompted an Assassin attack on Qazvin
Qazvin (; fa, قزوین, , also Romanized as ''Qazvīn'', ''Qazwin'', ''Kazvin'', ''Kasvin'', ''Caspin'', ''Casbin'', ''Casbeen'', or ''Ghazvin'') is the largest city and capital of the Province of Qazvin in Iran. Qazvin was a capital of the ...
, resulting in the loss of 400 lives in addition to a Turkish emir. A counterattack on Alamut was inconclusive.
In Syria, Assassin leader Bahram was replaced by another mysterious Persian named Isma'il al-'Ajami who, like Bahram, was supported by al-Mazdaghani, the pro-Isma'ili vizier to Toghtekin. After the death of Toghtekin in 1128, his son and successor Taj a-Mulk Buri began to free Damascus of Assassins. Supported by his military commander Yusuf ibn Firuz Yusuf ibn Firuz (surname also spelled ''Fayruz'') was the military governor under successive Burid atabegs of Damascus. Ibn Firuz served first with Toghtekin and then his son Taj al-Mulk Buri after the death of the former in 1128. In 1129, Buri ...
, al-Mazdaghani was murdered and his head publicly displayed. The Damascenes turned on the Assassins leaving "dogs yelping and quarreling over their limbs and corpses." At least 6000 Assassins died, and the rest, including Isma'il (who had turned Banias over to the Franks), fled to Frankish territory. Isma'il was killed in 1130, temporarily disabling the Assassins' Syrian mission. Nevertheless, Alamut organized a counterstrike, with two Persian Assassins disguised as Turkish soldiers who struck down Buri in 1131. The Assassins were hacked to pieces by Buri's guards, and he died of his wounds the following year.
Mahmud II died in 1131 and his brother Ghiyath ad-Din Mas'ud (Mas'ud) was recognized as successor by Abbasid caliph al-Mustarshid. The succession was contested by Mahmud's son and other brothers, and al-Mustarshid was draw into the conflict. The caliph al-Mustarshid was taken prisoner by Seljuk forces in 1135 near Hamadan and pardoned with the proviso that he abdicate. Left in his tent studying the Quran, he was murdered by a large group of Assassins. Some suspected Mas'ud and even Ahmad Sanjar with complicity, but the chronicles of contemporaneous Arab historians ibn al-Athir
Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ash-Shaybānī, better known as ʿAlī ʿIzz ad-Dīn Ibn al-Athīr al-Jazarī ( ar, علي عز الدین بن الاثیر الجزري) lived 1160–1233) was an Arab or Kurdish historian a ...
and ibn al-Jawzi do not bear that out. The Isma'ilis commemorated the caliph's death with seven days and nights of celebration.
The reign of Buzurg Ummid ended with his death in 1138, showing a relatively small list of assassinations. He was succeeded by his son Muhammad Buzurg Ummid Muḥammad ibn Buzurg-Ummīd ( fa, محمد بن بزرگ امید) (died February 20, 1162) was the son of Kiyā Buzurg-Ummīd, and the third ruler of the Nizari Ismailis from 1138 until 1162 based in Alamut.
Career
Upon the demise of Kiyā B ...
, sometimes referred to as Kiya Muhammad.
The Abbasids' celebration of the death of the Assassin leader Buzurg Ummid was short-lived. The son and successor of the last high-profile victim of the Assassins, al-Mustarshid, was ar-Rashid. Ar-Rashid was deposed by his uncle al-Muqtafi in 1136 and, while recovering from an illness in Isfahan, was murdered by Assassins. The addition of a second caliph to the Assassins' so-called "role of honor" of victims again resulted in a week of celebration at Alamut. Another significant success was the assassination of the son of Mahmud II, Da'ud, who ruled in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
and Jibal
Jibāl ( ar, جبال), also al-Jabal ( ar, الجبل), was the name given by the Arabs to a region and province located in western Iran, under the Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates.
Its name means "the Mountains", being the plural of ''jabal'' (" ...
. Da'ud was felled by four Assassins in Tabriz
Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...
in 1143, rumored to have been dispatched by Zengi, atabeg of Mosul.
The decades after the assassination of al-Mustarshid showed an expansion of Assassin castles in Jabal Bahrā', to the northwest of their Syrian fortresses in Jabal as-Summaq. In 1132, Saif al-Mulk ibn Amrun, emir of al-Kahf, recovered the fortress of al-Qadmus
Al-Qadmus ( ar, القدموس, also spelled al-Qadmous or Cadmus) is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Tartus Governorate, located northeast of Tartus and southeast of Baniyas. Nearby localities include Kaff al-Jaa and Ma ...
from the Franks, known to them as ''Bokabeis.'' He then sold the fortress to the Assassins in 1133. This was followed by the ceding of al-Kahf Castle itself to Assassin control in 1138 by Saif's son Musa in the midst of a succession struggle. These were followed by the acquisition of the castle at Masyaf in 1140 and of Qala'at al-Khawabi, known to the Crusaders as ''La Coible'', in 1141.
Relatively little is recorded concerning Assassin activity during this period until the Second Crusade
The Second Crusade (1145–1149) was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa in 1144 to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusa ...
. In 1149, an Assassin named Ali ibn-Wafa allied with Raymond of Poitiers
Raymond of Poitiers (c. 1105–29 June 1149) was Prince of Antioch from 1136 to 1149. He was the younger son of William IX, Duke of Aquitaine, and his wife Philippa, Countess of Toulouse, born in the very year that his father the Duke began his ...
, son of William IX of Aquitaine, to defend the borders of the Principality of Antioch against Zengid expansion. The forces met at the battle of Inab
The Battle of Inab, also called Battle of Ard al-Hâtim or Fons Muratus, was fought on 29 June 1149, during the Second Crusade. The Zengid army of Atabeg Nur ad-Din Zangi destroyed the combined army of Prince Raymond of Poitiers and the Assassi ...
, with Zengi's son and heir Nur ad-Din defeating the Franks, killing both Raymond and ibn-Wafa. Nur ad-Din would again foil the Assassins in 1158, incorporating a castle at Shaizar that they had occupied after the 1157 earthquake into his territory. Two assassinations are known from this period. In a revenge attack, Dahhak ibn Jandal, the Wadi al-Taym chieftain who had killed Assassin ''da'i'' Bahram in 1127, died from an Assassin's blade in 1149. A few years later in 1152, possibly in retaliation to the establishment of the Knights Templar
, colors = White mantle with a red cross
, colors_label = Attire
, march =
, mascot = Two knights riding a single horse
, equipment ...
at Tartus
)
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline =
, imagesize =
, image_caption = Tartus corniche Port of Tartus • Tartus beach and boulevard Cathedral of Our Lady of Tortosa • Al-Assad Stadium&n ...
, Raymond II, count of Tripoli, was killed by Assassins. This marked the first known Christian victim.
Hassan II and Rashid ad-Din Sinan
The fourteen known assassinations during the reign of Kiya Muhammad was a far cry from the tally of his predecessors, representing a significant decline in the power of the Isma'ilis. This was exemplified by the governors of Mazandaran and of Rayy who were said to have built towers out of Isma'ili skulls. That was to change with the ascension in 1162 of Ḥasan ʿAlā Zikrihi's Salām, known as Hassan II, the first to be recognized as Imam
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...
.
In the middle of Ramadan
, type = islam
, longtype = Religious
, image = Ramadan montage.jpg
, caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...
in 559 AH, Hassan II gathered his followers and announced to "jinn
Jinn ( ar, , ') – also Romanization of Arabic, romanized as djinn or Anglicization, anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources)
– are Invisibility, invisible creatures in early Arabian mytho ...
, men and angels" that the Hidden Imam had freed them "from the burden of the rules of Holy Law". With that, the assembled took part in a ritual violation of Sharia, a banquet with wine, in violation of the Ramadan fast, with their backs turned towards Medina. Observance of Islamic rites (fasting, salat prayer, etc.) was punishable by the utmost severity. (According to Shīʿa hadiths, when the Hidden Imam/mahdi reappears, "he will bring a new religion, a new book and a new law").
Resistance was nonetheless deep, and Hasan was stabbed to death by his own brother-in-law.[ Filiu, ''Apocalypse in Islam '', 2011: p.53]
Hassan II shifted the focus of his followers from the exoteric to the esoteric ( batin). He traced his genealogy to the Fatimid Imams and Imam Nizar, which the da'is of Alamut confirmed as they were the ones in contact with the Imam. He abrogated the exoteric practice of Sharia
Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the H ...
and stressed on the esoteric ( batini) side of the laws. And "while outwardly he was known as the grandson of Buzurgumid", in this esoteric reality, Lewis writes, Hasan claimed "he was the Imam of the time" (the last Imam of Shia Islam before the end of the world). The impact of these changes on Isma'ili life and politics were vast and continued after Hassan II's death in 1166 by his son Nūr al-Dīn Muhammad, known as the Imam Muhammad II, who ruled from 1166 to 1210. It is in this context and the changes in the Muslim world brought about by the disintegration of the Seljuk empire that a new chief ''da'i'' of the Assassins was thrust: Rashid ad-Din Sinan, referred to as Sinān
Rashid ad-Din Sinan, an alchemist and schoolmaster, was dispatched to Syria by Hassan II as a messenger of his Islamic views and to continue the Assassins' mission. Known as the greatest of the Assassin chiefs, Sinān first made headquarters at al-Kahf Castle and then the fortress of Masyaf. At al-Kahf, he worked with chief ''da'i'' Abu-Muhammad who was succeeded at his death by Khwaja Ali ibn Mas'ud without authority from Alamut. Khwaja was murdered by Abu-Muhammad's nephew Abu Mansur, causing Alamut to reassert control. After seven years at al-Kahf, Sinān assumed that role'','' operating independently of and feared by Alamut, relocating the capital to Masyaf. Among his first tasks were the refurbishing of the fortress of ar-Rusafa and of Qala'at al-Khawabi, constructing a tower at the citadel of the latter. Sinān also captured the castle of al-'Ullaiqah at Aleika
Aleika Castle or Aliqa Castle ( ar, قلعة العليقة) is located in Aliqa near Tartus at distance 85 km, it consists of two floor structures, a type of concentric castle. Historically (12th century) it was under Syrian Nizari Isma'ili ...
, near Tartus.
One of the first orders of business that Sinān confronted was the continuing threat from Nur ad-Din as well as the Knights Templar's presence at Tartus. In 1173, Sinān proposed to Amalric of Jerusalem an alliance against Nur ad-Din in exchange for cancellation of the tribute imposed upon Assassin villages near Tartus. The Assassin envoys to the king were ambushed and slain returning from their negotiations near Tripoli by a Templar knight named Walter du Mesnil, an act apparently sanctioned by the Grand Master Odo de Saint Amand. Amalric demanded the knight be surrendered, but Odo refused, claiming only the pope had the authority to punish du Mesnil. Amalric had du Mesnil kidnapped and imprisoned at Tyre. Sinān accepted the king's apology, assured that justice had been done. The point of the alliance became moot as both Nur ad-Din and Amalric died of natural causes soon thereafter.
These developments could not have been better for Saladin
Yusuf ibn Ayyub ibn Shadi () ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known by the epithet Saladin,, ; ku, سهلاحهدین, ; was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from an ethnic Kurdish family, he was the first of both Egypt and ...
who wished to expand beyond Egypt into Jerusalem and Syria, first taking Damascus
)), is an adjective which means "spacious".
, motto =
, image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg
, image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg
, seal_type = Seal
, map_caption =
, ...
. With the Kingdom of Jerusalem being led by the 13-year old leperous Baldwin IV and Syria by the 11-year old as-Salih Ismail al-Malik
As-Salih Ismaʿil al-Malik (1163–1181) was an emir of Damascus and emir of Aleppo in 1174, the son of Nur ad-Din.
Biography
He was only eleven years old when his father died in 1174. As-Salih came under the protection of the eunuch Gümüs ...
, son of Nur ad-Din, he continued his campaign in Syria, moving against Aleppo. While besieging Aleppo in late 1174 or early 1175, the camp of Saladin was infiltrated by Assassins sent by Sinān and As-Salih's regent Gümüshtigin. Nasih al-Din Khumartekin, emir of Abu Qubays Abu Qubays may refer to the following places:
* Abu Qubays (mountain), a mountain near Mecca, Saudi Arabia
*Abu Qubays, Syria
Abu Qubays ( ar, أبو قبيس also spelled ''Abu Qobeis'', ''Abu Qubais'' or ''Bu Kubais''; also known as Qartal) is ...
, was killed in the attack which left Saladin unscathed. The next year, after taking Azaz
Azaz ( ar, أَعْزَاز, ʾAʿzāz) is a city in northwest Syria, roughly north-northwest of Aleppo. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Azaz had a population of 31,623 in the 2004 census. , Assassins again struck, wounding Saladin. Gümüshtigin was again believed to be complicit in the assassination attempt. Turning his attention to Aleppo, the city was soon conquered and Saladin allowed as-Salih and Gümüshtigin to continue to rule, but under his sovereignty. Saladin then turned his attention back to the Assassins, besieging Masyaf in 1176. Failing to capture the stronghold, he settled for a truce. Accounts of a mystical encounter between Saladin and Sinān have been offered :
Saladin had his guards supplied with link lights and had chalk and cinders strewed around his tent outside Masyaf—which he was besieging—to detect any footsteps by the Assassins. According to this version, one night Saladin's guards noticed a spark glowing down the hill of Masyaf and then vanishing among the Ayyubid tents. Presently, Saladin awoke to find a figure leaving the tent. He saw that the lamps were displaced and beside his bed laid hot scones of the shape peculiar to the Assassins with a note at the top pinned by a poisoned dagger. The note threatened that he would be killed if he did not withdraw from his assault. Saladin gave a loud cry, exclaiming that Sinan himself was the figure that had left the tent.
Another version claims that Saladin hastily withdrew his troops from Masyaf because they were urgently needed to fend off a Crusader force in the vicinity of Mount Lebanon
Mount Lebanon ( ar, جَبَل لُبْنَان, ''jabal lubnān'', ; syr, ܛܘܪ ܠܒ݂ܢܢ, ', , ''ṭūr lewnōn'' french: Mont Liban) is a mountain range in Lebanon. It averages above in elevation, with its peak at .
Geography
The Mount Le ...
. In reality, Saladin sought to form an alliance with Sinan and his Assassins, consequently depriving the Crusaders of a potent ally against him. Viewing the expulsion of the Crusaders as a mutual benefit and priority, Saladin and Sinan maintained cooperative relations afterwards, the latter dispatching contingents of his forces to bolster Saladin's army in a number of decisive subsequent battlefronts.
By 1177, The conflict between Sinān and as-Salih continued with the assassination of Shihab ad-Din abu-Salih, vizier to both as-Salih and Nur ad-Din. A letter from as-Salih to Sinān requesting the murder was found to be a forgery by Gümüshtigin, causing his removal. As-Salih seized the village of al-Hajira from the Assassins, and in response Sinān's followers burned the marketplace in Aleppo.
In 1190, Isabella I
Isabella I ( es, Isabel I; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''la Católica''), was Queen of Castile from 1474 until her death in 1504, as well as Queen consort of Aragon from 1479 until 1504 by ...
was Queen of Jerusalem and the Third Crusade
The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...
had just begun. The daughter of Amalric, she married her first husband Conrad of Montferrat, who became king by virtue of marriage, not yet crowned. Conrad was of royal blood, the cousin of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on ...
and Louis VII of France
Louis VII (1120 – 18 September 1180), called the Younger, or the Young (french: link=no, le Jeune), was King of the Franks from 1137 to 1180. He was the son and successor of King Louis VI (hence the epithet "the Young") and married Duchess ...
. Conrad had been in charge of Tyre during the siege of Tyre in 1187 launched by Saladin, successfully defending the city. Guy of Lusignan, married to Isabella's half-sister Sybilla of Jerusalem Sibylla is a female given name. It may refer to:
* Sibylla of Jerusalem (c. 1160–1190), queen regnant of Jerusalem
* Sybilla of Normandy (c. 1092–1122), queen consort of Scotland
* Sibylla of Acerra (1153–1205), queen consort of Sicily
* Siby ...
, was king of Jerusalem by right of marriage and had been captured by Saladin during the battle of Hattin
The Battle of Hattin took place on 4 July 1187, between the Crusader states of the Levant and the forces of the Ayyubid sultan Saladin. It is also known as the Battle of the Horns of Hattin, due to the shape of the nearby extinct volcano of t ...
in that same year, 1187. When Guy was released in 1188, he was denied entry to Tyre by Conrad and launched the siege of Acre in 1189. Queen Sybilla died of an epidemic sweeping her husband's military camp in 1190, negating Guy's claim to the throne and resulting in Isabella becoming queen.
Assassins disguised as Christian monks had infiltrated the bishopric of Tyre, gaining the confidence of both the archbishop Joscius and Conrad of Montferrat. There in 1192, they stabbed Conrad to death. The surviving Assassin is reputed to have named Richard I of England
Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was ...
as the instigator, who had much to gain as demonstrated by the rapidity at which the widow married Henry II of Champagne
Henry II of Champagne (or Henry I of Jerusalem) (29 July 1166 – 10 September 1197) was count of Champagne from 1181 to 1197, and king of Jerusalem from 1192 to 1197 by virtue of his marriage to Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem.
Early life
Henry ...
. That account is disputed by ibn al-Athir who names Saladin in a plot with Sinān to kill both Conrad and Richard. Richard I was captured by Leopold V, Duke of Austria
Leopold V (1157 – 31 December 1194), known as the Virtuous (german: der Tugendhafte) was a member of the House of Babenberg who reigned as Duke of Austria from 1177 and Duke of Styria from 1192 until his death. The Georgenberg Pact resulted in L ...
, and held by Henry VI, who had become Holy Roman Emperor in 1191, accused of murder. Sinān wrote to Leopold V absolving Richard I of complicity in the plot. Regardless, Richard I was released in 1194 after England paid his ransom and the murder remains unsolved. Adding to the continued cold case is the belief by modern historians that Sinan's letter to Leopold V is a forgery, written by members of Richard I's administration.
Conrad was Sinān's last assassination. The great Assassin Rashid ad-Din Sinan, the Old Man of the Mountain, died in 1193, the same year that claimed Saladin. He died of natural causes at al-Kahf Castle and was buried at Salamiyah
A full view of Shmemis (spring 1995)
Salamieh ( ar, سلمية ') is a city and district in western Syria, in the Hama Governorate. It is located southeast of Hama, northeast of Homs. The city is nicknamed the "mother of Cairo" because it was t ...
, which had been a secret hub of Isma'ili activity in the 9th and 10th centuries. His successor was Nasr al-'Ajami, under the control of Alamut, who reportedly met with emperor Henry VI in 1194. Later successors through 1227 included Kamāl ad-Din al-Hasan and Majd ad-Din, again under the control of Alamut. Saladin left his Ayyubid dynasty
The Ayyubid dynasty ( ar, الأيوبيون '; ) was the founding dynasty of the medieval Sultan of Egypt, Sultanate of Egypt established by Saladin in 1171, following his abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate, Fatimid Caliphate of Egypt. A Sunni ...
under his sons al-Aziz Uthman, sultan of Egypt, al-Afdal ibn Salah ad-Din, emir of Damascus, and az-Zahir Ghazi, emir of Aleppo. Al-Aziz died soon thereafter, replaced by Saladin's brother al-Adil I.
13th century
In 1210, Muhammad III died and his son Jalāl al-Din Hasan (known as Hassan III) became Imam of the Nizari Isma'ili State. His first actions included the return to the Islamic orthodoxy by practising Taqiyyah
In Shi'ism, ''Taqiya'' or ''Taqiyya'' ( ar, تقیة ', literally "prudence, fear")R. STROTHMANN, MOKTAR DJEBLI. Encyclopedia of Islam, 2nd ed, Brill. "TAKIYYA", vol. 10, p. 134. Quote: "TAKIYYA "prudence, fear" ..denotes dispensing with th ...
to ensure safety of the Ismailis in the hostile environment. He claimed allegiance to the Sunnis
Sunni Islam () is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia ...
to protect himself and his followers from further persecution. He had a Sunni mother and four Sunni wives. Hassan III recognized the Abbasid caliph al-Nasir
Abu'l-Abbas Ahmad ibn al-Hassan al-Mustadi' ( ar, أبو العباس أحمد بن الحسن المستضيء) better known by his laqab Al-Nasir li-Din Allah ( ar, الناصر لدين الله; 6 August 1158 – 5 October 1225) or simply as A ...
who in turn granted a diploma of investiture. The Alamuts had a previous history with al-Nasir, supplying Assassins to attack a Kwarezm representative of shah Ala ad-Din Tekish, but that was more of an action of convenience than formal alliance. Maintaining ties to western Christian influences, the Alamuts became tributaries to the Knights Hospitaller
The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...
beginning at the Isma'ili stronghold Abu Qubays Abu Qubays may refer to the following places:
* Abu Qubays (mountain), a mountain near Mecca, Saudi Arabia
*Abu Qubays, Syria
Abu Qubays ( ar, أبو قبيس also spelled ''Abu Qobeis'', ''Abu Qubais'' or ''Bu Kubais''; also known as Qartal) is ...
, near Margat.
The count of Tripoli in 1213 was Bohemond IV, the fourth prince of Antioch
Prince of Antioch was the title given during the Middle Ages to Normans, Norman rulers of the Principality of Antioch, a region surrounding the city of Antioch, now known as Antakya in Turkey. The Princes originally came from the County of Sicil ...
of that name. That year his 18-year-old son Raymond, namesake of his grandfather, was murdered by the Assassins under Nasr al-'Ajami while at church in Tartus
)
, settlement_type = City
, image_skyline =
, imagesize =
, image_caption = Tartus corniche Port of Tartus • Tartus beach and boulevard Cathedral of Our Lady of Tortosa • Al-Assad Stadium&n ...
. Suspecting both Assassin and Hospitaller involvement, Bohemond and the Knights Templar laid siege to Qala'at al-Khawabi, an Isma'ili stronghold near Tartus, Appealing to the Ayyubids for help, az-Zahir Ghazi dispatched a relief force from Aleppo. His forces were nearly destroyed at Jabal Bahra. Az-Zahir's uncle al-Adil I, emir of Damascus, responded and the Franks ended the siege by 1216. Bohemond IV would again fight the Ayyudibs in the Fifth Crusade.
Majd ad-Din was the new chief ''da'i'' in Syria in 1220, assuming that role from Kamāl ad-Din al-Hasan of whom very little is known. At that time the Seljuk sultanate of Rûm
fa, سلجوقیان روم ()
, status =
, government_type = Hereditary monarchyTriarchy (1249–1254)Diarchy (1257–1262)
, year_start = 1077
, year_end = 1308
, p1 = By ...
paid an annual tribute to Alamut, and Majd ad-Din notified the sultan Kayqubad I
Alā ad-Dīn Kayqubād ibn Kaykhusraw ( fa, علاء الدين كيقباد بن كيخسرو; tr, I. Alâeddin Keykûbad, 1190–1237), also known as Kayqubad I, was the Seljuq Sultan of Rûm who reigned from 1220 to 1237. He expanded the ...
that henceforth the tribute was to be paid to him. Kayqubad I requested clarification from Hassan III who informed him that the monies had indeed been assigned to Syria.[Lewis (2003), pg. 120]
Hassan III died in 1221, likely from poisoning. He was succeeded by his 9-year-old son Imam 'Alā ad-Din Muhammad, known as Muhammad III, and was the penultimate Isma'ili ruler of Alamut before the Mongol conquest. Because of his age, Hassan's vizier served as regent to the young Imam, and put Hassan's wives and sister to death for the suspected poisoning. Muhammad III reversed the Sunni course his father had set, returning to Shi'ite orthodoxy. His attempts to accommodate the advancing Mongols failed.
In 1225, Frederick II was Holy Roman Emperor, a position his father Henry VI had held until 1197. He had committed to prosecuting the Sixth Crusade
The Sixth Crusade (1228–1229), also known as the Crusade of Frederick II, was a military expedition to recapture Jerusalem and the rest of the Holy Land. It began seven years after the failure of the Fifth Crusade and involved very little actua ...
and married the heiress to the Kingdom of Jerusalem, Isabella II
Isabella II ( es, Isabel II; 10 October 1830 – 9 April 1904), was Queen of Spain from 29 September 1833 until 30 September 1868.
Shortly before her birth, the King Ferdinand VII of Spain issued a Pragmatic Sanction to ensure the successio ...
. The next year, the once and future king sent envoys to Majd ad-Din with significant gifts for the imam to ensure his safe passage. Khwarezm
Khwarazm (; Old Persian: ''Hwârazmiya''; fa, خوارزم, ''Xwârazm'' or ''Xârazm'') or Chorasmia () is a large oasis region on the Amu Darya river delta in western Central Asia, bordered on the north by the (former) Aral Sea, on the ...
had collapsed under the Mongols, but many of the Kwarezmians still operated as mercenaries in northern Iraq. Under the pretense that the road to Alamut was unsafe due to these mercenaries, Majd ad-Din kept the gifts for himself, and provided the safe passage. As a precaution, Majd ad-Din informed al-Aziz Muhammad, emir of Aleppo and son of az-Zahir Ghazi, of the emperor's embassy. In the end, Frederick did not complete that trip to the Holy Land due to illness, being excommunicated in 1227. The Knights Hospitaller were not as accommodating as Alamut, demanding their share of the tribute. When Majd ad-Din refused, the Hospitallers attacked and carried off the majority of the booty. Majd ad-Din was succeeded by Sirāj ad-Din Muzaffa ibn al-Husain in 1227, serving as chief ''da'i'' until 1239.
Taj ad-Din Abu'l-Futūh ibn Muhammad was chief ''da'i'' in Syria in 1239, succeeding Sirāj ad-Din Muzaffa. At this point, the Assassins were an integral part of Syrian politics. The Arab historian Ibn Wasil
Ibn Wāṣil ( AD 1208–1298 ) was a Syrian judge, scholar and writer. He was a courtier and diplomat of the Ayyubids and their successors, the Mamlūks. Although trained as a religious scholar, in his own time he was renowned as a logician and ...
had a friendship with Taj ad-Din and writes of Badr ad-Din, ''qadi'' of Sinjar, who sought refuge with Taj ad-Din to escape the wrath of Egyptian Ayyubid ruler as-Salih Ayyub
Al-Malik as-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub (5 November 1205 – 22 November 1249), nickname: Abu al-Futuh ( ar, أبو الفتوح), also known as al-Malik al-Salih, was the Ayyubid Kurdish ruler of Egypt from 1240 to 1249.
Early life
In 1221, as-S ...
. Taj ad-Din served until at least 1249 when he was replaced by Radi ad-Din Abu'l-Ma'āli.
In that same year, Louis IX of France
Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the ...
embarked on the Seventh Crusade in Egypt. He captured the port of Damietta
Damietta ( arz, دمياط ' ; cop, ⲧⲁⲙⲓⲁϯ, Tamiati) is a port city and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt, a former bishopric and present multiple Catholic titular see. It is located at the Damietta branch, an easter ...
from the aging al-Salih Ayyub which he refused to turn over to Conrad II
Conrad II ( – 4 June 1039), also known as and , was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 1027 until his death in 1039. The first of a succession of four Salian emperors, who reigned for one century until 1125, Conrad ruled the kingdoms ...
, who had inherited the throne of Jerusalem from his parents Frederick II and Isabella II. The Frankish Crusaders were soundly defeated by Abu Futuh Baibars, then a commander in the Egyptian army, at the battle of al-Mansurah in 1250. Saint Louis, as Louis IX was known, was captured by the Egyptians and, after a handsome reward was paid, spent four years in Acre, Caesarea and Jaffa. One of the captives with Louis was Jean de Joinville, biographer of the king, who reported the interaction of the monarch with the Assassins. While at Acre, emissaries of Radi ad-Din Abu'l-Ma'āli met with him, demanding a tribute be paid to their chief "as the emperor of Germany, the king of Hungary, the sultan of Egypt and the others because they know well they can only live as long as it please him." Alternately, the king could pay the tribute the Assassins paid the Templars and Hospitallers. Later the king's Arabic interpreter Yves the Breton met personally with Radi ad-Din and discussed the respective beliefs. Afterwards, the chief ''da'i'' went riding, with his valet proclaiming: "Make way before him who bears the death of kings in his hands!"
The Egyptian victory at al-Mansurah led to the establishment of the Mamluk dynasty in Egypt. Muhammad III was murdered in 1255 and replaced by his son Rukn al-Din Khurshah
Rukn al-Dīn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad Khurshāh (or Khwarshāh) () (1230-1257) was the son of ‘Alā’ ad-Dīn Muḥammad III and the 27th Isma'ili Imam. He was also the fifth and final Nizari Isma'ili Imam who ruled at Alamut. The Imam was the ...
, the last Imam to rule Alamut. Najm ad-Din later became chief ''da'i'' of the Assassins in Syria, the last to be associated with Alamut. Louis IX returned to north Africa during the Eighth Crusade
The Eighth Crusade was the second Crusade launched by Louis IX of France, this one against the Hafsid dynasty in Tunisia in 1270. It is also known as the Crusade of Louis IX against Tunis or the Second Crusade of Louis. The Crusade did not see ...
where he died of natural causes in Tunis.
Downfall and aftermath
The Assassins suffered a significant blow at the hands of the Mongol Empire
The Mongol Empire of the 13th and 14th centuries was the largest contiguous land empire in history. Originating in present-day Mongolia in East Asia, the Mongol Empire at its height stretched from the Sea of Japan to parts of Eastern Europe, ...
during the well-documented invasion of Khwarazm. A decree was handed over to the Mongol commander Kitbuqa who began to assault several Assassin fortresses in 1253 before Hulagu's advance in 1256, seizing Alamut late that year. Lambsar fell in 1257, Masyaf in 1267. The Assassins recaptured and held Alamut for a few months in 1275, but they were crushed and their political power was lost forever. Rukn al-Din Khurshah
Rukn al-Dīn al-Hasan ibn Muhammad Khurshāh (or Khwarshāh) () (1230-1257) was the son of ‘Alā’ ad-Dīn Muḥammad III and the 27th Isma'ili Imam. He was also the fifth and final Nizari Isma'ili Imam who ruled at Alamut. The Imam was the ...
was put to death shortly thereafter.[Lewis (2003), pp. 121–122]
Though the Mongol massacre at Alamut was widely interpreted to be the end of Isma'ili influence in the region, various sources say that the Isma'ilis' political influence continued. In 674/1275, a son of Imam Rukn al-Din Khurshah managed to recapture Alamut, though only for a few years. The Nizari Imam, known in the sources as Khudawand Muhammad, again managed to recapture the fort in the fourteenth century. It is uncertain whether "Khudawand Muhammad" refers to Muhammad Shah b. Mu'min Shah of the Muhammad Shahi line of Nizari Imams, or Islam Shah b. Qasim Shah of the Qasim Shahi line. According to Mar'ashi, the Imam's descendants would remain at Alamut until the late fifteenth century. Isma'ili political activity in the region also seems to have continued under the leadership of Sultan Muhammad b. Jahangir and his son, until the latter's execution in 1006/1597.
In Syria, the Assassins joined with other Muslim groups to oppose the Mongols and courted the Mamluks and Baibars
Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari ( ar, الملك الظاهر ركن الدين بيبرس البندقداري, ''al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Dīn Baybars al-Bunduqdārī'') (1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), of Turkic Kipchak ...
. Baibars entered into a truce with the Hospitallers in 1266 and stipulated that the tribute paid by the Assassins be halted. The tribute once paid to the Franks was to come instead to Cairo. As early as 1260, Baibars' biographer ibn Abd al-Zahir
Ibn Abd al-Zahir ( , 1223–1293) was an Egyptian chancery scribe, poet and historian during the Mamluk period. Several of his works survive, including three biographies of the early Mamluk sultans Baibars, Al-Mansur Qalawun and Al-Ashraf Kha ...
reported that he was granting Assassin lands in ''iqtâ to his generals, and in 1265 began to tax the "gifts" the Assassins received from various princes that apparently included Louis IX of France, Rudolph I of Germany
Rudolf I (1 May 1218 – 15 July 1291) was the first King of Germany from the House of Habsburg. The first of the count-kings of Germany, he reigned from 1273 until his death.
Rudolf's election marked the end of the Great Interregnum which h ...
, Alphonso X of Castile
Alfonso X (also known as the Wise, es, el Sabio; 23 November 1221 – 4 April 1284) was King of Castile, Kingdom of León, León and Kingdom of Galicia, Galicia from 30 May 1252 until his death in 1284. During the April 1257 Imperial election, e ...
, and the Rasulid sultan of Yemen al-Muzaffar Yusuf. The Syrian branch of the Assassins was taken over by Baibars by 1270, recognizing the threat of an independent force with his sultanate.
Najm ad-Din was replaced by Baibars' son-in-law Sarim al-Din Mubarak, governor of al-'Ullaiqah in 1270. Sarim was soon deposed and sent as a prisoner to Cairo, and Najm ad-Din was restored at chief ''da'i'' at Masyaf. His son Shams ad-Din joined him in service, but owing a tribute to the sultan. The next year, in the midst of the siege of Tripoli, two Assassins were sent by Bohemond VI of Antioch
Bohemond VI (–1275), also known as the Fair, was the prince of Antioch and count of Tripoli from 1251 until his death. He ruled while Antioch was caught between the warring Mongol Empire and Mamluk Sultanate. In 1268 Antioch was captured by the ...
, then Count of Tripoli, to murder his attacker Baibars. Shams ad-Din was arrested in the plot, but released when his father argued his case. The Isma'ili leaders were eventually implicated and agreed to surrender their castles and live at Baibars' court. Najm ad-Din died in Cairo in 1274.
In 1271, Baibars' forces seized al-'Ullaiqah and ar-Rusafa, after taking Masyaf the year before. Later in the year, Shams ad-Din surrendered and was deported to Egypt. Qala'at al-Khawabi fell that year and within two years Gerdkuh and all of the Assassin fortresses were held by the sultan. With the Assassins under his control, Baibars was able to use them to counter the forces arriving in the Ninth Crusade. The sultan threatened Bohemond VI, and the Assassins attacked future king Edward I of England
Edward I (17/18 June 1239 – 7 July 1307), also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1272 to 1307. Concurrently, he ruled the duchies of Aquitaine and Gascony as a vassa ...
unsuccessfully.[Lewis (2003), p. 123]
The last known victim of the Assassins was Philip of Montfort, lord of Tyre, long an enemy of Baibars. Philip helped negotiate the truce following the capture of Damietta by Louis IX and had lost the castle at Toron to Baibars in 1266. Despite his advanced age, Philip was murdered by Baibars' Assassins in 1270.
The last of the Assassin strongholds was al-Kahf
Al-Kahf ( ar, الكهف, ; The Cave) is the 18th chapter (sūrah) of the Quran with 110 verses ( āyāt). Regarding the timing and contextual background of the revelation (''asbāb al-nuzūl''), it is an earlier "Meccan surah", which mean ...
in 1273. The Mamluks continued to use the services of the remaining Assassins and the 14th-century scholar ibn Battuta
Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berbers, Berber Maghrebi people, Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, ...
reported their fixed rate of pay per murder, with his children getting the fee if the Assassin did not survive the attack. There are, nevertheless, no recorded instances of Assassin activity after the later 13th century. They unremarkably settled near Salamiyah
A full view of Shmemis (spring 1995)
Salamieh ( ar, سلمية ') is a city and district in western Syria, in the Hama Governorate. It is located southeast of Hama, northeast of Homs. The city is nicknamed the "mother of Cairo" because it was t ...
, with a still-large Isma'ili population that recognizes the Aga Khan
Aga Khan ( fa, آقاخان, ar, آغا خان; also transliterated as ''Aqa Khan'' and ''Agha Khan'') is a title held by the Imām of the Nizari Ismāʿīli Shias. Since 1957, the holder of the title has been the 49th Imām, Prince Shah Karim ...
as their Imam.
Etymology
The word ''asas'' in Arabic means "principle". The ''Asāsiyyūn'' (plural, from literary Arabic) were, as defined in Arabic, the principle people. The term "assassin" likely has roots in ''hashshāshīn'' ("hashish smokers or users"), a mispronunciation of the original Asāsiyyūn, but not a mispronunciation of ''Assasiyeen'' (pronounced "Asāsiyyeen", the plural of "Asasi"). Originally referring to the methods of political control exercised by the Assasiyuun, one can see how it became "assassin" in several languages to describe similar activities anywhere.
The Assassins were finally linked by the 19th-century orientalist Silvestre de Sacy
Antoine Isaac, Baron Silvestre de Sacy (; 21 September 175821 February 1838), was a French nobleman, linguist and orientalist. His son, Ustazade Silvestre de Sacy, became a journalist.
Life and works
Early life
Silvestre de Sacy was born in Pa ...
to the Arabic word ''hashish'' using their variant names ''assassin'' and ''assissini'' in the 19th century. Citing the example of one of the first written applications of the Arabic term ''hashish'' to the Ismailis by 13th-century historian Abu Shama Abū Shāma Shihāb al-Dīn al-Maḳdisī (10 January 1203 – 13 June 1267) was an Arab historian.
Abū Shāma was born in Damascus, where he passed his whole life save for one year in Egypt, a fortnight in Jerusalem and two pilgrimages to the ...
, de Sacy demonstrated its connection to the name given to the Ismailis throughout Western scholarship.[Daftary 1998, p. 14] The first known usage of the term ''hashishi'' has been traced back to 1122 when the Fatimid caliph al-Amir bi-Ahkami’l-Lah, himself later assassinated, employed it in derogatory reference to the Syrian Nizaris. Used figuratively, the term ''hashishi'' connoted meanings such as outcasts or rabble. Without actually accusing the group of using the hashish drug, the caliph used the term in a pejorative manner. This label was quickly adopted by anti-Isma'ili historians and applied to the Isma'ilis of Syria and Persia. The spread of the term was further facilitated through military encounters between the Nizaris and the Crusaders, whose chroniclers adopted the term and disseminated it across Europe. To Crusaders, the Fedayeen
Fedayeen ( ar, فِدائيّين ''fidāʼīyīn'' "self-sacrificers") is an Arabic term used to refer to various military groups willing to sacrifice themselves for a larger campaign.
Etymology
The term ''fedayi'' is derived from Arabic: '' ...
concept of valuing a principle above your own life was alien to them, so they rationalized it using myths such as the 'paradise legend', the 'leap of faith' legend, and the 'hashish legend', sewn together in the writings of Marco Polo.
During the medieval period, Western scholarship on the Isma'ilis contributed to the popular view of the community as a radical sect of assassins, believed to be trained for the precise murder of their adversaries. By the 14th century, European scholarship on the topic had not advanced much beyond the work and tales from the Crusaders. The origins of the word forgotten, across Europe the term assassin had taken the meaning of "professional murderer". In 1603, the first Western publication on the topic of the Assassins was authored by a court official for King Henry IV of France and was mainly based on the narratives of Marco Polo from his visits to the Near East. While he assembled the accounts of many Western travellers, the author failed to explain the etymology of the term Assassin.
According to the Lebanese writer , based on texts from Alamut, Hassan-i Sabbah tended to call his disciples ''Asāsīyūn'' (, meaning "people who are faithful to the foundation f the faith
F, or f, is the sixth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ef'' (pronounced ), and the plural is ''efs''.
Hist ...
), and derivation from the term ''hashish'' is a misunderstanding by foreign travelers.
Another modern author, Edward Burman, states that:
The name "Assassin" is often said to derive from the Arabic word ''Hashishin'' or "users of hashish",[Lewis (2003), pgs. 59-61] which was originally applied to the Nizari Isma'ilis by the rival Mustali
The Musta‘lī ( ar, مستعلي) are a branch of Isma'ilism named for their acceptance of al-Musta'li as the legitimate nineteenth Fatimid caliph and legitimate successor to his father, al-Mustansir Billah. In contrast, the Nizari—the other l ...
Isma'ilis during the fall of the Isma'ili Fatimid Empire
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids, a dyna ...
and the separation of the two Isma'ili streams.[Daftary, Farhad (1990). ''The Ismailis: Their history and doctrines.'' Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Page 12.] There is little evidence hashish was used to motivate the Assassins, contrary to the beliefs of their Medieval enemies.[Daftary, Farhad (1990). ''The Ismailis: Their history and doctrines.'' Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Page 13,353. Quote p.13 "The tale of how the Nizari chiefs secretly administered hashish to the fidaeen in order to control and motivate them has been accepted by many scholars since Arnold of Lueback. But the fact remains that neither the Isma'ili texts which have come to light in modern times nor any serious ..." Quote p.353 "However, contrary to the medieval legends fabricated by uninformed writers and the enemies of the sect, there is no evidence that hashish was used in any way for motivating the fidaeen who displayed an intensive groups sentiment and solidarity."] It is possible that the term ''hashishiyya'' or ''hashishi'' in Arabic sources was used metaphorically in its abusive sense relating to use of hashish, which due to its effects on the mind state is outlawed in Islam. Modern versions of this word include ''Mahashish'' used in the same derogatory sense, albeit less offensive nowadays, as the use of the substance is more widespread. The term hashashin was (and still is) used to describe absent minded criminals and is used derogatorily in all the Muslim sources referring to the Nizaris as such.
Idries Shah
Idries Shah (; hi, इदरीस शाह, ps, ادريس شاه, ur, ; 16 June 1924 – 23 November 1996), also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el- Hashimi (Arabic: سيد إدريس هاشمي) and by the pen name Arko ...
, a Sufi
Sufism ( ar, ''aṣ-ṣūfiyya''), also known as Tasawwuf ( ''at-taṣawwuf''), is a mystic body of religious practice, found mainly within Sunni Islam but also within Shia Islam, which is characterized by a focus on Islamic spirituality, ...
scholar using ''Arkon Daraul'' as a pen name, described them as 'druggers' that used hashish "in stupefying candidates for the ephemeral visit to ''paradise''".
The Sunni
Sunni Islam () is the largest branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word '' Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia Muslims arose from a disagr ...
Muslims also used the term ''mulhid
Mulhid ( ar, ملحد ', plural ' and ') is an Islamic religious term meaning apostate, heretic, or atheist. The word "Mulhid" has same meaning as for the word "Murtid", a person once reverted to Islam or a born Muslim who later changes his reli ...
'' to refer to the Assassins, which is also recorded by the traveller and Franciscan William of Rubruck as '.
Military tactics
In pursuit of their religious and political goals, the Isma'ilis adopted various military strategies popular in the Middle Ages. One such method was that of assassination, the selective elimination of prominent rival figures. The murders of political adversaries were usually carried out in public spaces, creating resounding intimidation for other possible enemies.[Daftary 1998, p. 129] Throughout history, many groups have resorted to assassination as a means of achieving political ends. The assassinations were committed against those whose elimination would most greatly reduce aggression against the Ismailis and, in particular, against those who had perpetrated massacres against the community. A single assassination was usually employed in contrast with the widespread bloodshed which generally resulted from factional combat. Assassins are also said to be have been adept in '' furusiyya'', or the Islamic warrior code, where they were trained in combat, disguises, and equestrianism. Codes of conduct were followed, and the Assassins were taught in the art of war, linguistics, and strategies. For about two centuries, the Assassins specialized in assassinating their religious and political enemies.
While the Seljuks and Crusaders both employed murder as a military means of disposing of factional enemies, during the Alamut period almost any murder of political significance in the Islamic lands was attributed to the Isma'ilis. So inflated had this association grown that, in the work of orientalists such as Bernard Lewis, the Isma'ilis were equated with the politically active ''fida'is'' and thus were regarded as a radical and heretical sect known as the Assassins.
The military approach of the Nizari Isma'ili state was largely a defensive one, with strategically chosen sites that appeared to avoid confrontation wherever possible without the loss of life. But the defining characteristic of the Nizari Isma'ili state was that it was scattered geographically throughout Persia and Syria. Alamut Castle therefore was only one of a nexus of strongholds throughout the regions where Isma'ilis could retreat to safety if necessary. West of Alamut in the Shahrud Valley, the major fortress of Lambsar served as just one example of such a retreat. In the context of their political uprising, the various spaces of Isma'ili military presence took on the name ''dar al-hijra
The term ''dār al-hijra'' ( ar, دار الهجرة, , place of exile/refuge/migration) was originally applied to Medina, the city where Muhammad an his followers sought refuge when exiled from Mecca in 622 (Hijrah). The term was accordingly later ...
'' (; land of migration, place of refuge). The notion of the ''dar al-hijra'' originates from the time of Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
, who migrated with his followers from persecution to a safe haven in ''Yathrib'' (Medina
Medina,, ', "the radiant city"; or , ', (), "the city" officially Al Madinah Al Munawwarah (, , Turkish: Medine-i Münevvere) and also commonly simplified as Madīnah or Madinah (, ), is the Holiest sites in Islam, second-holiest city in Islam, ...
). In this way, the Fatimids found their ''dar al-hijra'' in North Africa. From 1101 to 1118, attacks and sieges were made on the fortresses, conducted by combined forces of the Seljuks Barkiyaruq and Ahmad Sanjar. Although with the cost of lives and the capture and execution of Assassin ''da'i'' Ahmad ibn Attash, the Assassins managed to hold their ground and repel the attacks until the Mongol invasion. Likewise, during the revolt against the Seljuks, several fortresses served as spaces of refuge for the Isma'ilis.
Marco Polo recounts the following method how the Hashashin were recruited for jihad and assassinations on behalf of their master in Alamut:
“He was named Alo−eddin, and his religion was that of Mahomet. In a beautiful valley enclosed between two lofty mountains, he had formed a luxurious garden, stored with every delicious fruit and every fragrant shrub that could be procured. Palaces of various sizes and forms were erected in different parts of the grounds, ornamented with works in gold, with paintings, and with furniture of rich silks. By means of small conduits contrived in these buildings, streams of wine, milk, honey, and some of pure water, were seen to flow in every direction. The inhabitants of these palaces were elegant and beautiful damsels, accomplished in the arts of singing, playing upon all sorts of musical instruments, dancing, and especially those of dalliance and amorous allurement. Clothed in rich dresses they were seen continually sporting and amusing themselves in the garden and pavilions, their female guardians being confined within doors and never suffered to appear. The object which the chief had in view in forming a garden of this fascinating kind, was this: that Mahomet having promised to those who should obey his will the enjoyments of Paradise, where every species of sensual gratification should be found, in the society of beautiful nymphs, he was desirous of its being understood by his followers that he also was a prophet and the compeer of Mahomet, and had the power of admitting to Paradise such as he should choose to favor. In order that none without his licence might find their way into this delicious valley, he caused a strong and inexpugnable castle to be erected at the opening of it, through which the entry was by a secret passage. At his court, likewise, this chief entertained a number of youths, from the age of twelve to twenty years, selected from the inhabitants of the surrounding mountains, who showed a disposition for martial exercises, and appeared to possess the quality of daring courage. To them he was in the daily practice of discoursing on the subject of the paradise announced by the prophet, and of his own power of granting admission; and at certain times he caused opium to be administered to ten or a dozen of the youths; and when half dead with sleep he had them conveyed to the several apartments of the palaces in the garden. Upon awakening from this state of lethargy, their senses were struck with all the delightful objects that have been described, and each perceived himself surrounded by lovely damsels, singing, playing, and attracting his regards by the most fascinating caresses, serving him also with delicate viands and exquisite wines; until intoxicated with excess of enjoyment amidst actual rivulets of milk and wine, he believed himself assuredly in Paradise, and felt an unwillingness to relinquish its delights. When four or five days had thus been passed, they were thrown once more into a state of somnolency, and carried out of the garden. Upon their being introduced to his presence, and questioned by him as to where they had been, their answer was, “In Paradise, through the favor of your highness:” and then before the whole court, who listened to them with eager curiosity and astonishment, they gave a circumstantial account of the scenes to which they had been witnesses. The chief thereupon addressing them, said: “We have the assurances of our prophet that he who defends his lord shall inherit Paradise, and if you show yourselves devoted to the obedience of my orders, that happy lot awaits you.” Animated to enthusiasm by words of this nature, all deemed themselves happy to receive the commands of their master, and were forward to die in his service. 5 The consequence of this system was, that when any of the neighboring princes, or others, gave umbrage to this chief, they were put to death by these his disciplined assassins; none of whom felt terror at the risk of losing their own lives, which they held in little estimation, provided they could execute their master's will.”
However , these methods described by Marco Polo are far from the truth (explained in the below section). It is believed by the Ismailis that the Fida'is were recruited for Jihad as it was a tenet of their faith (like other Muslims) and for their love of the Imam (Walayah).
During the mid-12th century the Assassins captured or acquired several fortresses in the Nusayriyah Mountain Range in coastal Syria, including Masyaf, Rusafa, al-Kahf
Al-Kahf ( ar, الكهف, ; The Cave) is the 18th chapter (sūrah) of the Quran with 110 verses ( āyāt). Regarding the timing and contextual background of the revelation (''asbāb al-nuzūl''), it is an earlier "Meccan surah", which mean ...
, al-Qadmus
Al-Qadmus ( ar, القدموس, also spelled al-Qadmous or Cadmus) is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Tartus Governorate, located northeast of Tartus and southeast of Baniyas. Nearby localities include Kaff al-Jaa and Ma ...
, Khawabi
Khawabi ( ar, الخوابي), also spelled Qala'at al-Khawabi ( ar, قلعة الخوابي) is a village and medieval citadel in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Tartus Governorate, located 20 kilometers northeast of Tartus and 12 ...
, Sarmin
Sarmin ( ar, سَرْمِين, Sarmīn also spelled Sarmeen) is a town in northwestern Syria, administratively part of the Idlib Governorate, located 15 kilometers southeast of Idlib. It has an altitude of about 390 meters. Nearby localities inclu ...
, Quliya, Ulayqa
Aleika Castle or Aliqa Castle ( ar, قلعة العليقة) is located in Aliqa near Tartus at distance 85 km, it consists of two floor structures, a type of concentric castle. Historically (12th century) it was under Syrian Nizari Ismaili s ...
, Maniqa
Maniqa ( ar, المنيقة) is a castle located in the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range, dated back to the Roman era, it was also known as "Malikas" or "Malghanes" during the Crusader rule.
History
In 1028, Byzantine doux of Antioch Michael Spond ...
, and Abu Qubays Abu Qubays may refer to the following places:
* Abu Qubays (mountain), a mountain near Mecca, Saudi Arabia
*Abu Qubays, Syria
Abu Qubays ( ar, أبو قبيس also spelled ''Abu Qobeis'', ''Abu Qubais'' or ''Bu Kubais''; also known as Qartal) is ...
. For the most part, the Assassins maintained full control over these fortresses until 1270–1273 when the Mamluk sultan Baibars
Al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baybars al-Bunduqdari ( ar, الملك الظاهر ركن الدين بيبرس البندقداري, ''al-Malik al-Ẓāhir Rukn al-Dīn Baybars al-Bunduqdārī'') (1223/1228 – 1 July 1277), of Turkic Kipchak ...
annexed them. Most were dismantled afterwards, while those at Masyaf and Ulayqa were later rebuilt. From then on, the Ismailis maintained limited autonomy over those former strongholds as loyal subjects of the Mamluks.
Legends and folklore
The term ''assassin'', which appeared in European languages in a variety of forms (e.g., assassini, assissini, and heyssisini), was evidently based on variants of the Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
word ''hashishi'' (pl. ''hashishiyya'', ''hashishin''). The latter was applied by other Muslims to Nizaris
The Nizaris ( ar, النزاريون, al-Nizāriyyūn, fa, نزاریان, Nezāriyān) are the largest segment of the Ismaili Muslims, who are the second-largest branch of Shia Islam after the Twelvers. Nizari teachings emphasize independent ...
in the pejorative sense of “low-class rabble” or “people of lax morality,” without any derivative explanation reflecting any special connection between the Nizaris and ''hashish
Hashish ( ar, حشيش, ()), also known as hash, "dry herb, hay" is a drug made by compressing and processing parts of the cannabis plant, typically focusing on flowering buds (female flowers) containing the most trichomes. European Monitorin ...
'', a product of cannabis. This term of abuse was picked up locally in Syria by the Crusaders and European travelers and adopted as the designation of the Nizari Ismailis. Subsequently, after the etymology of the term had been forgotten, it came to be used in Europe as a noun meaning “murderer.” Thus, a misnomer rooted in abuse eventually resulted in a new word, ''assassin'', in European languages.
Medieval Europeans—and especially the Crusaders—who remained ignorant of Islam as a religion and of its internal divisions were also responsible for fabricating and disseminating (in the Latin Orient as well as in Europe) a number of interconnected legends about the secret practices of the Nizaris, the so-called “assassin legends.” In particular, the legends sought to provide a rational explanation for the seemingly irrational self-sacrificing behavior of the Nizari ''fida’i''s; as such, they revolved around the recruitment and training of the youthful devotees. The legends developed in stages from the time of Sinan and throughout the thirteenth century. Soon, the seemingly blind obedience of the ''fida’i''s to their leader was attributed, by their occidental observers, to the influence of an intoxicating drug like hashish. There is no evidence that suggests that hashish or any other drug was used in any systematic fashion to motivate the ''fida’i''s; contemporary non-Ismaili Muslim sources that are generally hostile toward the Ismailis remain silent on this subject. In all probability, it was the abusive name ''hashishi'' that gave rise to the imaginative tales disseminated by the Crusaders.
The work of Farhad Daftary, most notably his ''The Assassin Legend: Myths of the Ismailis'', contends with discrediting these fabrications. The Nizari Ismaili community centered around Alamut and founded by Hassan-i Sabbah engaged in guerilla warfare against their hostile neighbors, the anti-Shi'i Turko-Persian Seljuk Dynasty and the Sunni Caliphate of the Abbasids in Baghdad. Daftary argues that Western and Sunni discourses of the Middle Ages overlooked the intellectual environments and spiritual developments of the Nizari Isma'ilis. As a result, Western and Sunni literature discussing the Nizari Ismailis of the Alamut Period tended to overemphasize this community’s military strategies and its aspirations of overthrowing the Seljuk Dynasty and the Abbasid Caliphates by specifically focusing on the Nizari ''fida’is''.
The Nizari ''fida’is'' utilized the methodology of assassination as a key procedure in killing any major religious and political advisories; however, the fanfare surrounding this policy is not new as the Nizari Isma'ili community was not the first nor the last to make use of this strategy for political gain. There is evidence to suggest that the Nizar Ismaili fidai’is may have killed “fewer than five Frankish personalities during the entire period of the Crusaders’ presence at Outremer” which is the name known for the Crusader States of the Levant that lasted from 1098-1291 AD. The spectacle nature of the Nizari ''fida’is'' eventually led the term “Assassins” to become synonymous through the writings of Western figures including William of Tyre, Walter Map, and Marco Polo.
Marco Polo’s travelogue entitled the ''Travels of Marco Polo'' is the most prominent work to use this trope for embellishing his narrative and providing a more intriguing experience for his readers. These exotic and foreign Nizari figures were often portrayed as incredibly dedicated to their cause and leader known in Western texts as the Old Man. This figure according to the scholarship of Farhad Daftary and Meriem Pages in their contemporary reevaluation refers to Hassan-i Sabbah or Rashid al-Din Sinan, the leader of the Nizari Ismailis in Syria. These fantastic images of the dedicated soldier are often accompanied by descriptions of their supposed usage of hashish, a drug related to cannabis, and their desires to reach a “garden of paradise.” It is important to note that the usage of hashish is not referenced throughout Ismaili texts of this period. Sunni polemic texts known as “black legends” adopted the terms Hashishiya and malahida to describe their supposed devotion to this drug and their status heretics according to many Sunni Muslim medieval scholars. These fictitious accounts focused on the “sinister objectives, immoral doctrines and libertine practices” of the Ismaili communities in Syria and Persia and aimed to discredit their devotion to Islam and their connections to Imam Ali through his marriage to Fatima.
In the light of these findings, this study contends that the Assassin legends, especially those based on the hashish connection and the secret ‘garden of paradise’, were actually fabricated and put into circulation by Europeans. It seems that the occidental observers of the Nizari Ismailis, especially those who were least informed about Islam and the Near East, generated these legends (initially in reference to the Syrian Nizaris) gradually and systematically, adding further components or embellishments in successive stages during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In this process, the westerners, who in the Crusaders’ times had a high disposition towards imaginative and romantic eastern tales, were greatly influenced by the biases and the general hostility of the non-Ismaili Muslims towards the Ismailis, hostility which had earlier given rise to the anti-Ismaili ‘black legend’ of the Sunni polemicists as well as some popular misconceptions about the Ismailis.
In all probability, such popular misconceptions also circulated about the Nizaris in the non-literary local circles of the Latin East during the Crusaders’ times; they would have been picked up by the Crusaders through their contact with rural Muslims working on their estates and the lesser educated Muslims of the towns, in addition to whatever information they could gather indirectly through the oriental Christians. In this connection, it is significant to note that similar legends have not been found in any of the mediaeval Islamic sources, including contemporary histories of Syria. Indeed, educated Muslims, including their historians, did not fantasise at all about the secret practices of the Nizaris, even though they were hostile towards them. Similarly, those few well-informed occidental observers of the Syrian Nizaris, such as William of Tyre, who lived in the Latin East for long periods, did not contribute to the formation of the Assassin legends.
In Sum, it seems that the legends in question, though ultimately rooted in some popular lore and misinformation circulating locally, were actually formulated and transmitted rather widely due to their sensational appeal by the Crusaders and other western observers of the Nizaris; and they do, essentially, represent the ‘imaginative constructions’ of these uninformed observers
The legends of the Assassins had much to do with the training and instruction of Nizari ''fida'is'', famed for their public missions during which they often gave their lives to eliminate adversaries. Some historians have contributed to the tales of ''fida'is'' being fed with hashish as part of their training, but these are only, in reference, to the travels of Marco Polo and Polemics by enemies. Scholars including Vladimir Ivanov purport that the assassinations of key figures including Seljuk vizier Nizam al-Mulk likely provided encouraging impetus to others in the community who sought to secure the Nizaris' protection from political aggression. Originally, a "local and popular term" first applied to the Isma'ilis of Syria, the label was orally transmitted to Western historians and thus found itself in their histories of the Nizaris.
It is unknown how Hassan-i-Sabbah was able to get the Assassins to perform with such fervent loyalty. One theory, possibly the best known but also the most criticized, comes from the reports of Marco Polo during his travels to the Orient. He recounts a story he heard of a man who would drug his young followers with hashish, lead them to a "paradise", and then claim that only he had the means to allow for their return. Perceiving that Sabbah was either a prophet or magician, his disciples, believing that only he could return them to "paradise", were fully committed to his cause and willing to carry out his every request. However, this story is disputed because Sabbah died in 1124 and Rashid ad-Din Sinan, who is frequently known as the "Old Man of the Mountain", died in 1192, whereas Marco Polo was not born until around 1254.[Italiani nel sistema solare](_blank)
di Michele T. Mazzucato
The tales of the ''fida'is'' training collected from anti-Ismaili historians and orientalist writers were compounded and compiled in Marco Polo's account, in which he described a "secret garden of paradise".[Daftary 1998, p. 16] After being drugged, the Ismaili devotees were said to be taken to a paradise-like garden filled with attractive young maidens and beautiful plants in which these ''fida'is'' would awaken. Here, they were told by an "old" man that they were witnessing their place in Paradise and that should they wish to return to this garden permanently, they must serve the Nizari cause. So went the tale of the "Old Man in the Mountain", assembled by Marco Polo and accepted by Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall, an 18th-century Austrian
Austrian may refer to:
* Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent
** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law
* Austrian German dialect
* Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...
orientalist writer responsible for much of the spread of this legend. Until the 1930s, von Hammer's retelling of the Assassin legends served as the standard account of the Nizaris across Europe.
A well-known legend tells how Count Henry II of Champagne
Henry II of Champagne (or Henry I of Jerusalem) (29 July 1166 – 10 September 1197) was count of Champagne from 1181 to 1197, and king of Jerusalem from 1192 to 1197 by virtue of his marriage to Queen Isabella I of Jerusalem.
Early life
Henry ...
, returning from Armenia
Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
, spoke with Grand Master Rashid ad-Din Sinan at al-Kahf. The count claimed to have the most powerful army and at any moment he claimed he could defeat the Hashashin, because his army was 10 times larger. Rashid replied that his army was instead the most powerful, and to prove it he told one of his men to jump off from the top of the castle in which they were staying. The man did. Surprised, the count immediately recognized that Rashid's army was indeed the strongest, because it did everything at his command, and Rashid further gained the count's respect.
The Ismaili were part of the Durbar of the Moghul Empire
The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...
, with high-ranking members of their community called Khoja. Their community including the other communities of the Muslims of South Asia had become leaderless after the year 1857 when the Mughal Empire was abolished.
The Ismaili began settling in Bombay when the British Raj
The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent;
*
* it is also called Crown rule in India,
*
*
*
*
or Direct rule in India,
* Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...
had established itself.
Modern works on the Nizaris have elucidated their history and, in doing so, dispelled popular histories from the past as mere legends. In 1933, under the direction of the Imam
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, ser ...
Sultan Muhammad Shah, Aga Khan III
Sultan Muhammad Shah (2 November 187711 July 1957), commonly known by his religious title Aga Khan III, was the 48th Imam of the Nizariyya. He played an important role in British Indian politics.
Born to Aga Khan II in Karachi, Aga Khan III ...
, the Islamic Research Association was developed. Historian Vladimir Ivanov was central to both this institution and the 1946 Ismaili Society of Bombay
Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
. Cataloguing a number of Ismaili texts, Ivanov provided the ground for great strides in modern Isma'ili scholarship.[Daftary 1998, p. 17]
Ismaili leaders would later support the cause of Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
during the partition and have a considerable presence in that country.
In recent years, Peter Willey has provided interesting evidence that goes against the Assassin folklore of earlier scholars. Drawing on its established esoteric doctrine, Willey asserts that the Ismaili understanding of Paradise is a deeply symbolic one. While the Qur'an
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...
ic description of Heaven includes natural imagery, Willey argues that no Nizari ''fida'i'' would seriously believe that he was witnessing Paradise simply by awakening in a beauteous garden.[Willey, p. 55] The Nizaris' symbolic interpretation of the Qur'anic description of Paradise serves as evidence against the possibility of such an exotic garden used as motivation for the devotees to carry out their armed missions. Furthermore, Willey points out that a courtier of Hulagu Khan
Hulagu Khan, also known as Hülegü or Hulegu ( mn, Хүлэгү/ , lit=Surplus, translit=Hu’legu’/Qülegü; chg, ; Arabic: fa, هولاکو خان, ''Holâku Khân;'' ; 8 February 1265), was a Mongol ruler who conquered much of West ...
, Juvayni, surveyed the Alamut castle just before the Mongol invasion. In his reports about the fortress, there are elaborate descriptions of sophisticated storage facilities and the famous Alamut library. However, even this anti-Ismaili historian makes no mention of the gardens on the Alamut grounds. Having destroyed a number of texts in the library's collection, deemed by Juvayni to be heretical, it would be expected that he would pay significant attention to the Nizari gardens, particularly if they were the site of drug use and temptation. Having not once mentioned such gardens, Willey concludes that there is no sound evidence in favor of these legends.
According to the historian Yaqut al-Hamawi, the Böszörmény, (Izmaleita or Ismaili/ Nizari) denomination of Muslims who lived in the Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
from the 10th to the 13th centuries, were employed as mercenaries by the kings of Hungary. However, following the establishment of the Christian Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
, their community was vanquished by the end of the 13th century due to the Inquisition
The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...
s ordered by the Catholic Church during the reign of Coloman, King of Hungary. It is said that the Assassins are the ancestors of those given the surname Hajaly, derived from the word "hajal", a rare species of bird found in the mountains of Syria near Masyaf. The hajal (bird) was often used as a symbol of the Assassin's order.
In popular culture
The Assassins were part of Medieval culture, and they were either demonized or romanticized. The Hashashin frequently appeared in the art and literature of the Middle Ages, sometimes, they were portrayed as one of the knight's archenemies and they were also portrayed as a quintessential villain during the crusades.
The word Assassin, in variant forms, had already passed into European usage as a term for a hired professional murderer in this general sense. The Italian chronicler Giovanni Villani, who died in 1348, tells how the lord of Lucca sent 'his assassins' (i suoi assassini) to Pisa to kill a troublesome enemy there. Even earlier, Dante
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...
, in a passing reference in the 19th canto of the ''Inferno
Inferno may refer to:
* Hell, an afterlife place of suffering
* Conflagration, a large uncontrolled fire
Film
* ''L'Inferno'', a 1911 Italian film
* Inferno (1953 film), ''Inferno'' (1953 film), a film noir by Roy Ward Baker
* Inferno (1973 fi ...
'', completed in 1320, speaks of 'the treacherous assassin' (lo perfido assassin); his fourteenth-century commentator Francesco da Buti, explaining a term which for some readers at the time may still have been strange and obscure, remarks: 'Assassino è colui che uccide altrui per danari' (An assassin is one who kills others for money).
The most widespread awareness of the Assassins in modern Europe, and their incorporation into the Romantic tradition, was created by the Austrian historian and Orientalist Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall in his 1818 book, ''Die Geschichte der Assassinen aus morgenländischen Quellen'' (translated into English in 1835 as ''The History of the Assassins''). This work was the standard one on the history of the Assassins in the West until the 1930s.
The Assassins appear in many role-playing game
A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of player character, characters in a fictional Setting (narrative), setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within ...
s and video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
s, especially in massively multiplayer online games. The assassin character class is a common feature of many such games, usually specializing in single combat and stealth skills, often combined in order to defeat an opponent without exposing the assassin to counter-attack.
* The ''Exile
Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...
'' series of action role-playing game
An action role-playing game (often abbreviated action RPG or ARPG) is a subgenre of video games that combines core elements from both the action game and role-playing genre.
Definition
The games emphasize real-time combat where the player h ...
s revolves around a time-traveling Syrian Assassin who assassinates various religious historical figures and modern world leaders.
* The ''Assassin's Creed
''Assassin's Creed'' is an open-world, action-adventure, and stealth game franchise published by Ubisoft and developed mainly by its studio Ubisoft Montreal using the game engine Anvil and its more advanced derivatives. Created by Patrice D ...
'' video game series portrays a heavily fictionalized Ḥashshāshīn order, which has expanded beyond its Levantine confines and is depicted as having existed throughout recorded history
Recorded history or written history describes the historical events that have been recorded in a written form or other documented communication which are subsequently evaluated by historians using the historical method. For broader world hist ...
(along with their nemesis, the Knights Templar
, colors = White mantle with a red cross
, colors_label = Attire
, march =
, mascot = Two knights riding a single horse
, equipment ...
). Both orders are portrayed as fundamentally philosophical orders, rather than religious orders, in nature, and they are expressly said to predate the faiths that their real-life counterparts arose from, thus allowing their respective "histories" to be expanded, both before and after their factual time-frames. In addition, ''Assassin's Creed'' draws much of its content from historical facts, and incorporates the purported last words of Hassan i Sabbah
Hasan-i Sabbāh ( fa, حسن صباح) or Hassan as-Sabbāh ( ar, حسن بن الصباح الحميري, full name: Hassan bin Ali bin Muhammad bin Ja'far bin al-Husayn bin Muhammad bin al-Sabbah al-Himyari; c. 1050 – 12 June 1124) was the ...
as the actual creed ("Nothing is true; everything is permitted"); the sources of that quote are largely unreliable. Since its release, the series has developed into a franchise which consists of novels, comic books, video games, manga, board games, short films and a theatrically released movie.
* In the ''Sword of Islam'' DLC for Paradox Interactive's grand strategy
Grand strategy or high strategy is a state's strategy of how means can be used to advance and achieve national interests. Issues of grand strategy typically include the choice of primary versus secondary theaters in war, distribution of resource ...
game ''Crusader Kings II
''Crusader Kings II'' is a grand strategy video game developed by Paradox Development Studio and published by Paradox Interactive. Set in the Middle Ages, the game was released on February 14, 2012, as a sequel to 2004's '' Crusader Kings''. On ...
'', the Hashashin are a holy order associated with Shi'a Islam
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most n ...
. Once established, Shi'ite rulers may hire the Hashashin to fight against non-Shi'a realms, and can potentially vassal
A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain. W ...
ize them. The ''Monks and Mystics'' DLC expands their role, making the Assassins a unique secret society that Shi'a characters may join.
* In the Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
series ''Marco Polo
Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...
'', the emperor Kublai Khan
Kublai ; Mongolian script: ; (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder of the Yuan dynasty of China and the fifth khagan-emperor of th ...
is attacked by a group of assassins, the Hashshashin, who are led by the Old Man of the Mountain, according to the Taoist
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...
monk Hundred Eyes
Bayan of the Baarin (Mongolian language, Mongolian: Баян; 1236 – January 11, 1295), or Boyan (), was an ethnic Mongols, Mongol general of the Yuan dynasty of China. He was known to Marco Polo as "Bayan Hundred Eyes" (probably from a confusion ...
, in the King's court. The Old Man of the Mountain is then pursued by Marco Polo and Byamba. The episode Hashshashin (2014) shows how the Old Man leads Marco Polo into a hallucinogenic state.
* Louis L'Amour, in his book ''The Walking Drum
''The Walking Drum'' is a novel by the American author Louis L'Amour. Unlike most of his other novels, ''The Walking Drum'' is not set in the frontier era of the American West, but rather is an historical novel set in the Middle Ages—12th-ce ...
'', used the assassins and the stronghold of Alamut as the location of his main character's enslaved father. Mathurin Kerbouchard, who initially seeks his father in the 12th-century Moor-controlled Spain, then throughout Europe, must ultimately travel to the Stronghold of Alamut in order to rescue Jean Kerbouchard.
* The Faceless men, a guild of assassins in the book series ''A Song of Ice and Fire
''A Song of Ice and Fire'' is a series of epic fantasy novels by the American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. He began the first volume of the series, ''A Game of Thrones'', in 1991, and it was published in 1996. Martin, who init ...
'' by George R. R. Martin
George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist, screenwriter, television producer and short story writer. He is the author of the series of epic fantasy novels ''A Song ...
and in the TV series ''Game of Thrones
''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first ...
'' are inspired by the Order of Assassins
* Dota 2, multiplayer online battle arena contains a character named ''Lanaya'', who is described as a "Templar Assassin".
* The ''Fate
Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual.
Fate
Although often ...
'' franchise of visual novels features the sect quite prominently with Hassan-i-sabbah
Hasan-i Sabbāh ( fa, حسن صباح) or Hassan as-Sabbāh ( ar, حسن بن الصباح الحميري, full name: Hassan bin Ali bin Muhammad bin Ja'far bin al-Husayn bin Muhammad bin al-Sabbah al-Himyari; c. 1050 – 12 June 1124) was the ...
, also known as the "Old Man of the Mountain" ( Japanese: 山の翁, Yama no Okina), being a pseudonym of 19 wraith
Wraith is one of several traditional terms for a ghost or spirit. Wraith, Wraiths, or The Wraith may also refer to:
Fiction Characters
* Wraith (G.I. Joe), a Cobra mercenary in ''G.I. Joe: America's Elite''
* Wraith (Image Comics), a comic book s ...
s able to be summoned into the assassin class. Their Noble Phantasm is called Zabaniya (in Japanese: ザバーニーヤ), from Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
(Az-zabānīya: الزبانية), named after the 19 Angels that guard Hell in the Islamic faith. In both '' Fate/Zero'' and '' Fate/stay night: Heaven's Feel'', 'Assassin' is a character (servant of Kotomine Kirei and Matō Zouken
The Japanese eroge, adult visual novel ''Fate/stay night'' features a number of characters created by Type-Moon, some of whom are classified as Servants with special combat abilities. The characters listed have appeared mainly in two anime tele ...
respectively) that portrays a leader of Hashashins. Hassan-i Sabbah himself features in ''Fate/Grand Order
is a free-to-play Japanese mobile game, developed by Lasengle (formerly Delightworks) using Unity, and published by Aniplex, a subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment Japan. The game is based on Type-Moon's ''Fate/stay night'' franchise, and ...
''.
*In Batman
Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...
comics and related media, the League of Assassins is a fictional offshoot of the Order of Assassins that has survived clandestinely into modern times under the immortal DC Comics
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
supervillain
A supervillain or supercriminal is a variant of the villainous stock character that is commonly found in American comic books, usually possessing superhuman abilities. A supervillain is the antithesis of a superhero.
Supervillains are oft ...
Ra's al Ghul.
*In the Turkish TV series
Turkish television series ( tr, Türk dizileri) has grown radically since the 2000s. Most dramas reflect Turkish culture and are the country's most well known economic and cultural exports. Turkey is the world's fastest growing television series e ...
'' Uyanış: Büyük Selçuklu'', the Order of Assassins and Hassan-i Sabbah are shown as villains who are the enemies of the Seljuk Empire
The Great Seljuk Empire, or the Seljuk Empire was a high medieval, culturally Turco-Persian tradition, Turko-Persian, Sunni Islam, Sunni Muslim empire, founded and ruled by the Qiniq (tribe), Qïnïq branch of Oghuz Turks. It spanned a total are ...
and Malik-Shah I
Jalāl al-Dawla Mu'izz al-Dunyā Wa'l-Din Abu'l-Fatḥ ibn Alp Arslān (8 August 1055 – 19 November 1092, full name: fa, ), better known by his regnal name of Malik-Shah I ( fa, ), was the third sultan of the Great Seljuk Empire from 1072 to ...
.
*The book ''Angels & Demons
''Angels & Demons'' is a 2000 bestselling mystery- thriller novel written by American author Dan Brown and published by Pocket Books and then by Corgi Books. The novel introduces the character Robert Langdon, who recurs as the protagonist of Bro ...
'' by Dan Brown
Daniel Gerhard Brown (born June 22, 1964) is an American author best known for his Thriller (genre), thriller novels, including the Robert Langdon novels ''Angels & Demons'' (2000), ''The Da Vinci Code'' (2003), ''The Lost Symbol'' (2009), ''In ...
has a modern day descendant of the Hassassin as a major character.
*In Umberto Eco's '' Baudolino'', a group of adventurers at the centre of the story are enslaved by the Old Man of the Mountain, being drugged, shown paradise, and serving the order for years before escaping.
See also
* Nizari Ismaili state
The Nizari state (the Alamut state) was a Shia Nizari Ismaili state founded by Hassan-i Sabbah after he took control of the Alamut Castle in 1090 AD, which marked the beginning of an era of Ismailism known as the "Alamut period". Their people w ...
* Nizari–Seljuk conflicts
* History of Nizari Ismailism
The History of Nizari Isma'ilism from the founding of Islam covers a period of over 1400 years. It begins with Muhammad's mission to restore to humanity the universality and knowledge of the oneness of the divine within the Abrahamic tradition, thr ...
* List of assassinations by the Assassins
* List of Isma'ili missionaries
This is a list of Ismailism, Isma'ili missionaries (''da'i''s).
Background
The simplified description of the hierarchy (''hudūd'') of the organization of the Ismaili da'wah was as follows:
*''Nāṭiq'' (), the messenger-propher.
*''Waṣī'' ...
* List of the Order of Assassins {{short description, None
The order of Assassins was founded in Persia in 1090 by Hassan-i Sabbah. The list of Assassins associated with the order include the following:
*al-Hakim al-Munajjim, the physician-astrologer (d. 1103)
* Abu Tahir al-Sa ...
Notes
References
*Thatcher, Griffithes Wheeler (1911)
Assassins
''Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th Edition'', Volume 2, pp. 774–775.
*Boyle, John Andrew, Editor (1958), History of the World Conqueror by Ala Ad Din Ata Malik Juvaini, Harvard University Press.
*
*
*
*
*Gibb, N. A. R., Editor (1932) ''The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades. Extracted and translated from the Chronicle of ibn al-Qalānisi'', Luzac & Company, London.
*
*
*
*
1987 edition
available online with registration)
*
*
*
*
*Richards, D. S., Editor (2010). ''The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athir for the Crusading Period from al-Kamil fi’l-Ta’rikh. Part 1, 1097-1146.'', Ashgate Publishing, Farnham, UK.
*Richards, D. S., Editor (2007), ''The Chronicle of Ibn al-Athir for the Crusading Period from al-Kamil fi’l-Ta’rikh. Part 2, 1146-1193'', Ashgate Publishing, Farnham, UK.
*
*
*
*
Further reading
{{Authority control
1090 establishments in Asia
Religious organizations established in the 1090s
1275 disestablishments
Religious organizations disestablished in the 13th century
Assassins of the medieval Islamic world
Medieval Syria
Mercenary units and formations of the Middle Ages
Secret societies
Seljuk Empire
Shia Islamist groups
Cannabis and religion
Cannabis and Islam