Hasan Sabbah: Legend of the Assassins,biography of Hasan Sabbah, history of hasan sabbah , hassan sabbah

                                         

                           biography of Hasan Sabbah

                                   

              Hasan Sabbah: Legend of the Assassins

 IntroIt was not uncommon for political and military leaders of the Seljuk Turks, during the 11th and 12thCenturies CE, to wake up to a surprise: a dagger, firmly planted on the floor next totheir bed. Despite the fortress walls, the bolted doorsand the armed guards, somebody had entered their bedroom and left a note – do as youare told, or the next time the dagger will be planted into your chest. But sometimes, no warning was given. The merciless blade would find its way intothe heart, or the throat, of its target. Intimidation and targeted killings of highprofile victims became their hallmark tactics, in a protracted and often desperate fightagainst a powerful invader. They became known as the Assassins, the loyalfollowers and guardians to the founder and leader of their movement: Hasan Sabbah.

 A forewordHasan and his followers emerged in a confusing and murky period of political, ethnic andreligious strife in Persia and the Middle East. A period in which different Muslim factionsfought each other and against the European Crusaders. No wonder then, that the history emergingfrom that period is shrouded in myth, legend and propaganda. Who were exactly the Assassins and what wastheir agenda? What was their relationship with the KnightsTemplar? Who was the mysterious Old Man of the Mountain? Today, I will try to clear these, and otherquestions by narrating Hasan’s life. But first: how did the Assassin’s legendstart in Europe? Legend of the AssassinsOne of the first written accounts about the Assassins comes from a French priest and historianliving in Syria, William of Tyre .

In the early 1180s, William wrote:“In the province of Tyre . . . is a certain people who have ten castles and surroundinglands and we have often heard that there are sixty thousands of them or more. . . . Both we and the Saracens call them Assassins,but I don’t know where the name comes from ”But Europeans would have to wait until 1298 to learn more about this mysterious Order. That’s when Rustichello da Pisa publishedThe Travels of Marco Polo . [Roo-ste-ke-law. ‘Ste’ as in Steve, ‘ke’ as in Kent]The Venetian traveller describes a land called ‘Mulehet’ where an Old Man of the Mountainused to live. The Man had built the largest and most beautifulgarden of the world, “Three canals streamed there: one for water,one for honey, one for wine. In the garden there lived boys and maidens,the most handsome in the world …” In the garden were admitted only those whomthe Old Man wanted to turn into his Assassins.

He drugged them with opium and upon wakingup in the garden, he let them believe that they were experiencing a vision of Heaven. The next time they woke up, The Old Man hadbrought them back to the ‘real world’. Longing to return to that Heaven, these youngmen were manipulated to become Assassins on behalf of the Old Man. Only death as a martyr for their cause wouldgrant them a return to that Garden of Delights. Marco Polo claims that it was for that reasonthat the Assassins were such effective killers, and the Old Man was so feared that rulersin Asia would pay him a regular tribute. The alternative being death, of course. Polo’s account concludes by narrating howin 1265 the Lord of the Tatars, Alau, tired of this wickedness, laid siege to the OldMan’s fortress for three years, before starving out the Man of the Mountain and all his Assassins. But how much of Marco Polo’s account isthe truth and how much legend? Or even slander circulated by enemies? We’ll find out now: enter Hasan Sabbah. Hasan the Student Hasan Sabbah was born in the year 1050 inQom, modern day Iran. Qom, was and still, considered as one of theholiest cities in Shi’a Islam and the leading centre for Muslim scholarship in Persia.

 His father, Ali bin Muhammad bin Ja‘faral-Sabbah al-Himyari, was originally Yemeni and belonged to the Twelver tradition of Shi’aIslam. After Hasan’s birth, the Sabbah family settleddown in Ray, where the young Hasan received his early religious education in accordanceto his father’s creed. But before I continue, allow me to clarifysome religious terms. For example, what is the difference betweenShi’a and Sunni Muslims? These two factions share many spiritual beliefsand religious practices, as their schism was political in nature. After the death of Mohammad in 632 his adviserAbu Bakr became the first Caliph, or ‘successor of the Prophet’, tasked with leading theIslamic nation. But his leadership was challenged by the followersof Ali, the Prophet’s cousin and son-in-law. This faction originated the Shi’a sect,who believe that the leadership of the Islamic nation belongs to the direct descendants ofthe Prophet. On the other hand, Sunni Muslims believe thatthe leadership of the community is not a birthright: it can, and it must be earned. The Twelver tradition is the mainstream beliefamongst Shi’as .

It is called Twelver in reference to the Twelve successors of Mohammad,the last of which, Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Mahdī, is yet to return to become mankind’s saviour. The city of Ray, where young Hasan lived,was at the centre of another Shi’a current, the Ismailis. They derive their name from their allegianceto Ismail, the eldest son of Imam Jafar as Sadiq. Ismailis are the second largest denominationwithin Shi’a Islam, and what differentiates them from other Shi’a currents is that theyhave a living, hereditary Imam. In Ray, Hasan was introduced to the Ismailidoctrine by two prominent da’is, or missionaries: Amira Zarrab and Abu Nasr Sarraj. Following these studies, at the age of seventeen,Hasan converted to Ismailism and took an oath of allegiance to the Ismaili imam of the time,the Fatimid Caliph: al-Mustansir. The Fatimid Dynasty ruled the most powerfulMuslim state of the era, from their capital in Cairo. Despite their power, Fatimids were under constantthreat from the Seljuk Turks. The Seljuks were another powerful dynasty,originating from Central Asia. From there, they had swept through Persiaand the Middle East, establishing a Sunni Sultanate. Our newly converted Ismaili student, Hasan,at aged 22 had ventured in those territories, managing to impress Abd al-Malik Ibn Attash,who was the chief Isma‘ili da‘i in the Seljuk Sultanate – so much so that he gota job as a missionary, too. In this delicate role, Hasan first travelledto the secret Persian Ismaili headquarters in Isfahan, Persia, deep into Seljuk territory. He then went to Cairo and Alexandria to perfecthis education. During his Egyptian period, Hasan clashedwith some big shots in the Ismaili organisation. One in particular: the Vizier (or chief minister)to the Fatimid court, al-Afdal. The conflict revolved around succession tothe Caliphate, and by extension to the Imamate: in other words, who would be the next leaderof the Ismailis? The current caliph, Al-Mustansir, had appointedas future successor his eldest son the Imam Nizar. On the other hand, Vizier al-Afdal was lobbyingto install Nizar’s younger brother Musta’li.

 Who happened to be his son-in-law, by theway. Hasan had provided his support to Nizar – whichmade him an enemy to the powerful Vizier. The outcome of this whole intrigue? First of all, a further schism within Islam,with Nizari Ismaili now rivalling Musta’li IsmailisSecond outcome – Hasan was exiled by Al-Afdal and he returned to Persia in June 1081. But by now he had become the most prominentda’i for the nascent Nizari community. Hasan, the strategistOver the following years Hasan travelled across Persia, spreading the word of the Nizaris. During this period, he increased his followingand started drawing his plans to get rid of the Seljuk occupation of his land. But what had motivated Hasan Sabbah in revoltingagainst the Seljuks? He actually had three different sets of reasons:From a religious perspective, the ardently Sunni Seljuks did not hide their hostilityagainst Shi’as of all sects, and the Nizaris and Ismailis may have feared for their ownreligious freedom. Politically, Hassan had still an allegianceto the Egyptian Fatimids, despite his exile. The Seljuk Turks by the 1070s had stretchedas far as the Sinai, threatening to uproot the Caliphate. And nationally, Hasan’s revolt could havebeen an expression of the Persians’ resentment over the alien rule of the Seljuk Turks.

I am pretty sure that Hasan had never readSun-Tzu, yet the strategy he formulated was ‘pure Art of War’:He frankly assessed the weaknesses of his faction and the ones of the Seljuks. The Nizari were heavily outnumbered, whileSeljuk leaders were scattered around the vast Persian territory. How could he multiply the effectiveness ofhis forces? How could he deal severe blows to the occupierswithout staging pitch battles on a dispersive territory? His answer was to quickly occupy the HighGround and establish a series of impregnable mountain strongholds, from which to launchtargeted killings of political and military top brass all around the Country. The Assassin Creed was beginning to take shape. Hasan, the resistance leaderBy 1087 Hasan had concentrated his efforts for recruiting a resistance movement aroundthe Daylam region, a traditional Shi’a stronghold. By September 1090 he had taken control ofthe region and has seized the fortress of Alamut - “The Teaching of the Eagle” - locatedin the central Elburz Mountains of the Rudbar region. He did so by cunning and peaceful means, convertingin secret, one by one, the soldiers of the local garrison. Hasan made the fortress impregnable and madeit self-sufficient by improving the cultivation and irrigation systems of the Alamut valley. He also established an important library,holding a vast collection of manuscripts and scientific instruments. After firmly establishing himself at Alamut,Hasan extended his influence in the region by winning more converts and expanding hisnetwork of fortresses in Rudbar. In 1091, Hasan sent one of his followers,da‘i Husayn Qa’ini to Quhistan, near the border with modern day Afghanistan. Husayn was successful in starting a popularuprising among local Shi’as seeking independence from the Seljuks.

This allowed the Nizaris to gain control ofseveral towns in Quhistan. In less than two years after the capture ofAlamut, Hasan Sabbah had founded an independent territorial state for the Nizari Isma‘ilisin the midst of the Seljuk sultanate. The conflict intensifiesThe Persian Shia population of course saw the Seljuk Turks as invaders and oppressors. Sunni sources beg to differ, pointing to thefact that Seljuks tried to extend a friendly hand to the locals. Their Sultan Malik Shah, for example, hadappointed as his Vizier a Persian: Abu Ali Hassan bin Ali bin Ishaq, better known asNizam al-Mulk, which translates as “the Order of the Country”. According to legend, Hasan and Nizam had beenclassmates and friends in their youth. After becoming Vizier, Nizam had helped hisold friend by securing him a post at the court of Malik Shah. But soon their rivalry erupted and Nizam hadconspired to have Hasan exiled. This legend would make Hasan’s mission oneof personal revenge against his childhood friend who had betrayed him. As romantic as this story sounds, Nizam was32 years older than Hasan, and there wasn’t any chance they could have been school mates. So, what happened next was purely politicallymotivated. In 1092, Nizam launched a Seljuk counter-attackagainst the Nizaris in Alamut and Quhistan, but Hasan’s strategy proved effective. His small garrisons atop the easily defendablemountain strongholds were able to repel attack after attack. During the siege of Alamut, Hasan was ableto extract to safety his wife and daughters to another Ismaili community.

 He never brought them back, starting a traditionof not allowing women into the fortress. Hasan’s next move was to go on the offensive. Lacking the numbers for a full-on militarycampaign, Hassan relied on his next favourite tactic: a targeted killing intended to decapitateSeljuk leadership. Hasan picked the fidai or ‘faithful’ whowould carry out the mission: Bu Tahir Arrani. Disguised as a sufi, a Muslim mystic, thefidai approached the litter in which his target was travelling. Swift and silent, his dagger left its sheathand plunged itself into Arrani’s target: Nizam Al-Mulk. The vizier died on the spot. The same fate befell Tahir Arrani. He and the other fidais serenely acceptedthe fact that their missions would be, most likely, suicidal. The fidai was immediately cut down by Nizam’sbodyguards. This was the first high profile assassinationcarried out by the faithful soldiers of the Nizari army. Hasan and his two immediate successors ordereda total of 75 tactical killings, always aimed at high profile targets and never on civilians. The occupiers would often retaliate with massacresamong Ismaili communities, followed by further surgical strikes on Hasan’s orders. Unsurprisingly, the actions of the fidaisearned them the hatred of the Seljuks and of large part of the Sunni community.

They painted them as radical extremist, proto-terrorists,and at the same time as dissolute drug addicts. This is the time when the Nizari Fidais becameknown as Hashishin or Assassins, the users of Hashish. Assassins? Let’s pause for a moment. Did the Assassins, or Hashishins actuallysmoke hashish? In reality, they never used that word to describethemselves. Their correct description would be ‘Fidaisof the Nizari Ismaili Army’. The name was stuck on them by Marco Polo andWilliam of Tyre, who had heard it from the enemies of the Nizari in Syria. It is true that soldiers across time and spacehave made use of recreational and prescription drugs to get themselves in the right statefor battle. But here is a question for you: if you wereHasan would you really trust a stoner with a delicate mission involving climbing castlewalls, picking locks, evading guards and stabbing a high-profile enemy? And how about the munchies? Sure, the stoner’s best friend, the kebabwas invented by Turk soldiers … but not until 1377! So, it is not disputed that the word Assassinactually comes from Hashish, but it is now accepted that these highly skilled and trainedwarriors were not on drugs.

They simply found themselves stuck with aslur, thrown on them by their numerous enemies. And it did not help that the slur was a strongsounding word ASSASSIN which was quickly adopted by popular European poets in the 13th and14th Century – one for all: Dante Alighieri, author of the Divine Comedy. But enough with Whistler’s word of the day,let’s get down to business to defeat the Turks. Nizari ExpansionShortly after the assassination of Nizam Al-Mulk, the Seljuk Sultan Malik Shah also died. The causes remain mysterious, maybe they werenatural. Or maybe he was poisoned. As a result, the Sultanate was plunged intochaos and a civil war between Malik’s eldest son Berkyaruq and his brother Sanjar, supportedby their half-brother Muhammad Tapar. The state was further fractured by the emergenceof independent warlords. Taking advantage of the disorder Hasan consolidatedand extended his power seizing more strategically located fortresses, extending as far as Damghan,500 km to the East of the Alamut headquarters, or even further to Khuzestan, 1000 km to thesouth. Hasan was unstoppable. During this period, he consolidated his reputationas an austere and ascetic leader. In a short span of time, we don’t know exactlywhen, he had both is sons executed: Muhammad was guilty of drinking wine, while Ustad wasa suspect in the death of Hasan’s loyal lieutenant Husayn Qaini.

 The Nizari leader personally turned inwards,but politically sought expansion. It is said that he never again left his castle,but in the early years of the XIIth century, Hasan began sending his da‘is from Alamutinto Syria. Here the Nizaris resumed their practice ofestablishing mountain strongholds. The most important one was the Masyaf fortress. Years later, Masyaf would be under the commandof Rashīd ad-Dīn. He achieved fame due to his numerous attemptsto assassinate Saladin. And it was he, not Hasan, who gave rise tothe legend of the Old Man of the Mountain. And it was them, the Syrian Assassins, whowould first make contact with the Templars. The Assassins and the Knights TemplarI will take a quick detour now to cover the relationship between these two groups, evenif out of scope of Hasan’s life. A certain media franchise has painted thesetwo organisations as mortal rivals through the ages and across continents.

These two factions had much in common, though,if you think about it. Both were a corps of elite warriors, motivatedby both a political and a religious drive, both would be at some point slandered andaccused as heretic by powerful enemies. The tension between Assassins and Templarsin the Levant, or the Holy Land, never escalated into a full clash. There were some hostilities, but the two sometimeswere allies, as the Syrian Nizari were more interested in fighting other Muslim enemies,rather than the Christians. Form 1152, they interacted almost like mobcartels with assigned territories, wary of stepping too much on each other’s toes. In that year, the fidais had claimed one oftheir few Christian victims, Count Raymond of Tripoli. In reparation, the Templars in Lebanon demandeda tribute of two thousand bezants a year. Sounds almost like ‘protection money’. In another occasion, it was the Syrian Assassinswho demanded protection money from none other than King Louis IX of France, while he wasvisiting Acre, in modern day Israel. If the King paid, the Old Man of the Mountainwould let him live.

 Grand master Joinville of the Templars intervenedand sent the envoy back home, empty handed, but with a non-aggression pact between theKing and the Old Man. But enough with ‘Whistler’s ruined videogame series of the day’, let’s get back to Hasan, shall we? Religious leadershipIn 1097 the Imam Nizar, spiritual leader to Hasan and his men, was killed in Cairo. His rival the Vizier Al-Afdal had him buriedalive between two walls. When the news reached Hasan, he sent for Nizar’syoung son to be rescued from Cairo and be brought to safety to Alamut. Until now Hasan Sabbah had been the politicaland military leader of the Nizari in Persia. From now on, in the absence of a manifestimam, he would serve also as the religious leader of the whole Nizari community. In the last years of the XIth Century Hasanlaunched an offensive closed to the heart of the Seljuk Sultanate. The objective was the fortress of Shahdiz,closed to the capital Isfahan. His agent for the operation was Ahmad binAttash, the son of Hasan’s first teacher after he had become an Ismaili. But Ahmad did not use the dagger, only hisfaith. One by one, he had converted the children,then the soldiers of the garrison. By 1100 Ahmad and the Nizaris had successfullyinfiltrated and occupied the castle. The road to Isfahan was open …… but eventually the Nizari did not achieve victory, at least not a total one. In the meanwhile, the warring Seljuk brothersBerkyaruq, Sanjar and Muhammad Tapar had agreed to a truce, in order to combat Hasan.

The newly united Seljuks fought back and securedIsfahan. The Nizari retaliated with more assassinations,which were followed by massacres of Nizari civilians. In 1105 Tapar became Sultan. Four years later, he launched a second siegeof Alamut, eager to close the Nizari nuisance once and for all. At the head of his army was Ahmad Al-Mulk,the son of the Vizier Nizam assassinated in 1092. But, once again, Alamut held on. By assault, or by attrition, Alamut wouldnot fall. StalemateThe ongoing war had reached a stalemate. By the time of Muhammad Tapar’s death in1118 the Nizaris were still successfully defending important, albeit scattered territories, whichamounted to an independent Nizari state. But a total victory and conquest of Persiafrom the hands of the Seljuks was out of question. In these years of stalemate Hasan withdreweven more from the outside world, spending most of his time inside his personal quartersat Alamut, reading books, committing the teachings of his doctrine to writing and administeringthe affairs of his realm. In 1124, aged 74, Hasan sensed that he wasreaching the end of his life. He summoned Kia Buzurg-Umid, a trusted lieutenantfrom the Lamasar fortress, and designated him as his successor in Alamut. Hasan Sabbah died, after a brief illness,on the 12th of June 1124 and was buried near Alamut, the fortress that had been his homeand the symbol of his power for so many years. The Nizari fidais – or Assassins if youlike – continued to harass the Seljuks and other foes in Persia for the following onehundred years. Nizari worshipers regularly visited Hasan’smausoleum, until a new, unstoppable enemy swept through central Asia and Persia: theMongols. In 1256 they laid the final siege to Alamut. The proud fortress, the “Teaching of theEagle”, eventually fell and was demolished. The Assassins remained active in Syria, buttheir legend had come to an end in the place that had been their first home.