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In 1167 CE Benjamin of Tudela, a Spanish rabbi, visited Syria on a 13-year journey through the Middle East and Asia. His description of Syria includes what is probably the first European account of a group that would provoke horror and fascination in the West: the Assassins.
- Assassination
assassination, the murder of a public figure. The term...
- Assassination
While Assassins typically refers to the entire group, only a group of disciples known as the fida'i actually engaged in conflict. The preferred method of killing was by dagger, nerve poison or arrows. The Assassins posed a substantial strategic threat to Fatimid, Abbasid, and Seljuk authority.
- The Assassin Name
- Heretical Beliefs
- The Assassin Territories
- The Assassination Strategy
- The Targets
- Destruction by The Mongols
- Legacy
The Nizari Ismailis ate powdered hemp leaves (hashish) which contain a natural psychoactive (mind-altering) drug, reportedly doing so before they went on an assassination mission. The name 'Assassin' in English comes from the Latin term assassinus, which is a corruption of the Arabic words hasisi, al-Hashishiyyun or hashashun, meaning 'hashish-eate...
The Ismailis were a Shiite Muslim sect formed in the 8th century CE after they split from other Muslims over their adherence to Ismail (d. 760 CE), the eldest son of the sixth imam (leaders of the faith after the Prophet Muhammad), Jafar al-Sadiq (d. 765 CE). The Ismailis believed that Ismail, despite predeceasing his father, had already been nomin...
The Nizari Ismailis, first led by a missionary from Egypt, Hasan Ibn al-Sabbah (c. 1048-1124 CE), set up bases in Iran and formed a new political-religious community much like the European orders of medieval knights. Members were educated, trained, and initiated, then ranked according to their knowledge, reliability, and courage. All members swore ...
The Assassins did not enjoy a great military strength and so their strategy of targeting specific and powerful opponents was a good one. The weapon of choice for assassination was almost always the knife, and the mission was usually carried out by a small team, sometimes in disguise as beggars, ascetics, or monks. The assassination was often planne...
Infamous victims of the Assassins included the great and powerful vizier of Baghdad, Nizam al-Mulk, murdered on 14 October 1092 CE. Another successful target, and the first Christian victim, was Raymond II, the Count of Tripoli, in 1152 CE. Raymond (r. 1137-1152 CE) had probably upset the Assassins by granting the Knights Hospitallera swathe of lan...
Mongke Khan, the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire (r. 1251-1259 CE) had made his younger brother Hulegu (d. 1265 CE) viceroy of Iran. Hulegu was given an army and told to go on campaign and expand the empire in the west. This he did with great success, and on the way, he defeated the Assassins in 1256 CE by taking their previously thought impregnabl...
The medieval Assassins might have long gone but the Nizari Ismailis continued as a branch of Shiite Islam, and their leaders came to be represented by the Agha Khans of Iran from 1817 CE. The current leader or imam of the Nizari Ismailis is Prince Shah Karim al-Husseini, Aga Khan IV (r. 1957 CE - present). Many of the Ismaili ruined castles can sti...
- Mark Cartwright
Lee Harvey Oswald is the accused assassin of President John F. Kennedy. As history records, at 12:30 pm on November 22, 1963, from a window on the sixth floor of the depository building, Oswald, using a mail-order rifle, allegedly fired three shots that killed President Kennedy and wounded Texas Gov. John B. Connally in an open-car motorcade in ...
- John P. Rafferty
Sep 21, 2022 · There was a very real Order of Assassins who were agents of the medieval Nizari Ismaili, a faction of Shiite Muslims who broke away from the larger Shiite community in the late 11th century. They took refuge in an assortment of castles in the mountains of Syria and what is now Iran. Contents.
Jan 13, 2024 · In the annals of history, there exist shadowy figures and clandestine groups whose lethal skills and cunning tactics have left an indelible mark on the world. These ancient assassins and covert organizations were not mere killers; they were master strategists and agents of political change, their actions resonating through the ages.
4 days ago · assassination, the murder of a public figure. The term typically refers to the killing of government leaders and other prominent persons for political purposes—such as to seize power, to start a revolution, to draw attention to a cause, to exact revenge, or to undermine a regime or its critics.
