when one thinks of assassin's one thinks of dark clothed men in alley's. But there was a time when assassin's worked in board daylight and influenced sultans and kings from europe to india. It was the time of the assassin's of alamut.
The assassin's of alamut story begins with one man, Hassan-I-Sabbah. Hassan was of " middle class" birth-his father was a merchant- and had a degree of schooling and learning. As a youth he wandered persia and egypt studying under various teachers. In egypt he converted to ismailis, a sub sect of shia. The shia's were followers of ali, the prophet mohummad's cousin. with ali's death the caliph split into 2, sunni and shia's.
Hassan returned to persia in 1090 A.D. The middle east in 1090A.D. was dominated by the selijuk turks. a generation before they had come of the steppes and crushed the assassidid caliphite ( persia, iraq,arabia ). In 1071A.D. they pushed the byzantine empire out of most of modern turkey. Syria was dotted by several small crusader states. Egypt was under the fatimid dynasty. The selijuks soon converted to sunnism. This is the world Hassan entered when he crossed into selijuk territory. He began preaching and gaining converts. He soon faced the wrath of the selijuk authorities and was named outlaw.
Hassan began looking for a safe haven for him and his followers.He soon found the perfect place, the castle alamut in the elburz mts. It was SW of the caspian sea and far from the reach of the selijuk turks. He captured it by ruse, slowly over several months he slipped men into the castle as slaves, servents, soldiers,ect...When he made his move the castle defenders quickly found there were more attackers inside than out. The castle was called the eagles nest and was 10,200 feet above seas level surrounded by rocky terrain. In persia the persucution of hassan's followers began. They had not the numbers to fight back, but hassan began to think of a way that 1 man could do the damage of a 100.
The assassin's of alamut story begins with one man, Hassan-I-Sabbah. Hassan was of " middle class" birth-his father was a merchant- and had a degree of schooling and learning. As a youth he wandered persia and egypt studying under various teachers. In egypt he converted to ismailis, a sub sect of shia. The shia's were followers of ali, the prophet mohummad's cousin. with ali's death the caliph split into 2, sunni and shia's.
Hassan returned to persia in 1090 A.D. The middle east in 1090A.D. was dominated by the selijuk turks. a generation before they had come of the steppes and crushed the assassidid caliphite ( persia, iraq,arabia ). In 1071A.D. they pushed the byzantine empire out of most of modern turkey. Syria was dotted by several small crusader states. Egypt was under the fatimid dynasty. The selijuks soon converted to sunnism. This is the world Hassan entered when he crossed into selijuk territory. He began preaching and gaining converts. He soon faced the wrath of the selijuk authorities and was named outlaw.
Hassan began looking for a safe haven for him and his followers.He soon found the perfect place, the castle alamut in the elburz mts. It was SW of the caspian sea and far from the reach of the selijuk turks. He captured it by ruse, slowly over several months he slipped men into the castle as slaves, servents, soldiers,ect...When he made his move the castle defenders quickly found there were more attackers inside than out. The castle was called the eagles nest and was 10,200 feet above seas level surrounded by rocky terrain. In persia the persucution of hassan's followers began. They had not the numbers to fight back, but hassan began to think of a way that 1 man could do the damage of a 100.
