Mountains of Qaf جبال القاف
An exploration of myth, legend and the occult in the Middle East and beyond
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Rise and Fall of the Assassins
As persecuted followers of an offshoot of Shia Islam, the medieval Nizari Ismailis
The founder of the Assassins was Hassan-i Sabbah, a devout
Ismaili who brought his followers to the castle of Alamut, in northwestern
Iran, after he took the fortress. The castle reportedly held a vast library of texts, many destroyed as
heretical when the castle finally fell in 1256.
Hassan-i Sabbah
As the Grand Headmaster of the Order, Sabbah never left the fortified Alamut. He created a complex hierarchy below him, with the fully initiated Da’i (preachers) on top, followed by the partially initiated Rafiqs, or comrades, and lastly the Lasiqs, or adherents. The F
The entire sect was known as the Ḥashshashin, a term now thought to be a derogatory word meaning ‘outcasts’, but it was taken up by Western writers to refer to the supposed hashish use by the sect and its leaders. Lurid tales of adherents entranced by drugs and lured into service by promises of a paradise after death have more recently been called into question. Many of the stories originated from accounts by the Nizari’s enemies and questionable retellings from Westerners such as Marco Polo.
The preferred weapon of the Fidai was a dagger, so
that the killing took place close up and left the attacker little chance to
flee. The Fidai's willingness to sacrifice his life for the cause added to the
sect’s fearsome reputation. Many details of the medieval Nizari Ismaili's scholarship and imagery have been lost to history. The Ḥashshashin in Hungary were said to take on the symbol of the
hajal , a partridge-like bird, and worked for a time as mercenaries before being eliminated by the Inquisition. A green
flag was raised over Alamut, with a prophecy that a red flag, symbolizing the
return of the hidden Iman, would someday be lifted above the fortress. A
combined green and red flag was created in the 19th century for the Nizari . Another
symbol associated with the Ismaili is the heptogram , or seven-pointed star.
The
Ḥashshashin sect was largely eradicated by the Mongol Empire, although some
members survived as assassins for hire and hid their true identities. The
Nizari Ismailis today form the second largest branch of Shia Islam and the
denomination has over 15 million adherents in many countries. The deadly Fidai
of Hassan Sabbah have faded into history, but the name and myth of the Assassin
live on.
Painting of the siege of Alamut by the Mongols.
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