236 



ASSASSINS. 



with daggers. These were tin- men, who, reckless 

 of their lives, executed the bloody mandates of the 

 Sheikh-el-Jebel, the title assumed by Hassan. As 

 a proof of the fanaticism which Hassan contrived 

 to instil into his followers, we give the following 

 instance. In the year 1 1'2(J, Hasim-ed-devlit Absou- 

 car, the brave prince of Mosul, was, as he entered 

 the mosque, attacked by eight assassins disguised 

 as dervises ; he killed three, and the rest, with the 

 exception of one young man, were cut to pieces by 

 the people; but the prince had received his death- 

 wound. When the news spread that Hasim had 

 fallen by the daggers of the assassins, the mother 

 of the youth, who had escaped, painted and adorned 

 herself, rejoicing that her son had been found worthy 

 to offer up his life to the good cause ; but when he 

 returned the only survivor, she cut off her hair 

 and blackened her face, through grief that he had 

 not shared the glorious death of martyrdom. 



A display of the means by which the chief of 

 the Assassins succeeded in infusing this spirit of 

 unbounded faith and devotion into his followers, 

 forms an interesting chapter in the history of the 

 human race. Those who reflect on the follies of 

 the disciples of the various fanatics and impostors 

 who have deceived mankind, will not be surprised 

 at the blind devotion of the Fedavee. Even in 

 our own days, the chief of the Wahabees could 

 persuade his followers that he had it in his power to 

 dispose of the mansions of eternal bliss.* It is 

 not undeserving of remark, that the two powers 

 which waged war simultaneously upon Islamism, 

 were both stimulated, by their spiritual heads, with 

 the same prospects of reward. Those who fell in 

 the crusades were pronounced by the Pope to be 

 martyrs, and entitled to the kingdom of heaven ; 

 and to the Fedavee who fell in executing the man- 

 dates of his superior, the gates of paradise were 

 thrown open, and he entered into the enjoyment 

 of the ivory palace, the robe of silk, and the black- 

 eyed houries. This, it is said by Marco Polo, was 

 no ideal reward. At Alamoot and Masiat in Syria 

 were the most delightful gardens, into which the 

 young novice was, while in a state of stupefaction, 

 the result of some narcotic, introduced ; and there, 

 amid a succession of pleasures, presented with a 

 foretaste of the joys of a Mahometan paradise. 

 Ever after, the rapturous vision possessed the im- 

 agination of the deluded enthusiast, and he panted 

 for the hour when death, received in obeying the 

 commands of his superior, should dismiss him to 

 the bowers of the celestial paradise. 



Here we have the true origin, according to De 

 Sacy, of the term Assassin. Hyde derived it from 

 Hassa, to kill ; others from the Jewish Essenes ; 

 the prevailing derivation, which is also adopted by 

 Sir John Malcolm, is from Hassan, the first chief; 

 Lemoine was nearer the truth when he derived it 

 from a word signifying herbage, and consequently 

 garden ; but, according to De Sacy, whose opinion 

 is adopted by Von Hammer, the true root is has- 

 hish, which signifies the bangue, or opiate of hemp 

 leaves ; and that the Assassins obtained their appel- 

 lation from the use they made of the opiate pre- 

 pared from that plant. 



The power of the order now began to be exhibit- 



A follower of the modern Wahabee. who, a few years ago, 

 stabbed an Arabian chipf, near Bassora, not only refused to 

 save his life, but anxinii-Oy courted death, grasping- in his hand 

 apaper whi(h he geein.->l to pri7i> far hevmid liis existence. 

 This u-hen examined proved to be an order from the Wahabee 

 chief, for an emerald palace, and a number of beautiful female 

 tlaves, to be given him in the delightful regions of eternal bliss. 



ed. By force or by treachery, the castles or hill- 

 forts of Persia in succession fell into their hands. 

 A bloody period ensued ; the doctors of the law ex- 

 communicated the adherents of Hassan, and the 

 Sultan Melek Shah gave orders to his generals to 

 reduce their fortresses ; the daggers of the Assassins 

 were opposed to the swords of the orthodox, and 

 the first victim to Hassan's revenge was the com- 

 panion of his youth, the great and good Nizamul- 

 mulk, the prime minister of the sultan, who fell 

 by the dagger of a Fedavee. His death was 

 followed by that of his sovereign, who was sud- 

 denly carried off, not without strong suspicion of 

 poison. 



At the period of the crusades, the Assassins ap- 

 peared in Syria, and, by means of Riswan, prince of 

 Aleppo, acquired fortresses in that country. In Syria, 

 as in Persia, they were persecuted and massacred ; 

 and there, also, the dagger amply avenged tliose who 

 fell by the sword. After a protracted contest in 

 Persia, a dagger was one morning found stuck in the 

 ground by an unknown hand, at the head of the 

 Sultan Sanjer. This reminded him of continued 

 enmity, and induced him to seek for peace. A 

 treaty was in consequence entered into between the 

 Sultan and the sheikh of Alamoot. The Ismaelites 

 agreed on their part to add no more to the strength 

 of their forts, to purchase no arms or military ma- 

 chines, and to make no more proselytes, and the 

 Sultan released them from certain taxes, and assign- 

 ed them a portion of his revenue as an annual 

 pension. 



After a reign of thirty-five years, Hassan ben 

 Sabah saw his power extended over a great portion 

 of the Mohammedan world. Three grand mission- 

 aries presided over the three provinces of Jebal, 

 Cuhistan, and Syria, while, from his chamber at 

 Alamoot (which apartment he left but twice during 

 his long reign), Hassan directed the operations of 

 his followers, and employed his leisure hours in 

 drawing up rules and regulations for the govern- 

 ment of the order. He died at a very advanced 

 age, leaving no children, for he had previously put 

 both his sons to death, the one for the crime of 

 murder, and the other for trespassing some trifling 

 precept of the Koran. When he felt the approach 

 of death, he summoned his two superintendants, 

 Keah Buzoorg and Ahou Ali, before him, and ap- 

 pointed them his successors; Buzoorg to direct the 

 civil and military, and Ali the spiritual affairs of 

 the order. 



Buzoorg trod in tBe footsteps of the founder of 

 the order. Hostilities were renewed between him 

 and the Sultan, and Alamoot fell for a time into 

 the hands of the enemy. But the power of the 

 order had taken too deep root to be easily over- 

 thrown, and it soon recovered from its disasters. 

 In Syria, too, though violently opposed, it extended 

 its influence, and it was thus situated when the 

 crusaders first came in contact with its followers. 

 Their first approaches were of a friendly nature, 

 for we find that Aboul Wefa, the Ismaelite Grand 

 Prior, as we may call him, and at the same time 

 chief judge of Damascus, entered into a treaty with 

 Baldwin the Second, king of Jerusalem, to deliver 

 Damascus into his hands, on condition of receiv- 

 ing the city of Tyre as his reward. The enter- 

 prise, however, failed ; the governor got timely in- 

 formation of the plot ; the vizier, the great friend 

 and protector of the Assassins, was put to death ; 

 and an indiscriminate massacre of the Ismaelites 

 took place, in which 6000 fell victims. 



