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Hashshashin
The Order of Assassins or simply the Assassins ( fa, حَشّاشین, Ḥaššāšīn, ) were a Nizārī Ismāʿīlī order and sect of Shīʿa Islam that existed between 1090 and 1275 CE. During that time, they lived in the mountains of Persia and in Syria, and held a strict subterfuge policy throughout the Middle East through the covert murder of Muslim and Christian leaders who were considered enemies of the Nizārī Ismāʿīlī State. The modern term assassination is believed to stem from the tactics used by the Assassins. Nizārī Ismāʿīlīsm formed in the late 11th century after a succession crisis within the Fatimid Caliphate between Nizār ibn al-Mustanṣir and his half-brother, caliph al-Musta‘lī. Contemporaneous historians include Arabs ibn al-Qalanisi and Ali ibn al-Athir, and the Persian Ata-Malik Juvayni. The first two referred to the Assassins as '' batiniyya'', an epithet widely accepted by Ismāʿīlīs themselves. Overview The Nizari ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hassan-i Sabbah
Hasan-i Sabbāh ( fa, حسن صباح) or Hassan as-Sabbāh ( ar, حسن بن الصباح الحميري, full name: Hassan bin Ali bin Muhammad bin Ja'far bin al-Husayn bin Muhammad bin al-Sabbah al-Himyari; c. 1050 – 12 June 1124) was the founder of the Nizari Isma'ili state and its ''fidā'i'' military groupLewis, Bernard (1967), ''The Assassins: a Radical Sect of Islam'', pp 38-65, Oxford University Press known as the Order of Assassins, often referred also as the ''Hashshashin''. Since Marco Polo, he has been known in the West as the Old Man of the Mountain. He later seized a mountain fortress called Alamut. Sources Hasan is thought to have written an autobiography, which did not survive but seems to underlie the first part of an anonymous Isma'ili biography entitled ''Sargozasht-e Seyyednā'' ( fa, سرگذشت سیدنا). The latter is known only from quotations made by later Persian authors. Daftary, Farhad, ''The Isma'ilis'', p. 311. Hasan also wrote a treatise ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nizari Isma'ilism
The Nizaris ( ar, النزاريون, al-Nizāriyyūn, fa, نزاریان, Nezāriyān) are the largest segment of the Ismaili Muslims, who are the second-largest branch of Shia Islam after the Twelvers. Nizari teachings emphasize independent reasoning or ''ijtihad''; pluralism—the acceptance of racial, ethnic, cultural and inter-religious differences; and social justice. Nizaris, along with Twelvers, adhere to the Jaʽfari school of jurisprudence. The Aga Khan, currently Aga Khan IV, is the spiritual leader and Imam of the Nizaris. The global seat of the Ismaili Imamate is in Lisbon, Portugal. Early history Nizari Isma'ili history is often traced through the unbroken hereditary chain of guardianship, or '' walayah'', beginning with Ali Ibn Abi Talib, who was declared Muhammad's successor as Imam during the latter's final pilgrimage to Mecca, and continues in an unbroken chain to the current Imam, Shah Karim Al-Husayni, the Aga Khan. Fatimid usurpation, schism, and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nizari Ismaili State
The Nizari state (the Alamut state) was a Shia Nizari Ismaili state founded by Hassan-i Sabbah after he took control of the Alamut Castle in 1090 AD, which marked the beginning of an era of Ismailism known as the "Alamut period". Their people were also known as the ''Order of Assassins, Assassins'' or ''Hashashins''. The state consisted of a nexus of strongholds throughout Greater Iran, Persia and Syria (region), Syria, with their territories being surrounded by huge swathes of hostile territory. It was formed as a result of a religious and political movement of the minority Nizari sect supported by the anti-Seljuq Empire, Seljuk population. Being heavily outnumbered, the Nizaris resisted adversaries by employing List of Ismaili castles, strategic, self-sufficient fortresses and the use of unconventional tactics, notably List of assassinations by the Assassins, assassination of important adversaries and psychological warfare. Despite Nizari–Seljuk conflicts, being occupied with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Assassination
Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a direct role in matters of the state, may also sometimes be considered an assassination. An assassination may be prompted by political and military motives, or done for financial gain, to avenge a grievance, from a desire to acquire fame or notoriety, or because of a military, security, insurgent or secret police group's command to carry out the assassination. Acts of assassination have been performed since ancient times. A person who carries out an assassination is called an assassin or hitman. Etymology The word ''assassin'' may be derived from '' asasiyyin'' (Arabic: أَسَاسِيِّين, ʾasāsiyyīn) from أَسَاس (ʾasās, "foundation, basis") + ـِيّ (-iyy), meaning "people who are faithful to the fou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ata-Malik Juvayni
Atâ-Malek Juvayni (1226–1283) ( fa, عطاملک جوینی), in full, Ala al-Din Ata-ullah (), was a Persian historian and an official of the Mongol state who wrote an account of the Mongol Empire entitled '' Tarīkh-i Jahān-gushā'' (''History of the World Conqueror''). Early life Juvayni was born in Joveyn, a city in Khorasan in eastern Persia. Both his grandfather and his father, Baha al-Din, had held the post of ''sahib-divan'' or Minister of Finance for Muhammad Jalal al-Din and Ögedei Khan respectively. Baha al-Din also acted as deputy c. 1246 for his immediate superior, the emir Arghun, in which role he oversaw a large area including Kingdom of Georgia. Career Juvayni, just as his predecessors became an important state official. He visited the Mongol capital of Karakorum twice, beginning his history of the Mongols conquests on one such visit (c. 1252–53). He was with Ilkhan Hulagu in the 1256 campaign at the taking of Alamut, where he selected many 'cho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nizar Ibn Al-Mustansir
Abu Mansur Nizar ibn al-Mustansir ( ar, أبو منصور نزار بن المستنصر, Abū Manṣūr Nizār ibn al-Mustanṣir; 1045–1095) was a Fatimid prince, and the oldest son of the eighth Fatimid caliph and eighteenth Isma'ili imam, al-Mustansir. When his father died in December 1094, the powerful vizier, al-Afdal Shahanshah, raised Nizar's younger brother al-Musta'li to the throne in Cairo, bypassing the claims of Nizar and other older sons of al-Mustansir. Nizar escaped Cairo, rebelled and seized Alexandria, where he reigned as caliph with the regnal name al-Mustafa li-Din Allah ( ar, المصطفى لدين الله, al-Muṣṭafā li-Dīn Allāh). In late 1095 he was defeated and taken prisoner to Cairo, where he was executed by immurement. During the 12th century, some of Nizar's actual or claimed descendants tried, without success, to seize the throne from the Fatimid caliphs. Many Isma'ilis, especially in Persia, rejected al-Musta'li's imamate and considere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al-Musta'li
Abu al-Qasim Ahmad ibn al-Mustansir ( ar, أبو القاسم أحمد بن المستنصر, Abū al-Qāsim Aḥmad ibn al-Mustanṣir; 15/16 September 1074 – 12 December 1101), better known by his regnal name al-Musta'li Billah ( ar, المستعلي بالله, al-Mustaʿlī biʾllāh, The One Raised Up by God), was the ninth Fatimid caliph and the nineteenth imam of Mustaʽli Ismailism. Although the youngest of the sons of Caliph al-Mustansir Billah, al-Musta'li became caliph through the machinations of his brother-in-law, the vizier al-Afdal Shahanshah. In response, his oldest brother and main candidate for their father's succession, Nizar, rose in revolt in Alexandria, but was defeated and executed. This caused a major split in the Isma'ili movement. Many communities, especially in Persia and Iraq, split off from the officially sponsored Isma'ili hierarchy and formed their own, Nizari movement, holding Nizar and his descendants as the rightful imams. Al-Musta'li died ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ibn Al-Qalanisi
Abū Yaʿlā Ḥamzah ibn al-Asad ibn al-Qalānisī ( ar, ابو يعلى حمزة ابن الاسد ابن القلانسي; c. 1071 – 18 March 1160) was an Arab politician and chronicler in 12th-century Damascus. Biography Abu Ya‘la ('father of Ya‘la'), whose surname was al-Qalanisi ('the Hatter'), descended from the Banu Tamim tribe, and was among the well-educated nobility of the city of Damascus.Gibb (1932), p. 8, citing Ibn 'Asakir. He studied literature, theology, and law, and served firstly as a secretary in, and later the head of, the chancery of Damascus (the ''Diwan al-Rasa'il''). He served twice as ''ra'is'' of the city, an office equivalent to mayor. "Chronicle of Damascus" His chronicle, the ''Dhail'' or ''Mudhayyal Ta'rikh Dimashq'' ('Continuation of the Chronicle of Damascus') was an extension of the chronicle of Hilal bin al-Muhassin al-Sabi', covering the years 1056 to al-Qalanisi's death in 1160.Gibb (1932), "Introduction", pp. 7-14. This chronicle is one ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ali Ibn Al-Athir
Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad ash-Shaybānī, better known as ʿAlī ʿIzz ad-Dīn Ibn al-Athīr al-Jazarī ( ar, علي عز الدین بن الاثیر الجزري) lived 1160–1233) was an Arab or Kurdish historian and biographer who wrote in Arabic and was from the Ibn Athir family. At the age of twenty-one he settled with his father in Mosul to continue his studies, where he devoted himself to the study of history and Islamic tradition. Biography Ibn al-Athir belonged to the Shayban lineage of the large and influential Arab tribe Banu Bakr, who lived across upper Mesopotamia, and gave their name to the city of Diyar Bakr. He was the brother of Majd ad-Dīn and Diyā' ad-Dīn Ibn Athir. Al-Athir lived a scholarly life in Mosul, often visited Baghdad and for a time traveled with Saladin's army in Syria. He later lived in Aleppo and Damascus. His chief work was a history of the world, ''al-Kamil fi at-Tarikh'' (''The Complete History''). H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alamut Castle
Alamut ( fa, الموت, meaning "eagle's nest") is a ruined mountain fortress located in the Alamut region in the South Caspian province of Qazvin near the Masoudabad region in Iran, approximately 200 km (130 mi) from present-day Tehran. In 1090 AD, the Alamut Castle, a mountain fortress in present-day Iran, came into the possession of Hassan-i Sabbah, a champion of the Nizari Ismaili cause. Until 1256, Alamut functioned as the headquarters of the Nizari Ismaili state, which included a series of strategic strongholds scattered throughout Persia and Syria, with each stronghold being surrounded by swathes of hostile territory. Alamut, which is the most famous of these strongholds, was thought impregnable to any military attack and was fabled for its heavenly gardens, library, and laboratories where philosophers, scientists, and theologians could debate in intellectual freedom. ited in /en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=833771876">ited_in_[//en.wikipedia.org/w/ind ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Batiniyya
Batiniyya ( ar, باطنية, Bāṭiniyyah) refers to groups that distinguish between an outer, exoteric ('' zāhir'') and an inner, esoteric ('' bāṭin'') meaning in Islamic scriptures. The term has been used in particular for an allegoristic type of scriptural interpretation developed among some Shia groups, stressing the ''bāṭin'' meaning of texts. It has been retained by all branches of Isma'ilism and various Druze groups as well. The Alawites practice a similar system of interpretation. ''Batiniyya'' is a common epithet used to designate Isma'ili Islam, which has been accepted by Ismai'lis themselves. Sunni writers have used the term ''batiniyya'' polemically in reference to rejection of the evident meaning of scripture in favor of its ''bāṭin'' meaning. Al-Ghazali, a medieval Sunni theologian, used the term ''batiniyya'' pejoratively for the adherents of Isma'ilism. Some Shia writers have also used the term polemically. See also * Batin (Islam) Bāṭin or b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lambsar Castle
Lambsar ( fa, لمبسر, also pronounced Lamsar), Lamasar, Lambasar, Lambesar () or Lomasar () was probably the largest and the most fortified of the Ismaili castles. The fortress is located in the central Alburz mountains, south of the Caspian Sea, about 120 km from present-day Tehran, Iran. Lambsar is to the northeast of Razmian village (the central district of Roodbar e Shahrestan). Kiya Buzurg Ummid (died 1138) captured the castle from Rasamuj and rebuilt it into a major stronghold using local labour. He was appointed by Hassan-i Sabbah (died 1124) as its governor. Only ruins remain of this magnificent fortress today. Very deep valleys surrounding the fortress make it impossible to access from the East and West sides. The North and South fronts are the only possible ways to get into the fortress. Although the slope of the mountain with a difference of 150m on both levels is stretched from north to south with a length of 480m, the castle is more than 190m in width. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
