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ASSASSIN (properly Hashish n, from Ha...

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Originally appearing in Volume V02, Page 775 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ASSASSIN (properly See also:Hashish n, from Hashish, the opiate made from the juice of See also:hemp leaves) , a See also:general See also:term for a See also:secret murderer, originally the name of a See also:branch of the Shiite See also:sect (see See also:SHIITES), known as Isma`ilites, founded by Ijassan (See also:ibn) Sabbah at the end of the iith See also:century, and from that See also:time active in See also:Syria and See also:Persia until crushed in the 13th century by the See also:Mongols under Hula"ku (Hulagu) in Persia, and by the See also:Mameluke Bibars in Syria. The See also:father of Ijassan Sabbali, - a native of See also:Khorasan, and a Shiite, had been frequently compelled to profess Sunnite orthodoxy, and from prudential motives had sent his son to study under an orthodox See also:doctor at See also:Nishapur. Here Ijassan made the acquaintance of See also:Nizam-ul-Mulk, afterwards See also:vizier of the See also:sultan Malik-Shah (see SEejuics). During the reign of See also:Alp-Arslan he remained in obscurity, and then appeared at the See also:court of Malik-Shah, where he was at first kindly received by his old friend the vizier. I;lassan, who was a See also:man of See also:great ability, tried to supplant him in the favour of the sultan, but was outwitted and compelled to take his departure from Persia. " He went to See also:Egypt (1078-79), and, on See also:account of his high reputation, was received with great See also:honour by the See also:lodge at See also:Cairo. He soon stood so.high in the See also:caliph Mostansir's favour as to excite against him the See also:jealousy of the See also:chief general, and a cause of open enmity soon arose. The caliph had nominated first one and then another of his sons as his successor, and in consequence a party See also:division took See also:place among the leading men. See also:Hassan, who adopted the cause of Nizar, the eldest son, found his enemies too strong for him, and was forced to leave Egypt. After many adventures he reached See also:Aleppo and See also:Damascus, and after a sojourn there, settled near Kuhistan (See also:Kohistan). He gradually spread his See also:peculiar modification of Isma`ilite See also:doctrine, and, having collected a considerable number of followers, formed them into a secret society. In 1090 he obtained, by stratagem, the strong See also:mountain fortress of Alamut in Persia, and, removing there with his followers, settled as chief of the famous society after-wards called the Assassins.

- The speculative principles of this See also:

body were identical with those of the Isma`ilites, but their See also:external policy was marked by one peculiar and distinctive feature—the employment of secret " assassination " against all enemies. This practice was introduced by }Iassan, and formed the essential characteristic of the sect. In organization they closely resembled the western lodge at Cairo. At the See also:head was the supreme ruler, the Sheik-al-Jabal (See also:Jebel), i.e. Chief, or, as it is commonly translated, Old Man of the Mountains. Under him were three Dai-al-Kirbdl, or, as they may be called, See also:grand priors, who ruled the three provinces over which the sheik's See also:power extended. Next came the body of D¢'is, or priors, who were fully initiated into all the secret doctrines, and were the emissaries of the faith. See also:Fourth were the Refiqs, associates or See also:fellows, who were in See also:process of See also:initiation, and who ultimately advanced to the dignity of See also:dais. Fifth came the most distinctive class, the Fedais (i.e. the devoted ones), who were the See also:guards or assassins proper. These were all See also:young men, and from their ranks were selected the agents for any See also:deed of See also:blood. They were kept uninitiated, and the blindest obedience was exacted from and yielded by them. When the sheik required the services of any of them, the selected fedais successor his chief Kia-Busurg-Omid.

During the fourteen years' reign of this second See also:

leader, the Assassins were frequently unfortunate in the open See also:field, and their castles were taken and plundered; but they acquired a stronghold in Syria, while their numerous murders made them an See also:object of dread to the neighbouring princes, and spread abroad their evil renown. A See also:long See also:series of distinguished men perished under the daggers of the fedais; even the most sacred dignity was not spared. The caliph Mostarshid was assassinated in his See also:tent,- and not long after, the caliph Rashid suffered a similar See also:fate, Busurg-Omid was succeeded by his son Mahommed I., who, during the long See also:period of twenty-five years, ruthlessly carried out his predecessor's principles. In his time Massiat became the chief seat of the Syrian branch of the society. Mahommed's abilities were not great, and the affections of the See also:people were See also:drawn towards his son Hassan, a youth of great learning, skilled in all the See also:wisdom of the initiated, and popularly believed to be the promised See also:Imam become visible on See also:earth. The old sheik prevented any See also:attempt at insurrection by slaying 250 of Hassan's adherents, and the son was glad to make submission. When, however, he attained the See also:throne, he began to put his views into effect. On the 19th of the See also:month See also:Ramadan, 1164, he assembled the people and disclosed to them the secret doctrines of the initiated; he announced that the doctrines of See also:Islam were now abolished, that the people might give themselves up to feasting and joy. Soon after, he announced that he was the promised Imam, the caliph of See also:God upon earth. To substantiate these claims he gave out that he was not the son of Mahommed, but was descended from Nizir, son of the See also:Egyptian caliph Mostansir, and a lineal descendant of See also:Ismail. After a See also:short reign of four years Hassan was assassinated by his See also:brother-in-See also:law, and his son Mahommed II. succeeded. One of his first acts was to slay his father's murderer, with all his See also:family and relatives; and his long See also:rule, extending over a period of See also:forty-six years, was marked by many similar deeds of See also:cruelty.

Phoenix-squares

He had to contend with many powerful enemies, especially with the great Atabeg sultan Nureddin, and his more celebrated successor, See also:

Saladin, who had gained See also:possession of Egypt after the See also:death of the last Fatifnite caliph, and against whom even secret assassination seemed powerless. During his reign, also, the Syrian branch of the society, under their dd'i, Sinan, made themselves See also:independent, and remained so ever afterwards. It was with this Syrian branch that the Crusaders made acquaintance; and it appears to have been their emissaries who slew See also:Count See also:Raymund of See also:Tripoli and See also:Conrad of See also:Montferrat. Mahommed II. died from the effects of See also:poison, administered, it is believed, by his son, Jelaleddin Hassan III., who succeeded. He restored the old See also:form of doctrine—secret principles for the initiated, and Islam for the people—and his general piety and orthodoxy procured for him the name of the new Mussulman. During his reign of twelve years no assassinations occurred, and he obtained a high reputation among the neighbouring princes. Like his father, he was removed by poison, and his son, `See also:Ala-ed-din Mahommed III., a See also:child of nine years of See also:age, weak in mind and body, was placed on the throne. Under his rule the mild principles of his father were deserted, and a fresh course of assassination entered on. In 1255, after a reign of See also:thirty years, `Ala-ed-din was slain, with the connivance of his son, Rukneddin, the last ruler of the Assassins. In the following See also:year Hulaku (Hulagu), brother of the Tatar, Mangu See also:Khan, invaded the See also:hill See also:country of Persia, took Alamut and many other castles, and captured Rukneddin (see MONGOLS). He treated him kindly, and, at his own See also:request, sent him under escort to Mangu. On the way, Rukneddin treacherously incited the inhabitants of Kirdkuh to resist the See also:Tatars.

This See also:

breach of See also:good faith was severely punished by the khan, who ordered Rukneddin to be put to death, and sent a messenger to Hulaku (Hulagu) commanding him to slay all his captives. About 12,000 of the Assassins were massacred, and their power in Persia was completely broken.- The Syrian branch flourished for some years longer, till Bibars, the Mameluke sultan of Egypt, ra7aged their country and nearly extirpated them. Small bodies of them lingered about the mountains of Syria, and are believed still to exist there. Doctrines somewhat similar to theirs are still to be met with in See also:north Syria. See J. von See also:Hammer, Geschichte der Assassinen (1818); S. de Sacy, Memoires de l'Institut, iv. (1818), who discusses. the See also:etymology fully; See also:Calcutta See also:Review, vols. 1v., lvi.; A. Jourdain in See also:Michaud's Histoire See also:des Croisades, ii. pp. 465-484, and trans. of the See also:Persian historian See also:Mirkhond in Notices et extraits des manuscrits, xiii. pp. 143 sq.; cf. R. See also:Dozy, Essai sur l'histoire de l'Islamisme (See also:Leiden and See also:Paris, 1899); ch. ix.

(G. W.

End of Article: ASSASSIN (properly Hashish n, from Hashish, the opiate made from the juice of hemp leaves)

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