LMAV MI 



ASSAULT AND BATTF.nY. 



61(1 



(Orimtn. ' Deutsnhe Grauuuatik ;' Docker. 'German GnunmAr, 1 



Kn*ftih trmnftl n. 5fl i 



A88AMAR (C-.H,,O.). A thick syrup of a reddish yellow colour, 

 MM! bittar Usto, found amongst the product* of the destructive din 

 ulUti.m of caramel and sugar. Rsichsnbaoh says that toasted bread 

 uww it* peculiar bitter tivte to this substance. 



A88A88IN8,a military and religious order, formed in Persia in the 1 1 th 

 century. It was a ramincation of the LsmaeliUs, who were themselves 

 * branch of the great Mohammedan scot of the Shiite, the supporters 

 o| the claim* of Ah' posterity to the caliphate. ( ALI BEX ABI TALES, 

 in the Bioo. Dmsios.] But among the IsmaeUtes there were many 

 who were Mussulmans only in appearance, and whose secret dooMM 

 mounted to thi* : that no action wa either guocl or bod in itself . and 

 that all religion* were the invention of men. Thaw unb.-lie\. 

 fanned into a Mcret society by one Abdullah, a man of the old Persian 

 raw, who had been brought up in the religion of the Magi, and was a 

 hater of the Arab* and of their faith. After leveral bloody insurrec- 

 tion* against the Abbaatde caliph*, the Ismaelites tuooeeded in placing 

 on the throne of Egypt a pretended descendant of Ismael, the - 

 linaum in the line of Ali. from whom the Ismaelites had taken tli.-ir 

 name. [ISMAKUTES.] This descendant, whose name was Obekl Allah 

 Mehdee, wa* the founder of the Katimide dynasty, BO called from 

 Fatima, Mohammed'* daughter. Under the protection of these prince* 

 a lodge of the *ecret doctrine wa* established at Cairo.and its members 

 {tread over a great part of Asia. Their ostensible object was to main- 

 tain the claim* of the Katimide caliph* to universal dominion, and to 

 urge the destruction of the caliph* of Bagdad as usurpers. One of the 

 adept*, Haawn ben Sabah, thought of turning these instrument* i.. hi- 

 own advantage. He was the son of Ali. a rigid Shiitc, but living at 

 Rei in Persia, of which the governor was a Soonite, he was f . 

 conceal his opinions ; and further to avoid suspicion, he sent Hassan 

 hi* son to Niahapoor, to be educated under a celebrated imaum named 

 Mowafek. He here formed an intimacy with Oman Khiam, a poet 

 and astronomer, and with Nizatn-al-Moolk, who afterward* became 

 vizir to Alp Anlan, the Seljucido sultan, and his successors. During 

 the reign of Anlan, Hassan lived away from the court ; but on the 

 acceaoion of Malek Shah, he applied to his old friend for employment 

 in the government. Nizam-al-Moolk has told his own story, that he 

 introduced Hassan to the sultan, by whom he was highly favoured ; 

 but on attempting to supplant his patron he wa* disgraced and forced 

 to fly. Vowing revenge against the sultan and Al-Moolk, he went to 

 Egypt, where he was received with distinction by the caliph Moetonser, 

 became a zealous adherent of the Ismaelite lodge, and after many 

 vicissitudes and wanderings, obtained possession, by the aid of Ins 

 brethren, of the hill-fort of Alamoot (or VaJturc'i ffat), situated to the 

 ii .rtli of Can-in, in Persia, and there (A.D. 1090) established an inde- 

 I- n. lent society or order, consisting of seven degrees, with himself at 

 the head as sheikh al jebel, that is, sheikh of the mountain. Under 

 him came three dai al kebir, the grand priors of the order ; 3dly, the 

 dais, or initiated masters ; 4thly, the refceks, or companions ; Sthly, 

 the fedavee*, or devoted; 6thly, the laseeks, aspirants, or novices; 

 7thly, the prophane, or common people. Hassan drew out for the dais, 

 or initiated, a catechism consisting of seven heads, among which were 

 inplicit obedience to their chief ; secrecy ; and lastly, the principle of 

 seeking the allegorical, and not the plain sense in the Koran, by which 

 mean* the text could be distorted into anything the interpreter 

 pleased. Thi* did away effectually with all fixed rules of morality or 

 faith. But this secret knowledge was confined to a few ; the resc were 

 bound to a strict observance of the letter of the Koran. The most 

 effectual clan in the order were the fedavces youths often purchased 

 or stolen from their parents when children, and brought up under a 

 particular system of education, calculated to impress upon their minds 

 the omnipotence of the sheikh, and the criminality as well as utter 

 impossibility of evading his order*, which were like the mandate* of 

 heaven itaelf. These fedavees were clothed in white, with red bonnets 

 and girdles, and armed with sharp daggers ; but they assumed all sorts 

 of disgui*es when sent on a mission. Marco Polo gives a curious 

 romantic account of the garden at Alamoot, to which the fedavee, 

 designed for an important mission, wa* carried in a state of temporary 

 stupor produced by powerful opiates, and where, on awakening, he 

 found everything that could excite and gratify his senses. He was 

 made to believe that this was a foretaste of the paradise of the prophet, 

 reserved for his faithful and devoted servants, and thus became 

 willing to encounter death, even under the most appalling forms, in 

 order to secure a permanent seat in the abode of bliss. Marco Trio's 

 narrative is confirmed by Arabian writers, and Von Hammer inclines 

 to believe it true in the main; others attribute the visions in the 

 garden to the effects of the intoxicating preparation administered to 

 the fedavee*. The name of hailtitti, which is that of an opiate made 

 from hemp-leave*, is supposed to have been the origin of the word 

 ' Awwrnnii ;' others derive the latter from Hawaii ben Sahah, thu 

 founder of the order. The word becoming familiar to the crusaders, 

 was by them carried to Europe, where it was used a* synonymous with 

 that of ttrarim, or hired murderer ; but the Italians have adopted it t. . 

 signify a robber on the high mail, without necessarily implying the 



. : : 1 1 ' ' 



The Asaislni, either by force or treachery, gained possession of 

 many other castles and hill-forts in Persia, The mtltin Melnk Shah 



attacked them, the doctor* of the law excommunicated tin-in: t.nt 

 the fedavees carried secret death amone ,!; th.^ 



minuter, Nizain-al-Moolk, wa* (tabbed, and hi* master soon aft. 

 suddenly, it wa* supposed by poison. The Assassins sprea. 

 where they acquired stronghold* in tin- mountains near Trii>] 

 the sultan of the Seljucidec wa* glad to come to an v 

 granting them several districts. Hassan ben Sabah, havii. 

 his order over great part of the Mohammedan world, died at Alamoot 

 in 11-24, afu-r thirty-five yearn' reign. He bequeathed hi* autli. 

 Keah Buzoorg t'..m.-id. one of the dais of the order. Buzoorg renewed 

 the war with the Seljueides, and Aboo-'l-Wrfa, his dai al kebir in 

 Syria, entered into a temporary alliance with Baldwin II.. i. 

 Jerusalem, through the agency of Hugo de Payens, grand master . 

 Templars, against their common enemies the Seljucide Turks, 

 this, the Assassins were sometimes on friendly terms, but oftciicr at 

 variance, with the Christian princes of Syria and Palestine, as well a* 

 with their Mohammedan neighbours. To accomplish their obje< i 

 never scrupled to resort to assassination. In 1126 the prince of ' 

 was stabbed a* be entered the mosque by Assassins disguised ; 

 vises ; soon after, a caliph of Bagdad was killed likewise, and also a 

 sultan of Cairo, notwithstanding his Katimide descent. In 113S K.-ah 

 Mohammed succeeded his father. In 1151 Raymond, count of T 

 was stabbed by the Assassins ; it was suspected, at the instigation of 

 hi* wife. At this time the Syrian branch of the Assassins had acquired 

 a large extension of power, and became in a manner independent 

 Persian one. A son of Mohammed's, Hassan, proclaimed him.-, it t .. IN the 

 promised Imaum, and gained numerous followers ; but his i' ith 

 him into prison, and put 250 of hi* adherent* to death. Ha--an then 

 renounced his pretensions, but on succeeding his father in 11 

 assembled all the people in Alamoot, proclaimed that they were the 

 true elect, and absolved them from all the obligations of the 1 

 Islam. After a succession of enormities that seem almost like mad- 

 ness, he was assassinated by his brother-in-law. His son. h 

 succeeded him as Mohammed II., and took a bloody revenge for hi> 

 fathcr's murder. After a reign of thirty-five years, Mohammed was 

 succeeded by his son Jeual-ed-deen, in 1173. Jellal-ed-deen was a man 

 of more sense than his predecessors ; he restored the religion, ma< 

 peace with the caliph, sent his harem on the great pilgrimage to Mekka, 

 and received the appellation of New Mussulman. After a short but 

 peaceful reign, he was poisoned by some of his kindred, and was 

 succeeded by his son Ala-ed-deen when only nine years of age, who 

 being murdered, the office of sheikh al jebel devolved upon Kukn-ed- 

 deen, Ala-ed-deen's son. By this time the caliph of Bagda.i 

 applied to the great Mongol conqueror, Mangoo Khan, who 

 brother Hulakoo to exterminate the murderous sect. Alain. 

 taken, and Kukn-ed-deen was made prisoner and ultimately ; 

 death. The fortress Kirdcoo resisted f..r three years, but at Last all the 

 haunts of the AsKftBHinH were taken, and the inmates were massacred 

 without distinction, A D. 1256. 



The Syrian or western branch of the Assassins, however, com 

 t.. exist for some years later under their dai al kebir. Massy, 

 far from Beyroot, was their principal stronghold. The history of thi.-: 

 branch is the most familiar to Europeans, being much interwoven with 

 that of the crusaders and of the great sultan Sala-ed-deen. The 

 was several times in danger from the daggers of the Assassins. The 

 Dai al Kebir Sinan, a man who had a reputation for sanctity, sent in 

 1173 an embassy to Almeric, the Christian king of Jerusal. 

 in his name and that of his people, to embrace Christianity, < 

 dition that the Templars, who were their neighbours, should remit th.- 

 annual tribute of two thousand gold ducats which they had imposed on 

 them, and live in future in peace and good neighbourhood t 

 them. Almeric was delighted with the offer, and dismissed the cm..y 

 with honour. The envoy, however, on his return to his territ. i 

 killed by a party of Templars, led by Oaultier dii Mesnil. Aft 

 the Assassins resorted again to their daggers, which they had laid aside 

 for many years. Among other victims, Conrad, marquis < 

 Montferrat, was murdered by two fedavees in the market i 

 Tyre, 1192. The reasons for this murder, which some have- a* 

 to Richard of England, have been the subject of a long 

 which Von Hammer does not succeed in clucid.it ii 

 kept the Christians of Tripoli in perpetual fear. They levied . 

 bntioiis on the Christian princes for the safety of their lives; and th.\ 

 i veil demanded it of St. Louis, King of France, on his passing tl 

 Acre on his return from the Damietta ex]>edition : Loin 

 indignantly refused. At last the Syrian Assassins were conquer. 

 their stronghold taken, by Keibars, the Mamluko sultan of K^ypt . four- 

 teen years after the destruction of the eastern bran, h by the Mongols. 

 Many, however, found refuge in tl 



mixed with -the Yezeed Koonl- : mid .-..me .it' the t. nit- ,.f t! ,,|, r 



are believed to linger still amon^ them. Tie Syn.m Knmelitcs are 

 divided into two sects, who liva m a number of ^mii villages round 

 Massyad. The Persian Ismaelites dwell chiefly around I 

 Khornaan, their sheikh living under the protection of th. : : 

 !' i -i... 



(V..n Hammer, ' Getrhifhte tier Attantincn,' and ' Funtlyrnbm da 

 Oriexlt; also Sir John Malcolm's ' Hillary nf Ptriin.'t 



ASSAULT and BATTERY. An assault has been commonly 

 to be 'an attempt or offer with force and violence to doacorpor,. 



