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By Kallie Szczepanski
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Ruins of the Assassins' Castle at Alamut, Iran. The Persian
Assassins were based out of this mountain-top fortress until the
mid-13th century, when the Mongols destroyed it. Hulivili on
Flickr.com
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Nobody knows with certainty where the name "Assassins" came from. The most
commonly-repeated theory holds that the word comes from the Arabic hashishi, meaning
"hashish users." Chroniclers including Marco Polo claimed that the followers of Sabbah
committed their political murders while under the influence of drugs, hence the
derogatory nickname.
However, this etymology may well have arisen after the name itself, as a creative attempt
to explain its origins. In any case, Hasan-i Sabbah strictly interpreted the Koran's
injunction against intoxicants.
A more convincing explanation cites the Egyptian Arabic word hashasheen, meaning
"noisy people" or "troublemakers."
Assassin Tactics:
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court or inner circle of the intended victim, sometimes serving for years as an advisor or
servant. At an opportune moment, the Assassin would stab the sultan, vizier or mullah
with a dagger in a surprise attack. Assassins were promised a place in Paradise following
their martyrdom, which generally took place shortly after the attack.
Officials throughout the Middle East were terrified of these surprise attacks; many took to
wearing armor or chain-mail shirts under their clothes, just in case.
http://asianhistory.about.com/od/iran/p/assassinsprofile.htm
A Sunni caliph, Mustarshid, fell to Assassin daggers in 1131 during a succession dispute.
In 1213, the sharif of the holy city of Mecca lost his cousin to an Assassin. He was
particularly upset about the attack because this cousin closely resembled him. Convinced
that he was the real target, he took all Persian and Syrian pilgrims hostage until a rich
lady from Alamut paid their ransom.
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and led his army into Central Asia to punish Khwarezm. Prudently, the leader of the
Assassins pledged loyalty to the Mongols at that time.
By 1237, the Mongols had conquered most of Central Asia. All of Persia had fallen except
for the strongholds of the Assassins - perhaps as many as 100 mountain fortresses.
The Assassins had enjoyed a relatively free hand in the region between the Mongols'
1219 conquest of Kwarezm and the 1250s. The Mongols were focusing elsewhere, and
ruled lightly. However, Genghis Khan's grandson Mongke Khan grew determined to
conquer the Islamic lands by taking Baghdad, seat of the caliphate.
Fearful of this renewed interest in his region, the Assassin leader sent a team to kill
Mongke. They were supposed to pretend to offer submission to the Mongol khan, and
then stab him. Mongke's guards suspected treachery and turned the Assassins away, but
the damage was done. Mongke was determined to end the threat of the Assassins once
and for all.
Sources:
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Hodgson, Marshall. The Order of Assassins: The Struggle of the Early Nizari Ismailis
against the Islamic World, 's-Gravenhage: Mouton & Co., 1955.
Lewis, Bernard. The Assassins: A Radical Sect in Islam, New York: Octogon Books, 1980.
Weatherford, Jack. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World, New York: Three
Rivers Press, 2004.
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