Origin from 1090
The Order of Assassins was a Nizari Ismaili Shia Islamic military and religious order founded by Hasan-i Sabbah in 1090, based in a network of mountain fortresses across Persia and Syria, with Alamut Castle serving as its Persian headquarters and Masyaf Castle as its stronghold in the Levant. Hasan-i Sabbah, born around 1050 in Qom, captured Alamut in 1090 and built the order into a tightly organized movement known for carrying out targeted political assassinations of rival rulers over nearly two centuries, killing hundreds of opponents including three caliphs, a ruler of Jerusalem, and other Muslim and Christian leaders across the Fatimid, Abbasid, Seljuk and Crusader worlds. The English word assassin derives from the Arabic hashshashin, a term historians regard as a derogatory label used by rival Muslim groups rather than evidence that the order used hashish to motivate its operatives. The order collapsed between 1253 and 1256 under the Mongol invasion, and its last strongholds fell to the Mamluks by the 1270s. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
Facts
Classification
Kind of orderChristian Military and Chivalric Orders 1 ApostolateMilitary and Chivalric Service 1 Who may join Belief
Defining Doctrinal PositionCatholic Apostolic Magisterial Authority 2 Practice
Liturgical Language Origins
Origin Period Organisation
OrdinationVowed Religious Profession (not ordained) 2 Connections
Belongs to Tradition
Uses Liturgical Language
Sources
1. Order of Assassins (Wikipedia)
Introduction, kind of order
The Order of Assassins (Arabic: حَشّاشُون, romanized: Ḥaššāšūn; Persian: حشاشين, romanized: Haššāšīn) was a Nizari Isma'ili Shia Islamic military order founded by Hasan-i Sabbah in 1090.
Introduction, apostolate
The Order of Assassins (Arabic: حَشّاشُون, romanized: Ḥaššāšūn; Persian: حشاشين, romanized: Haššāšīn) was a Nizari Isma'ili Shia Islamic military order founded by Hasan-i Sabbah in 1090.
View the Source2. Islamic Mysticism: A Short History
Alexander Knysh, Brill
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