Chapter V.

Organization of the Society — Names given to the I^mailites — Origin of the name Assassin — Marco Polo's description of the Paradise of the Old Man of the Mountain — Description of it given hy Arahian writers — Instances of the ohedience of the Fedavee.
Having traced thus far the history of this celebrated society, havins: shown its origin, and how it grew out of the claims of the descendants of All to the khalifat, mixed with the mystic tenets which seem to have been ultimately derived from India, we pro- ceed to describe its organization, and its secret doc- trines, as they are related by oriental historians.
Hassan Sabah clearly perceived that the plan of the society at Cairo was defective as a mean of ac- quiring temporal power. The Dais might exert themselves, and proselytes might be gained ; but till possession was obtained of some strongholds, and a mode of striking terror into princes devised, nothing effectual could be achieved. He first, therefore, as we have seen, made himself master of Alamoot and the other strong places, and then added to the Dais and the Refeek another class, named Fedavee {De- voted), whose task it was to yield implicit obedience to the mandate ot their chief, and, without inquiry or hesitation, plunge their daiigers into the bosom Of whatever victim was pointed out to them, even though their own lives should be the immediate sacrifice. The ordinary dress of the Fedavee was (like that of all the sects opposed to the house of Abbas) white; their caps, girdles, or boots, were red. Hence they were named the White {Mubei-
'V-
THE ASSASSINS. 67
yazah)^ and the Red {Muhammere*) ; but they could with ease assume any guise, even that of the Christian monk, to accomplish their murderous de- signs.
The gradations in the society were these. At the head of it stood Hassan himself and his successors, with the title of Seydna, or Sidnaf (^Our Lord), and Sheikh-al- Jebal {Mountain Chief), a na^ie derived from that of the territory which was the chief seat of the power of the society. This last, owing to the ambiguity of the word sheikh (which, like seigneur and signorcy signifies either an elder or chief), has been ridi- culously translated by the early European historians Old Man of the Mountain. Under him were the Dai-'l-Kebir {Great Missionaries), of which there were three, for the three provinces of Jebal, Kuhistan, and SyriaJ. Then came the Dais, next the Refeek, then the Fedavee, and lastly the Lazik, or as- pirants.
Hassan was perfectly aware that without the com- pressing power of positive religion no society can well be held together. Whatever, therefore, his pri- vate opinions may have been, he resolved to impose on the bulk of his followers the most rigid obedience to the positive precepts of Islam, and, as we have seen, actually put his own son to death for a breach of one of them.
Hassan is said to have rejected two of the degrees of the Ismallite society at Cairo, and to have reduced them to seven, the original number in the plan of Abdallah Maimoon, the first projector of this secret society. Besides these seven degrees, through which the aspirants gradually rose to knowledge, Hassan.
* Ahmar, ftin. Hamra, is red in Arabic; hence the cele- brated Moorish palace at Granada was called Alhambra (^A Hamrd), i. e. the Ked.
f Hence the Spanish Cid. I Hammer, book ii.
SECRET SCK3IETIES.
: order, I iduct of \
in what Hammer terms the breviary of the drew up seven regulations or rules for the conduct the teachers in his society. 1. The first of these, named Ashinai-Risk (^Knowledge of duty), incul- cated the requisite knowledge of human nature for selecting fit persons for admission. To Uiis belonged the proverbial expressions said to have been current among the Dais, similar to those used by the ancient Pythagorean-s, such ns Sow not an barren ground (that is, Waste not your labour on incapable persons). Speak not in a house whem there U a lamp, (Chat is, Be silent in the presence of a lawyer). 2. The^^cond rule was called Teenis (_Gaini7ig of confidence), and taught to win Ihe candidates by flattering their pas- sions and inclinations. 3. The third, of which the name is not given, taught to involve them in doubts and difficulties by pointing out the absurdities of the Koran, and of positive religion. 4. When the aspirant had gone thus far, the solemn oath of silence and obedience, anil of communicating his doubts to hia teacher alone, was to tie imposed on the disciple; and then (5.) he was to be informed that the doc- trines and opinions of the society were those of the greatest men in church and state. 6. 'J'he Tesseea {^ConJiTTnation) directed to put the pupil again through all he had learned, and to confirm him in it. And, (7.) finally, Ihe TeBvil (^Instnicfion in allegory) gave the allegorical mode of interpretingthe Koran, and draw- ing whatever sense might suit their purposes from its pages, Any one who had gone through this course of instruction, and was thus become perfecdy imbued with the spirit of the society, was regarded as an ac- compljslied Uai, and employed in the important office uf making proselytes and e;itending its influence.
We must again express our opinion that the minute accounts which are giien to us by some writers, re- specting the rules iind doctrines of S'
TH^ ASSASSIN3. 69
should be received with a coi^iderable degree of hesitation, owing to the character and the means of information of those from whom we receive them. In the present case om* authority is a very suspicious one. We are told that when Alamoot was taken by Hoolekoo Khan, the Mongol prince, he gave hw vizir, the learned Ata-Melek (King's father) [Jowani, permission to examine the library, and to select such books as were worthy of being preserved. The vizir took out the Rorans and some other books of value in his eyes ; the rest, among which are said to have been the archives and the secret rules and doctrines of the society, he committed, after looking cursorily through them, to the flames. In an historical work of his own he gave the result of his discoveries in those books, and he is the authority from which Mirkhond and other writers have derived the accounts which they have transmitted to us. It is quite clear, there- fore, that the vizir of Hoolakoo was at liberty to invent what atrocities he pleased of the sect which was destroyed by his master, and that his testimony is con- sequently to be received with suspicion. On the other hand it receives some confirmation from its agree- ment with the account of the society at Cairo given by Macrisi, and is not repugnant to the spirit of Soofeism.
This last doctrine, which is a kind of mystic Pan- theism, viewing God in all and all in God, may pro- duce, like fatalism, piety or its opposite. In the eyes of one who thus views God, all the distinctions be- tween vice and virtue become fleeting and uncertain, and crime may gradually lose its atrocity, and be re- garded as only a mean for the production of a good end. That the Ismai'Iite Fedavee murdered innocent persons without compunction, when ordered so to do by his superiors, is an undoubted fact, and there is no absurdity in supposing that he and they may have
10
8BCRET SOCIETIES.
thought that in so doing they were acting right, aiiii promoting the cause of truth. Such Banctif'ying- of crime is not confined to the E^t; the maxim that the end sanctions the means is of too convenient a. nature not to have prevailed in all parts of the world ; and the assassins of Henry III. and Henry IV, of France displayed all the sincerity and constancy of the Ismailite Fedavees. Withool, therefore, regard- ing' the heads of the Ismaililes, with Hammer, mere ruthless and impious murderers, who trampled under foot religion and morals with all their obliga- tions, ue may assent to the opinion of their leading doctrine being Soofeism carried to its worst conse- quences.
The followers of Hassan Sabah were called the Eastern Ismai'lites, In distinguish them from those of Africa, They were hIso named the Eatiniyeh (/«- temtU or Secret), from the secret meaniug which they drew from the text of the Koran,andMoalhad,or Moo- lahid (_Tt7ipiniis') on account of the imputed impiety of their doctrines, — names common to them with most of the preceding sects. It is under this last appellation that they were known to Marco Polo, the Venetian traveller. The name, however, by which they are best known in Europe, and which we shall henceforth chiefly employ, is that of Assassins. This name is very generally derived from that of the founder of their society; but M. De Socy has made it probable that the oriental term Hashisheen, of which the Crusaders made Assassins, comes from Hashish, a species of hemp, from which intoxicating opiates were made, which the Fedavee were in the habit t>f taking previously to engaging in their daring entei^ prises,oremploye(lasamedium of procuring delicious vi^ns of the paradisic promised to them by the 8heikh-al-Jebal.
[t is a curious question how Hassan Sabah con-
THE ASSASSINS. 71
trived to infuse into the Fedavee the recklessness of life, joined with the spirit of implicit obedience to the commands of their superiors, which they so invariably displayed. We are told* that the system adopted for this purpose was to obtain, by purchase or otherwise, from their parents, stout and healthy children. These were reared up in implicit obedience to the will of the Sheikh, and, to fit them for their future office, care- fully instructed in various languages. The most agreeable spots were selected for their abode, they were indulged in the gratification of their senses, and, in the midst of their enjoyments, some persons were directed to inflame their imaginations by glow- ing descriptions of the far superior delights laid up in the celestial paradise for those who should be ad- ipitted to repose in its bowers ; a happiness only to be attained by a glorious death met in obedience to the commands of the Sheikh. When such ideas had been impressed on their minds, the glorious visions ever floated before their eyes, the impression was kept up by the use of the opiate above-mentioned, and the young enthusiast panied for the hour when deaths obtained, in obeying the order of the Sheikh, should open to him the gates of paradise to admit him to the enjoyment of bliss never to end.
The celebrated Venetian, Marco Polo, who traversed the most remote parts of the East in the 13th century, gave on his return to Europe an account of the regions which he had visited, which filled the minds of men with wonder and amazement. As is usual in such cases this was followed or accompanied by unbelief, and it is only by the inquiries and discoveries of modern travellers that the veracity of Marco Polo, like that of Herodotus, has been established and placed beyond doubt.
Among other wonderful narratives which we meet * Wilken^ Geschichte der KreuzzUge, vol. ii.
72 SECRET SOCIETIES.
in the travels of Marco Polo is the account which he grives of the people whom he calls Mulehetites (that is, Moolahid), and their prince the Old Man of the Mountain. He describes correctly the nature of this so- ciety, and gives the following romantic narrative of the mode employed by that prince to infuse the principle of implicit obedience into the minds of his followers*.
" In a beautiftil valley," says he, " enclosed between two lofty mountains, he had formed a luxurious gar- den, stored with every delicious fruit and every fra- grant shrub that could be procured. Palaces of various sizes and forms were erected in different parts of the grounds, ornamented with worlss of gold, with paintings, and with furniture of rich silks. By means of small conduits contained in these buildings stre^tns of wine, milk, honey, and some of pure water, were seen to flow in every direction. The inhabitants of these palaces were elegant and beautiful damsels, accomplished in the arts of singing, playing upon all sorts of musical instruments, dancing, and especially those of dalliance and amorous allurement. Clothed in rich dresses, they were seen continually sporting and amusing themselves in the garden and pavilions, their female guardians being confined vdthin doors, and never suH'ered to appear. The object which the chief had in view in forming a garden of this fasci- nating kind was this : that Mahomet having promised to those who should obey his will the enjoyments of paradise, where every species of sensual gratification should be found in the society of beautiftil nymphs, he was desirous of its being understood by his fol- lowers that he also was a prophet, and a compeer of Mahomet, and had the power of admitting to para- dise such as he should choose to favour. In order that none without his licence should find their way into this JhsUcious valley, he caused a strong and inexpugnable
* Miunden's Translation.
THE AMABSnra. ?3
castle lo be erected at the opening; of it, through, whieli the entry was by a secret passage. At his court, hkewtse, this chief entertaiued a number of youth.'', from the ag« of twelve to twenty years, selected from the inhabitants of the surrounding mountaius, who .showed a disposition for martial exercises, and appeared to poaseas the qiwlity of daring courage. To them he wa.s in the daily practice of discoursiug on the subject of the paradise announced by the Prophet and of his own, of granting admission, and at certain times he caused draughts of a soporilic nature to be administered to ten or a dozen of the youths, and when half dead with sleep he bad them conveyed to the seyeral apartments of the palaces in the garden. Upon awakening from this state of lethargy their senses were struck with all tlie delightful objects that have been described, and each perceived himself sur- rounded by lovely damsels, singing, playing, and at- tracting his regards by the most fascinating caresses, serving him also with delicious viands and exquisite wines, until, intoxicated with excess of enjoyment, amidst actual rivers of milk and wine, he believed himself assuredly in paradise, and felt an unwilling- ness to relinquish its delights. When four or five days had thus been passed, they were thrown once more into a state of somnolency and carried out of the garden. Upon their being introduced to his pre- sence, and questioned by him as to where they had been, their answer was, ' in paradise, through the favour of your highness ;' and then, before the whole court, who listened to them with 'eager curiosity and astonishment, they gave a circumslautial account of the scenes to which they had been witnesses. The chief thereupon addressing them said, ' We have the assurance of our Prophet that he who defends his lord shall inherit paradise, and if you show yourselves ilevoletl to the obedience of iny orders, lliat liappy lot
74 SECRET SOCIETIES.
awaits you.' Animated to enthusiasm by words of this nature all deemed themselves happy to receive the commands of their master, and were forward to die in his service.'*
This romantic narrative, more suited to a place among the wonders of the "Thousand and One Nights" than to admission into sober history, has been very generally rejected by judicious inquirers such as De Sacy and Wilkin, the able historians of the Crusades; but it has found credence with Hammer, to whose work we are indebted for the far greater part of the present details on the subject of the Assassins. This industrious scholar has, as he thinks, found a proof of its truth in the circumstance of similar narratives occurring in the works of some Arabian writers which treat of the settlements of the society in Syria, forgetting that a fabulous legend is often more widely diffused than sober truth. All, therefore, that can be safely inferred from this collec- tion of authorities is that the same marvellous tale which the Venetian traveller heard in the north of Persia was also current in Syria and Egypt. Its truth must be established by a different species of proof.
'In the Siret-al-Hakem {Memoirs of Hakem)y a species of Arabian historic romance, the following ac- count of the gardens at Massyat, the chief seat of the Assassins in Syria, was. discovered by Ham- mer* : —
" Our narrative now returns to Ismail the chief of the Ismailites. He took with him his people laden with gold, silver, pearls, and other effects, taken away from the inhabitants of the coasts, and which he had received in the island of Cyprus, and on the part of the king of Egypt, Dhaher, the son of Hakem- biemr-lllah. Having bidden farewell to the sultan of Kgypt at Tripolis, they proceeded to Massyat, when * Fundgrubeu des Orients, vol. iii.
. THE ASSASSINS. 75
the inhaHtants of the castles and fortresses assembled to enjoy themselves, along with the chief Ismail and his people. They put on the rich dresses with which the sultan had supplied them, and adorned the castle of Massyat with everything that was good and fine. Ismail made his entry into Massyat with the De- voted (Fedavee)^ as no one has ever done at Massyat before him or after him. He stopped there some time to take into his service some more persons whom he might make Devoted both in heart and body.
" With this view he had caused to be made a vast garden, into which he had water conducted. In the middle of this garden he built a kiosk raised to the height of four stories. On each of the four sides were richly-ornamented windows joined by four arches, in which were painted stars of gold and silver. He put into it roses, porcelain, glasses; and drinking- vessels of gold and silver. He had with him Mamlooks (i. e. slaves), ten males and ten fe- males, who were come with him from the region of the Nile, and who had scarcely attained- the age of puberty. He clothed them in silks and in the finest stuffs, and he gave unto them bracelets of gold and of silver. The columns werp overlaid with musk and with amber, and in the four arches of the windows he set four caskets, in which was the purest musk. The columns were polished, and this place was the retreat of the slaves. He divided the garden into four parts. In the first of these were pear-trees, apple-trees, vines,- Cherries, mulberries, plums, and other kinds of fi'uit-trees. In the second were oranges, lemons, olives, pomegranates, and other fruits. In the third were cucumbers, melons, legu- minous plants, &c. In the fourth were roses, jessa- mine, tamarinds, narcissi, violets, lilies, anemonies, &c. &c.
f2
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" The garden was divided by canals of water, aad tlie kiosk was surrounded with ponds and reservoirs. There were groves in which were seen antelopes, ostriches, asses, and wild cows. Issuing from the ponds, one met ducks, geese, partridges, qitails, hares, foxes, and other animals. Around the kiosk the chief IsmaVI planted walks of tall trees, terminating in the different parts of the garden. He built there a ^at house, divided into two apartments, the upper and the lower. From the latter covered walks led out into the garden, which was all enclosed with walls, so that no one could see into it, for these walks and buildings were all void of inhabitants. He made a gall^ of coohiess, which ran from this apartment to the cellar, which was behind. This apartment served as a place of assembl; for the men. Having placed himself on a sofa there opposite the door, the chief made his men sit down, and gave them to eat mid to drink during the whule length of the day until At nightfall he looked around him, and, selecting those whose firmness pleased him, said to them, ' Ho ! such-a-one, come and seat thyself Dear me.' It is thus that Ismail made those whom he had chosen sit near him on the sofa and drink. He Ihen spoke to them of the great and excellent quali- lies of the imam Ali, of his bravery, his nobleness, iind his generosity, until they fell asleep, overcome by the power of the lienjek' viluch he had given ihem, and which never failed to produce its eifects in less than a quarter of an hour, so that they fell down as if they were inanimate. As soon as the man had fallen the chief Ismail arose, and, taking him up, brought him into a dormitory, aiLd then, shutting the
" The Arabic name ot the hyuBcyamus, oc benbane. Hnmiiier conji'ctures ihat the wiird ini,7 I'uiitii- nrliule in thi- plural, ui-hinje, ii ihe same with the iii'|M'UtliB ut tliB aacifnts.— rimdnrubeQ dcs Oticnts, iii. 202.
TKE ASSASSINS.
lioor, carrieil him on his shoulders inLo the gallery of coolness, trhich was in the garden, and thence into the kiosk, where he committed him to the care of the male and female slaves, directing them to comply with all the desires of the candidiite, on whom they flung vinegar till he awoke. When he was come to himself the youths hdc! m^dens said lo him, ' We are only waitinir tor thy death, for this place is destined for thee. This is one of the pavilions of paradise, and we are the hoories and the children of paradise. If thou wert dead thou wouldesl be for ever with us, but thou art only dreaming, and wilt soon awake.' Meanwhile the chief Ismail had returned lo tlft com- pany as soon as he had witnessed the awakening of ihe candidate, who now perceived nothing but youths and maidens of the greatest beauty, and adorned in the mosi magnificent manner.
" He looked round the place, inhaled the fragrance of musk and frankincense, and drew near to the garden, where he saw the beasts and the birds, the running wafer, and the trees. He gazed on the beauty of the kiosk, and the vasea of gold and silver, while the youths and maidens kept him in converse. lu this way he remained confounded, not knowing whether he was awake or only dreaming. When two hours of the night had ((one by, the chief Ismail re- turned to the dormitory, closed to the door, and thence proceeded to the garden, where his slaves around him and rose before him. When the date perceived him he said unto him, 'O chief Is- ^ mail, do I dream, or-am I awake ?' The chief Ismail i then made answer to him, ' O such-a-one, beware of J relating this vision to any one who is a stronger to- Ibia place ! Know that the Lord Ali has shown thee , the place which is destined for thee in paradise. Know that at this moment the Lord Ali and I have been silting together in the regions of the empyrean.
I
7B SEOBBT SOCIETIES.
So do uot hesitate a moment in the service of tbe itnata whobas ^iven tliee to know bis felicity.' Then the chief Ismtkii ordered supper to be serveil. It was brought in vessels of*gold and of silver, and consisted of boiled meats and roost meats, with other dishes. White the candidate ate lie was sprinkled with rose- water ; whea he called fur drink there were brought to him vessels of gold and silver filled with delicious liquors, in which also had been mingled some benjeh. When he had fallen asleep, Ismail carried htm through the gallery back to the dormitory, aud, leaving him there, returned to his company. Ader a little time he w^V back, threw vinegar on his fat», and then, bringing him out, OQlered one of the Mamlooks to shake him. On awaking, and finding himself in the same place among the guests, lie said, 'There is no god but God, and Mohammed is the Prophet of God !' The chief Ismail then drew near and caressed htm, and he remained, as it were, immersed ilk iu- tOKication, wholly devoted to the service of the chief, who then said unto him, *0 sucha-one, know that what thou hast seen was not a dream, hut one of the miracles of the imam All. Know that he has written thy name among those of hia friends. If thou keep the secret thou art certain of thy felicity, but if thou speak of it thou wilt incur the resentment of the imam. If thou die thou art a martyr ; but beware of relating tliis to any person whatever. Thou hast entered by one of the gates to the friendship of the imam, and art become one of his family ; but if thou betray the secret, thou wilt become one of his ene- mies, and be driven from his house.' Thus this man became one of the servants of the chief Ismail, who in this manner surroimded himself with trusty men, until his reputation was established. This is what is related of the chief Ismml and his Devoted."
To these romantic tales of the paiadise of the Old
THE ASSASSINS. 79
Man of the Mountain we must add a third of a still more juggling character, furnished by the learned and venerable Sheikh Abd-ur-Rahman {Servant of the Compassionate, i. e., of God) Ben Ebubekr Al- Jeriri of Damascus, in the twenty-fourth chapter of * his work entitled " A Choice Book for discovering the Secrets of the Art of Imposture*."
After giving some account of Sinan, the chief of the Syrian Assassins, whom we shall presently have occasion to mention, the sheikh proceeds to narrate the artifice which he employed to deceive his fol- lowers : —
" There was near the sofa on which he sa^a hole in the ground sufficiently deep for a man to sil down in it. This he covered with ti thin piece of wood, leaving only so much of it open as would contain the neck of a man. He placed on this cover of wood a disk of bronze with a hole in the middle of it, and put in it two doors. Then taking one of his dis- ciples, to whom he h^ given a considerable sum of money to obtain his consent, he placed the perforated disk round his neck, and kept it down by weights, so that nothing appeared but the neck of the man ; and he put warm blood upon it, so that it looked as if he had just cut off his head. He then called in his companions, and showed them the plate, on which they beheld the head of their comrade. ' Tell thy comrades,' said the master to the head, ' what thou hast seen, and what has been said unto thee/ The man then answered as he had been previously in- structed. 'Which wouldest thou prefer,* said the master, ' to return to the world and thy friends, or to dwell in paradise ?' ' What need have I,* replied the head, ' to return to the world after having seen my pavilion in paradise, and the hoories, and all that God has prepared for me? Comrades, salute * Fuadgruben des Orients, vol. iv.
BO
SECRET SOClETrKB,
my family, and lake care not to disohey this prophet, wlio is the lord of the prophets in the state of time, as God has sold unto me. Farewell,' These words strengtliened the faith of the others ; but when Ihey were gone the master took the man up out of the hole, und cut olf his head in right earnest. It was by such means as this that he made himself obeyed by his people."
The preceding accounts, whatever may be thought of their truth, serve to testify a general belief through- out the East of some extraordinary means being em- ployed by the mountain uhief to acquire the power which be was known to possess over the minds of his Fedavle. And, in fact, there is no great improba- bility ia the supposition of some artifice of that nature having been occasionally employed by him ; for, when we recollect that an Asiatic imagination is coarse, especially among the lower orders, and that in the Bast men rarely see any females hut those of their own family, the chief might find no great diffi- culty in persuading a youth, whom he had transported in a stale of stupor into an apartment filled with young girls, of his having been in the actual paradise pro- mised to the faithful.
But, laying aside supposition, we may observe that the very power over the minds of their followers ascribed to Hassan Sabah and his successors has been actually exercised in our own days by the chief of the Wahabees. Sir John Malcolm* informs us, from a Persian manuscript, that a few years ago one of that sect, who had stabbed an Arab chief near Bussora, when taken, not only refused to do anything lovrards saving his life, but, on the contrary, seemed anxiously to eoiut death. He was observed to grasp something firmly in hia band, which he appeared to prize beyond '""3 itself. On its being taken from him and exa-
• History uf Peisis, vol. i.
mined, it proved lo be an order from the Wiihabee chief for an emerald palace and a number of beauti' iiil female slaves in the blissful paradise of the Pro- I phet. This story, however, it must be confessed, j appears to be little consistent with the principles the sect of the Wahnbees, and we may suspect that it has originated in some misapprehension.
The following instance of the implicit obedience of the Fedavee to (he orders of Hassan Sabah is given by a respectable oriental historian*. An am- bassador from the Sultan Malek Shah having come toAlamoot lo demand the submission and obedience of the sheikh, Hassan received him in ahall in which he had assembled several of his followers. Making i a si^ to one youth, he said, "Kill thyself!" In- j stantly the young man's dagger was plunged into his own bosom, and he lay a corpse upon the ground. To another he said, " Fling thyself down from the wall." In an instant his shattered limbs were lying in the castle ditch. Then turning lo the terrified envoy, " I have seventy thousand followers who obey me after this fashion. This be mj answer to thy master."
Very nearly the same tale is told of the Assassins of Syria by a western writerf. As Henry Count of Champagne was journeying, in the year 1194, from Palestine to Armenia^, his road lay through the con- fines of the territory of the Tsmailites. The chief sent some persons to salute him, and to beg that, on his return, he would atop at, and partake of the hos- pitality of his castle. The count accepted the invi- tation. As he returned the Ddi-al-Kehir advanced to meet him, showed him every mark of honour, and led him to view his castles and fortresses. Having
] Thi) WBB Ibe Aimeaiain Cilicia.
82 SECRET SOCIETIES.
passed through several, they came at length to one the towers of which rose to an exceeding height. On each tower stood two sentinels clad in white. *' These," said the chief, pointing to them, " obey me far better than the subjects of you Christians obey their lords ;*' and at a given signal two of them flung themselves down, and were dashed to pieces. "If you wish,** said he to the astonished count, *' all my white ones shall do the same." The benevolent count shrank from the proposal, and candidly avowed that no Christian prince could presume to look for such obedience from his subjects. When he was departing, with many valuable presents, the chief said to him significantly, " By means of these trusty ser- vants I get rid of the enemies of our society.**
In oriental, and also in occidental history, the same anecdote is often told of different persons, a circumstance which might induce us to doubt of its truth altogether, or at least of its truth in any parti- cular case. The present anecdote, for instance, with a slight variation in the details, is told of Aboo Taher, a celebrated leader of the Carmathites. Tbis chief, after his expedition to Mecca, in which he had slain 30,000 of the inhabitants, filled the hallowed well Zemzem with the bodies of dead men, and carried off the sacred black stone in triumph, had the hardi- hood to approach Bagdad, the residence of the khalif, with only 500 horsemen. The pontiff of Islam, enraged at the insult, ordered his general Aboo Saj to take 30,000 men, and make him a prisoner. The latter, having collected his forces, sent a man off to Aboo Taher to tell him on his part that out of regard for him, who had been his old friend, he ad- vised him, as he had so few troops with him, either to yield himself at once to the khalif or to see about making his esqape. Aboo Taher asked oi the envoy how many men Aboo Saj had with him. The
THE ASSASSINS. 63
envoy replied, "Thirty thousand." "He still wants three like mine," said Aboo Taher ; and calling to him three of his men, he ordered one of them to stab himself, another to throw himself into the Tigris, a third to fling himself down from a precipice. His commands were at once obeyed. Then turning to the envoy, " He who has such troops fears not the number of his enemies. I give thyself quarter ; but know that I shall soon let thee see thy general Aboo Saj chained among my dogs." In fact, that very night he attacked and routed the troops of the khalif, and Aboo Saj, happening to fall into his hands, soon appeared chained among the mastiffs of the Car- mathite chief*.
The preceding details on the paradise of the Sheikh-al-Jebal, and his power over the minds of his followers, will at least help to illustrate the manners and modes of thinking of the orientals. We now resume the thread of our narrative, and proceed to narrate the deeds of the Assassins, as we shall hence- forth designate them.
# • D'Herbelot, /i/re Garroath.
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Chapteii VI.
Keiih BiwoorR O Dm eid— Affairs of the Socicly in Persia— They acquiri^ the Castle of Banios, in Syrin— Atlempl tu ^tmy Damascus to the Crusaders— Murdeia connnilted during the reign of KeSh Buioorg.
Keah Btif.ooRG OoiMBin trod faithfully in the foot- prints of his predecessor. He built the strong fortress of Maimoondees, and he made the enemies of the society feel that it was still animated by the spirit of ■ Hassan Sabah. Sultan Sanjar, who, on account of the favourable terms on which he had made peace with the Assassins, was regarded by tile rigidly ortho- dox us a secret follower of their doctrine, declared himself once more their open enemy, and sent an army to ravage Kirdkoh. These troops were de- feated by those which Keab sent against |^m; but the following year Sanjar put to the sword a great number of the members of the sect. The dagger, as usual. retaUated. Mahmooi), the successor of Uanjur, having first tried in vain the elt'ect of arms, sent his grand falconer Uerenkesh to Alamoot, to desire that aiL envoy might be sent to him to treat of peace. The Khojah (Master) Mohammed Nassihi accompanied Berenkesh back to court, and kissed the hand of the sultan, who spoke to him a lew words about the peace; but as theKhojahwasgoingout of the palace, he and his followers were fallen upon and massacred by the people,
Wlien the sultan sent an ambassador to Alamoot to exculpate himself from the guill of parlicijiation in lAts rioklioa of the laws of nations, Keah made
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answer, "Go back to the sultan, and tell him, in my name, Mohammed Nassihi trusted to vour per- fidiocs assurances, and repaired to your court; if you speak truly, deliver up the munlerers to justice; if not, expect my vengeance." On the refusal of the sultan to surrender the murderers, a corps of Asshssuis ap- peared at the gates of Casveen,Glen 400 men, and led away 3,000 aheep, 200 horses, and 200 oxen. Next year the sultan took, and retained for a short time, the fortress of Alamoot; butabodyof 2,000 men which he sent against Lamseer fled, without drawing a sword, when they heard that the Refeek {Companions) of the society were marching against them. Shortly after- wards the sultan died, and the Assassins made an- other incursion into the district of Casveeu, where ihey carried off booty and prisoners.
The mountain chief would tolerate no rival near his throne. Hearing that one Aboo Hashem, a descendant of Ali, had arrogated to himself the dig- nity of imam in the province of Ghilan, which lies north of K.uhistan, and had issued letters calling on tlie jieojalB to acknowledsie him, Keah wrnte to him to desist from his pretensions. Tlic self-appointed imam only replied by reviling the odious tenets of the Ismaililes, The sheikh forthwith sent a body of his troops against him, took him prisoner, and, after trying him by a court-martial, committed him to the
Though, I
; have seen, the settlements of the n the raounlainous region of Irak, in the north-west of Persia, their power wds of such a nature that no distance was a securily ugainst it. A Fedaveecould speedily traverse the intervening regions to plant his dagger in the bosom of any prince or minister who had incurred the vengeance of the Sheikh-al-Jebal. Accordingly we find the shah (fKi/ig) of Khaurism, between whicb. aaA. Vxb!*. 'at).
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the extensive province of Khorasaii, coming: lo Sultan MasEDod, the successor of Mahmood, to con- cert with him a plan Ibr the Hestniction of these for- midable faes t» princes. The shah of Khaurism had been formerly rather disposed to favour the Ib- malliles, but his eyes were now opened, and he was become their most inveterate enemy. Stiltan Mas- sood, we know not Ibr what reason, bestowed on him the lands which Berenkesh, the grand falconer, had held of the sultan. Berenkesh, mortally otfended at this unworttiy treatment, retired, with his family, to the territory of the lamnTlites, and »)ught the pro- tec^on of KeSh, whose open enemy he had hitherto been. Policy, or a regard to good faith and huma- nity, made the Assassin prince grant the protection which was required ; and when the shah of Kbauriam wrote, reminding Keah of his own former friendship, and the bitter hostility uf Berenkesh, and re({ueEtiiig him, on that plea, to give up the ftigitive, the sheikh replied, "The ahah of Khaurism speaks true, but we will never give up our suppliants." Long and bloody enmity between the sheikh and the shabswas the consequence of this refusal to violate the rights of hospitality.
The Syrian branch of the society begins at this time lo attract ratlier more attention than that of Persia, chiefly on account of its connexion with the Crusaders, who had succeeded in establishing an empire extending from the frontiers of Egypt to those of Armenia. A Persian Ismai'lite, named Belirata of Astrabad, who is said to have commenced hiu - career by the murder of hia own father, gained the confideuce of the vizir of the prince of Damascus, who gave him the castle of Banias, or Panias (the ancient Balanea), for the use of the society. This place, which became the nucleus of the power of the Assassins m Syria, lies in a fertile, well-watered
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plain, about 4,000 paces from the sea. The valley whence the numerous streams which fructify it issue is called the Wadi-al-Jinn (Valley of Bemons)^ " a place," observes Hammer, whom no casu£^ coincidence escapes, " from its very name worthy of becoming a settlement of the Assassins." From Banias they extended their power over the neigh- bouring castles and fortresses, until, twelve years afterwards, the seat of dominion was transferred thence to Massy at.
Behram fell shortly afterwards in an engagement against the people of the valley of Tai'm, the brother of whose chief had perished by the daggers of the Assassins. His successor was Ismail, a Persian, who continued the bond of amity with the vizir of Da- mascus, whither he sent, by way of resident, a man named, rather inappropriately as it would appear, Aboo-'l-Wefa (Father of Fidelity). This man so won the favour of the vizir and prince that he was appointed to the office of Hakem, or supreme judge ; and having thus acquired power and influence, he immediately turned his thoughts to the best mode of employing them for the advantage of the society, an object always near the heart of a true Ismailite. A place of strength on the sea-coast would, he con- ceived, be of the utmost importance to them; so he fixed his eyes upon Tyre, and fell upon the following expedient to obtain possession of it
The Franks had been now upwards of thirty years established in the East. Their daring and enthu- siastic valour was at once the dread and the admira- tion of their Mussulman foes, and feats almost sur- passing the fables of the romances of chivalry had been performed by their gallant warriors. These were the auxiliaries to whom Aboo-'l-Wefa directed his attention; for we are to observe that as yet the fanatic spirit had not united all the Moslems in en-
mily against the followers of the Cross, anil the princes of Aleppo, Damascus, and the other districts of Syria, had been more than once in ulliance with the Christian realms of Jerusalem and Autioch. Aboo-'l-Wefa sent therefore and concluded a secret treaty with Baldwin II., king of Jerusalem, in which he engaged, if the Christian warriors would secretly march and appear before Damascus on a Friday, when the emir and his officers would he at the niosk, to give them possession of the gates of the town. The king was in return to put Tyre into the hands of the IsmaTliles.
The Christian army was assembled; all the barons of the kingdom appeared in arms; the king in per- son led the host; the newlj-formed military order of the Templars displayed for the first time in the field their striped banner Beaiiseant, afterwards so well known in many a bloody fray. Prince Bernard of Anlaoch, Count Pontius of Tripolis, the brave Josce- lin of Edessa, led their knights and footmen to share in the capture of the wealthy city of Damascus. The mountains which environ Lake Tiberias were left behind, and the host joyfully emerged into the plain watered by the streams Abana and Phaqiar. But here defeat awaited them. Taj-al-Molook (^Diadem of King>i) Boozi, the emir of Damascus, had in time discovered the plot of his hakem. He had put him and the vizir to death, and had ordered a "general massacre of the Ismailites in the city*. The Chris- tian army was now at a place named Mar] Safar, and &e footmen had begim to plunder the villages for food, when a small body of gallant Damascene war- Tiors rushed from the town and fell upon them. The del'enceless Christians sank beneath their blows, incapable of resistance. The rest of the army ad- vanced to aid OP avenge their brethren, when sud-
Tlta numbcc alaiii was G,000.
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denly* the sky lie cum e overcast, thick darkness en- veloped all objects, the thunder roared, the lightning flashed, the rain poured down in torrents, and, by a rapid transition, peculiar to Eastern climates, the rain and waters turned into snow and ice, and aug- mented the horrors of the day. The superstitious aud conscience-stricken Crusatlers viewed in this awful phenomenon the immediate agency of heaven, an4 J deemed it to be sent as a punishment for their sins ; and, recollecling that on that very spot but four years before King Baldwin had gained, with a handful of , men, o victory over an army of the Damascenes, they were plunged into grief and humiliation. Tbe only advantage which they derived from this expedition was the acquisition of the castle of Banias, which the lamailite governor put into their hands, that under their protection be might escape the fate of his brethren.
Banias was given up to the Christians iu the same year in wliich Alamoot was taken by the Seljuokian sultan, and thus the power of the Assassins seemed to be almost gone. But it had in it a conservative prin- ciple, and, hydra-like, it grew by its wounds. Ala- moot was speedily recovered, aiid three years after- wards Banias was once more the seutofa Dai-al- Kebir. At the same time the dagger raged with unwonted fury against all of whom the society stood in apprehension, and the annals of the reign of Keah fiuzoorg Oomcid furnish a list of illustrioUB ,
The first of these was the celebrated Aksunkur, Prince of Mossul, a warrior equally dreaded by the J Christians and by the Assassins. As this prince, on i his return from Maarra Mesrin, where the Moslem ' and Christian hosts bad parted without venturing to engage, entered the mosk at Mossul to perform his * It was the month of DBcember,
t
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devotionH, he was attacked at the moment when he Was about to take his usual seat by ei^ht assasaios, disguised as dervishes. Three of them fell b«;neath the blons of the vaUant emir, but ere his people could come to his aid he had received his death-wound and e:spired. The remainder of the murderers became victims to the vengeance of the people ; one youth only escaped. The Arabian historian, Kemal-ed- Deen, relates on this occasion a curious trait of the fanaticism and Spartan spirit which animated the members of the sect of the Ismailites. When the mother of the youth above-mentioned heard that the formidable Aksunkur had been slain, she painted her face and put on her gayest raiment and ornaments, rejoicing that her son had been found worthy to die the glorious death of a martyr in the cause of the Imam. But when she saw him return alive and un- scathed, she cut off her huir and blackened her coun- tenance, and would not be comforted.
In the following year {1 127) fell Moin-ed-deen, (he vizir of Sultan Sanjar. In this case the Assassin had engaged himself as a groom in the service of the vizir. As Mniu-ed-deen went one day into the stable to look at his horses the Assassin appeared be* fore him, stripped, and holding one of the horses by the bridle. As the vizir, unsuspicinus of danger, came near where he was, the false groom made the horse rear, and, under the pretence of soothing and pacifying the restive animal, he took out a small dagger which he had concealed in the horse's mane, and plunged it into the bosom of the vizir.
The slaughter of the Ismmlites by the Prince of Damascus was not forgotten, and two years atier- wards he received two dagger wounds, one of which proved mortal. Their vengeance was not appeased by his blood, and his son and successor, Shems-at- Molook {Sua of Kijigt), perished by a conspiracy
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with tlie guilt of which the Asaassina were charged. In the catalogue of the victims of this period appear also the naines of the Judges of the East and of the West, of the Mufti of Casveen, of the Keis of Isfa- han, and the Reis of Tebrcez.
Tile East has been at all times prolific of crime ; human life is not there held to be of the value at which it is estimated in Europe; and the dagger and poison are freely employed to remove objects of ap- prehension, to put obstacles out of the way of ambi- tion, or to satiate the thirst of vengeance. We are not, therefore, lightly to give credit lo every charge made against the Assassins, and to believe them guilty of murders from which they had no advantage to derive. Thus, when at this time the Fatimite Khalif Amir bi-ahkami-llah (_Commander of the observance of the lawt of God) fell by the hands of murderers, the probability is that he was not a victim to the vengeance of the Ismailite society, whom he had never injured, but rather to that of the family of the powerful vizir Afdal,who had been assassinated some time before by the khalif 'h order, as we have every reason to suppose.
With a greater show of reason may the murder of Mostarshcd, the Khalif of Bagdad, be imputed to the policy of the mountain chief. The Seijookian princes, the predecessors of Massood, had been satisfied to exercise all real power in the empire which had once obeyed the house of Abbas, leaving to that feeble Shadow uf God upon Earth the unsubstantial pri- vil^e of having the coin of the realm struck and prayers offered on Friday in the mosk in his name. But Massood arrogated even these rights to himself, _ and the helpless successor of the Prophet was obliged'! to submit to the indignity which he could not pre- * vent. At length some discontented military chiefs |)asaed with tlieir troops over to the khalifi and i>er-
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suadod him that by one bold effort he mi^ht over- throw the might ot' the Turkish sultan, and recover all his rights. The khalif listened to their argu- ments, and, placing himself at the head of an army, marched against Sultan Massood. But fortune proved adverse to him. At the first shock the greater part of the troops of Bagdad abandoned him, and he remained a captive in the hands of the sultan, who brought him with him a prisoner to Maragha. Here a treaty was concluded between them, and the khalif bound himself not to go any more outside of the walls of Bagdad, and annually to pay a sum of money. This treaty appears to have been displeasing to the Assassins; and, watching their opportunity, when Massood was gone to meet the ambassadors of Sultan Sanjar, a party of them fell upon and mas- sacred the khalif and his train. The lifeless body of the Commander of the Faithful was mangled by them in the most scandalous manner.
Afler a blood-stained reign of fourteen years and three days Keah Buzoorg Oomeid died. Depart- ing from the maxims of Hassan Sabah, who it is probable wished to imitate the conduct of the Pro- phet, and leave the supreme dignity elective, he ap- pointed his own son, Keah Mohammed, to be his successor, induced either by paternal partiality, or believing him to be the person best quaUfied for the office.
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