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diff --git a/old/53023-0.txt b/old/53023-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 9d9291b..0000000 --- a/old/53023-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8934 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, The History of the Assassins, by Joseph, -Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall, Translated by Oswald Charles Wood - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: The History of the Assassins - Derived from Oriental Sources - - -Author: Joseph, Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall - - - -Release Date: September 10, 2016 [eBook #53023] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF THE ASSASSINS*** - - -E-text prepared by Turgut Dincer and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team (http://www.pgdp.net)from page images generously made available by -the Google Books Library Project (http://books.google.com) - - - -Note: Images of the original pages scanned by the - Google Books Library Project are available - through HathiTrust Digital Library. See - https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/001405797 - - - - - -THE HISTORY OF THE ASSASSINS. - -Derived from Oriental Sources, - -by - -THE CHEVALIER JOSEPH VON HAMMER, - -Author of -The History of the Ottoman Empire, &c. - -Translated from the German, by Oswald Charles Wood, M. D. - -&c. &c. &c. - - - - - - - -London: -Smith and Elder, Cornhill. -1835. - -Vizetelly, Branston and Co., Printers, -76, Fleet Street, London. - - - - TO - - The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain, - - WITH THE - - PROFOUNDEST RESPECT AND ADMIRATION FOR THEIR IMPORTANT SERVICES - - IN CHERISHING AND PROMOTING THE CULTIVATION OF - - ORIENTAL LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE, - - THE PRESENT WORK IS DEDICATED - - BY - - THEIR MOST OBEDIENT SERVANT, - - OSWALD CHARLES WOOD. - - - - -TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE. - - -The Translator has been induced to present “The History of the -Assassins” to the British Public as much on account of the interest -of the subject itself, as by a desire to introduce to them a portion, -certainly but a small one, of the works of an author so highly gifted, -and of such established reputation, as M. Von Hammer. Nor will the -present volume be deemed supererogatory, if it be considered that, -notwithstanding the attention which, of late years, has been in this -country so meritoriously devoted to the study of Oriental history and -philology, still, but few and meagre accounts have been afforded of the -extraordinary association forming the subject of the ensuing pages, and -even those scattered through large and voluminous works. The Translator -deems it unnecessary to apologize for the notes which he has appended, -believing that their curiosity will plead his excuse. - -It may be proper to remark, that the Translator has thought it -advisable to adapt the orthography of the proper names to the -pronunciation of English readers: in this, he has been for the most -part guided by Sir William Jones’s Persian Grammar, and the very -excellent Turkish one of his late accomplished and lamented friend, -Arthur Lumley Davids; he has only, therefore, to state, that the -vowels are to be pronounced broad and open, as in Italian, and the -consonants as in English; by this means, the uncouth appearance of the -names, occasioned by endeavouring to represent the vowels by English -diphthongs, is avoided. - - - BROMPTON, - - June, 1835. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - BOOK I. - Page - Introduction—Mohammed, founder of Islamism—Account of his - doctrines—Sects—Ismailites—The Assassins a branch of the - latter 1 - - - BOOK II. - - Foundation of the Order of the Assassins, and Reign of the first - Grand-Master, Hassan Sabah 38 - - - BOOK III. - - Reign of Kia Busurgomid, and of his son, Mohammed 74 - - - BOOK IV. - - Reign of Hassan II., son of Mohammed, son of Busurgomid, - surnamed Ala sikrihi es-selam, and his son, Mohammed II. 105 - - - BOOK V. - - Reign of Jelaleddin Hassan III Ben Mohammed Hassan,—and - of his son, Alaeddin Mohammed III. 139 - - - BOOK VI. - - Reign of Rokneddin Kharshah, the last Grand-Master of the - Assassins 165 - - - BOOK VII. - - Conquest of Bagdad—Fall of the Assassins-Remnant of them 181 - - Authorities 221 - - Notes 223 - - - - -ERRATA. - - - Page 3 line 12 from the bottom, for _emerging_ read _converging_. - 4 17 for _sacred_ _serried_. - 5 20 _though_ _being_. - 7 26 _a hundred_ _three hundred_. - 15 22 _Sheristani_ _Sheheristani_. - 24 6 from the bottom, ditto ditto. - 26 15 for _they called_ _they were called_. - 30 11 from the bottom, for _Esoteries_ _Esoterics_. - 47 6 for _Ben Merdas_ _Beni Merdas_. - 51 7 from the bottom, for _runs_ _rises_. - 61 12 for _remuneration_ _renunciation_. - 64 9 _Shah durye_ _Shah durr_. - 66 3 dele comma after _pursuit_ and insert _of_. - 95 20 for _Khowareim_ _Khowaresm_. - 97 11 after _west_ insert _that of_. - — 21 for _Rakuye_ _Kakuye_. - 101 8 _Endeddin_ _Esededdin_. - 118 14 from the bottom, after _common_ insert _name_. - 119 12 for _kasha_ _kaaba_. - 131 6 from the bottom, for _and_ _or_. - 145 1 for _property_ _properties_. - 147 12 from the bottom, for _lie_ _lies_. - 148 2 for _Korad_ _Kobad_. - — 18 _Reyumers_ _Keyumers_. - 170 8 from the bottom, for _basiraki_ _basikaki_. - - - - -HISTORY - -OF - -THE ASSASSINS. - - - - -BOOK I. - - _Introduction—Mohammed, founder of Islamism—Exhibition - of its doctrines and of its different sects, from one of - which (the Ismailites) the Assassins sprung._ - - -Although the affairs of kingdoms and of nations, like the revolutions -of day and night, are generally repeated in countless and continued -successions, we, nevertheless, in our survey of the destinies of -the human race, encounter single great and important events, which, -fertilizing like springs, or devastating like volcanoes, interrupt the -uniform wilderness of history. The more flowery the strand,—the more -desolating the lava,—the rarer and more worthy objects do they become -to the curiosity of travellers, and the narratives of their guides. The -incredible, which has never been witnessed, but is nevertheless true, -affords the richest materials for historical composition, providing -the sources be authentic and accessible. Of all events, the account of -which, since history has been written, has descended to us, one of the -most singular and wonderful is the establishment of the dominion of the -Assassins—that _imperium in imperio_, which, by blind subjection, shook -despotism to its foundations; that union of impostors and dupes which, -under the mask of a more austere creed and severer morals, undermined -all religion and morality; that order of murderers, beneath whose -daggers the lords of nations fell; all powerful, because, for the space -of three centuries, they were universally dreaded, until the den of -ruffians fell with the khaliphate, to whom, as the centre of spiritual -and temporal power, it had at the outset sworn destruction, and by -whose ruins it was itself overwhelmed. The history of this empire of -conspirators is solitary, and without parallel; compared to it, all -earlier and later secret combinations and predatory states are crude -attempts or unsuccessful imitations. - -Notwithstanding the wide space, to the extremest east and west, over -which the name of Assassins (of whose origin more hereafter) has -spread, and that in all the European languages it has obtained and -preserved the same meaning as the word _murderer_, little has hitherto -been made known, in consecutive order, or satisfactory representation, -of their achievements and fortunes, of their religious or civil codes. -What the Byzantines, the Crusaders, and Marco Polo related of them, -was long considered a groundless legend, and an oriental fiction. The -narrations of the latter have not been less doubted and oppugned, -than the traditions of Herodotus concerning the countries and nations -of antiquity. The more, however, the east is opened by the study of -languages and by travel, the greater confirmation do these venerable -records of history and geography receive; and the veracity of the -father of modern travel, like that of the father of ancient history, -only shines with the greater lustre. - -Philological and historical, chronological and topographical -researches, instituted by Falconet and Silvestre de Sacy, Quatremère, -and Rousseau; outlines of European and oriental history, like those -of Déguignes and Herbelot; the very recent history of the Crusades, -by Wilken, compiled from the most ancient documents of the narrating -Crusaders, and cotemporary Arabians; smooth the path of the historian -of the Assassins; which name, neither Withof nor Mariti deserve; -the former, on account of his gossipping partiality, and the latter, -by reason of his meagreness and obscurity. Even after Abulfeda’s -Arabic, and Mirkhond’s Persian historical work, of which A. Jourdain -has given a valuable extract on the dynasty of the Ismailites, other -oriental sources, almost unknown, claim the attention of the historian. -Among the Arabic are—Macrisi’s, large Egyptian Topography, and Ibn -Khaledun’s Political Prolegomena: Hadji Khalfa’s invaluable Geography -and Chronological Tables; the Khaliph’s Bed of Roses, by Nasmisade; The -Two Collectors of Histories and Narrations, by Mohammed the Secretary, -and Mohammed Elaufi; The Explanation and Selection of Histories, by -Hessarfenn and Mohammed Effendi, among the Turkish: and among the -Persian, The Universal History of Lari; The Gallery of Pictures of -Ghaffari, a master-piece of historical art and style; The History of -Wassaf, the Conqueror of the World, by Jowaini; The Biographies of the -Poets, by Devletshah; The History of Thaberistan and Masenderan, by -Sahireddin; and, lastly, The Counsels for Kings, by Jelali of Kain, are -the principal. - -He, who possesses the advantage of drawing from these oriental sources, -which, for the most part, remain concealed from the western world, will -be astonished at the richness of the treasures still to be brought -to light. There lie open before him—the sovereignty of the great -monarchies converging into one point; the power of single dynasties, -shooting out into a thousand rays; the fabulous chronologies of the -most ancient, and the exact annals of the most modern empires; the -period of ignorance anterior to the prophet, and the days of knowledge -that succeeded; the wonders of the Persians; the feats of the Arabs; -the universally ravaging and desolating spirit of the Mongols; and the -political wisdom of the Ottomans. Amidst such an abundance, the miner’s -strength appears too small, and his life too short, to enable him to -avail himself of all: and moreover, the very excess of riches renders -selection difficult. Which vein is he first to open, and from which -mass is he first to extract the ore for the manufacture of historic -art? Nowhere in the labyrinthine treasury of the east will he find -a perfect work, but only rich materials for the construction of his -edifice. His choice is determined by accident or predilection. What is -new and important always finds a sale; and the market is never glutted -with building materials, at a time when architecture flourishes. - -An Arabian proverb says, “The building stone is not left lying in the -road.” If it be indifferent to the historical investigator, who is -eager for knowledge, and to whom sources are accessible, with what -and to what end he begins his labour, it is by no means so with the -conscientious historian, who only works with pleasure where all known -sources are at his command, and when accuracy may, for the future, -spare him the charge of incompleteness. In this point of view, the -serried ranks of oriental histories are thinned at once. Where, either -in the west or the east, is the library, which contains the works so -necessary to the complete treatment of the most important oriental -epochs,—works which, as yet, are known only by their names, and not by -their contents? Who, for example, could precisely and circumstantially -describe the history of the Khalifat, the dominion of the families -Ben Ommia and Abbas, and their capitals, so long as he had not read -the History of Bagdad, by Ibn Khatib, and that of Damascus, by Ibn -Assaker,—the former in sixty, the latter in eighty volumes? Who could -write the History of Egypt, if he has not at hand, besides Macrisi, the -numerous works which he consulted? - -Still greater difficulties beset the writer of Persian history, whether -it be of the fabulous times of mythology, or of the middle period, -where the stream of the Persian monarchy, till then restrained in -one bed, flows into the numerous branches of cotemporary dynasties; -or of the most modern, where it has long been lost in the desert of -wild anarchy. More than one generation must pass, ere the literary -treasures of the east will be completed in the libraries of the west, -either by the patronage of princes, or the industry of travellers; or -become more accessible, by a more extended knowledge of languages, and -by translations; and ere thus, the venerable witnesses of antiquity -will be assembled, all of which it is the first duty of the historian -carefully to examine. An exception to this want of accumulated -authorities, which has hitherto been so sensibly felt in Europe, -and which checks the writer of oriental history in the midst of his -career, is exhibited by that of the Ottomans. Its original sources, -the eldest of which scarcely boast an antiquity of five hundred years, -might (although not without considerable expenditure both of money and -trouble) even now, be all procured, and moreover, might be completed -and corrected from the contemporary histories of the Byzantines and -modern Europeans. - -A history is, however, the work of years; and the severity of the -task demands strength, prepared by previous exercise. In addition -to the immense importance of the subject, we were induced to -impose upon ourselves the present work in preference to others, -by the consideration, that being in the possession of all the -before-mentioned original authorities, touching the History of the -Assassins (besides which none are known in the east), we might deem the -examination of historical witnesses concerning this important epoch, -almost as closed. Their depositions are certainly sparing and meagre; -but the barrenness of the subject in splendid descriptions of battles, -expeditions, commercial enterprise, and monuments, is compensated -by the deeply engrossing interest of the history of governments and -religions. The Assassins are but a branch of the Ismailites; and these -latter, not the Arabs generally as descendants of Ishmael, the son of -Hagar, but a sect existing in the bosom of Islamism, and so called from -the Imam Ismail, the son of Jafer. In order, therefore, to understand -their doctrinal system, and the origin of their power, it is necessary -to treat, at some length, of Islamism itself, its founder, and its -sects. - -In the seventh century of the Christian era, when Nushirvan, the Just, -adorned, with his princely virtues, the imperial throne of Persia, and -the tyrant Phocas stained with his crimes that of Byzantium;—in the -same year, in which Persia’s host, for the first time, fled before -the Arabian troops of the insurgent viceroy of Hira, and Abraha, -the Christian king of Abyssinia, the Lord of the Elephants, who had -hastened from Africa, in order to destroy the sacred house of the -Kaaba, was driven back by that scourge of heaven, the small-pox, -which commencing there, has since raged over the whole of the old -continent—(birds of celestial vengeance, says the Koran, stoned -his army with pebbles, that they fell); in this year, so important -to Arabia, that from it began a new era—that of the year of the -Elephants,—in the same night, when the foundations of the palace of -Chosroes at Medain, which had baffled the attacks of time, or the -builders of Bagdad, were overturned by an earthquake; when, by the -operation of the same agent, lakes were dried up, and the sacred fire -of Persia was extinguished by the ruins of its temple,—Mohammed first -saw the light of the world, the third part of which was so soon to -submit to his faith. His biography has been written in many volumes, -by the historians of those nations who believe in him. From thence -Maracci,[1] Gagnier,[2] and Sale,[3] have derived the accounts which -they have given to Europe. The first is embued with the fanatical zeal -of his church, the second is the most fundamental and complete, the -third the most unprejudiced. Voltaire,[4] Gibbon,[5] and Müller,[6] -have painted the legislator, conqueror and prophet; after them, it -is difficult to add anything concerning him. Hence, in this case, we -shall be brief, and shall only state what is necessary, and what has -remained untouched by those three great historians, or that portion -of his tenets which stands in the nearest connexion with those of the -Ismailites, and by which, in the sequel, they were undermined. - -Mohammed, the son of Abdallah, and grandson of Abdolmotaleb, was -descended from a family of the highest rank among the Arabians, that -of Koreish, in whose custody were the keys of the sacred house of -the Kaaba. He felt himself called to lead back his countrymen, who -were sunk in idolatry, to the knowledge of the only true God, and, -as prophet and legislator, to complete the great work of purifying -natural religion from the dross of superstition; a task which so many -had previously, at different times, attempted. Arabia was divided among -the religions of the Christians, the Jews, and the Sabæans. To combine -these three into one, by the union of that which flowed from principles -common to all, for the attainment of political liberty and greatness, -was the aim of his life, which had been so long spent in meditation, -and only late in years was roused to active exertion. From his infancy, -his mother, Emina, who was a Jewess, and in early youth, during a -journey in Syria, the Christian monk, Sergius, imbued him with the -religious tenets of Moses and Jesus, and exhibited, in the full light -of its infamy, the idolatrous worship of the Kaaba, where three hundred -idols demanded the adoration of the people. - -The Jews were expecting the Messiah as the Saviour of Israel, the -Christians looked for the advent of the Paraclete, as their comforter -and mediator, when, in his fortieth year (an age which, in the east, -has always been considered as that of a prophet), Mohammed felt within -him the voice of divine inspiration, enjoining him to read in the name -of the Lord,[7] the commands of heaven, and by their promulgation, to -prove himself to his people, the prophet and apostle of God. Nature -had formed him a poet and an enthusiastic orator, by endowing him with -an astounding power of language, a penetrating ardour of imagination, -a dignity of demeanour, commanding the profoundest reverence, and a -captivating suavity of manners. Valour, magnanimity, and eloquence, -qualities prized by every nation, and by none more than the wild son -of the desert, were the three great magnets which drew to him the -hearts of his people, who had long been wont to do homage to the heroic -and munificent, and more especially to the great poets, whose noble -productions were hung in the Kaaba, written in golden letters, and as -the immediate gifts of heaven, deemed worthy of divine adoration. - -Of all Arabic poetry, the Koran is the master-piece; in it the -lightning of sublimity gleams through the dreary obscurity of long -prosy traditions and ordinances, and the energetic language rolls -like the thunder of heaven, reverberating from rock to rock, in the -echo of the rhyme; or pours on like the roaring of the wave, in the -constant return of similar sounding words. It stands the glorious -pyramid of Arabic poetry; no poet of this people, either before or -since, has approached its excellence. Lebid, one of the seven great -bards, whose works were called _al-moallakat_, the suspended, because -they hung on the walls of the Kaaba for public admiration, tore his own -down, as unworthy of the honour, the moment he had read the sublime -exordium of the second sura of the Koran. Hassan, the satirist, -who lampooned the prophet, on which verses of the Koran descended -from heaven, was forced, at the conquest of Mecca, to confess the -irresistible power of his word and his sword; and Kaab, the son of -Soheir, paid him spontaneous homage, in a hymn of praise, for which -the prophet gave him his mantle, which is still preserved among the -precious articles of the Turkish treasury; and is annually, during -the month Ramadan, worshipped and touched, in the most solemn manner, -by the Sultan, accompanied by his court and the great officers of -state. Mohammed’s lofty destiny, in changing from poet to prophet, -has induced many later Arabian poets and beaux esprits to attempt the -like; the consequences of which have either been nugatory, or fraught -with their own destruction. Moseleima, a cotemporary of Mohammed, and, -like him, the poet of nature, nevertheless, soon became dangerous to -him, as the unattainable divinity of the Koran had not yet received -the sanction of ages. Ibn Mokaffaa, the elegant translator of the -Fables of Bidpai, who shut himself up for whole weeks, to produce a -single verse which might bear a comparison with the lofty passage -of the Koran, on the deluge,—“Earth, swallow thy waters! Heaven, -withhold thy cataracts!”—earned by his fruitless labours nothing but -the reputation of a free-thinker; and Motenebbi, whose name signifies -the “prophecying,” gained, indeed, the glory of a great poet, but -never that of a prophet. Thus, for twelve centuries, the Koran has -maintained, undisturbed, the character of an inimitable and uncreated -celestial Scripture, as the eternal Word of God. - -The word of the prophet is the Soonna, that is, the collection of his -orations and oral commands, which, no less than in the written Koran, -by vivid fancy, energy of will, power of language, and knowledge of -mankind, manifest the genius of the great poet and legislator. The -former has never been estimated in the view we have just taken of it: -the latter will be considered in the sequel. - -The creed of Islam (_i. e._ the most implicit resignation to the will -of God) is,—There is no God but God, and Mohammed is his prophet. His -whole doctrine consists of only five articles of faith, and as many -duties of external worship. The dogmas are—belief in God, his angels, -his prophets, the day of judgment, and predestination. The religious -rites are—ablution, prayer, fasting, alms, and the pilgrimage to Mecca. -Creed and worship formed a sort of Mosaic of portions of Christianity, -Judaism, and Sabæanism: there are no miracles but those of the -creation and of the word, that is, the verses of the Koran. Mohammed’s -journey to heaven, contained in it, is merely a vision in the style of -Ezekiel, of whose throne bearers, the Alborak (the prophet’s celestial -steed with a human face) is in imitation. The doctrine of the last day, -the judgment of the dead, the balance in which the souls are to be -weighed, the bridge of trial, and the seven hells and eight paradises, -are derived from Persian and Egyptian sources. The highest rewards of -heaven are—pleasures of sensual enjoyment, shady lawns, with rills -bubbling amidst flowers, gilded kiosks and vases, soft couches and rich -goblets, silver fountains and handsome youths. Sparkling sherbet and -generous wine from the springs, Kewsser and Selsebil, for the pious, -who, during their lives, have abstained from intoxicating potations. -Black-eyed damsels, ever young, for the righteous; and, in particular, -for him who has earned the eternal palm of martyrdom in the holy war -against the enemies of the faith. His is the everlasting reward, for -“Paradise is beneath the shadow of the sword,” which the faithful are -to wield against the infidel, till he conforms to Islamism, or subjects -himself to tribute. Even against intestine enemies of the faith, or -of the realm, the execution of justice is lawful, and homicide is -better than rebellion. The Koran contains much relating to the laws of -marriage and inheritance, and the rights and duties of women, to whom -Mohammed was the first to ensure a civil political existence, which -before him they seem scarcely to have enjoyed among the Arabians. There -is nothing concerning the succession to the administration of affairs, -and with regard to claims to property in land and sovereignty, thus -much only:—“The rule is of God, he giveth it to, and taketh it from -whomsoever he will. The earth is God’s, he devises it to whomsoever -he will.” By these general formulæ of the celestial decrees, a fair -field was opened to despots and usurpers: Mohammed’s idea was, that -sovereignty was the right of the strongest, and he once expressly -declared that Omar, who was distinguished by the great energy of his -character, possessed the qualities of a prophet and khalif. Tradition -has, however, handed down to us no similar expression in favour of the -amiable Ali, his son-in-law. Moreover, it had not escaped him, that in -the constant progress of history there is nothing immutable; that no -human institution can be endued with perpetual duration, and that the -spirit of one generation seldom survives that which succeeds it. It was -in this sense that he said, prophetically,—“The khalifate will last -only thirty years after my death.” - -It is probable, that had Mohammed destined the succession (or as -the Arabs call it, the khalifate) to his nearest relations, he -would have expressly named his son-in-law, Ali, as khalif. As, -however, he enjoined nothing on this point during his life,—for some -eulogiums passed on Ali, adduced by the latter’s party, are vague -and doubtful,—he seems to have committed the appointment of the most -worthy to the selection of the Moslimin. The first whom they elected -emir and imam, was the first convert to Islamism, Ebubekr Essidik (the -True), and after his short reign, Omar Alfaruk (the Decisive), to whom -they did homage with oath and striking of hands. Omar’s severity, -equally inflexible to himself and others, and the remarkable force -of his character, first impressed on Islamism and the khalifat, the -stamp of fanaticism and despotism, which was foreign to its first -institution. The spirit of conquest, indeed, was already manifested by -Mohammed’s first enterprises against the Christians in Syria, against -the Jews in Chaibar, and the idolators of Mecca. Ebubekr followed his -footsteps with his victories in Yemen and Syria; but Omar first erected -the triumphal arch of Islamism and the khalifate, by the capture of -Damascus and Jerusalem, by the overthrow of the ancient Persian throne, -and the sapping of that of Byzantium, from which he tore two of its -strongest foundation-stones, Syria and Egypt. It was at this epoch, -that the blind zeal of the khalif and his generals ruined the treasures -of Greek and Persian wisdom, the accumulation of ages. It was then -that the Alexandrian library fed the stoves of the baths, and the -books of Medain swelled the flood of the Tigris.[8] Omar prohibited, -under the severest penalties, the use of gold and silk; and the sea, -as being the great medium of the intercourse of nations by commerce -and exchange of ideas, he interdicted to the Moslimin. Thus, by the -vigour of his spiritual and temporal administration, did he hold his -conquests, and preserve the doctrines of Islamism; zealously watching -lest their integrity should be endangered by foreign influence, or the -manners of the victors corrupted by the luxury of the vanquished. It -was not unjustly that he dreaded the effect which the superiority in -civilization and institutions of the Greeks and Persians, might exert -on the Arabs: Mohammed, indeed, had already warned his story-loving -people against the traditions and fabulous legends of the latter. - -The reins of dominion, which Omar had held in so tight a grasp, escaped -from the hands of his successor, Osman. He was the first khalif, -who fell beneath the dagger of conspiracy and rebellion; and Ali, -Mohammed’s son-in-law, mounted the throne, which was stained with the -blood of his predecessor, and which soon after was dyed with his own. -Many refused to acknowledge or swear fealty to him, as Prince of the -Faithful; they were called Motasali, that is, the _Separatists_,[9] -and formed one of the first and largest sects of Islamism: at their -head was Moawia, of the family of Ommia, whose father, Ebusofian, had -been one of the most powerful opponents of the prophet. He suspended -the blood-stained clothes of Osman on the pulpit of the great mosque -of Damascus, to inflame Syria with vengeance against Ali. But the -ambition of Moawia was less effectual in securing his destruction than -the hatred of Aishe, which even during the life-time of Mohammed, and -Ebubekr, her father, she had vowed against him. When in the sixth year -of the hegira, during the prophet’s expedition against the tribe of -Mostalak, Aishe the Chaste, having wandered from the line of march with -Sofwan, the son of Moattal, had given rise to certain calumnies: Ali -was one of the many, who, by their doubts and conjectures, rendered the -title of Chaste so problematical, that it was necessary to have a Sura -descend from heaven, to hush report, and rescue the honour of Aishe and -the prophet. Henceforward, by the authority of the sacred scripture -of Islamism, she passed for a model of immaculate purity. Eighty -calumniators fell immediately beneath the sword of justice; but Ali was -destined, at a later period, to atone for his incautious scepticism, -with his throne and his life. Aishe led her two generals, Talha and -Sobeir, against him, and by her presence, inflamed them to the combat -in which they perished. A part of his troops refused to fight, and -declared aloud for the opponents. They were afterwards called Khavaredj -(the Deserters), and afterwards formed a powerful sect, equally hostile -with the Motasali, to the interests of the family of the prophet; but -professing many tenets, differing again from theirs. At the second -battle of Saffain, Moawia caused the Koran to be carried on the -points of lances in the van of his army.[10] After the action near -Nèheran, Ali’s compulsory abdication took place at Dowmetol-Jendel, -which was shortly after succeeded by his assassination. Thus the -khalifat, contrary to the order of hereditary succession, came, by -means of murder and rebellion, into the family of Ommia, thirty years -after Mohammed had prescribed that space of time as the period of its -duration. - -Of all the passions which have ever called into action the tongue, -the pen, or the sword, which have overturned the throne, and shaken -the altar to its base, ambition is the first and mightiest. It uses -crime as a means, virtue as a mask. It respects nothing sacred, and -yet it has recourse to that which is most beloved, because the most -secure, that of all held most sacred by man,—religion. Hence the -history of religion is never more tempestuous and sanguinary than when -the tiara, united to the diadem, imparts and receives an increased -power. The union of the supreme temporal and spiritual rule, which the -steady policy of the popes, never to be diverted from its object, has -for centuries in vain sought to achieve, is a fundamental maxim of -Islamism. The khalif, or successor of the prophet, was not only Emir al -Mominin, Commander of the True Believers, but also Imam al Moslimin, -Chief of the Devout; supreme lord and pontiff, not merely invested with -the standard and the sword, but also the prophet’s staff and mantle. -The Moslim world could yield obedience to but one lawful khalif, as -Christendom to but one pope. But as three popes have often pretended to -the triple crown, so have three khalifs laid claim to the supreme rule -of three portions of the earth. After the family of Ommia had lost the -throne of Damascus, it still maintained the khalifat in Spain, as did -the family of Abbas, on the banks of the Tigris, and that of Fatima, -on those of the Nile. As formerly, the Ommiades, the Abbasides, and -the Fatimites reigned contemporaneously at Granada, Bagdad, and Cairo; -so, at the present day, the sovereigns of the families of Katschar and -Osman possess the dignity of khalif at Teheran and Constantinople; -the latter with the most justice, since, after the conquest of Egypt -by Selim the First, the insignia, which were preserved at Cairo, the -banner, the sword, and the mantle of the prophet, together with the -two holy cities, Mecca, his birth-place, and Medina, his burial-place, -augmented their treasury and their dominions. They designate themselves -guardians and servants of the two holy cities, Padishah and Shah (_i. -e._ emperor and king); Sultan Alberrein and Khakan Albahrein, rulers -and lords of two parts of the globe and two seas. They might, with -great justice, entitle themselves sovereigns of three holy cities, -rulers of three portions of the globe, and lords of three seas; because -Jerusalem, as well as Mecca and Medina, is in their possession; because -their dominion extends into Europe, Asia and Africa; and because the -Red, as well as the Black and the White Seas, lie within the compass of -their sway. - -Having bestowed this rapid glance on the modern dominions of the -Moslimin, which the illustration of the subject justified, we shall -now revert our attention to its primitive condition. The first and -greatest schisms in Islamism proceeded from the contest for temporal -rule, and the faith shared the dismemberment of the empire. We have -already remarked the existence of the two great political and religious -factions, the Motasali and Khavaredj, the apostates and the deserters, -many of whose tenets differed materially from those inculcated by the -ruling doctrine; but particularly that opinion which they maintained -with arms, in respect to the right to the dignity of khalif and imam. -This is the origin of most of the sects of Islamism, and is the fertile -root from which has grown the many-branched stem of heresy. - -No less than seventy-two sects are counted, according to a tradition -of Mohammed, who is said to have foretold that his people would divide -into seventy-three branches, of which one only is the true one, all the -rest being erroneous. A very instructive sub-division and enumeration -of them is found in Sheheristani and also Macrisi, to which Silvestre de -Sacy first directed public attention, in a treatise read by him to the -Institute of France. We shall be satisfied with considering merely the -two stems into which the tree of Islamism, as soon as it rose above -the ground, bifurcated, and which even now, after the growth of twelve -hundred years, still remain the two principal limbs which have given -birth to the confused sectarian ramifications. These two divisions are -the doctrines of the Soonnites and the Shiites, which, though otherwise -multifarious, differ from each other principally in this,—that the -former recognise, as legitimate, the succession of the four first -khalifs, the latter only acknowledge the rights of Ali and his -descendants. The Soonnite is shocked by the murder of Osman, and the -Shiite is revolted by the slaughter of Ali and his sons. What the one -execrates, the other defends; and what the latter receives, the former -rejects. This exactly diametrical opposition of most of their dogmas -became only the more decisive by the lapse of time, and the separation -of political interests of the nations which subscribe to them. Most of -the wars between the Turks and Persians, the former Soonnites, and the -latter Shiites, have always been as much religious as inter-national -wars: and the efforts, so often repeated, and last essayed by Shah -Nadir, of bringing about a coalition of the two parties, remained -as fruitless as the endeavours, century after century, to unite the -Western and Eastern Christian churches, with whose schism that of the -Soonnites and the Shiites may not inaptly be compared. - -The Soonnites, whose doctrine is considered among us the orthodox -one,—all the delineations of the Islamitic system, hitherto published -in Europe, having been derived from Soonnitic authorities,—are again -divided into four classes; these differ from each other in some -non-essential points of ritual ceremony: as, for example, the ritual of -the Roman Catholic church, and the no less canonical ones of the united -Greek, Armenian, and Syrian churches. In essential dogmas, however, -they agree. These four thoroughly orthodox sects of the Soonnites, -are named after the four great imams, Malek, Shaffi, Hanbali, and Abu -Hanife, who, like fathers of the church, stand at their head. Their -doctrine and that of the latter, in particular, which is acknowledged -as the predominant one in the Ottoman empire, are sufficiently known -by the admirable exposition of them by Mouradya d’Ohsson. We are -less acquainted with the sects of the Shiites, who are divided into -several, as for example, the Anti-Catholics into Protestant, Reformed, -Anabaptists, Quakers, &c. The four principal are the Kaissaniye, -Seidiye, Ghullat, and Imamie. We shall here give some particular -account of these from Ibn Khaledun and Lary, both by reason of the -novelty of subject, and the relation it bears to the present history. -The chief ground of their difference consists in the proofs on which -they rest the pretensions of Ali, and the order of succession in which -the imamat, or right to the supreme pontificate of Islamism in his -family, has been inherited by his descendants. - -I.—The Kaissaniye, so named after one of Ali’s freedmen, maintain -that the succession did not pass, as most of the other Shiites -believe, to his sons, Hassan and Hossein, but to their brother, -Mohammed-Ben-Hanife. They are divided into several branches, two of -which it is proper to mention: 1st. The Wakifye (_i. e._ the standing), -according to whom the Imamat has remained in the person of Mohammed, -and has never been transferred; he never having died, but being said to -have appeared since on earth, under other names. Of this opinion were -the two Arabian poets, Kossir and Seid Homairi. 2ndly. The Hashemiye, -according to whom the imamat descended from Mohammed-Ben-Hanife to -his son, Abu Hashem, who bequeathed it to Mohammed of the family of -Abbas, who left it to his son, Ibrahim, who was succeeded by his -brother, Abdallah Seffah, the founder of the dynasty. The object of the -Hashemiye was evidently to strengthen the claims of the Abbasides to -the throne of the khalifat, to which one of the principal doctors and -preachers of this sect, Abomoslem, essentially contributed. - -II.—The second[11] principal sect of the Shiites, the Seidiye, affirm -that the imamat descended from Ali to Hassan, and Hossein; from the -latter, to his son, Ali Seinolabidin; and from this last to his son, -Seid: whereas most of the other Shiites consider, after Seinolabidin, -his son, Mohammed Bakir, Seid’s brother, as the legitimate imam. -Besides this order of succession, the Seidiye differ from the Imamie in -two essential points:—1st. In recognizing him only as the true imam, -who possesses—in addition to piety—liberality, bravery, knowledge, and -other princely virtues; while the Imamie are satisfied with the mere -practice of religious duties, as prayers, fastings, and almsgiving. -2nd. In acknowledging, as legitimate, according to an expression of -Seid, the khalifate of Ebubekr, Omar and Osman, who are rejected -by the other Shiites as illegitimate, and execrated by the Imamie. -This exception has obtained the Seidiye the by-name Rewafis (_i. e._ -Dissenters). The Seidiye are again divided into different branches, -according as they make the imamat descend from Seid to one or the -other. They have given origin to many competitors for the throne, -both in the east and in the west. Such was Edris, the son of Edris -Mohammed’s brother.[12] It was to this last, usually known by the -name Nefs-sekiye (_i. e._ the pure soul), that Seid’s son, Yahya, who -was hanged in Khorassan, is said to have ceded his pretensions to the -imamat, of which the before-named Edris availed himself to found the -dynasty of the Edrissides, in his newly-built city of Fez. According to -others, Mohammed, the son of Abdallah, also called the pure soul, and -Mehdi, surrendered the imamat to his brother Ibrahim; and this latter -to his nearest relation, Issa. These three, who raised their claims to -the khalifat during the reign of Manssur, expiated them in imprisonment -or with death. By their removal, the family of Abbas was established on -the throne, till, at a later period, it was assailed by a descendant of -Issa, with the aid of the Africans from Zanguebar (Sinji), who at that -period overran Asia. In Dilem, also, a certain Nassir Atrush invited -the people to recognise the claims to the khalifat of Hassan Ben Ali, -a son of Omar, brother of Seinolabidin, uncle of Seid; and hence arose -the power of Hassan in Taberistan. Thus the Seidiye promulgated their -doctrine respecting the succession of the imamat, both in Africa and -Asia, at the expense of the existing khalifat of the Abassides.[13] - -III.—The Ghullat, the Exaggerating. This title, which is common to -several sects, indicates the exaggeration and extravagance of their -doctrines, which far exceed the bounds of reason, and in which traces -of the metaphysics of the Gnostics and of Indian mysticism cannot be -overlooked They recognise but one imam, as the Jews admit but one -Messiah; and attribute to Ali divine qualities, as the Christians do to -Jesus. Some distinguish in him two natures,—the human and the divine: -others acknowledge only the latter. Others are of opinion that the -imams alone are gifted with metempsychosis; so that the same perfect -nature of Ali has descended, and will to the end of the world descend, -to his successors in the imamat in their respective turns. According -to others, this series was interrupted by Mohammed Bakir, the son -of Seinolabidin, and brother of Seid; who is believed by some to be -still alive, wandering on earth, although concealed, like Khiser, the -guardian of the spring of life. Others again affirm, that this is true -only of Ali, who sits immortally enthroned in clouds, from whence his -voice is heard in the thunder, and the brandished scourge of his wrath -is viewed in the lightning’s flash. - -These sects of the Ghullat are held to be damnable heretics, not merely -by the Soonnites, but also by the rest of the Shiites, as the Arians -and Nestorians were so estimated, not by the Roman catholics only, -but also by the Byzantine Jacobites. They received the general name -of Mulhad, or “impious.” The basis of their doctrine lies in their -extravagant homage and _de facto_ deification of the first imams; who, -however, far from admitting it, condemned its supporters. Ali himself -doomed some to the flames; Mohammed-Ben-Hanife rejected with horror -the faith of Muchtar, who ascribed god-like properties to him;—and the -Imam Jafer excommunicated all who hazarded the same tenet concerning -himself. This, however, did not prevent its gaining both teachers and -disciples. - -It is not difficult to perceive its tendency, nor how convenient an -instrument of sedition and usurpation it must have been found in the -hands of skilful impostors or political competitors for the throne. -It was easy to turn, in the name of one invisible and perfect imam, -the obedience of the people from the visible and imperfect prince, -or by the ascription to an ambitious usurper of the transmigration -of the souls, and the perfections of preceding imams, to achieve his -investment with the sovereignty. - -IV.—The Ghullat, however, notwithstanding the extravagance of their -doctrines of deification and metempsychosis, were, on the whole, far -from being so dangerous to the throne as the Imamie; who, indeed, -adopted from them the idea of a vanished imam, but who otherwise -maintained a continued series of revealed imams prior to him, but -posteriorly a natural descent of concealed ones. While some closed the -series of the revealed with the twelfth, and others with the seventh, -none expected, from his reigning successors, the most requisite -princely qualities as the Seidiye did, but merely devotion and -innocence. By means of this doctrine, wily and courageous intriguers -were enabled to keep their weak princes in leading strings, and by -their skilful manœuvres to delude the people, to serve their own -ends. - -The Imamie are divided into two classes—the Esnaashrie, or the -_twelvers_, so named because they make the series of revealed imams -end with Mohammed-Ben-Hassan-Askeri, who was the twelfth. Of him, -they believe that he disappeared in a grotto near Hella, and that he -remains there invisible, to re-appear at the end of the world, under -the name of Mohdi, _the leader_. The second class is the Sebiin, the -_seveners_, who only reckon seven imams, in the following order: 1st. -Ali; 2nd. Hassan; 3rd. Hossein; 4th. Ali Seinolabidin (_i. e._ ornament -of the devout); 5th. Mohammed Bakir (_i. e._ the dealer in secrets); -6th. Jafer Sadik (_i. e._ the just); and, 7th. His son, Ismail. The -latter, who died before his father, is deemed by them the last imam, -and from him they are called Ismailites, as the twelvers were named -Imamites. The discrepancy between them commences at the seventh imam; -as the Imamites (the twelvers) deduce the imamat from Mussa Kassim, the -son of Jafer and brother of Ismail, in the following order: 7th. Mussa -Kassim; 8th. Ali Risa; 9th. Mohammed Taki; 10th. Hadi; 11th. Hassan; -12th. Askeri, and his son, Mohammed Mehdi. The claims of these imams -to the khalifat were so powerful and well recognised, under the first -Abassides, that Maimun publicly named Ali Risa, the eighth of them, -as his successor, to the great dissatisfaction of the whole family of -Abbas; who would certainly have endeavoured to prevent the execution -of this law of inheritance, had not the death of Ali proceeded that of -Maimun. - -In maintaining their sovereignty, the _Seveners_ or Ismailites, were -more fortunate than the other sect. Their power first originated -with the dynasty of the Fatimites, on the coast and in the interior -of Africa, at Mahadia, and Cairo; and, one hundred and fifty years -afterwards, in Asia, by the dominion of the Assassins, in the -mountainous parts of Irak, and the coasts of Syria. By the oriental -historians, the African Ismailites are termed the western, the Asiatic -the eastern Ismailites. - -Ere we commence our proposed subject, the history of the latter, -it is of primary importance to say a few words, in circumstantial -detail of the former, as being their original stock. Their founder -was Obeidollah, who came forward as the son of Mohammed Habib, the -son of Jafer Mossadik, the son of Mohammed, the son of Ismail, as, -in fact, the fourth in descent from the seventh imam. Ismail, in the -opinion of the Ismailites, was the last of the revealed imams; and -his son, grandson, and great-grandson, Mohammed, Jafer Mossadik, and -Mohammed Habib were concealed imams (Mectum) till Obeidollah, as the -first again revealed, asserted the rights of the family of Ismail -to the khalifat. These rights, however, were long and violently -contested by the Abassides, whose interest it was to annihilate -together, both the genuineness of their rivals’ genealogy, and -the validity of their pretensions. During the reign of the Khalif -Kadirbillah,[14] a secret assemblage of doctors of the laws was held, -in which the most celebrated among them, Abuhamid Isfraini, Imam -Kuduri, Sheikh Samir, Abjurdi, and others, declared the genuineness -of the Fatimites’ genealogy, and their claims to the throne, to be -false and void. How well founded, if not this decision, at least the -fear of the Abassides was, appeared fifty years afterwards, when the -Emir Arslan Bessassiri, a general in the service of the Dilemite -Prince Behaeddewlet, originally a Mameluke of the Fatimites at Cairo, -transferred, for a whole year, to Bagdad, the two royal prerogatives of -Islamism,—the coining of money and the public prayer, from the name of -the Bagdad khalif Kaim-Biemrillah, to that of the Egyptian sovereign -Mostanssur.[15] - -This rivalry, and the necessity of self-defence, caused the doubts -which the Abassides had cast on the descent of Obeidollah, the first -of the Fatimites, to fall into considerable suspicion; and they are -considered unfounded by great Arabian historians, such as Macrisi -and Ibn Khaledun, as being the effusion of a factious policy. The -great jurist Kadi Ebubekr Bakilani is of the opposite opinion, which -is supported, as we shall presently see, not only by this sheik’s -authority, but also by other cogent arguments derived from the esoteric -doctrines of the Ismailites. In order to understand these, on which -also those of the Assassins are founded, it is necessary to take a -still wider view of the sects and parties into which Islamism was -divided. - -Religious fanaticism is continually accused by history as the fomenter -of those sanguinary wars which have desolated kingdoms, and convulsed -states; nevertheless, religion has scarcely ever been the end, but -merely the instrument, of ambitious policy and untameable lust of -power. Usurpers and conquerors perverted the beneficent spirit of the -founders of religion, to their own pernicious ends. Religious systems -have never operated so destructively on dynasties and governments, as -in those cases where the insufficient separation of the spiritual from -the temporal authorities has given the freest play to the alternation -of hierarchy and tyranny. The nearer the altar is to the throne, the -greater is the temptation to step from the former to the latter, and -bind the diadem round the mitre; the closer the connexion of the -political and ecclesiastical interests, the more numerous and prolific -are the germs of tedious civil and religious wars. - -The histories of the ancient Persians and Romans, of the Egyptians and -Greeks, possess almost an immunity, because religion, being merely -considered as popular worship, could neither weaken nor support -pretensions to the supreme authority. Christianity never deluged -kingdoms with blood, until it was made use of by ambitious popes and -princes, contrary to the original spirit of its institution; as, under -Gregory the Seventh and his successors, the crosier overpowered the -sceptre; or when, to use the words of Gibbon,[16] “rebellion, as it -happened in the time of Luther, was occasioned by the abuse of those -benevolent principles of Christianity which inculcate the natural -freedom of mankind.” Entirely different was the case with Islamism, -which, as we have seen, being founded as much on the sword as the -koran, united in the person of the imam and khalif, both the dignity -of pontiff and that of sovereign. Hence its history presents more -numerous and more murderous wars than that of any other religion; -hence, in almost all the sects, the chief ground of the schism is the -contested succession to the throne; and hence, there is scarcely one of -any importance which has not, at some period, proved dangerous to the -reigning family as a political faction in the state. - -There was none which did not strive to become, in the strictest sense, -predominant, and to seat the princes of their faith on the throne of -Islam. Their missionaries (Dai) claimed not only the faith, but also -the obedience of the people, and were at once apostles and pretenders. -All the heresies, which we have hitherto mentioned, were, in spirit, -essentially usurping sects. Islamism, however, bore in its bosom others -still more prejudicial to its existence; sects, which trampling under -foot all the maxims of faith and morality, and preaching the overthrow -of thrones and altars, bore as their cognizance, equality and liberty. -We have still to give some details concerning these latter; to which, -in order to distinguish them from the former, to whom they are entirely -opposed, we shall give the name of revolutionary. - -The Persian empire, the most ancient and likewise the best regulated -monarchy of the east, was the first to experience, and had, for the -longest period endured, all the horrors of despotism and anarchy -arising from unbounded power and resisting liberty. As long as the -faith of Zoroaster preserved its primeval purity, and the sacred fire -still burned in the temples, religion could neither afford a shield nor -a mask to rebellion; but when, under the Sassanides, the edifice of the -ancient system was shaken by new opinions and reforms, the temple and -the palace began alike to totter. Innovators and heretics sprung up, -and sedition undermined, at the same moment, both the altar and the -throne. - -The sects of Magianism are very little known to us; hence, the -erroneousness of the prevailing opinions concerning the religion of -the Persians. Dualism, or Manicheism, has often been cited as the -original doctrine of Zoroaster. It has been attempted to combine into -one system, opinions in vogue at very different epochs; hence, the -vague and contradictory accounts not only of the Greeks, but even of -Anquetil, and Kleuker, since the discovery of some books of the Zend; -to which Herder was the first to direct our attention. His conjectures -confirm what Macrisi, probably taking Sheheristani as his guide, has -said respecting the sects of the Magians. He enumerates several; and -1st. The Keyumerssie, followers of the ancient doctrine according -to Keyumers, called the first man or king; 2nd. The Servaniye, who -consider Servan (_i. e._ eternity) as the matrix and sole origin of all -things; 3rd. The Zerdushtiye, or disciples of Zerdusht or Zoroaster, -the reformer of the ancient doctrine of Hom; 4th. Sfeneviye the -Dualists, properly so called; 5th. The Maneviye or Manicheans; 6th. The -Farkuniye, a species of Gnostics who admit two principles, the father -and the son, whose discord was mediated by a third celestial power; -7th. The Masdekiye, the adherents of Masdek, who declared war against -all religion and morality, and preached universal liberty and equality, -the indifference of human actions, and community of goods and women. As -he gave free rein to all the passions, he gained all their slaves; not -merely the poor and needy,—that numerous class, having nothing to lose -and all to win,—but also those who, on the contrary had all to lose -and nothing to win, the grandees, and King Kobad himself, the father -of Nushirvan. This latter expiated the weakness of his concession -by the loss of his throne, and an incarceration, from which he was -released only by the wisdom and virtue of his vizier, Bisiirjimihr. -His son Nushirvan, however, purified the faith, and exterminated this -scandalous brood with fire and sword, without being able, as appears -from later incidents, entirely to annihilate them.[17] For, in the -first century of Islamism, the same spirit showed itself in the liberal -doctrines of several heads of sects; till at last, in the hands of -Babek and Karmath, it raised itself over heaps of carcases and ruins, -the terror of the kingdom, and the abhorrence of mankind. - -The Persians, says Macrisi, have ever considered themselves the freest -and most cultivated of nations, and others as mere ignorant slaves. -After the destruction of their empire by the Arabians, they looked -down upon their victors with contempt and hatred; and sought the ruin -of Islamism, not only by open war, but also by secret doctrines and -pernicious dissensions, which, breaking forth in rebellion, must have -shaken the kingdom to its base. As these opinions bore the stamp of -irreligion and libertinism, those who maintained them were called -Sindik[18] (libertines), a word corrupted from Zend, the living word of -Zerdusht. Their first appearance in Islamism was in the commencement of -the khalifat of the family of Abbas, of whom, the first khalifs in vain -endeavoured to eradicate them with the sword. The eastern provinces -of the ancient Persian empire, whither the remaining adherents of the -ancient dynasty and form of worship had taken refuge, and whither -Ismalism had, as yet, scarcely penetrated, were the fertile sources of -these heresies so fatal to the imamat and khalifat. Thus, in the reign -of the Khalif Manssur,[19] the Rawendi, who maintained the doctrine of -the transmigration of souls, revolted; and twenty years afterwards,[20] -under the command of Abdol Kahir, the Mohammer (_i. e._ the red, or the -ass-like), so called, either because they wore red clothes, or because -they were called the true believers asses (the arabic root Hamara meaning, -both, he has been red and he has been an ass); and in the same year, -in Transoxana, the Sefidjamegan or white-dressed, founded by Hakem Ben -Hashem, called Mokannaa the concealed, from wearing a golden mask; -or Sasendeimah (_i. e._ the moonshine-maker), because he, at night, -produced a miraculous illumination from a well at Nakhsheb, which -caused the place to appear to be lighted by the moon. By this juggling -he wished to attest his divine mission, as by a miracle; as Mani had -proved the celestial origin of his, by the divinity of art, namely, -with a book adorned with splendid paintings (Ertengi Mani). Mokannaa -taught that God had assumed the human form since he had commanded the -angels to adore the first man; and that, since that period, the divine -nature had passed from prophet to prophet, to Abu Moslem, who had -founded the glory of the Abbasides, and descended lastly to himself. He -was a disciple of Abu Moslem, who was acknowledged also by the Rawendi -as their head, and who seems to have been the first to introduce the -doctrine of transmigration into Islamism. - -Mokannaa added to the metempsychosis (Tenasukh), the incarnation -of the human and divine nature, a dogma originating in India, and -afterwards adopted, as we have seen above, by the Ghullat as one of -their principal tenets.[21] - -In the reign of Maimun, the seventh Abbasside khalif, when translations, -and the invitation to Bagdad of the literati of Greece and Persia, -had caused the seeds of science, already planted, to bloom in full -luxuriance,—the spirit of the Arabian, which was now imbued with -the systems of Grecian philosophy, Persian theology, and Indian -mysticism, shook off, more and more, the narrow trammels of Islamism. -The appellation of Mulhad (atheist), and Sindik (libertine), became -constantly more and more common with their cause, and the wisest and -best informed of the khalif’s court, were thus stigmatized. In the -first year of the third century of the Hegira, arose a revolutionary -sectarian, who, like Masdek, two centuries and a half before, in -Persia, preached the indifference of actions and community of goods, -and menaced the throne of the khalif with ruin, as his prototype had -that of Chosru. Babek, surnamed Khurremi, either, according to Lari, -from the town Khurrem, his birth-place, or, according to others, -from the gay licentiousness of his doctrines (Khurrem, in Persian, -signifying gay), for a space of twenty years, filled the whole circuit -of the khalif’s dominions with carnage and ruins, until at length, in -the reign of Motassem, he was overthrown, taken prisoner, and put to -death in the khalif’s presence.[22] Babek, before he delivered his -captives to the axe, caused their wives and daughters to be violated -before their eyes; and it is said, that, in his turn, he received -the same treatment from the commandant of the castle in which he was -imprisoned. When his hands and feet were struck off, by order of the -khalif, he laughed, and smilingly sealed with his blood the criminal -gaiety of his tenets. The number of those who fell by the sword in -twenty years, is estimated by historians to amount to a million. Nud, -one of his ten executioners, boasted that he alone had butchered twenty -thousand men,—so terrible and sanguinary was the contest between the -assertors of liberty and equality, and the defenders of the khalif’s -throne and the pulpit of Islamism.[23] - -At this tempestuous and blood-stained epoch, there lived at Ahwas, -in the southern part of Persia, Abdallah, the son of Maimun-Kaddah, -a son of Daissan, the Dualist. By his father and grandfather, who -had introduced Dualism, from the system of the Magi into that of -Islamism, he was educated in the principles of the ancient empire and -faith of the Persians; and stimulated to deeds, by which, if he could -not accomplish their re-establishment, he might at least achieve the -overthrow of those of the Arabians. - -Profoundly versed in all the sciences, and taught by the study of -history and the dire experience of his own day, Abdallah, the son of -Maimun, had sufficient opportunity to perceive the risk of declaring -open war against the established religion and reigning dynasty, so -long as the conscience of the people, and the military power, stood -at their command. He determined, therefore, by a deeply laid plan, -to undermine in secret, that which he dared not attack openly. His -system was to be enveloped in a veil of mystery, nor was it to appear -in the face of day, until it had succeeded in placing the sovereignty -in the hands of its partisans. It is always extremely dangerous to -endeavour, at once, to eradicate from the minds of men the deeply -imprinted reverence which they feel for the throne and altars of their -fathers. Men can only by degrees emancipate themselves from their -prejudices; many but imperfectly, and it is but few who can throw them -off entirely. As, however, it was Abdallah’s design to annihilate not -merely the prejudices of positive religion and authority, but to aim -at the very foundation of all, he resolved to promulgate his doctrines -gradually, and divided them into seven degrees, after the fashion of -the Pythagorean and Indian philosophers. The last degree inculcated the -vanity of all religion,—the indifference of actions, which, according -to him, are neither visited with recompense or chastisement, either -now or hereafter. This alone is the path of truth and right, all the -rest imposture and error. He appointed emissaries, whom he despatched -to enlist disciples, and to initiate them, according to their capacity -for libertinism and turbulence, in some or all of the degrees. The -pretensions of the descendants of Mohammed, the son of Ismail, served -him as a political mask; these his missionaries asserted as partisans, -while they were secretly but the apostles of crime and impiety. Under -these two relations, they and their followers were sometimes called -Ismailites, and sometimes Ibahie, “_indifferent._” Abdallah proceeded -from Ahwas to Basra, and thence to Syria, where he settled at -Salemiye: from this place his son, Ahmed, and Ahmed’s sons, Abulabbas -and Mohammed Sholalaa, and his envoys (Dai), at once emissaries and -missionaries, spread forth his doctrines. The most celebrated of the -latter was Hossein of Ahwas, who, in the country of Kufa, initiated, -amongst others, Ahmed, the son of Eshaas (called Karmath), in the -mysteries of revolt and infidelity, of which he soon gave an earnest to -the world, in torrents of blood and the smoking ruins of cities.[24] - -He called himself Karmath, from the broken Arabic letters of this -name, and became the leader of the Karmathites, who, issuing from -Lahssa and Bakhrein, like the Wahabees, nine hundred years afterwards, -menaced Islamism with destruction. His doctrine, in addition to the -circumstance of its forbidding nothing, and declaring every thing -allowable and indifferent, meriting neither reward nor punishment, -undermined more particularly the basis of Mohammedanism, by declaring -that all its commands were allegorical, and merely a disguise of -political precepts and maxims. Moreover, all was to be referred to the -blameless and irreproachable Imam Maassum, as the model of a prince, -whom, although he had occupied no existing throne, they pretended -to seek, and declared war against bad and good princes, without -distinction, in order that, under the pretext of contending for a -better, they might be able to unravel at once the thickly interwoven -web of religion and government. The injunction of prayer meant nothing -but obedience to the Imam Maassum; alms, the tithes to be given to him; -fasting, the preservation of the politital secret regarding the imam of -the family of Ismail. - -Every thing depended on the interpretation (Terwil), without which, -the whole word of the Koran (Tensil) had neither meaning nor value. -Religion did not consist in external observances (Sahir), but in -the internal feeling (Bathin). According to the variations of this -doctrine, which, in many points, touches those mentioned above, their -assertors received various names in the different provinces of the -khalifat. In Taberistan, they were called Seveners, from the seven -degrees of the secret doctrines of Abdallah, the son of Maimun Kadah; -in Khorassan, Mohammere (_i. e._ the Red), and in Syria, Mobeiyese, -the White, from their dress; in Transoxana, Rawendi and Borkai (_i. -e._ the Veiled), because Mokannaa covered his face with a golden mask; -at Ispahan, Batheni (_i. e._ the Esoterics), and also Mutewilin (_i. -e._ the interpreting Allegorists); at Kufa, Karmathi, or Mobareki; at -Lahssa and Bahrein, Jenabi; in Western Africa, Saidi, from Karmath, -Mobarek, Jenabi, and Said, four of their chiefs. They named themselves -in general Ismaili, from deducing them pretensions to the khalifat from -Ismail, the son of Jafer Sadik. From their opponents, they all received -in common the well merited appellations of Mulhad (_i. e._ Atheists), -or Sindik (libertines[25]). - -The Karmathites differed from the doctrine of Abdallah, the son of -Maimun, in hoisting the standard of revolt, instead of, according to -the secret system, waiting their time tranquilly, till the throne -should be occupied by one of their number, and openly taking the field -against the existing power of the khalifat. The contest was sanguinary, -like that of Babek twenty years before; but more tedious and dangerous -both to the altar and the throne. Even Khalif Motadhadbillah, who -strengthened, with the iron remedy of the sword, those nerves of -the khalifat, so deplorably enfeebled since his sixth ancestor, -Motewekul, and received in history the name of the second founder of -the Abbassides, Seffahssanni, the second blood-spiller,—Abbas being the -first,—was unable, with all his energy, to extirpate this pernicious -brood. The astrologers, philosophers, soothsayers, and story-tellers, -had entirely lost all the credit which they once possessed at court, -in the reigns of Harun and Maimun:[26] these, however, being without -weapons, or leaders, were in nowise dangerous; while commanders of -military genius and courage, such as Abusaid, Jenabi, and Abutaher, -guided the mailed arm of the Karmathites against the head and heart of -Islamism. Under the conduct of the latter, the Karmathites took the -holy city of Mecca, as the Wahabees have done in our own days,[27]—so -little novelty do such doctrines and deeds possess in the history of -Mohammedanism. Thirty thousand Moslimin fell in defence of the sanctity -of the Kaaba against its impious assailants, who set fire to the -temple, and carried away to Hadjar even the black stone said to have -fallen from heaven in the time of Abraham. This stone was an aërolite, -and for that reason, like many others, an object of popular veneration. -It was restored, after a lapse of twenty-two years, when the Emir of -Irak redeemed it at the price of fifty thousand ducats. The adoration -of the Kaaba, which was founded on this stone, was not to have the -gates of hell prevail against it. For a whole century, the pernicious -doctrines of Karmath raged with fire and sword in the very bosom of -Islamism, until the wide spread conflagration was extinguished in blood. - -The fate of the Karmathites, like that of the followers of Babek, -was a bloody lesson to those initiated into the secret doctrines of -Abdallah, the son of Maimun-Kaddah, not to propagate them otherwise -than covertly until they should be masters of the throne itself. -At length, one of their most zealous and active partisans, the Dai -Abdollah, a pretended descendant of Mohammed, the son of Ismail, -succeeded in escaping from the dungeons of Sejelmessa, in which he -had been confined by order of the Khalif Motadhad, and seated himself -on the throne in Africa, under the name of Obeidollah Mehdi.[28] This -adventurer was the founder of the dynasty of the Egyptian khalifs, who -tracing their descent to Ismail, son of Jafer Sadik, and from him to -Fatima, the prophet’s daughter, are known by the name of the Fatimites, -or eastern Ismailites. Thus the name, which hitherto had designated a -sect, was applied to a race. Ismailitism, which governed as a ready -tool the founder of the dynasty it had placed on the throne, was, in -Africa, in every sense, the predominant doctrine; and the khalif throne -of Mahadia, the first residence of these princes, soon threatened -that of Bagdad. It was from that ancient metropolis of the khalifat -that proceeded the allegations against the purity of Obeidollah’s -extraction. According to them, he was anything but a descendant of -Mohammed, the son of Ismail; but was the half-brother, by a Jewess, of -Hossein and Abushelalaa, the two sons of Ahmed, the son of Abdollah, -the son of Maimun-Kaddah. His name was affirmed to be originally Said, -but that after he had been set at liberty by Abdollah, it was changed -to Obeidollah; and in fact, if it is considered that the doctrine of -Abdollah, the son of Maimun, so utterly subversive of that of Islamism, -became, on the establishment of the Fatimite sovereignty, the -prevalent one in the court and the government, and that it was first -publicly taught at Mahadia, and, after the conquest of Egypt under the -fourth khalif of this dynasty, at Cairo; that its chief, under the -title of Daial-doat, supreme missionary of the crown, was, as Kadhiol -Kodhat, or supreme judge, invested with one of the first dignities of -the empire, both offices being frequently united in the same person; -the supposition that the chiefs of this sect, to whom nothing was -sacred and all was permitted, had placed one of their own number on the -throne, acquires very great probability, notwithstanding the assertions -of Macrisi and Ibn Khaledun to the contrary. The accounts which the -former of these two great historians has preserved, concerning the -promulgation of this doctrine, and the degrees of initiation, which -were now increased from seven to nine, form a very precious and the -most ancient document on the history of the secret societies of the -east, in whose steps those of the west afterwards trod. Their immediate -connexion with the doctrine of the eastern Ismailites, or Assassins, -renders it necessary to give a brief outline of it here. - -Immediately after the establishment of the monarchy of the -Fatimites,[29] history mentions similar assemblages, which were -convened twice a week, every Monday and Wednesday, by the Daial-doat, -and were frequented in crowds both by men and women, who had separate -seats. These assemblages were named Mejalisol-hikmet, or Societies of -Wisdom. The candidates for initiation were dressed in white; the chief -went on those two days to the khalif, and read something to him, if -possible, but in every case received his signature on the cover of his -manuscript. After the lecture, the pupils kissed his hands, and touched -the signature of the khalif reverently with their foreheads. In the -reign of the sixth Fatimite khalif, Hakem Biemvillah, (the most stupid -tyrant of which the history of Islamism makes mention, who desired -to receive divine honours, and what is still more absurd, is to this -day worshipped by the Druses as an incarnate god), these societies, -the house in which their meetings were held, and the institutions for -the maintenance of teachers and servants, were increased on a very -large scale: an extensive building or lodge was erected,[30] called -Darol-hikmet, or the House of Wisdom, and richly furnished with books, -mathematical instruments, professors and attendants; access, and the -use of these literary treasures was free to all, and writing materials -were afforded gratis. The khalifs frequently held learned disputations, -at which the professors of this academy appeared, divided according -to their different faculties—logicians, mathematicians, jurists, and -physicians, were dressed in their gala costume, khalaa, or their -doctoral mantles. The gowns of the English universities still have the -original form of the Arabic khalaa or kaftan. - -Two hundred and fifty-seven thousand ducats, raised by the tenths and -eighth of the tenth, was the amount of the annual revenue of this -academy, for the salaries of the professors and officials, for the -provision of the requisites for teaching, and other objects of public -scientific instruction, as well as of the secret articles of faith: -the former comprised all the branches of human knowledge—the latter -inculcated, in nine successive degrees, the following principles:[31] -The first degree was the longest and most difficult of all, as it was -necessary to inspire the pupil with the most implicit confidence in the -knowledge of his teacher, and to incline him to take that most solemn -oath, by which he bound himself to the secret doctrine with blind -faith and unconditional obedience. For this purpose, every possible -expedient was adopted to perplex the mind by the many contradictions of -positive religion and reason, to render the absurdities of the Koran -still more involved by the most insidious questions and most subtle -doubts, and to point from the apparent literal signification to a -deeper sense, which was properly the kernel, as the former was but the -husk. The more ardent the curiosity of the novice, the more resolute -was the refusal of the master to afford the least solution to these -difficulties, until he had taken the most unrestricted oath; on this, -he was admitted to the second degree. This inculcated the recognition -of divinely appointed imams, who were the source of all knowledge. As -soon as the faith in them was well established, the third degree taught -their number, which could not exceed the holy seven; for, as God had -created seven heavens, seven earths, seven seas, seven planets, seven -colours, seven musical sounds, and seven metals, so had he appointed -seven of the most excellent of his creatures as revealed imams: these -were, Ali, Hassan, Hossein, Ali Seinolabidin, Mohammed Albakir, Jafer -Assadik, and Ismail, his son, as the last and seventh. This was the -great leap or the proper schism from the Imamie, who, as we have seen, -reckoned twelve, and considerably facilitated the passing into the -fourth grade. This taught, that since the beginning of the world there -have been seven divine lawgivers, or speaking apostles of God, of whom -each had always, by the command of heaven, altered the doctrine of his -predecessor. That each of these had seven coadjutors, who succeeded -each other in the epoch from one speaking lawgiver to another, but who, -as they did not appear manifestly, were called the Mutes (Samit). - -The first of the Mutes was named Sus, the seat as it were of the -ministers of the speaking prophet. These seven speaking prophets, with -their seven seats, were Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, -and Ismail, the son of Jafer, who, as the last, was called Sahibeseman -(_i. e._ the Lord of time). Their seven assistants were Seth, Shem, -Ishmael, son of Abraham, Aaron, Simeon, Ali, and Mohammed, son of -Ismail. It is evident from this dexterous arrangement, which gained -the Ismailites the name of Seveners, that as they named only the -first of the mute divine envoys in each prophetic period; and since -Mohammed, the son of Ismail, the first of the last prophet’s coadjutors -had been dead only a hundred years, the teachers were at full liberty -to present to those whose progress stopped at this degree, whomsoever -they pleased, as one of the mute prophets of the current age. The fifth -degree must necessarily render the credibility of the doctrine more -manifest to the minds of the learners; for this reason, it taught that -each of the seven mute prophets had twelve apostles for the extension -of the true faith; for the number twelve is the most excellent after -seven: hence the twelve signs of the zodiac, the twelve months, the -twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve bones of the fingers of each hand, -the thumb excepted, and so on. - -After these five degrees, the precepts of Islamism were examined; and -in the sixth it was shown, that all positive religious legislation -must be subordinate to the general and philosophical. The dogmas of -Plato, Aristotle, and Pythagoras were adduced as proofs, and laid -down as axioms. This degree was very tedious, and only when the -acolyte was fully penetrated with the wisdom of the philosophers, -was admission granted him to the seventh, where he passed from -philosophy to mysticism. This was the doctrine of unity, which the -Sofis have exhibited in their works. In the eighth, the positive -precepts of religion were again brought forward, to fall to dust by -all that preceded; then was the pupil perfectly enlightened as to the -superfluity of all prophets and apostles, the non-existence of heaven -and hell, the indifference of all actions, for which there is neither -reward nor punishment either in this world or the next; and thus was he -matured for the ninth and last degree, to become the blind instrument -of all the passions of unbridled thirst of power. To believe nothing -and to dare all, was, in two words, the sum of this system, which -annihilated every principle of religion and morality, and had no other -object than to execute ambitious designs with suitable ministers, -who, daring all and honouring nothing, since they consider every -thing a cheat and nothing forbidden, are the best tools of an infernal -policy. A system, which, with no other aim than the gratification of an -insatiable lust of dominion, instead of seeking the highest of human -objects, precipitates itself into the abyss, and mangling itself, is -buried amidst the ruins of thrones and altars, the horrors of anarchy, -the wreck of national happiness, and the universal execration of -mankind. - - -END OF BOOK I. - - - - -BOOK II. - - _Establishment of the Order of the Assassins, and Reign - of the first Grand Master, Hassan Sabah._ - - -Egypt, that extraordinary country, so distinguished from all others by -the many wonderful phenomena of nature, has ever been in history the -memorable theatre of extraordinary exhibitions of the art of governing -mankind by wisdom or folly in the name of heaven or earth. In the -remote ages of antiquity reigned a caste of priests, in whose hands -the king was the servile tool of their power, the lituus (our present -bishop’s crosier) was the real sceptre. Superstition, and the external -worship of statues and pictures, was the religion of the people, while -the secret doctrine of the initiated was concealed under symbols and -hieroglyphics. Their mysteries had a particular relation to the state -of the soul after death; whereas the popular belief confined its -duration to that of its earthly existence. It was a deeply designed but -ill-calculated policy, which excluded from the doctrine of immortality -the multitude who cleave to the clod, and made it the peculiar -prerogative of a certain number of elect, to whom it was permitted to -soar beyond the limits of the tomb, without at the same time neglecting -the duties and objects of civil life. It was imagined, that the vulgar -could only fulfil them with all their energies, and to their full -extent, when, instead of being actuated by views extending beyond the -grave, they confine to earth the whole activity and faculty of their -mind, during the space of time which intervenes between the cradle and -the coffin. Thus, neither time nor vigour would be lost in vain hopes -or useless speculations; every application of them was devoted to civil -existence: this was the object of the state, which reserved to itself -the allotment of rewards and punishments, not only here but hereafter. -In order to satisfy, in some measure, that longing after continued -existence implanted by nature in every breast, though deriving little -support from reason, the people sought to preserve their bodies and -names for the longest possible period, by mummies and tombs: hence -those mighty monuments, and the secret judgment of the dead, in which -the priests, as assessors and judges, were the dispensers of this -transitory immortality of stone and dust. To the few better informed, -and who were not satisfied with this mummery, the judgment of the dead -was symbolically explained in the mysteries, and the real immortality -of the soul taught; and explanations were afforded by the priests of -subjects of which they were themselves entirely ignorant. - -Moses, imbued with the Egyptian policy, and initiated into the -mysteries of the sacerdotal colleges, among many other of their -institutions, retained this, of not imparting to his people the -doctrine of immortality, which, in all probability, remained, as in -Egypt, the peculiar privilege of the priestly order. We find no trace -of it in the books of the Hebrews; except in the Arabic poem of Job, -which, in fact, does not belong to them. - -How much this concealment of the doctrine of immortality, deemed by -the priests such a master-piece of policy, has repressed the spirit of -the people, and impeded every loftier aspiration, is sufficiently made -known to us, not only in the history of their government, but also by -their still remaining monuments, which are so entirely unconsecrated -by the hand of art. The sphinxes and colossal statues, the temples, -and the pyramids, those astounding monuments of human activity, and of -the power of numbers directed to one end, bear the stamp of greatness, -from the extent of their proportions, but by no means that of beauty -in their execution. This latter dwells only in those favoured regions -of light, to which art and religion are together elevated by the idea -of immortality. Although this mysterious policy set bounds to the more -free developement of civilization, and the elevation of the people -to a higher social grade, it is nevertheless very probable, that it -proceeded from purely intellectual views, and the honest intention -of laying the foundation of the highest prosperity for the kingdom, -and the greatest temporal happiness of the people, by the undisturbed -activity of all human energies, and the continued application of them -to one political object. The secret doctrine benefited the initiated, -while it did not injure the profane. Of an entirely opposite nature, -was, as we have seen, that which prevailed in modern Egypt, during the -middle ages; the former contrived for the strengthening of the throne -and the altar, the latter imagined for their ruin. As wide a chasm, -as that which lies between the building of ancient Memphis and the -founding of modern Cairo, divides the secret tenets of the academies of -Heliopolis from those of the modern house of science. Egypt, in remote -antiquity the cradle of science and social institutions, afterwards the -mother of alchemy and treasure-hunting, by means of the philosopher’s -stone and talismans,—became, in modern times, the native soil of secret -sciences and societies. - -The lodge of Cairo, whose political aim was, as we have already seen, -to overthrow the khalifat of the family of Abbas, in favour of the -Fatimites, spread its secret doctrine, by its Dais (_i. e._ political -and religious missionaries). To these were subordinate the ordinary -partisans, Refik, or fellows, who, initiated into one or several -grades of the mysteries, were, nevertheless, neither to teach them, -nor to collect the suffrages for any dynasty; this being the peculiar -privilege of the Dais, whose chief, the Dail-doat, or grand-master, -resided at Cairo, in the House of Sciences. This institution remained -unchanged, from its foundation by Hakem,[32] to the time of the khalif, -Emr-Biahkam-illah,[33] when the Emir-ol-juyush, or commander-in-chief -of the army Efdhal, on the occasion of an insurrection fomented by -the members of the lodge,[34] caused it to be shut up, and, as it -appears, to be destroyed. When, after his death in the following year, -the society strongly urged their re-opening, the vizier, Maimun, -refused to open the academy on the same spot, but permitted them to -erect, in a different situation, another building, dedicated to the -same purpose, which was Darolilm-jedide (_i. e._ the new House of -Sciences); where public courses of instruction and secret meetings, -as before, continued, till the downfall of the Fatimite dynasty. The -effects of their doctrine soon appeared in the increasing power of the -Fatimites, and the feebleness into which the khalifat of the family of -Abbas gradually sank.[35] The Emir Bessassiri, one of the most zealous -partisans and defenders of the former, took possession,[36] for a whole -year, at Bagdad, of the two royal prerogatives of Islamism, the mint -and the pulpit, in the name of the Egyptian khalif, Mostanssur, who -would have retained them, had not Bessassiri fallen in the following -year, by the sword of Togrul, who had hastened to the assistance of the -Abbassides. In the meanwhile, the fellows, Refik, and the masters, Dai, -inundated the whole of Asia; and one of the latter, Hassan-ben-Sabah -Homairi, was the founder of a new branch of the sect, namely, the -eastern Ismailites, or Assassins, before whose cradle we now stand. - -Hassan Sabah, or Hassan-ben-Sabah, that is, one of the descendants -of Sabah, was the son of Ali, a strict Shiite of Rei, who took his -name from Sabah Homairi, and pretended that his father had gone from -Kufa to Kum, and from Kum to Rei. This allegation met, however, with -considerable contradiction from the natives of Khorassan, particularly -those of Tus, who unanimously asserted that his ancestors had -constantly dwelt in the villages of that province. Ali was universally -suspected of heretical notions and expressions, which gained him -the reputation of Rafedhi, or Motasal (Dissenter, or Separatist). -He sought, by false confessions and oaths, to prove his orthodoxy -to Abumoslem, the governor of the province, a strict Soonnite, and -afterwards withdrew to a monastery, to lead a life of contemplation. -This retirement, however, had not the effect of securing him from -public report, which at one time accused him of heresy and heterodoxy, -at another, of infidelity and atheism. In order to clear himself, as -much as possible, from this suspicion, he sent his young son, Hassan, -to Nishabur, and placed him in the school of the illustrious Mowafek -Nishaburi, who, at that time past eighty years of age, not only enjoyed -the well-merited consideration of being the first doctor of the -Soonna, but also the advantageous reputation, which events justified, -of securing the temporal happiness of all who studied the Koran and -Soonna under his auspices. Great was the concourse of distinguished -youths who sought from him happiness and instruction, and justified, -by the developement of fortunate talents, the established opinion -of the Imam’s wisdom and auspicious conversation. His last pupils, -even to his death, contributed to confirm his reputation:—three -of them, who flourished at the same time,—Hassan, Omar Khiam, and -Nisam-ol-mulk, endued with the most splendid talents, pursued the most -different careers, with the most fortunate results. They shone among -the constellations of mighty minds of their age, like the three stars -in Orion’s belt,—Omar Khiam, as an astronomer and philosophical poet; -Nisam-ol-mulk, as grand vizier; and Hassan-ben-Sabah, as the head of -a sect and founder of the Assassins. The first, useless in civil -society, was innoxious, by his epicurean mode of life; the second was a -beneficent, active, and learned statesman, under three of the Seljukide -sultans; and the third, by his diabolical policy, became a pernicious -scourge to humanity. - -The ambition of the latter burst forth even in his youth, when -he endeavoured to lay the foundation of his fortune, with his -two school-fellows, by mutual promises. One of them, the vizier, -Nisam-ol-mulk, that is, _order of rule_, himself relates, in his -character of historian, the obligations into which they entered, and -their sequel. “The general opinion is,” said Hassan, one day, to the -other two, “that the imam’s pupils are certain of their fortune; now, -let us promise each other, that if this proves true of only one of us -three, he will share his good fortune with the other two.” Omar Khiam -and Nisam-ol-mulk agreed to Hassan’s proposal, with mutual engagements; -the first too indolent to involve himself in politics, the second too -magnanimous not to wish to share with the restless ambition of the -third, that prosperity, which his great talents and honest industry -ensured him in that career. Years elapsed, during which Nisam-ol-mulk -travelled through the countries of Khorassan, Mawarainehr, Khasnin, -and Kabul, and filled the lower offices of the state, till he at last -attained, under Alparslan, the great prince of the Seljuks, the highest -post in the empire,—that of vizier. He received with honour his old -school-fellow, Omar Khiam, who was the first to visit him, and mindful, -as he himself relates, of his youthful promise, offered him his credit -and influence, in procuring him an office; which is the more probable, -as Nisam’s knowledge of the world convinced him that Khiam’s love for -epicurean enjoyments would reject the offer; and that, in any case, -such a rival, as vizier, could never prove dangerous to him. Omar Khiam -thanked him, and merely requested peaceful leisure to devote himself, -undisturbed, to the pursuit of the sciences; and, as he constantly gave -the same answer to Nisam-ol-mulk’s repeated offers to make him vizier, -the latter granted him an annual pension of one thousand ducats, out -of the revenues of Nishabur, in which place, removed from the turmoil -of public affairs, and in the bosom of luxurious independence, he -henceforward devoted his life to the cultivation of his genius and the -sciences, and gained great fame as a poet and astronomer. Although his -love of ease did not permit him to transmit his glory to posterity, -by any considerable work, yet he has preserved it in the history of -Persian poetry, merely by his four-line strophes. These are unique in -their kind, by the licentiousness of their overwhelming wit, which, -without the least scruple, indulged itself in pleasantries, at the -expense of all pious persons, and particularly the mystics, not only -on the doctrines of the Sofis, but also the Koran itself; so much, as -to be held by the orthodox in the worst reputation for impiety. Omar -Khiam, in the collection of his quatrains (Rubayat), and Ibn Yemen, -in that of his fragments (Mokataat), merit, before all Persian poets -who have gained a name, that, more particularly, of philosophical. The -genius of the former is allied to that of Young, the latter to that of -Voltaire. - -Hassan Sabah lived in obscurity, and unknown, during the ten years’ -reign of Alparslan. Immediately, however, after the accession of -Melekshah, under whom Nisam-ol-mulk enjoyed the same unlimited power, as -vizier, as he had under his predecessor,—the son of Sabah also appeared -at the court of the Sultan of the Seljukides, and with harsh words from -the Koran, directed against promise-breakers, reminded the vizier of -the fulfilment of the obligations of his youth. Nisam-ol-mulk received -him with honour, procured him considerable titles and revenues, and -introduced him to the sultan, of whom Hassan, by crafty hypocrisy, -and under the mask of virtuous frankness and candid honesty, soon -became master. The sultan consulted him on all important occasions, -and acted according to his decision. The authority and influence of -Nisam-ol-mulk were soon essentially endangered, and Hassan laboured with -zeal to accomplish the fall of his benefactor. With consummate art, he -caused the smallest oversights of the divan to come to the sultan’s -knowledge; and on being questioned, contrived, by the most insidious -representations, sophisms, and unfavourable impressions, to turn his -sovereign’s mind against the vizier. The most cruel blow of this kind -was, according to Nisam-ol-mulk’s own confession, Hassan’s pledging -himself to lay before the sultan, within forty days, the balance sheet -of the revenues and expenditure of the state,—a task, to the execution -of which the vizier had requested a period ten times as long. Melekshah -placed at Hassan’s disposal all the secretaries of the chamber, with -whose assistance he performed the desired computation within the -promised time. Nisam-ol-mulk relates, that, although Hassan gained the -victory, he reaped no advantage from it; for, after having sent in -his accounts, he was compelled to leave the court with dishonour. He, -however, does not give us the proper cause of his disgrace. According -to the statement of other historians, it is very probable, that -Nisam-ol-mulk, consulting his own preservation, found means to mutilate -Hassan’s estimate, by the abstraction of some leaves; and as no account -could be given by the latter to the sultan, of this unexpected disorder -in his papers, he increased the sovereign’s displeasure, in order to -remove so dangerous a rival for ever from the court. He declares, -very _naïvely_, in his Political Institutes (Wassaya), that if this -misfortune had not befallen the son of Sabah, he would himself have -been necessitated to adopt the same course,—that is, to have abandoned -the court and his office.[37] - -Hassan retired from Melekshah’s court to Rei, and then to Ispahan, -where he kept himself secluded in the house of Abufasl, in order to -escape the inquiries of Nisam-ol-mulk. He soon gained over the Reis to -his opinions, and lived sometime with him. One day, he concluded the -complaints which he was making against Melekshah and his vizier, with -the expression, that “if he had had at his bidding but two devoted -friends, he would soon have overturned the power of the Turk and the -peasant” (the sultan and the vizier). These remarkable words unveil -the profound and extensive plans of the founder of the Assassins, who -already contemplated the ruin of kings and ministers. The canon of the -whole policy of this order of murderers is comprised in them. Opinions -are powerless, so long as they only confuse the brain, without arming -the hand. Scepticism and free-thinking, as long as they occupied only -the minds of the indolent and philosophical, have caused the ruin of -no throne, for which purpose religious and political fanaticism are -the strongest levers in the hands of nations. It is nothing to the -ambitious man what people believe, but it is everything to know how -he may turn them, for the execution of his projects. He is satisfied -with finding ready slaves, faithful satellites, and blind instruments. -What may not two such, animated by the soul of a third, and obeying his -behests, accomplish? This truth, which lay open to the enterprising -soul of Hassan, found no access to the understanding of his host, the -Reis Abufasl, one of the shrewdest and most intelligent men of his -time. He considered these words as a sign of madness, and doubted -not that they were the effusion of delirium; for, thought he, how -could it occur to a man of sound intellect, to place himself, with -two adherents, in opposition to Melekshah, whose power extended from -Antioch to Kashgar. Without imparting his thoughts to his guest, he -placed before him, at breakfast and dinner, in hopes of restoring his -health, aromatic drinks and dishes, prepared with saffron, which were -considered as strengtheners of the brain. Hassan guessed his host’s -design, and prepared to leave him. The latter in vain employed all his -eloquence to retain him;[38] he soon after repaired to Egypt.[39] - -When, twenty years afterwards, Hassan had possessed himself of the -strong fortress of Alamut, and the Vizier Nisam-ol-mulk had fallen under -the daggers of his assassins, and the Sultan Melekshah had followed him -to the grave soon after,—the Reis Abufasl was at the castle, as one of -the most zealous of Hassan’s partisans. “Reis,” said the latter to him, -“which of us two was out of his senses, I or thou? and which would the -aromatic drinks, and dishes dressed with saffron, which thou settedst -before me at Ispahan, have best suited,—thee or me? Thou seest how I -have kept my word, as soon as I found two trusty friends.” - -The reign of Sultan Melekshah, during the twenty years of which Hassan -Sabah was occupied in laying the foundation of his power,—is one of the -most stormy periods of middle oriental history, many ways distinguished -by the downfall of old, and the rise of new, dynasties. In Taberistan, -Aleppo, and Diarbekr, the races of the Beni Siad, Beni Merdas, and -Beni Merwan,[40] disappeared, and in their place, the families of -Danishmend-Bawend and Ortok,[41] raised themselves to the thrones of -Kum, Taberistan, and Maradin.[42] The Seljukides, who, since the time -of their founder, Togrul-beg, had ruled in Iran, spread their branches -into Syria,[43] Karman,[44] and Asia Minor;[45] Bagdad, the metropolis -of the Abbasside khalifs, was torn with intestine religious wars.[46] -The Soonnites and the Shiites, the followers of the Imams, Eshaari and -Hanbeli, fought sanguinary combats within the city’s walls.[47] The -mint, and prayers from the pulpit, had, indeed, since the death of the -Emir Bessassiri,[48] been restored to the name of the family of Abbas; -but in both the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, they were continued in -the name of the fanatical khalif, Mostanssur, who occupied the throne -of Egypt. His Dais, or missionaries, the initiated of the Ismailites, -the Apostles of the lodge of Cairo, inundated the whole of Asia, in -order to gain proselytes to the cause of infidelity and rebellion. It -cannot afford matter of surprise that, in Hassan Sabah, their seed met -with a fertile soil. We will relate the beginning of his connexion with -them, in his own words, as history preserves them.[49] - -“From my childhood, from my seventh year, my sole effort has been to -extend the bounds of my knowledge and to increase my capacities. Like -my fathers, I was educated in the tenets of the twelve imams (Imamie), -and I formed an acquaintance with an Ismailite Refik (Fellow), -called Emire Dharab, with whom I cemented bonds of friendship. My -opinion was, that the doctrine of the Ismailites was like that of the -philosophers, and that the ruler of Egypt was one of the initiated: -whenever, therefore, Emire spoke in favour of their principles, I -disputed with him, and there was a great deal of discussion between us -concerning points of faith. I did not in the least admit the justice -of the reproaches which Emire lavished on my sect; nevertheless they -left a deep impression on my mind. In the meanwhile he left me, and -I was attacked by a severe fit of illness, during which I blamed my -obstinacy in not having embraced the doctrine of the Ismailites, which -was the true one; and I dreaded lest, should death await me, from -which God preserved me, I might die without obtaining a knowledge of -the truth: at length I recovered, and met with another Ismailite, -Abu-Nedshm-Saraj, whom I questioned concerning the truth of his -doctrine; Abunedshm explained it to me in the most circumstantial -manner that I came fully to understand it. Lastly, I found a Dai -(Missionary), called Mumin, to whom the Sheikh Abdolmelek-ben-Attash, -the president of the missions of Irak, had granted permission to -exercise that office. I entreated him to accept my homage in the name -of the Fatimite khalif; this he at first refused, because I was of -higher rank than himself, but as I urged it most pressingly, he at -length acquiesced. Now when the Sheikh Abdolmelek arrived at Rei, and -had become acquainted with my opinions in conversation, my demeanour -pleased him so, that he immediately invested me with the office of Dai -(religious and political missionary). He said to me, ‘Thou must go -to Egypt to enjoy the happiness of serving the Imam Mostanssur, (the -reigning Fatimite khalif).’ On the Sheikh Abdolmelek’s departure from -Rei on his route to Ispahan, I journeyed into Egypt.”[50] - -Hassan then had been already initiated, in Persia, in the Ismailite -mysteries of Atheism and immorality, and had even been deemed worthy -to become a teacher and promulgator of them. The fame of his great -talents, and the authority which he had enjoyed at the court of -Melekshah, preceded him; and the khalif Mostanssur, delighted with -the acquisition of such a partisan, received him with honour and -distinction. The chief of the missionaries, or grand-master of the -lodge, Dail Doat, the Sherif Tahre Kaswimi, and some other persons -of rank and influence, were despatched to the frontiers to meet him; -Mostanssur assigned him a residence in the city, and welcomed him in -the person of his ministers and court dignitaries, and loaded him -with marks of honour and favour. According to some, Hassan remained -eighteen months at Cairo, during which, although the khalif had no -personal interview with him, he interested himself in every thing that -concerned him, and even spoke of him in terms of the highest eulogium: -so great were the recommendations and predilection of the khalif, that -his relations and chief officers were persuaded that Hassan would be -named prime minister. In the meantime, clouds of disunion and discord -arose between Hassan and Bedr Jemali (_full moon of beauty_), the -Emirol Juyush, or commander-in-chief, who enjoyed unlimited power in -the Ismailite dominions. The cause was the great dissensions, which, -at that period, took place relating to the succession to the Egyptian -throne: the khalif had declared his son Nesar his legitimate successor; -while a faction, headed by Bedr Jemali, asserted that his other son, -Mosteali, who eventually succeeded him, was alone worthy to be so. -Hassan maintained the succession of Nesar, and by that means drew upon -himself the inextinguishable hatred of the general, who employed every -effort against him, and at length persuaded the reluctant khalif to -imprison the son of Sabah in the castle of Damietta.[51] - -About this period, one of the strongest towers in the city fell -without any visible cause; and the terrified inhabitants saw, in -this accident, a miracle performed by the fortunate stars of Hassan -and Mostanssur. His enemies, and those who envied him, conveyed him -with their own hands into a ship which was sailing to Africa; he was -scarcely at sea, when a violent gale lashed up the waves, and filled -the whole crew, except Hassan, with terror; he, calm and raised above -all fear, answered one of his fellow-passengers, who asked him the -cause of such security, “Our Lord (Sidna) has promised me that no evil -shall befal me.” The sea becoming calm some minutes afterwards, the -voyagers were filled with universal confidence, and from that moment -became Hassan’s disciples and faithful partisans. Thus, to increase -his credit, did he avail himself of accidents and natural occurrences, -as if he possessed the command of both. The coolness with which he -confronted the perils of the swelling sea, gave him, with the apparent -rule of the elements, real authority over the mind: in the dark night -of the dungeon and the storm, he meditated black projects of ambition -and revenge; in the midst of the crash of the falling tower, and the -thunder and lightning, and billows of the storm, he laid the foundation -of his union of Assassins, for the ruin of thrones, and the wreck of -dynasties. - -A wind, contrary to the destination of the ship, but favourable to -Hassan, drove them on the coasts of Syria instead of towards Africa; -Hassan disembarked and proceeded to Aleppo, where he remained some -time; thence he visited Bagdad, Khusistan, Ispahan, Yezd, and Kerman, -everywhere publishing his doctrine: from Kerman he returned to Ispahan, -where he resided four months, and then made a second excursion into -Khusistan; after staying three months in this province, he fixed -himself for as many years in Damaghan and the surrounding country: he -here made a great number of proselytes, and sent to Alamut as well as -other fortresses of the place, Dais of captivating eloquence. After -preparing everything here for the future maturity of his plans, he went -to Jorjan, whence he directed his journey towards Dilem; he would -not, however, enter the territory of Rei, because Abu Moslem Rasi, the -governor of that district, having received orders from Nisam-ol-mulk to -possess himself of his person in any way, omitted nothing in execution -of these instructions; Hassan proceeded therefore to Sari, and thence -to Demawend. On his way to Kaswin, he passed through Dilem,[52] and at -length arrived at the castle of Alamut, which became the cradle of his -power and greatness. He had already, some time before, sent to this -stronghold one of his most zealous and skilful Dais, Hossein Kaini, -to invite the inhabitants to swear fealty to the Khalif Mostanssur. -The greater number had already taken the accustomed oath to him. Ali -Mehdi, the commandant, who held it in the name of Melekshah, with a few -others, remained faithful to his duty, acknowledging no other spiritual -supremacy than that of the khalif of Bagdad, of the family of Abbas; -and submitting to no other temporal prince than the Sultan Melekshah, -of the family of Seljuk. He was a descendant of Ali, and reckoned among -his ancestors Dai Ilalhakk (_i. e._ the inviter to truth). Hassan ben -Seid Bakeri had built this fortress two centuries and a half before.[53] - -Alamut (_i. e._ Vulture’s nest), so called from its impregnable -position, and situated in 50 deg. 30 min. E. longitude, and 36 deg. -N. latitude, is the largest and strongest of fifty castles which lie -scattered about the district of Rudbar, at the distance of sixty -farsangs north of Kaswin. It is a mountainous country on the confines -of Dilem and Irak, watered by the Shahrud or King’s river; two streams -bear this name, one of which rises in Mount Thalkan, near Kaswin, the -other in Mount Sheer, and flows through the district, Rudbar of Alamut. -Rudbar means river land, and is applied to another district as well -as this northern one, which is called “of Alamut,” to distinguish it -from the southern Rudbar of Lor, which is situated near Ispahan, and is -watered by the river of life, Sendrud, as the former is by the King’s -river, Shahrud.[54] - -Hassan, who had hitherto sought in vain for some central point for the -foundation of his power, at length took possession of the castle of -Alamut, on the night of Wednesday, the 6th of the month Redsheb, in -the four hundred and eighty-third year after the flight of Mohammed, -and the thousand and ninetieth after the birth of Christ; seven -centuries before the French revolution, whose first movers were the -tools or leaders of secret societies, which, like the Ismailites, then -openly attempted what they had in secret contemplated—the overthrow -of thrones and altars. Long experience and extensive knowledge of -mankind, profound study of politics and history, had taught the son -of Sabah, that an atheistical and immoral system was more calculated -to accomplish the ruin, than the establishment of dynasties, and the -confusion rather than the ordering of states; that lawlessness may -be the canon of the ruler, but ought never to be the code of the -subject; that the many are only held together by the few by the bridle -of the law; and that morality and religion are the best sureties of -the obedience of nations and the security of princes. Initiated into -the highest grade of the lodge of Cairo, he clearly penetrated their -plan of boundless ambition, whose object was nothing less than the -destruction of the khalifat of the Abbassides, and the raising new -thrones on their ruins. He, who had till now acted as Dai or religious -nuncio and political envoy, in the name of the Fatimite khalif, -Mostanssur, formed the resolution of securing power to himself instead -of his superior, and did not apply himself to the destruction of the -works of foreign wisdom and policy, so much as to found and fortify the -edifice of his own,—since, in the opinion of the Moslimin, the supreme -dominion was always vested in the person of the imam khalif; and the -people were merely divided as to whether this was legally inherited by -the families of Ommia, Abbas or Fatima. No other resource was left to -an ambitious chief, who usurped thrones and sovereignty, than to seek -them under the shadow of the khalifat (at that time itself a shadow), -and in the name of the reigning khalif; so had but lately the family -of Seljuk, as others had done before, possessed themselves of the rule -in Asia, in the name of the khalif of Bagdad. Hassan Sabah, who had -been unsuccessful in his hopes at the court of the Seljukides, and had -disagreed both with the sultan and his vizier, could only come forward -for the khalif of Cairo: in his name, and under the appearance of the -strictest piety, he gained disciples; ostensibly, for the khalifat of -Cairo and religion, but in reality, for himself and the projects of his -lawless ambition. - -He obtained possession of Alamut, partly by stratagem and partly -by force; and the artifice by which he succeeded received a higher -confirmation in the eyes of the multitude by means of the Cabbala, -which very luckily found, in the letters of the word Alamut, the date -of the current year 483. Hassan adopted the same trick against Mehdi, -the commandant of the castle, in the name of the Sultan Melekshah, -which history mentions as having been used at the foundation of -Carthage and other cities. He requested, at the price of 3000 ducats, -as much land as an ox’s hide would only contain; he split the hide into -strips, and with them surrounded the castle. Mehdi, who had already -some time earlier excluded the Ismailites from the fortress, and then -on an arrangement taking place had re-admitted them, was, on his -not acceding to this purchase, driven out by force, and withdrew to -Damaghan. Previous to his departure, Hassan gave him a laconic letter -or bill of exchange, on the Reis Mosaffer, commander of the castle of -Kirdkuh, in these words: “Reis Mosaffer, pay Mehdi, the descendant of -Ali, 3000 ducats, as the price of the castle of Alamut. Health to the -prophet and his family. God the best ruler sufficeth us.” Mehdi could -not believe that a man like the Reis Mosaffer, who enjoyed the highest -consideration as a lieutenant of the Seljuks, would pay the slightest -respect to the bill of an adventurer like Hassan: he made, therefore, -no use of it until his curiosity was spurred by necessity, when, on -presenting it to the Reis, to his great astonishment, the 3000 ducats -were immediately paid. The Reis, in fact, was one of the earliest and -most faithful followers of Hassan Sabah; the second and most active was -Hossein of Kaini: they taught and acted for him as missionaries,—the -former in Jebal, the latter in Kuhistan, both names meaning Highlands, -and being the northern mountainous provinces of Persia. Hassan provided -his metropolis with ramparts and wells; he caused a canal to be dug, -bringing the water from a considerable distance to the foot of the -castle; he made plantations of fruit trees around the neighbourhood, -and encouraged the inhabitants in the pursuit of agriculture. While -he was thus employed in the fortification and defence of his castle, -which commanded the whole district of Rudbar, promoting cultivation and -raising supplies, his care and attention were still more deeply engaged -with the establishment of his own religious and political system, -namely, the peculiar policy of the Assassins. - -A power was to be established, to which laws were to be given, and -the want of treasure and troops, the great arms of sovereignty, was -to be compensated in unusual ways. History showed, in the sanguinary -examples of Babek and Karmath, who had led hundreds of thousands to the -slaughter, and had fallen themselves the victims of their ambition, how -dangerous it is for infidelity and sedition to dare an open contest -with the constituted faith and government. Hassan’s own experience -taught him, by the slender results which the Ismailite mission had -exhibited in Asia, how useless it was to attempt to propagate the -secret doctrine of the lodge of Cairo, as long as its superiors had -heads, but not hands at their disposal. - -During the two hundred years that the empire of the Fatimites had been -established in Africa, the lodge first erected at Mahadia, then at -Cairo, and the system of secret missions in favour of the Fatimites, -had been organized; they had indeed succeeded in giving the authority -of the Abassides a shock, but without being able to extend their -own; they had assumed the two prerogatives of the mint and public -prayers at Bagdad, but could keep possession of them for only a year, -and lost it when Bessassiri succumbed to the arms of Togrul. Under -pretence of enlisting partisans to the successors of Ismail, they had -preached atheism and immorality; and thereby loosened the religious -and moral bonds of civil society, without troubling themselves about -compensation; they had shaken thrones, without being able to overturn, -or to seat themselves upon them. Nothing of this escaped Hassan’s deep -reflections; and as he had not been successful in the usual routine -of ministerial ambition, in playing a part in the empire of the -Seljukides, he afterwards, as nuncio and envoy, paved the way to his -own power, and planned a system of administration of his own. “Nothing -is true and all is allowed,” was the ground-work of the secret doctrine: -which, however, being imparted but to few, and concealed under the -veil of the most austere religionism and piety, restrained the mind -under the yoke of blind obedience, by the already adopted rein of the -positive commands of Islamism, the more strictly, the more temporal -submission and devotion were sanctioned, by eternal rewards and glory. - -Hitherto, the Ismailites had only Masters and Fellows; namely, the Dais -or emissaries, who, being initiated into all the grades of the secret -doctrine, enlisted proselytes; and the Refik, who, gradually intrusted -with its principles, formed the great majority. It was manifest to -the practical and enterprising spirit of Hassan, that, in order to -execute great undertakings with security and energy, a third class -would also be requisite, who, never being admitted to the mystery of -atheism and immorality, which snap the bonds of all subordination, -were but blind and fanatical tools in the hands of their superiors; -that a well organized political body needs not merely heads but also -arms, and that the master required not only intelligent and skilful -fellows, but also faithful and active agents: these agents were called -Fedavie (_i. e._ the self-offering or devoted), the name itself -declares their destination. How they afterwards, in Syria, obtained -that of the Hashishin or Assassins, we shall explain hereafter, when -we speak of the means employed to animate them to blind obedience and -fanatical self-devotion. Being clothed in white,[55] like the followers -of Mokannaa, three hundred years before, in Transoxana, and, still -earlier, the Christian Neophytes, and, in our own days, the pages -of the sultan, they were termed Mobeyese, the white, or likewise, -Mohammere the red, because they wore, with their white costume, red -turbans, boots, or girdles, as in our own day do the warriors of the -prince of Lebanon, and at Constantinople the Janissaries and Bostangis -as body guard of the seraglio. Habited in the hues of innocence -and blood, and of pure devotion and murder, armed with daggers -(cultelliferi) which were constantly snatched forth at the service of -the grand-master, they formed his guard, the executioners of his deadly -orders, the sanguinary tools of the ambition and revenge of this order -of Assassins. - -The grand master was called Sidna (Sidney) our lord, and commonly -Sheikh al Jebal, the Sheikh, the old man or supreme master of the -mountain; because the order always possessed themselves of the castles -in the mountainous regions, both in Irak, Kuhistan, and Syria, and -the ancient of the mountains, resided in the mountain fort of Alamut, -robed in white, like the Ancient of days in Daniel.[56] He was neither -king nor prince in the usual sense of the word, and never assumed the -title either of Sultan, Melek, or Emir, but merely that of Sheikh, -which to this day the heads of the Arab tribes and the superiors of -the religious order of the sofis and dervishes bear. His authority -could be no kingdom or principality, but that of a brotherhood or -order; European historians, therefore, fall into a great mistake in -confounding the empire of the Assassins with hereditary dynasties, as -in the form of its institution it was only an order like that of the -knights of St. John, the Teutonic knights, or the Templars—the latter -of these, besides the grand-master and grand-priors, and religious -nuncios, had also some resemblance to the Assassins in their spirit -of political interference and secret doctrine. Dressed in white, with -the distinctive mark of the red cross on their mantles, as were the -Assassins with red girdles and caps, the Templars had also secret -tenets, which denied and abjured the sanctity of the cross, as the -others did the commandments of Islamism. The fundamental maxim of the -policy of both was to obtain possession of the castles and strong -places of the adjacent country, and thus without pecuniary or military -means, to maintain an _imperium in imperio_, to keep the nations in -subjection as dangerous rivals to princes. - -The flat part of a country is always commanded by the more mountainous, -and the latter by the fortresses scattered through it. To become -masters of these by stratagem or force, and to awe princes either by -fraud or fear, and to arm the murderer’s hand against the enemies of -the order, was the political maxim of the Assassins. Their internal -safety was secured by the strict observance of religious ordinances; -their external, by fortresses and the poniard. From the proper subjects -of the order, or the profane, was only expected the fulfilment of -the duties of Islamism, even of the most austere, such as refraining -from wine and music: from the devoted satellites was demanded blind -subjection and the faithful use of their daggers. The emissaries, or -initiated, worked with their heads, and led the arms in execution -of the orders of the Sheikh, who, in the centre of his sovereignty, -tranquilly directed, like an animating soul, their hearts and poniards -to the accomplishment of his ambitious projects. - -Immediately under him the grand-master, stood the Dailkebir, grand -recruiters or grand-priors, his lieutenants in the three provinces -to which the power of the order extended, namely, Jebal, Kuhistan, -and Syria. Beneath them, were the Dai, or religious nuncios, and -political emissaries in ordinary, as initiated masters. The fellows -(Refik) were those who were advancing to the mastership, through the -several grades of initiation into the secret doctrine. The guards of -the order, the warriors, were the devoted murderers (Fedavie), and -the Lassik (aspirants) seem to have been the novices or lay brethren. -Besides this seven-fold gradation from Sheikh (grand-master), Dailkebir -(grand-prior), Dai (master), Refik (fellows), Fedavie (agents), Lassik -(lay brothers), down to the profane or the people, there was also -another seven-fold gradation of the spiritual hierarchy, who applied -themselves exclusively to the before-mentioned doctrine of the Ismailis -concerning the seven speaking and seven mute imams, and belonged more -properly to the theoretical frame-work of the schism, than to the -destruction of political powers. According to this arrangement, there -live, in every generation, seven persons distinguished from each other -by their different grades of rank: 1st. The divinely appointed Imam; -2nd. The proof Hudshet, designated by him, which the Ismailis called -Esas, (the seat); 3rd. The Sumassa, who received instruction from -the Hudshet, as they did from the Imam; 4th. The Missionaries (Dai); -5th. Mesuni, (the Freed) who were admitted to the solemn promise or -oath (Ahd); 6th. Mukellebi, the dog-like, who sought out subjects fit -for conversion for the missionaries, as hounds run down the game for -the huntsman; 7th, Mumini, the believers, the people. On comparing -these two divisions, we perceive that, according to the first, the -invisible imam, in whose name the sheikh claimed the obedience of the -people, and in the second, the guard, of which he made use against -the foes of the order, are wanting; but that, in other respects, the -different grades coincide. The _proof_ was the grand-master; the -Sumassa, the grand-prior; the fellows were the freed; and the dog-like -the lay-brethren; the fourth and seventh, that is the preachers of -the faith and the believers, the cheating missionaries, and the duped -people are the same in both.[57] - -We have seen above, that the first founder of secret societies in the -heart of Islamism, Abdollah Maimun, the son of Kaddah, established -seven degrees of his doctrine, for which reason, as well as their -opinions concerning the seven imams, his disciples obtained the -by-name of Seveners. This appellation, which had been assigned, -hitherto, to the western Ismailites, although they had increased -the number of grades from seven to nine, was, with greater justice, -transferred to their new branch, the eastern Ismailites or Assassins, -whose founder, Hassan, the son of Sabah, not only restored the grades -to their original number, seven, but also sketched out for the Dais, -or missionaries, a particular rule of conduct, consisting of seven -points, which had reference, not so much to the gradual enlightenment -of those who were to be taught, as to the necessary qualifications of -the teachers; and was the proper rubric of the order. - -The introductory rule was called Ashinai-risk (_knowledge of the -calling_), and comprised the maxims of the knowledge of mankind, -necessary to the selection of subjects suited to the initiated. Several -proverbs, of much vogue among the Dais, had relation to this; they -contained a sense different from their literal meaning:—“Sow not in -barren soil;” “Speak not in a house, where there is a lamp;” implied -“Waste not your words on the incapable;” “Venture not to speak them in -the presence of a lawyer;” for it was equally dangerous to engage with -blockheads, as with men of tried knowledge and probity; because the -former misunderstand, and the latter unmask, the doctrine, and neither -would be available either as teachers or instruments. These allegorical -sentences, and the prudential rules so necessary to avoid all chance -of discovery, remind us of a secret society of high antiquity, and -a celebrated order of modern times;—in short, of Pythagoras and the -Jesuits. The mysterious adages of the former, which have come down -to us, and whose peculiar sense is now unintelligible, were probably -nothing more than similar maxims to the initiated in his doctrine; -and the political prudence in the selection of subjects fit for the -different designs of a society, reached the highest perfection in that -of Jesus. Thus the Pythagoreans and the Jesuits have a resemblance -to the Assassins. The second rule of conduct was called Teenis, -(_gaining confidence_), and taught them to gain over candidates by -flattering their inclinations and passions. As soon as they were won, -it was requisite, in the third place, to involve them, by a thousand -doubts and questions concerning the positive religious commands and -absurdities of the Koran, in a maze of scruples, which were not to be -resolved, and of uncertainty, which was not to be disentangled. - -In the fourth place, followed the oath (Ahd) by which the acolyte -bound himself, in the most solemn manner, to inviolable silence and -submission; that he would impart his doubts to none but his superior; -that he would blindly obey him and none but him. In the fifth rule, -Teddlis, the candidates were taught how their doctrine and opinions -agreed with those of the greatest men in church and state; this was -done the more to attract and fire them, by the examples of the great -and powerful. The sixth, Tessiss (i. e. _confirmation_), merely -recapitulated all that had preceded, in order to confirm and strengthen -the learner’s faith. After this followed, in the seventh place, Teevil -(i. e. _the allegorical instruction_), which was the conclusion of -the course of atheistical instruction. In Teevil, the allegorical -explanation, in opposition to Tensil, or the literal sense of the -divine word, was the principal essence of the secret doctrine, from -which they were named Bateni, the Esoterics, to distinguish them from -the Jaheri, or followers of the outward worship.[58] By means of this -crafty system of exposition and interpretation, which, in our own days, -has often been applied to the Bible, articles of faith and duties -became mere allegories; the external form, merely contingent; the inner -sense alone, essential; the observance, or non-observance of religious -ordinances and moral laws, equally indifferent; consequently, all was -doubtful, and nothing prohibited. This was the _acme_ of the philosophy -of the Assassins, which was not imparted by the founder to the -majority, but reserved only for a few of the initiated and principal -leaders, while the people were held under the yoke of the strictest -exercise of the precepts of Islamism. His greatest policy consisted -in designing his doctrine of infidelity and immorality, not for the -ruled, but only for the rulers; in subjecting the tensely-reined and -blind obedience of the former, to the equally blind but unbridled -despotic commands of the second; and thus, he made both serve the aim -of his ambition,—the former by the renunciation, the latter by the -full gratification of their passions. Study and the sciences were, -therefore, the lot of only a few who were initiated. For the immediate -attainment of their objects, the order was less in need of heads -than arms; and did not employ pens, but daggers, whose points were -everywhere, while their hilts were in the hand of the grand-master. - -No sooner had Hassan Sabah obtained possession of the castle of -Alamut, and before he had provided it with magazines, than an emir, -on whom the sultan had conferred the fief of the district of Rudbar, -cut off all access and supplies. The inhabitants were on the point of -abandoning the place, when Hassan inspired them with new courage, by -the assurance that fortune would favour them there. They remained, and -the castle henceforth received the name of the Abode of Fortune. The -Sultan Melekshah, who had at first viewed the efforts of the Ismailites -with contempt, was at length roused to secure the internal peace, -which was threatened by Hassan’s insurrection. He commanded the Emir -Arslantash (_Lion-Rock_),[59] to destroy the son of Sabah, with all his -followers. The latter, although he had only seventy companions, and -few provisions, defended himself courageously, until the deputy Abu -Ali, who was collecting, as Dai, troops and disciples in Kaswin, sent -three hundred men,—who, during the night, having formed a junction -with the garrison, and falling upon the besiegers, put them to flight. -Sultan Melekshah, being awakened to serious consideration by this -check, sent Kisil Sarik, one of his most confidential officers, with -troops of Khorassan, against Hossein Kaini, Hassan Sabah’s Dai, who -was spreading the principles of sedition throughout the provinces of -Kuhistan. Hossein retreated to a castle in the district Muminabad, -where he was not less straitened than Hassan had been in Alamut. The -latter now thought, that the moment was arrived for him to put into -execution a decisive stroke, and long-matured plan of murder, and to -rid himself of his most powerful foes, by the ready mode of dagger -or poison. Nisam-ol-mulk, the vizier of the Seljukides, great by his -wisdom and power, under the three first sultans of that family, Togrul, -Alparslan, and Melekshah,—he who, in his early youth, had rivalled -Hassan at the school of the Imam Mosawek, in industry; afterwards, -at the court of Melekshah, in their disputes concerning the dignity -of vizier and the monarch’s favour; and who, last of all, now openly -contended with the lord of Alamut for power and rule,—he, the great -support of the Seljuk empire, and the first great enemy of the order -of the Ismailites,—fell, as the first victim of Hassan’s revenge and -ambition, under the poniards of his Fedavi, or Devoted. His fall, and -the death of Melekshah, not without suspicion of poison, which followed -shortly afterwards, and with which all Asia echoed,—were the frightful -signals for assassination, which henceforth became Hassan’s policy, -and, like the plague, selected its victims from all classes of society. - -It was a fearful period of murders and reprisals, equally destructive -to the declared foes and friends of the new doctrine.[60] The former -fell under the daggers of the Assassins, the latter under the sword of -the princes, who, now roused to the dangers with which Hassan Sabah’s -sect threatened all thrones, visited its partisans and adherents with -proclamations and condemnation to death. The first imams and priests -issued, voluntarily or by order, fetwas and judgments, in which the -Ismailites were condemned and anathematized, as the most dangerous -enemies of the throne and the altar, as hardened criminals and lawless -atheists; and which delivered them over to the avenging arm of justice, -either in open war, or as outlaws, as infidels, separatists, and -rebels, whom to slay was a law of Islamism. The Imam Ghasali, one of -the first moralists of Islam, and most celebrated Persian teachers of -ethics, wrote a treatise, peculiarly directed against the adherents -of the esoteric doctrine, entitled, _On the Folly of the Supporters -of the doctrine of Indifference, that is, the impious (Mulahid), whom -may God condemn_.[61] In that entitled, _Pearls of the Fetwas_,[62] -a celebrated collection of legal decisions, the sect of the impious -(Mulahid) of Kuhistan were condemned according to the ancient sentences -of the Imams, Ebi Jussuf and Mohammed, pronounced against the -Karmathites, and their lives and goods given as free prey to all the -Moslemin. In the “_Confluence_” (Multakath), and the “_treasures of the -Fetwas_” (Khasanetol Fetavi), even the repentance of the Mulhad, or the -impious, is rejected as entirely invalid and impossible, if they have -ever exercised the office of Dai, or missionary; and their execution -commanded as legal, even though they become converts and wish to abjure -their errors; because perjury itself was one of their maxims, and no -recovery could be expected from libertine atheists. Thus, the minds of -both parties were mutually embittered; governments and the order were -at open war, and heads fell a rich harvest to the assassin’s dagger and -the executioner’s sword.[63] - -Those who were of the highest rank were the first to fall: such were -the Emir Borsak, who had been appointed by Togrul-beg first governor of -Bagdad, and Araash Nisami, to whom Yakut, the uncle of Barkyarok, the -reigning Seljukide sultan, had given his daughter in marriage.[64] The -civil war between the brothers, Barkyarok and Mohammed,[65] concerning -the territories of Irak and Khorassan, facilitated the execution of -Hassan’s ambitious designs; and in the bloody hotbed of intestine -discord, the poisonous plant of murder and sedition flourished. By -degrees, his partisans made themselves masters of the strongest castles -of Irak, and even of that of Ispahan, called _Shah durr_ (_the king’s -pearl_), built by Melekshah. That prince, hunting once near this place, -in company with the ambassador of the Roman emperor at Constantinople, -a hound strayed to an inaccessible mountain plateau, on which the -castle was afterwards situated. The envoy observed, that, in his -master’s territories, a place presenting so many natural advantages of -fortification would not be neglected, and that on the spot a fortress -would long ago have been erected. The sultan availed himself of the -ambassador’s suggestion and the situation, and the castle was built, -which was wrested by the Ismailites out of the hands of its commander. -This gave rise to the saying—“A fort, the situation of which a dog -pointed out and an infidel advised, could only bring perdition.” - -Besides the _king’s pearl_, they took also the castles of Derkul -and Khalenjan, near Ispahan, the last, five farsangs distant from -that city; the castle of Wastamkuh, near Abhar; those of Tambur and -Khalowkhan, between Fars and Kuhistan; those of Damaghan, Firuskuh, and -Kirdkuh, in the province of Komis; and, lastly, in Kuhistan, those of -Tabs, Kain, Toon, and several others in the district of Muminabad.[66] -Abulfettah, Hassan’s nephew, captured Esdahan, and Kia Busurgomid took -Lamsir, both of them being, together with Reis Mosaffer, and Hossein -Kaini, as Dais, energetic promulgators of the doctrine, and supporters -of the greatness of Hassan Sabah, whose most intimate friends and -confidants they were, as Abubekr, Omar, Osman, and Ali, had been those -of the prophet. The acquisition of these fortresses, excepting those of -Alamut and Wastamkuh, which came into the possession of the Ismailites -ten years earlier, happened the year after the taking of Jerusalem by -the Crusaders.[67] Christianity and infidelity, the cross of the pious -warriors and the dagger of the Assassins, at the same time conspired -the ruin of Mohammedanism and its monarchies. - -For a long period, the Assassins have only been known to Europe by -the accounts of the Crusaders, and recent historians have dated their -appearance in Syria later than it really took place. They, however, -appeared in Palestine contemporaneously with the Crusaders; for, -already, in the first year of the twelfth century of the Christian era, -Jenaheddevlet, Prince of Emessa, fell beneath their daggers as he was -hastening to the relief of the castle of the Kurds, Hossnal a-kurd, -which was besieged by the Count St. Gilles. Four years before,[68] -he had been attacked, by three Persian assassins, in his palace, as -he was preparing for his devotions. Suspicion, as the author of this -attempt, fell upon Riswan, Prince of Aleppo, the political opponent of -Jenaheddevlet, and a great friend of the Assassins, who had gained him -over by the agency of one of their emissaries, a physician, who was -also an astrologer, and thus doubly qualified to deceive himself and -others, without having recourse to the false doctrine of his order. -This man died twenty-four days after this first unsuccessful attempt -at murder; but the sanguinary views of the order were not extinguished -with him. His place was supplied by a Persian goldsmith, one Abutaher -Essaigh, who inflamed the Prince of Aleppo, Riswan, to deeds of blood. -This chieftain, who was constantly at enmity with the Crusaders,[69] -and his brother, Dokak, Prince of Damascus, favoured the emigration -and colonization of the Bateni, or Assassins, as their doctrine was -agreeable to him, he being but a bad Moslem, and a free-thinker. He -entered into the closest tie of friendship with them, and forgot, in -the pursuit, his infidelity and short-sighted policy, the interest of -his people and posterity. Sarmin, a strong place, only a day’s journey -south of Aleppo,[70] became the residence of Abulfettah, the nephew -of Hassan Sabah, who was his grand-prior in Syria, as were Hossein -Kaini, the Reis Mosaffer, and Busurgomid, in Kuhistan, Komis, and Irak. -A few years afterwards,[71] when the inhabitants of Apamea besought -the assistance of Abutaher Essaigh, the commandant of Sarmin, against -their Egyptian governor, Khalaf; he caused him to be assassinated, and -took possession of the town in the name of Riswan, Prince of Aleppo, -and remained in command of the citadel.[72] He could not, however, -resist Tancred, to whom the town surrendered, and who, contrary to his -promise, carried Abutaher prisoner to Antioch, and only released him on -receiving a ransom. The Arabian historian, Kemaleddin, for this reason, -accused Tancred of forfeiting his word; and, on the other hand, Albert -of Aix, the Christian annalist of the crusades, blames him for granting -so vile a ruffian so much as his life. His companions, however, whose -lives were secured by no treaty, were delivered up by Tancred to the -vengeance of the sons of Khalaf, and Abulfettah himself expired under -the anguish of the torture.[73] Soon after this, Tancred took from the -Assassins the strong castle of Kefrlana. - -Abutaher having returned to his protector, Riswan, exerted his -influence still further in schemes of assassination. Abu Harb Issa (_i. -e._ Jesus, Father of Battles), a rich merchant of Khojend, a sworn -enemy of the Bateni, who had expended large sums in injuring them, -arrived at Aleppo with a rich caravan, consisting of five hundred -camels. An Assassin, a native of Rei, by name Ahmed, son of Nassr, had -accompanied him from the borders of Khorassan, watching an opportunity -to avenge on his person the blood of a brother, who had fallen under -the blows of Abu Harb’s people. On his arrival at Aleppo, the murderer -had a conference with Abutaher and his protector, Riswan, whom he won -the more easily to his purposes, as the richness of the booty, and -Abu Harb’s known hostility to the Assassins, invited to vengeance. -Abutaher provided Assassins, and Riswan guards, for the execution of -the deed. As Abu Harb was, one day, counting his camels, surrounded by -his slaves, the murderers attacked him; but before they could pierce -their victim’s heart, they all fell themselves under the blows of the -brave and faithful slaves, who exhibited their courage and attachment -in defence of their master. The princes of Syria, to whom Abu Harb -communicated this attack, loaded Riswan with reproaches for this -scandalous breach of hospitality. He excused himself with the lie, that -he had had no share in the transaction, and added, to the universal -horror of his deed, the public contempt which eventually falls to the -lot of all liars. Abutaher, in order to escape the daily increasing -rage of the inhabitants of Aleppo against the Ismailites, returned into -his own country to his sanguinary associates.[74] - -As unsuccessful as their enterprise against Apamea, was the attack of -the Bathenites on Shiser, of which they wished to deprive the family -of Monkad and subject it to themselves. While the inhabitants of this -castle had gone into the town,[75] to participate in the festivities -of the Christians at the celebration of Easter, the Assassins took -possession of it and barricaded the gates. On the return of the -inhabitants, they were drawn up through the windows with ropes, by -their wives, during the night, and drove out the Assassins. - -Soon after, Mewdud, the prince of Mossul, fell under their daggers at -Damascus, as he was walking with Togteghin, the prince of that city, -on a feast day, in the fore court of the great mosque. An Assassin -stabbed him, for which he lost his head on the spot.[76] In the same -year[77] died Riswan, the prince of Aleppo, the great protector of the -Ismailites, who made use of their swords and daggers for the defence -and extension of his power. His death was the signal of theirs: the -eunuch Lulu, who, with Riswan’s son, Akhras, a youth of sixteen, -carried on the government, commenced it with condemning to death all -the Bathenites; which sentence was executed less in a legal manner than -in a promiscuous carnage. - -No less than three hundred men, women, and children, were cut in -pieces, and about two hundred thrown into prison alive. Abulfettah,—not -the one who was tortured to death by the sons of Khalaf, but a son -of Abutaher, the goldsmith, and his successor, after his return to -Persia, as head of the Assassins in Syria, met with a fate no less -horrible and merited than his namesake: after being hewed to pieces at -the gate looking towards Irak, his limbs were burnt, but his head was -carried about through Syria for a show. The Dai Ismail, brother of the -astrologer, who had first brought himself and his sect into credit with -Riswan, paid for it with his life; several of the Assassins were thrown -from the top of the wall into the moat; Hossameddin, son of Dimlatsh, -a newly-arrived Dai from Persia, fled from the popular rage to Rakka, -where he died; several also saved themselves by flight, and were -dispersed in the towns of Syria; others, to escape the fatal suspicion -of belonging to the order, denounced their brothers and murdered -them. Their treasures were sought out and were confiscated.[78] They -revenged this persecution variously and sanguinarily. In an audience, -granted by the khalif of Bagdad to Togteghin Atabeg, of Damascus, three -conspirators in succession attacked the Emir Ahmed Bal, governor of -Khorassan, whom they probably mistook for the Atabeg. They all three -fell, together with the emir, who had been selected for their daggers, -and who was in reality their sworn foe, and had frequently besieged -their castles. The governors of provinces, as being the principal -instruments of the state for the preservation of peace and good order, -were their natural enemies, and, as such, more than all exposed to -their daggers. Bedii, the governor of Aleppo, became their victim,[79] -as also one of his sons, who was on his way to the court of the Emir -Ilghasi. His other sons cut down the two murderers, but a third sprang -forward and gave one of them, who was already wounded, his death-blow. -Being seized, and carried before the princes Togteghin and Ilghasi, he -was condemned by them only to imprisonment, but he sought his death by -drowning himself. - -The following year[80] Ilghasi received a message from Abu Mohammed, -the head of the Ismailis in Aleppo, with a request to put them in -possession of the castle of Sherif. Ilghasi, dreading his power, -pretended to grant it; but before the envoy could return with this -consent, the inhabitants of Aleppo destroyed the walls, filled up -the ditches, and united the castle with the town. Ibn Khashshab, who -had made this proposition, in order not to increase the power of -the Ismailites by the possession of the fortress, paid for it with -his blood. A few years afterwards, they made a similar request to -Nureddin, the celebrated prince of Damascus, for the possession of -the castle Beitlaha; which was, in the same way, apparently granted, -and frustrated by a similar stratagem: for the inhabitants, secretly -instigated by Nureddin, to prevent the Ismailites obtaining a firm -footing, immediately set about destroying their fortifications. So -great was the dread in which princes held the order, that they did -not dare to refuse them the strong places of their own countries, and -preferred destroying them, to abandoning them for citadels of the -power and sovereignty of the Assassins.[81] - -In Persia, also, their vengeance chose the most illustrious victims. -Fakrolmulk[82] (_Glory of the kingdom_), Abulmosaffer Ali, the son of -the grand vizier Nisam-ol-mulk, who had filled the office he inherited -from his father, along with his hatred of the Assassins, during the two -reigns of the sultans Mohammed and Sandjar, with credit and industry, -and Chakarbeg, the son of Mikail, brother of Togrul, grand-uncle of -Sandjar, the reigning sultan of the Seljuks, were amongst them.[83] A -sanguinary lesson for the latter, whom the son of Sabah warned by still -farther menaces. He found it more adviseable frequently to restrain his -powerful enemies by impending danger, and preferred unnerving their arm -by terror, to multiplying uselessly avengers by repeated murders. He -gained over a slave of the sultan’s, who, while the latter slept, stuck -a dagger in the ground close to his head. The prince was terror-struck -when, on waking, he espied the murderous weapon but concealed his -fear. Some days after, the grand-master wrote to him in the style of -the order, brief and cutting like their stilettos: “Had we not been -well-disposed towards the sultan, we might have plunged the dagger into -his heart, instead of the ground.” - -Sandjar, who had despatched some troops against the castles of the -Ismailites in Kuhistan, was the more fearful, after this warning, of -prosecuting the siege; as his brother Mohammed, who had caused the two -strongest fortresses of the Ismailites in Irak, Alamut and Lamsir, to -be invested by the Atabeg Nushteghin Shirghir, for more than a year, -died at the very moment when, being reduced to extremities, they were -on the point of surrendering.[84] This death was too favourable to -the Assassins, not to be considered less the work of accident than of -their policy, which, though trusting to the dagger, did not neglect -the use of poison. Admonished by this, Sandjar offered to make peace -with the Ismailites on three conditions:—1st. They should erect no new -fortifications about their castles; 2nd. They should purchase no arms -nor ammunition; and, 3rd. That they should make no more proselytes. As, -however, the jurists, who had thundered the ban of general condemnation -and persecution against the impiety of the order, would hear of no -compromise or peace with them, the sultan fell under the popular -suspicion of being a secret partisan of their impious doctrines. Peace -was, however, concluded between Hassan and Sandjar; and the latter -not only exempted the Ismailites from all duties and imposts in the -district of Kirdkuh, but even assigned them a certain portion of the -revenues of Kumis, as the annual pension of the order. Thus, this -society of murderers increased daily in power and authority. - -It was not, however, merely since his accession, but twelve or fourteen -years earlier, that the Sultan Sandjar had exhibited tokens of -forbearance towards the Assassins; for on his journey from Khorassan -to Irak, he visited at Damaghan the Reis Mosaffer, venerable both on -account of his age and influence, who, as we have already seen, had -declared himself an adherent of Hassan Sabah, and had obtained for him, -by stratagem, the treasures of the Emir David Habeshi. Some officers -proposed to demand them back, but on Mosaffer’s representation, that -he had always loaded the inhabitants of the place with favours, as the -proper subjects of the sultan, the latter lavished honours upon him. -Thus died Reis Mosaffer,[85] respected and honoured as the patriarch of -the new doctrine, at the age of one hundred and one.[86] - -Hassan Sabah survived the most faithful of his disciples, and his -nearest relations, to whom the ties of attachment and consanguinity -seemed to secure the highest rights to the succession to the -sovereignty. His nephew and grand-prior in Syria, Abulfettah, had -fallen by the sword of the enemy; Hossein Kaini, grand-prior in -Kuhistan, under the dagger of a murderer, probably Ostad, one of -the two sons of Hassan: and Ostad and his brother under the hand of -their own father, who seemed to revel even in spilling his own blood. -Without proof or measure of guilt, he sacrificed them, not to offended -justice, but apparently to mere love of murder, and that terrific -policy, by virtue of which the order snapped all ties of relationship -or friendship, to bind the more closely those of impiety and slaughter. - -Ostad (i. e. _the master_), probably so called because the public voice -had destined him as the successor of his father as grand-master, was -put to death on the mere suspicion of being concerned in Hossein’s -murder; and his brother, because he had drunk wine: the former, -probably, because he had, by his crime, which was without orders, -interfered with his father’s prerogative; the latter, because he had -infringed one of the least essential laws of Islamism, but whose strict -observance was part of the system of the order. In the execution of -his two sons, the grand-master gave the profane and the initiated a -sanguinary example of avenged disobedience to the ordinance of outward -worship, and the rules of internal discipline; but probably, besides -this apparent motive, the son of Sabah was urged by another, to the -destruction of his race; possibly, his sons, disgusted with the long -reign of their father, were expecting with impatience to succeed him; -it is probable, that on that account he deemed them incompetent, as -not having learned to obey, or as being wanting in the necessary -princely qualities; or, it is probable, that he set them aside, in -order to avoid sinking the order into a dynasty by inheritance, and -that the succession of grand-masters might be determined by the nearest -relationship of mind and character, irreligion and impiety. Human -nature is not usually so diabolical, that the historian must, among -several doubtful motives to an action, always decide for the worst; -but, in the founder of this society of vice, the establisher of the -murderous order of the Assassins, the most horrible is the most likely. - -Of the most faithful promulgators of the new doctrine, of whom we have -hitherto made mention, there still remained the Dai Kiabusurgomid, who -had not quitted the castle of Lamin during the twenty years that had -elapsed since he took it, and the Lieutenant Abu Ali, Dai in Kaswin. -When the son of Sabah felt his end approaching, he sent for them to -Alamut; and, by his last will, divided the government between them in -such a manner, that Abu Ali was invested with the external command and -civil administration, and Kiabusurgomid, as proper grand-master, with -the supreme spiritual power and government of the order. Thus, at a -very advanced age, died Hassan Sabah;[87] for more than seventy years -had elapsed, since, as a youth of twenty, he studied with Nisam-ol-mulk, -under the Imam Mowasek, in the reign of Togrul. He expired, not on the -bed of torture, which his crimes merited, but in his own; not under -the poniards, which he had drawn against the hearts of the best and -greatest of his contemporaries, but by the natural effect of age; -after a blood-stained reign of thirty-five years, during which he not -only never quitted the castle of Alamut, but had never removed more -than twice, during this long period, from his chamber to the terrace. -Immoveable in one spot, and persisting in one plan, he meditated the -revolutions of empires by carnage and rebellion; or wrote rules for -his order, and the catechism of the secret doctrine of libertinism -and impiety. Fixed in the centre of his power, he extended its -circumference to the extreme confines of Khorassan and Syria; with -the pen in his hand, he guided the daggers of his Assassins. He was, -himself, in the hand of Providence, like war and pestilence,—a dreadful -scourge for the chastisement of feeble sovereigns and corrupted nations. - - -END OF BOOK II. - - - - -BOOK III. - - _Reign of Kia Busurgomid, and his Son, Mohammed._ - - -KIA BUSURGOMID, who had been the general and Dai of Hassan, -succeeded him in the spiritual power; and trod precisely in the -sanguinary steps of the founder of the order. Daggers and fortresses -were the foundations of Hassan’s power, and that of his successor -rested on the same basis; the most illustrious leaders of the enemy -either fell, or were tottering to their fall. New castles were taken -or built. Thus, that of Maimundis was erected;[88] the ruin of which -drew with it, in the sequel, the death of the grand-master, and the -suppression of the order. Abdolmelek was declared its dehdar, or -commandant. These precautions were the more necessary, as the Sultan -Sandjar, who had long been deemed a secret protector of the order, now -publicly declared himself their enemy. In the month Shaaban, of the -same year, also, Atabeg Shirghir, overran the province of Rudbar with -an army. The body, which the grand-master sent against him, put the -enemy to flight, and carried off a rich booty.[89] - -The war, the year following,[90] assumed a still more cruel character, -when a great multitude of Bathenites were put to the sword, by order -of Sandjar; nor was it altered on Mahmud’s succeeding to the throne of -Irak, in the place of his nephew, Sandjar.[91] This sovereign resolved -to combat the Assassins with their own weapons of perfidy and murder; -a determination unworthy the assertor of a good cause. After being some -time at open war with Kia Busurg, the sultan requested, through the -medium of his grand falconer, that some one should be sent from Alamut, -on the part of the grand-master, to treat of peace. The Khoja Mohammed -Nassihi Sheristani was sent: he was admitted to the honour of kissing -the sultan’s hand, who addressed a few words to him on the subject -of peace. On leaving the presence, the Khoja, or master, and his -accompanying Refik (fellow) were savagely butchered by the populace.[92] - -Mahmud despatched an envoy to Alamut, to excuse this action; in which, -according to his own asseverations, he had had no share. Kia Busurg -made answer to the envoy: “Go back to the sultan, and tell him, in -my name, Mohammed Nassihi trusted to your perfidious assurances, and -repaired to your court; if you speak truly, deliver up the murderers -to justice; if not, expect my vengeance.” Mahmud not attending to -this, a body of Assassins came to the very gates of Kaswin,[93] where -they killed four hundred men, and carried off three thousand sheep, -two hundred horses and camels, and two hundred oxen and asses. The -inhabitants followed them, but the death of one of their chief men -interrupted their pursuit.[94] - -The year following,[95] the sultan captured, though but for a brief -period, Alamut itself, the stronghold of the order’s sovereignty;[96] -and immediately after, a thousand men were sent against the castle -of Lamsir, who, as soon as they heard that the Refik, or companions -of the order, were in advance against them, instantly fled without -striking a blow. Immediately after the death of Mahmud, which was -most probably caused by the machinations of the Assassins, without, -however, any accusation of the kind, the companions of the order made a -second irruption into the environs of Kaswin,[97] and carried off two -hundred horses, and after killing a hundred Turcomans, and twenty of -the citizens, they retired. The forces of Alamut then marched against -Abu Hashem, a descendant of Ali, who had usurped the dignity of imam -in Ghilan, and invited the people, by manifestos, to recognize him -as their legitimate lord. Kia Busurg wrote to him, advising him to -desist from his aspiring projects; he, however, replied, with reviling -the impious lore of the Ismailites: they made war upon him, beat him -in Dilem, took him prisoner, and, after holding a council of war, -delivered him over to the stake.[98] - -On the death of Mahmud, when Messud ascended the throne of the -Seljukides, Itsis, the prince of Khowaresm, a country lying between -the confines of Khorassan, and the mouth of the Oxus, came to him, -to communicate the determination he had formed, of exterminating the -Ismailites. Although the large province of Khorassan lies between -Khowaresm and Kuhistan, or the Highlands, where the Ismailis nestled, -like birds of prey, amongst the rocks, yet the sovereign of Khowaresm, -not unjustly, dreaded the approach of such dangerous neighbours, whose -poniards reached even their most distant foes. Messud, participating in -the maxims and designs of Itsis, presented him with the fief which had -been held by Berenkish, the grand falconer, who in his irritation, took -refuge with Kiabusurg, and sent his wives and children to the castle -of Dherkos, which was in the possession of the Ismailites. Although -this man, till now their declared enemy, had not only attacked them in -open warfare, but also with their own weapons, perfidy and treachery, -the grand-master considered it politic to exercise the rights of -hospitality towards him, who had now flown to their protection. -It was the more advisable to create a new friend to the order, as -Khowaresmshah, who had hitherto shown tokens of a friendly disposition, -had, all at once, declared himself an enemy. The latter sent the -following message to the grand-master: “Berenkish and his party were -heretofore your declared enemies; I, on the other hand, was bound to -you by true attachment. Now that the sultan has given me his fief, he -has sought an asylum with you; if you will deliver him up to me, our -friendship will receive still further increase.” Kiabusurg replied: -“Khowaresmshah speaks truly, but we will never surrender our protegés -to the enemy.” This was the origin of tedious hostilities between -Khowaresmshah and Kiabusurg.[99] - -It was natural that princes, who, for a time, were blinded by the -representations of the Dais, and the attractions of the Ismailitic -secret doctrine, should have hastened, as friends, to their arms, but -should afterwards snatch themselves away, dreading lest the embrace, -like that of the Spanish maiden, should be but a form of execution, -under which murdering daggers lay concealed. Thus, the Sultan Sandjar, -and Itsis, shah of Khowaresm, who were both at first reckoned among the -friends and partisans of the order, became their open foes; and we have -seen that, at Aleppo, they enjoyed, during the reign of Riswan, the -most powerful influence; but, under his son, were extirpated with the -sword. Such was their fate also at Damascus; where, during the reign -of Busi, they found a powerful protector in the vizier Tahir, the son -of Saad of Masdeghan. The Persian Assassin, Behram of Astrabad, who -commenced his operations with the murder of his uncle, gained over the -vizier, who gave him the castle of Banias, as Riswan had given the more -inland fortress, Sarmin, to the nephew of Hassan Sabah.[100] Banias, -the ancient Balanea, signifying the old city seated in the little -bay, gave its name to the castle newly erected in A. D. 1162; A. H. -454. It is a farsang, or four thousand paces, distant from the sea, -in a fertile, well-watered plain; where, in former times, more than a -hundred thousand buffaloes found pasture.[101] The valley, into which -numerous rivulets fall, is called Wady ol Jinn (the valley of demons), -a place whose very name rendered it worthy of being a settlement of -Assassins. From this place,[102] they became masters of the surrounding -castles and towns; and Banias became the centre of their power in -Syria, until they transferred it, twelve years afterwards, to Massiat. - -Behram had long prosecuted the designs of the order at Aleppo and -Damascus, where he was recognised and favoured as Dai, by the princes -Ilghasi and Togteghin. When, by the possession of Banias, he had -obtained a firm footing in Syria, the power and insolence of the -Assassins attained its height. From all sides they hastened to the new -point of union, and princes did not venture to protect any one against -them. The jurists and theologians, more particularly the Soonnites, -those universal victims, were struck dumb with fear of them, and of -the disfavour of the princes. Behram did not fall by their vengeance, -but by that of the inhabitants of the valley of Taim, an appendage -to the district of Baalbek, and inhabited by a mixture of Nossairis, -Druses, and Magians. Their brave leader, Dohak, burned to revenge the -death of his brother Barak, the son of Jendel, who had been slain by -the Assassins, by command of Behram; he united, for this purpose, the -warriors of his native vale, with succours from Damascus, and the -surrounding towns. Behram hoped to surprise them defenceless, at the -head of his Ismailites; he, however, fell into their hands, and was -instantly cut in pieces. His head and hands were brought to Egypt, -where the khalif presented the bearer with a rich habit, and had -them carried about in triumph in Cairo and Fostath. The Ismailis who -escaped, fled from the valley of Taim, to Banias, where Behram, prior -to the expedition, had committed the command to Ismail, the Persian. -The vizier Masdeghani entered into friendly alliance with him, as -with his predecessor. Ismail sent to Damascus, one of his creatures, -Abulwefa, literally, _Father of Fidelity_, but, in reality, the model -of perfidiousness.[103] By his intrigues, he succeeded in obtaining, -not only the office of Dailkebir, or prior of the Ismailites, but also -that of Hakem, or chief judge of the district. - -At Cairo, the dignity of grand-master of the lodge (Dail-doat), was -frequently united by the Ismailites, with that of chief justice -(Kadhi al Kodhat). As the attainment of rule was the object of the -order, and as no means were left untried to accomplish it, Abulwefa -sought conquest by means of treachery, and greatness by perjury. The -Crusaders, whose power was continually on the increase in Syria, -appeared to him the most fitting instruments of his ambitious designs. -As the enemies of Mohammedanism, they were the natural allies of its -most dangerous opponents. The bulwarks of the faith of Mohammed, -shaken from without by the tempest of the Crusaders, and undermined -from within by the atheistical doctrines of the Assassins, threatened -an earlier and a more certain fall; and the pious warriors, in union -with their impious allies, promised the sooner to erect the cross and -the dagger on their ruins. Abulwefa entered into a treaty with the -king of Jerusalem, by which he bound himself, on a certain Friday, -to put the city of Damascus in his possession. While the Emir Busi, -and his magnates, both courtly and military, were assembled at their -devotions in the mosque, all the approaches to it were to be hemmed in -by conspirators, and the gates of the city opened to the Christians. In -return for this service, the king promised to deliver the city of Tyre -into his power.[104] - -Hugo de Payens, the first grand-master of the Templars, seems to have -been the principal agent in urging Baldwin II., King of Jerusalem, -to this strange alliance of the cross and the dagger. For ten years -after its first institution,[105] this order remained in obscurity; -fulfilling, besides the usual evangelical vows of poverty, chastity, -and obedience, a fourth, the protection of pilgrims; but still existing -only as a private society, without statutes or knightly habits. - -By the code of rules given by St. Bernard, and confirmed by Pope -Honorius I., it raised itself at once, to the splendour of a powerful -chivalric order, for the defence of the holy sepulchre, and the -protection of the pilgrims.[106] According to Miræus, its members -consisted of knights, esquires, and lay-brothers, which answer to -the companions (Refik), agents (Fedavi), and laymen (Lassick), of the -Ismailites, as the priors, grand-priors, and grand-master, did to the -Dai, Dailkebir, and Sheikh of the mountain. As the Refik were clothed -in white, with red insignia, so the knights wore white mantles with red -crosses; and as the castles of the Assassins arose in Asia, so did the -hospitals of the Templars in Europe. - -The grand-master Hugo, came this year[107] to Jerusalem, accompanied -by a great retinue of knights and pilgrims, who, at his exhortation, -had assumed the cross, and taken up arms in defence of the holy -sepulchre.[108] The siege of Damascus was immediately decided upon. -After the death of the dreaded Togteghin, which had but lately -occurred, his son Taj-ol-Moluk[109] Busi succeeded him. In his name, the -vizier Tahir-ben-Saad exercised the supreme power, and, through him, -the chiefs of the Ismailites, first the warrior Behram, afterwards the -judge Abulwefa, with whom the treacherous surrender of Damascus, in -exchange for Tyre, was agreed upon. - -Taj-ol-Moluk Busi having received timely notice of the designs of the -Ismailites, caused his vizier, the son of Saad, to be put to death; and -then gave orders for a general massacre of all of the order who were in -the city. Six thousand fell by the sword, which avenged the victims of -the dagger. It was not an execution, but an indiscriminate slaughter. -In the meanwhile, a numerous Christian army, certain of the promised -surrender of the city, had advanced on the road to Damascus, as far as -Marj Safar. Among them, besides many pilgrims of the west, were the -king and barons of Jerusalem, with their allies, Prince Bernard of -Antioch, Pontius, Count of Tripoli, and Joscelin of Edessa, with many -knights and esquires. The soldiery, under the command of the constable, -William of Buris, had gone with a thousand knights, to plunder the -villages, and collect provisions; marching, however, as was usual with -an army of pilgrims, without order and discipline, they were, with many -of the knights, almost entirely destroyed, by an attack of a small body -of valiant warriors from Damascus. The rest, as soon as they learned -the disgraceful defeat of their brethren, flew to arms, and hastened to -attack the Damascenes; to wash out with their blood the stain inflicted -on the Christian army. - -A dreadful darkness, however, came on, interrupted only by the glare of -the lightning and howling of the tempest; in the midst of the thunder, -the cataracts of heaven poured down rain, and inundated the roads, when -suddenly, as if the order of the seasons had at once been changed—as -if summer and winter would together have raged in all their severity, -the rain and flood were changed to snow and ice. Such rapid mutations -of the atmosphere, and sudden vicissitudes of the weather, from one -extreme to the other, are not, indeed, rare in those countries; but -they astonished the inexperienced wanderers, as extraordinary phenomena -of nature. - -The author of the present work has, during his travels, more than once -experienced this, and in a terribly sublime manner, in the defile -of Marmaris; as did the British fleet, and the Egyptian army of -occupation. Heavy clouds darkened the approach of night; torrents of -rain, which poured from them and from the rocks, carried away arms and -tents; the howling of the storm and the roaring of the thunder, drowned -the speaking-trumpets of the distressed ships, which were driving from -their anchors. On the cessation of the tempest, which lasted the whole -night, and grew calmer towards morning, the first dawn showed the masts -dashed to pieces by the wind, and the rocks scathed by the lightning, -and covered with a large quantity of snow. - -The army of the Gauls, which, in ancient times, under the command of -Brennus, sacked the temple of Delphi, experienced a similar contest and -alternation of seasons, and an equally violent storm.[110] And as, at -that time, these natural phenomena were deemed a token of the celestial -punishment of the sacrilegious presumption of the Gauls, so were they -also considered by the Crusaders as a mark of the anger of Heaven at -their sins, and their late compact with the Assassins, which blood and -perjury could alone confirm. The only advantage which they derived from -this monstrous union of piety and impiety, was the possession of the -castle of Banias, which the commander, Ismail, fearing lest he should -meet the fate of his brethren of Damascus, delivered up to the knight, -Rainier de Brus, the same year,[111] in which the fortress of Alamut -surrendered to Sultan Mahmud. Thus fell, at the same time, the two -citadels of the order in Persia and Syria, and so near was the risk of -its complete annihilation. - -A persevering spirit of enterprise, however, overcame the untowardness -of events. Both Alamut and Banias soon returned to their former -possessors. The latter was re-taken, three years afterwards,[112] by -Ismail, while Rainier de Brus and his soldiery lay before Joppa, with -the king of Jerusalem. Among the prisoners who were carried away, -Rainier lost a beloved wife; whom, on her release during a truce with -Ismail, he received affectionately, but repulsed her on learning that -she had neither preserved her faith among the infidels, nor her honour -among the impious. She confessed her sin, and retired into a convent -of devout females at Jerusalem.[113] - -The less the designs of the Ismailites prospered by the sword, the more -successful and persevering were they with the dagger; and, however -dangerous to the order the times might be, they were not the less so to -its most powerful adversaries. A long series of great and celebrated -men, who, during the grand-mastership of Kiabusurgomid, fell by the -poniards of his Fedavi, signalized the bloody annals of his reign; -and, as formerly, according to the fashion of oriental historians, -there follows, at the end of each prince’s reign, a catalogue of great -statesmen, generals, and literati, who have either adorned it by their -lives, or troubled it with their death; so, in the annals of the -Assassins, is found the chronological enumeration of celebrated men of -all nations who have fallen the victims of the Ismailites, to the joy -of their murderers, and the sorrow of the world. The first, under the -grand-mastership of Kiabusurgomid, was Cassim-ed-dewlet[114] Aksonkor -Bourshi, the brave prince of Mossul, feared alike by the Crusaders -and the Assassins, as one of their deadliest enemies.[115] Having -fought his last battle with the former, near Maarra Mesrin, he was, on -the first Sunday after his return,[116] attacked by eight Assassins, -disguised as dervishes, as he was in the act of seating himself on his -throne in the mosque at Mossul: protected by a coat of mail and his -natural bravery, he defended himself against the wretches, three of -whom he stretched at his feet; but before his retinue could hasten to -his assistance, he received a mortal wound, from the effects of which -he expired the same day. The remaining Assassins were sacrificed to the -vengeance of the populace, with the exception of one young man from -the village of Katarnash, in the mountains near Eras, whose mother, -on hearing of Aksonkor’s murder, dressed and adorned herself for joy -at the successful issue of the attempt, in which her son had devoted -his life; but, on his returning alone, she cut off her hair, and -blackened her face, with the deepest sorrow, that he had not shared the -murderers’ honourable death. To such lengths did the Assassins carry -their point of honour, and what may be termed their Spartanism.[117] - -Moineddin, the vizier of Sultan Sandjar, was also murdered[118] by an -Assassin, hired by his enemy, Derkesina, the vizier of Mohammed, and -a friend of the Ismailites. In order the better to attain his object, -the ruffian entered his service as a groom. One day, as the vizier -went into the stable to inspect his horses, the false groom appeared -before him without clothes, in order to avoid all suspicion of carrying -concealed weapons, although he had hidden his dagger in the mane of -the horse, whose bridle he was holding. The horse reared, and under -pretence of quieting him with caresses, he snatched his poniard, and -stabbed the vizier.[119] - -If Bourshi, Prince of Mossul, stood on the list of the victims of -the Ismailites solely because he was the rival of their power; and -an obstacle to their greatness, we shall not be surprised at finding -the name of Busi, the Prince of Damascus, by whose orders the Vizier -Masdeghani, and six thousand Assassins, had been massacred. The -slightest pretence was sufficient to cause the blood of princes to flow -beneath their stilettos; how much more when their own called as in this -latter case, for revenge. To escape was beyond the power of prudence, -as they watched for years for time, place, and opportunity. Busi, the -son of Togteghin, was, in the second year after the massacre,[120] -attacked by its avengers, and received two wounds, one of which healed -immediately; the other was, however, mortal, the following year.[121] - -The vengeance of the Assassins seems to to have descended from father -to son: Shems-ol-Moluk (_the sun of the king_), the son of Busi, and -grandson of Togteghin, fell a victim to a conspiracy.[122] There fell, -besides, under the daggers of the order, the judges of the east and the -west, Abusaid Herawi, the mufti of Kaswin, Hassan-ben-Abelkassem; the -reis of Ispahan, Seid Dewletshah; and the reis of Tebris.[123] These -were the most celebrated of a numerous body of officers of state and -jurists, who perished in heaps and unnamed. To drag from amongst the -murdered the most splendid victims, is the melancholy and sorrowful -duty of the historian of the Assassins. - -Hitherto, their attacks had been directed only against viziers and -emirs, the subordinate instruments of the khalif’s power; and the -throne itself, which they were undermining, had remained unstained by -the blood of its possessors. The period, however, was now arrived, in -which the order dared to seal their doctrine with the blood of those -khalifs, to whom it was so destructive, and to deprive the successors -of the prophet not merely of their temporal power, but likewise -of their lives. The shadow of God on earth, as the khalifs called -themselves, was, indeed, a mere shadow of earthly power; and was, when -he would have asserted more, sent, by the dagger of the Assassin to the -shades below. - -We have seen, that the secret doctrine of the Ismailites derived its -origin from the lodge at Cairo, long before the foundation of the -order, of the Assassins; and flourished under the protection of the -Fatimites, the rivals of the Assassins, and their competitors for -the throne. By a just retribution, this protection of a doctrine of -irreligion and immorality was avenged on the Fatimites themselves, by -the murderous order which sprung from it. The Egyptian khalif, Emr -Biahkamillah Abu Ali Manssur,[124] tenth of the Fatimite dynasty -(whose founder, Obeidollah, had made the lodge of the secret doctrine a -part of his ministerial policy), fell, in the twenty-ninth year of his -reign, under the dagger of the Assassin.[125] - -It is not clear whether his death proceeded from the policy of the -order, or the private revenge of the family of the powerful Vizier -Efdhal.[126] This emir was equally dangerous to the Christians by -the zeal with which he prosecuted the war, and to the khalif, by -his colossal power in the state. He was murdered by two Assassins, -of whom it is uncertain whether they were the instruments of -their superiors, at that time in alliance with the Crusaders, or -the hirelings of the khalif. The latter is probable, from the -circumstance that Abu Ali, the son of Efdhal, was, immediately after -his death, thrown into prison, and on being set at liberty after -the murder of the khalif, was invested with his father’s dignity. -As, however, Abu Ali himself shortly after fell by the dagger, it -appears that these two assassinations proceeded from the profound -policy of the concealed fomentors. From this period, Egypt became a -scene of disorder and confusion, occasioned by the violent contests -between the partisans of the khalif thrones of Cairo and Bagdad. -Mostarshedbillah-Abu-Manssur-Fasl, the twenty-ninth Abbasside khalif, -sustained himself on the latter for seventeen years, though constantly -tottering. - -Hitherto, the Seljukide sultans who had, under the pretext of being the -protectors of the khalifat of Bagdad, assumed all the temporal power, -had, at least, left to the Abbasside khalif the two highest prerogatives -of Islamism,—the mint, and prayers from the pulpit on Fridays. If they -stamped any coin, it was in the name of the khalif; for whom, likewise, -they prayed weekly in the mosques. Messud was the first to appoint the -khatibs, or Friday prayer, to be in his own name; an injury which -Mostarshed was obliged, however unwilling, to endure, as he was not -strong enough to resent it. A few years afterwards, however, when some -dissatisfied chieftains deserted with their troops from Messud to -Mostarshed, they persuaded the latter that it would be easy to subdue -the sultan; he, in consequence, took the field against him. In the very -first engagement, the khalif was abandoned by the greater part of his -troops, and taken prisoner by Messud, who carried him to Meragha, on -his campaign against his own nephew, David. - -A treaty was concluded, by which the khalif engaged to confine himself -within the walls of Bagdad, and to pay the sultan an annual tribute. -This composition deceived the expectations of the Ismailites, who had -hoped that the result of this war, between the sultan and the khalif, -would be the destruction of the latter: the grand-master, therefore, -resolved to complete what the sultan had begun; and that, though the -khalif had escaped the sword, he should not be spared by the dagger. In -the camp, two farsangs from Meragha, while Messud was absent, having -gone to meet the ambassadors of Sandjar, Assassins put the khalif and -his immediate suite to death;[127] and not content with that foul deed, -mutilated the dead, in the most horrible manner, by cutting off the -noses and ears; as though they would, to the treason of a khalif’s -murder, add insults to his corpse.[128] - - -_Reign of Mohammed, Son of Kia Busurgomid._ - -After a blood-stained reign of fourteen years and three days, Kia -Busurgomid, feeling his end approaching, named his son, Mohammed, as -successor in the grand-mastership of the order; either because he -really found none other worthy of the office, or that the natural -desire of making the sovereignty hereditary in his family caused him -to depart from the spirit of the fundamental maxims of the order, as -they had been sketched out by Hassan Sabah. Be that as it may, the -office, which, without respect to relationship, ought to have depended -on the nomination of the existing grand-master, remained hereditary in -the family of Busurgomid to the fall of the order. His death was, at -first, a cause of great joy to the enemies of the Ismailites; when, -however, they perceived that his son drove the chariot of restless -ambition in the bloody track of his father, all Asia again sank into -despair. He began, as his father had ended, with regicide; and before -the votaries of Islam had time to recover from the consternation, with -which the murder of the Khalif Mostarshed had overwhelmed them, their -ears were horror-stricken with the intelligence of the fate of Rashid, -his successor. The order had hoped, by the violent death of Mostarshed, -to succeed in involving the khalifat in confusion and immediately -effecting its ruin. This expectation, however, proving fallacious; and -Rashid, immediately on taking possession of the vacant throne, and ere -he was firmly seated on it, meditating revenge against his father’s -butchers, the new grand-master resolved to begin where his predecessor -had ended, and to heap murder on murder, crime on crime, and to add -regicide to treason. - -The khalif went from Ramadan to Ispahan where he had just begun -to recover from an attack of illness. Four Assassins, natives of -Khorassan, and who had mingled with his retinue, watched an opportunity -of stealing into his tent, and poniarded him. He was buried on the -spot where he fell; and the troops which he had collected from Bagdad, -for the purpose of a campaign against the Ismailites, dispersed. When -the news of this successful atrocity, and the frustrated expedition -reached Alamut, the residence of the grand-master, public festivals and -rejoicings were appointed on the occasion. For seven days and seven -nights the kettle drums and cornets echoed from the turrets of the -fortress, and published to the surrounding castles the jubilee of crime -and the triumph of murder. Proofs so cutting as the Assassins’ daggers -(to use an expression of Mirkhond) raised their claims beyond the reach -of doubts, and imposed the silence of the grave on their opponents. - -A terror but too well founded seized the khalifs of the race of Abbas, -who, henceforth, did not venture to show themselves in public. The -companions of impiety (Refik), and the dedicated to murder (Fedavi), -spread themselves in troops over the whole of Asia, and darkened -the face of the earth. The castles already in their possession were -maintained and fortified, and new ones built or purchased. Thus they -obtained in Syria, Kadmos, Kahaf, and Massiat: the two former were sold -to them by Ibn Amrun;[129] the latter they wrested from the commandant -of the lords of Sheiser,[130] and made it the centre of their Syrian -power, where, even now, traces of it are to be found.[131] - -While the order was thus aggrandizing itself, and striking its foes -with terror, by the acquisition of strong places and the use of the -dagger, the fundamental maxim, which separated so completely the -secret doctrine of the initiated from the public tenets of the people, -was observed to the letter; and the fulfilment of the injunctions of -Mohammedanism was the more strictly exacted, the more indifferent the -superiors considered faith and morals to be to themselves. The people -saw only the effect of their terrible power, without perceiving the -moving force, or its instruments. They saw, in the numerous victims -of the poniard, only the enemies of the order and religion, which the -vengeance of heaven had visited by the arm of a secret tribunal. The -grand-master, his priors and envoys, did not preach sovereignty in -their own name, or in that of their order, but of the invisible imam, -of whom they called themselves the apostles, and who was to appear, at -some future period, to assert his right to the dominion of the earth -with a conqueror’s power. Their doctrine was enveloped in a veil of the -profoundest mystery, and ostensibly its maintainers appeared only as -strict observers of the rites of Islamism. A proof of this is afforded -by the answer given to the envoy of Sultan Sandjar, who had been sent -from Rei to collect official information concerning the Ismailitic -doctrines. He was told by the superiors, “Our doctrine is as follows: -we believe in the unity of God, and consider that only as true wisdom, -which accords with His word and the commands of the prophet; we observe -these, as they are given in the holy book of the Koran; we believe in -all that the prophet has taught concerning the creation and the last -day, rewards and punishments, the judgment and the resurrection. To -believe this is necessary, and no one is permitted to pass his judgment -on God’s commands, or even to alter a letter of them. These are the -fundamental rules of our sect; and if the sultan approves them not, he -may send one of his theologians to enter into polemical discussions on -the subject.”[132] - -In this spirit, during the reign of Kia Mohammed, which lasted -twenty-five years,—that of his father, Kia Busurgomid, of fourteen -years,—and that of the founder, Hassan Sabah, of thirty-five, the -external rites of Islamism were strictly observed. Kia Mohammed, -however, had neither the intellect nor the experience of his -predecessors; and it soon appeared what an error Kia Busurgomid had -committed, in consulting, in his choice of a successor, the ties -of kindred rather than innate talent. From his want of knowledge -and capacity, Kia Mohammed was but little esteemed by the people, -who transferred their attachment to his son, Hassan. The latter was -regarded as a man of great attainments, and he availed himself of the -good opinion of the ignorant multitude, not for the general interest -of the order, but entirely contrary to its institutions, to serve the -purposes of his own private ambition. Initiated into all the mysteries -of the secret doctrine, deeply versed in philosophy and history, he -stood forward as a popular teacher and expounder, and favoured the -report which had begun to be spread abroad, that he was the imam -promised by Hassan-ben-Sabah. The companions of the order respected him -more and more every day, and rivalled each other in the promptitude -with which they executed his behests. - -Kia Mohammed, on learning his son’s conduct, and the disposition of -the people, convened them, and declaring his disapprobation of the -proceedings of the former, said, “Hassan is my son, and I am not the -imam, but one of his precursors. Whoever maintains the contrary is an -infidel.” Two hundred and fifty of his son’s adherents were put to -death, and as many more were banished. Hassan, fearing his father’s -anger, himself anathematised the illuminati, and wrote treatises in -which he condemned the opinions of his partisans, and asserted those -of his father. In this manner he succeeded, by his dissimulation, -in preserving his own head, and obliterating all suspicion from his -father’s mind. As, however, he was in the habit of drinking wine -in secret, and permitted himself to practise what was forbidden, -his adherents saw, in these actions, new indications of his mission -as the promised imam, whose advent was to abrogate all prohibitory -commands.[133] - -About this period, nearly all the Asiatic monarchies were -revolutionized by the change of the order of succession; and new -dynasties arose on the ruins of their predecessors. As the order of -the Ismailites was inimical to all rulers, and treated hostilely by -most of them, and as they infused into all governments the envenomed -and pernicious influence of murder and sedition, their history stands -in close relation with that of all the contemporaneously paramount -dynasties; and a glance at the reigning families of Asia will not be -out of place here. From the confines of Khorassan to the mountains -of Syria, from the Musdoramus to Lebanon, from the Caspian to the -Mediterranean, extended the widely spread ramifications of the empire -of the Assassins; their centre being the grand-master, in his mountain -fort of Alamut, in Irak. - -We shall take a cursory glance at these broad regions of Asia, -according to the political divisions of the period, and proceeding -in natural geographical order, from east to west, our progress will -commence with Khorassan and terminate in Syria. - -Khorassan, however, first deserves mention not merely on account of -its geographical position and its immediate vicinity to Kuhistan, -the eastern grand-priorate of the order, but also by reason of the -preponderating power of Sultan Sandjar, whose dominion had been -founded at the same epoch as that of Hassan Sabah, and whose reign had -proceeded contemporaneously with the first three grand-masters, and -terminated only with his death, four years earlier than that of Kia -Mohammed, the third grand-master. - -Moeseddin Abulharess Sandjar, one of the greatest princes of the -Seljukide race, and of the east, received, after the demise of his -father, the Sultan Melekshah, which, as we have seen, occurred -immediately after the occupation of Alamut by Hassan Sabah,[134] the -vice-royalty of Khorassan, which province he governed, for twenty -years, in the name of his brothers, Barkyarok and Mohammed, who, as the -heads of the Seljuk family, reigned in Irak. - -On the death of his brother Mohammed, in the first year of the sixth -century of the Hegira,[135] Sandjar took possession of his states. He -made war upon his nephew, Mahmud, who wished to assert his paternal -rights, defeated him, and at length, when the sagacity of the vizier -Kemaleddin Ali had mediated a peace, allotted him his paternal kingdom, -as a fief, upon the following four conditions: 1st. That in the public -prayers in the mosques, on Fridays, the name of Sultan Sandjar should -stand before that of Mahmud (the prayers and the mint are the first -regal prerogatives of Islam); 2nd. That the latter should have only -three curtains to the door of his hall of audience (Sultan Sandjar had -four, and the khalif seven; to raise and lower which was the office of -the Hajeb, or chief chamberlain); 3rd. That no trumpet should sound on -his entrance or exit from his palace (a flourish of trumpets was, at -that time, the privilege of sovereigns, as is, at this day, the ringing -of bells a mark of distinction for their representatives); 4th. That he -should retain in their dignities the officers appointed by his uncle. - -Mahmud submitted to these conditions; and as only the name and -appearance of rule were left him, he embraced the wise resolution -of not involving himself deeper in political matters, but devoting -himself entirely to the pleasures of the chase, which, as an exercise -and school of war, has, from remote antiquity, been considered, in the -east, less as a princely amusement than a royal occupation. (Hence -Nimrod was a mighty hunter before the Lord, and Cyrus an arranger -of hunting; hence, too, the most ancient monarchs of the Assyrians -and Persians are represented on the monuments of Persepolis, and the -amulets excavated from the ruins of Babylon, as engaged in an heroic -combat with wild animals; hence, in the last Persian dynasty, the -cognomen of the “Wild Ass,” was given to Behramgur, one of their -bravest and sport-loving princes: and hence, likewise, the immense park -or royal chase of Khosru Parwis). In this spirit, Mahmud expended his -treasure in the splendour of his hunting equipments; he had a pack of -four hundred hounds, with gold collars and housings embroidered with -pearls.[136] - -Thirty years after this peace between Mahmud and Sandjar, Behramshah, -the last prince but one of the once powerful dynasty of the sultans of -Gasna, attempted to shake off the yoke of the Seljukides; feeling, -however, the enterprise to be beyond his powers, he sent ambassadors -to renew his homage to Sandjar. With him he succeeded, but not so with -Hossein Jehansus, the founder of the Indian dynasty of the Gurides, -who, about this time,[137] raised themselves on the ruin of the power -of the Gasnewides. Behramshah, the Gasnewide, yielded to the power of -Hossein, the Guride, as did the latter to that of Sultan Sandjar, who -drove the founder of the Gurides out of Khorassan, and then appointed -him his viceroy of the Indian province of Gur (whence the name of the -dynasty). The fortune, which had smiled on Sandjar in his enterprises -against Mahmud, Behramshah, and Hossein, was not so favourable to him, -in his wars against the people of Karakhatai, whom he attacked in the -obscurity of their forests; nor against the Turcomans of the race of -Oghuz, who invaded Khorassan. He lost, in the battle which he fought -with Gurjash, the prince of the former, thirty thousand men, together -with his harem; and Tarkhau Khatun, the first of his wives, was made -captive by the Karakhtaiyis. - -Still worse was his success against the Oghuz Turcomans, whom he wished -to compel to an annual tribute of sheep, which they refused. He was -taken prisoner by them, and confined, for four years, in an iron cage. -The Turkish historians, who relate this unworthy treatment of the great -Sultan Sandjar, deny Sultan Bajazet’s having experienced the same from -his conqueror, Timur. - -Concerning this last, European writers add, that whenever he mounted -his horse, he placed his foot on the neck of the Ottoman sultan, as, -it is said, the Persian king, Shabur (Sapor), had done a thousand -years before, to his captive, the Roman emperor, Valerian. Valerian -and Bajazet perished in the captivity of Shabur and Timur; but Sandjar -had the good fortune to make his escape from his barbarous conquerors, -and returned to Khorassan, where he died the following year, from -melancholy, caused by his bad fortune, and the desolation of his -states; after a reign of fifty-one years, and a life of nearly a -hundred, as he had before he became sole ruler, acted, for twenty-one -years, as viceroy of his brothers, in Khorassan. His brilliant -exploits, and the encomiums of the poets, have caused his name to -shine among those of the most illustrious princes of the east; and -have not undeservedly gained him the surname of Alexander the Second. -The greatest poets of his time, Selmar and Ferideddin Katib, sang -his praise; but, above all, Enweri, the Persian Pindar. Unequalled -in his panegyrics, either by his predecessor, Khakani, or his -follower, Farjabi, who, with him, form the astral triangle of Persian -panegyrists, he raised the name of Sandjar high above the regions of -earth in the light of the milky way, and to the highest heavens, in -the midst of the music of the spheres. While Enweri thus bestowed -immortality on Sandjar in his works, the poet Sabir did him a no less -essential service in prolonging his sublunary existence, by protecting -him from the murderous dagger. - -When Itsis, the governor of Khowaresm, rebelled against Sandjar, -the latter sent the poet, one of the most faithful and respected in -his court, secretly to Khorassan, as a spy upon the designs of the -rebellious governor. He succeeded in ascertaining that Itsis had -engaged an Assassin (Fedavi), to murder the sultan, in the mosque, on a -Friday. The murderer was discovered, by means of the exact description -sent by Sabir to Sandjar, and, after confessing every thing, he was -put to death. Itsis, however, who was aware that Sabir had caused his -design to fail, had him drowned in the Oxus.[138] Sabir thus gained -an immortal name, in the ranks of great poets and faithful servants, -not only by his encomiastic poems, but also by his praiseworthy -deeds. Sandjar, who, at first, had been favourably inclined towards -the Assassins, seems to have had his eyes opened by this attempt, and -to have been urged to the severity with which, as we have already -related, in his latter years, he pursued the order who had caused the -irruption of the Turcomans. - -Sandjar, if not the most dangerous, was yet, at this period, the most -powerful of the enemies of the Ismailites. With the exception of the -phantom of spiritual power, which sat on the throne of the khalifat, -and whose nominal superiority was acknowledged by the Asiatic princes -in their Friday’s prayers, the most powerful sovereigns either held -their states in fee, as the vassals of the Sultan Sandjar, or governed -them as his lieutenants. As, in the ancient Persian empire, the seven -satraps of the distant large provinces, surrounded the throne of the -great king as viceroys (like the seven Amshaspande collected round -the throne of Ormusd), so the rulers, of seven powerful dignities, -acknowledged the Sultan Sandjar as the source of their power; which, -indeed, enfeebled by distance, operated less powerfully on the extreme -points of the circumference, than in the centre. - -The Indian provinces of Multan and Gur, immediately to the south of -Khorassan, were governed by the Sultan of the Gasnewides, Behramshah, -and him of the Gurides, Hossein Jehansus (world burning). Ahmed, the -son of Soleiman, whose frequent rebellions had brought upon him as -frequent punishments, ruled in northern Transoxana; and the adjacent -province of Khowaresm was held in fief by, first, Kotbeddin, then his -son, Itsis, two great court and hereditary dignities, who likewise -held the office of chief cup-bearer. In middle Persia, reigned the -Sultan Mahmud, the Seljukide, under the guidance of his uncle Sandjar; -and in the northern and western provinces, Aserbijan and Irak, the -two dynasties of the Atabegs, founded by Amadeddin Ben Senji and the -Turcoman Ildigis, acknowledged him as paramount lord. As the two -powerful families of the Gasnewides and Seljukides, after reigning more -than a century, were nodding to their fall, and the dynasties of the -Atabegs were shooting up into multifarious branches, we think a few -words relative to the origin of the latter not unsuitable. - -Atabeg, not _Father of the Prince_, as it has been translated, but, -_Father Prince_, or _Princely Father_, was an honorary title, first -borne by the great Vizier Nisam-ol-mulk, without any claim to unlimited -authority, and still less to be hereditary. Under the successors of -Melekshah, this title distinguished the highest military dignity of -the empire, and was given, at the court of the Bagdad khalif, to the -Emir-ol-umera (i. e. _prince of princes_); and at the court of Cairo, -to the Emir-ol-juyush, or _prince of the army_. But, as at a preceding -epoch, the family Buje had exercised the power of the khalifat, under -the title of Emir-ol-umera, and in the west that of, the Merovingian race -had, under the title of _maire du palais_, passed into the hands of -the Carlovingians; so the Atabegs possessed themselves of boundless -authority, and raised themselves into dynasties. The principal are, -besides that of the Atabegs of Irak, that of Aserbijan, that of Fars, -called also the family of Salgar, and that of Loristan; all of which, -in the short space of five years, made their claims to unlimited rule -available.[139] - -Within this period, disappeared the reigning families of Kakuye, in -Fars;[140] that of the sons of Togteghin, at Damascus;[141] the family -Nedshah, in Yemen;[142] and that of the Gurides in Khorassan;[143] in -whose stead arose the Seliki, as kings of Erzroum, and the Eyoubides, -as princes of Emessa; and, three years before the death of Sandjar, the -mightiest prince of his time, a still more mighty one was born,[144] -Jengis Khan, the scourge of the east and the west, who afterwards -converted the most fertile territories into a wilderness, and bathed -the deserts with streams of blood. - -Cotemporaneously with the last ten years of Salgar’s reign in the east -in Khorassan, Nureddin Mohammed Ben Amadeddin Sengi, Lord of the Irak -Atabegs, ruled in Syria, as one of the greatest princes of the east. -He was a cotemporary of Salgar, and the most powerful opponent of the -Crusaders; whose historians, unceasingly employed in detailing the -mischief which he caused them, cannot refuse him the just praise of his -great and noble qualities. “Nureddin,” says the learned William, bishop -of Tyre, a man profoundly versed in history, “was a prudent, discreet -man, who feared God according to the faith of his people; fortunate -and an increaser of his paternal inheritance.”[145] His budding power -sorely oppressed that of the Christians; whose conquests put a term -and measure to his. Raymond, Prince of Antioch, and Gosselin, Count of -Tripoli, fell as the trophies of his victories; the first at the siege -of Anab,[146] on the battle field; the second, as he was proceeding to -the chase, from his residence, Telbasher,[147] was taken prisoner by -a foraging party of Turcomans. The castles of Telbasher, Antab, Asas, -Ravendan, Tellkhaled, Karss, Kafsrud, Meraash, and Nehrelhus,[148] fell -into the victors’ hands, with considerable booty. - -Nureddin, as possessor of Mossul and Aleppo, was, in fact, the lord -of northern Syria; but in the southern, he still wanted Damascus as -a _point d’appui_ for his rule. Here Mejereddin Abak,[149] the last -of the Seljukides of Damascus, reigned; or, rather, with his name -and with unlimited power, his vizier, Moineddin Ennar.[150] Twice -had Nureddin invested it with his besieging army; at length, the -inhabitants, dreading to fall under the dominion of the Crusaders, -summoned him to their assistance. Mejereddin retired willingly, and -received in exchange, first Emessa, then Balis, and afterwards went to -Bagdad. Nureddin, having obtained Damascus, raised it from the ruin -caused by an earthquake, and chose it as his metropolis; adorning it -with mosques, academies, libraries, hospitals, baths, and fountains. -As Melekshah, the great prince of the Seljukides, had been the first -to establish a high school (Medresse) at Bagdad, so Nureddin founded -at Damascus, the first theological school (Darol-hadiss), where the -traditions of the prophet were treated of. - -With the constant practice of the two most splendid oriental princely -virtues, liberality and justice, he combined the strictest attention to -the duties of Mohammedanism. Just and modest, as Omar Ben Abdolasis, -the seventh khalif of the Ommiad family, he was pious and strict, like -Omar Ben Khattab, the second successor of the prophet. He wore neither -silk nor gold, but cotton and linen; and never expended on his clothes, -or nourishment, more than his just lot of the fifth of the booty. He -was ever engaged in the “_holy war_;” either the “_lesser_,”[151] -with weapons in his hand, against the enemies of Islam; or the -“_greater_,”[152] with fasting and prayer, occupying day and night in -political duties and study. - -The presents of foreign princes, he caused immediately to be sold, -and devoted the proceeds to pious institutions, public buildings, and -eleemosynary purposes. Besides presenting large sums annually, to -the inhabitants of the holy cities, Mecca and Medina, and the Arabs -of the desert, to induce them to allow the caravans of pilgrims to -proceed unmolested; he divided, every month, five thousand ducats -among the poor. He particularly honoured and rewarded jurisconsults, -in whose ranks he was himself inscribed, as he had collected into a -particular work, Fakh-rinuri (i. e. _glory of light_), the traditions -of the prophet, relating to justice, alms, and the holy war, as the -ground-work of his policy, morals, and discipline. As, during his long -reign of twenty-eight years, he conquered more than fifty castles, and -established in all the cities of his dominions, mosques and colleges; -and had maintained most gloriously, both less and greater war, for -Islamism; so history gives him, like his father, Amadeddin Sengi, not -only the honorary title Gasi, or victorious, but also that of Shehid, -or martyr; because both merited the crown of martyrdom, if not in the -field of battle, in that of honour, by their unwearied exercise of -princely duties, and martial virtues.[153] - -Religion and policy combined to decide Nureddin in favour of the khalif -of Bagdad, against him of Cairo. His inclination to do homage to the -former, rather than to the latter, as the successor of the prophet, -would find more ready access to his mind, as on account of the great -confusion prevailing in Egypt, the time seemed to have arrived for the -Atabegs to tear the sceptre from the feeble grasp of the Fatimites. -This long shapeless idea of Syrian policy soon received form and -existence from the Egyptian civil war, between the two viziers, -Dhargham and Shawer, who, under the last of the Fatimites, struggled -for mastery. - -In the same year[154] in which Nureddin had, by one of the most -splendid victories, and the conquest of Harem, repaired the great -discomfiture which he had received from the Crusaders, four months -previously, at Bakia (Boquea), Shawer himself came to Damascus, to -promise the third part of the revenues of Egypt, if Nureddin would aid -him with arms, against his rival, Dhargham. Nureddin sent the governor -of Emessa, Esededdin Shirkuh (i. e. _lion of the faith of lion’s -mount_), of the family Eyub, with an army into Egypt. Dhargham fell in -battle; Shawer was restored to his former power, but on refusing to -fulfil his promise, the lord of lion’s mount took possession, with his -troops, of the eastern province Sherkiye, and the chief town Belbeis. -Shawer, the most fickle of viziers, faithless alike to friend and foe, -and, by his false policy, a traitor to his army and himself, called -Amaury, formerly Count of Askalon, then king of Jerusalem, with the -Crusaders, to his assistance, against the general of his ally; he soon, -however, repented, and dismissed the Crusaders, with a sum of sixty -thousand ducats.[155] - -In the meanwhile, Esededdin, being reinforced with fresh troops, -advanced against Cairo, and defeated the khalif at Ashmunind, and -remained master of Upper Egypt, at the same time that his nephew, -Yusuf, took Alexandria, and maintained himself there valiantly, for -three months, against the combined besieging forces of the Egyptians -and the Crusaders. At the end of this period peace was concluded; -Nureddin receiving, as compensation, an annual sum of fifty thousand -ducats, and the Crusaders, one hundred thousand, out of the revenues -of Egypt.[156] There remained, moreover, at Cairo, a general of the -Crusaders, with some thousands of men, as a garrison and protection -against Nureddin’s enterprises. - -These advantages accorded to the king of Jerusalem, in the -metropolis of Egypt, tempted him to a rupture of the peace, with -the hope of becoming master of the whole country. Persuaded by the -Knights-Hospitallers, whose grand-master hoped to maintain his order, -in the possession of Belbeis, which, in warlike preparations, he had -charged with a debt of more than one hundred thousand ducats, Amaury -advanced with an army against Egypt. The Templars, however, refused -to participate in the expedition, either from real displeasure at the -rupture of the peace, or, what is more probable, from jealousy of the -knights of St. John, and other hidden grounds of their mysterious -policy.[157] - -In this predicament, Shawer applied to Nureddin, for assistance -against the Crusaders, who had already[158] made an irruption into -Egypt, had taken Belbeis, and were besieging the capital. New Cairo -was surrounded with a wall, at which women and children laboured -with untired zeal, day and night. The more ancient part of the city, -Missr, usually, but incorrectly, called Old Cairo, was set on fire, by -command of Shawer, and burned for fifty-four days. The Khalif Adhad -despatched couriers with urgent letters to Syria, imploring the aid and -assistance of Nureddin against the infidel; and to depict the highest -grade of his necessity, he enclosed locks of his wives’ hair, as if -to say, “Help! help! the enemy is dragging our women from us by the -hair of their heads.”[159] Nureddin was, at that time, at Aleppo, and -Esededdin Shirkuh, at Emessa, his government. Nureddin immediately -intrusted him with the conduct of the Egyptian campaign; and gave him -for the execution of it, two hundred thousand ducats, and a chosen -body of eight thousand men, six thousand of which were Syrians, and -the remainder Turcomans. In the meanwhile, Shawer and Amaury, both -on the brink of despair, entered into negociations; the latter for -the possession, the former for the relief, of Cairo. Shawer promised, -in the name of the khalif, the enormous sum of a million of ducats, -and the king was glad to receive fifty thousand ready money.[160] On -this, the Crusaders retired, when the Syrians, under the conduct of -Esededdin, appeared before Cairo. - -The khalif, accompanied by the chief officers of his court, repaired -to the camp, and complained bitterly of the excessive power of -Shawer, who, merely on his own account, had invited the Franks into -the country, committed Missr to the flames, and desolated the land; -and entreated Esededdin Shirkuh for his vizier’s head, being himself -too powerless to secure it. The latter soon became aware of the -danger which threatened his life, and resolved to make away with -Esededdin, together with his nephew, and the princes of his court, -under the pretext of an invitation to a banquet. The project was, -however, betrayed; and the intended victim retorted on the guilty -head of Shawer, which was sent to the khalif. Nureddin immediately -stepped into Shawer’s place, as vizier and Emir-ol-juyush, with the -title of Almelek-al-mansur (i. e. _the victorious king_); and as he -died sixty-five days afterwards, his nephew, Yusuf Salaheddin (i. e. -_Joseph, justness of faith_), was invested with the same high dignities -of the empire, and received the honorary designation, Almalek-ennassir -(i. e. _conquering king_). He was the founder of the dynasty of the -Eyubites; his greatness, like his name, smoothed, and diminished by -the western historians, is more familiar to Europeans, than that of -many other great princes and conquerors of the east, at whose names and -deeds European languages and manners recoil. - -The Syrian heroes of the Crusades have been celebrated by the -Christians in Europe, and the latter by the former in Asia. Amadeddin -Sengi, Nureddin, and Salaheddin, appear in European chronicles of the -Crusades, as Sanguin, Noradin, and Saladin; while in the Moslem annals, -the count of Tripoli, the prince of Antioch, and the king of Jerusalem, -are masked under the names of Comis, Birias, and Rei. In the following -book, we shall have an opportunity of mentioning Salaheddin’s exploits -more at large; as yet he appears as the khalif’s vizier, and Nureddin’s -general, in whose name he administered the government of Egypt; he -caused the name of his master the Atabeg, to be mentioned in the public -prayers on Friday, after that of the khalif. - -Nureddin thought the opportunity was now arrived to destroy the -khalifat of the Fatimites, and to deprive the last of them of even -the shadow of power. He commanded his lieutenant, Salaheddin, to -fill up all judicial offices, which had hitherto been held by -Imamis or Ismailis, with lawyers of the orthodox sect of the -Shafiites, and in the public prayers to name the Abbaside khalif, -Almostanssar-biemrillah, instead of the Fatimite Adhad-lidinillah. -Salaheddin delayed the fulfilment of these commands, as the people -almost universally were of the sects, Rafedhi and Shii, and still hung -to the phantom of the Fatimite khalifat: the last representative of -that race, however, Adhad-lidinillah, very opportunely falling sick and -dying,[161] Salaheddin immediately transferred the royal prerogative of -prayer on Friday, from the name of the khalif of Cairo, to that of the -khalif of Bagdad, after whom, Nureddin, the Atabeg of Syria, was named. - -Thus, Salaheddin executed, more, indeed, for his own than Nureddin’s -interest, though still in the latter’s name, the great stroke, by -which the main trunk of the western Ismailites was overthrown; after -having budded for more than two hundred years, and transplanted itself -into Asia, in the branch of the eastern Ismailites, or Assassins. -The throne, which the secret doctrine of the Ismailites wished to -establish on the ruins of all others, was overturned, and buried the -lodge of Cairo in its ruins. The khalifat of the Abbasides prevailed -over that of the family of Ali, for which the envoys of the Ismailites -preached and intrigued; and the phantom, in whose name they had deluded -the people, vanished from the earth: an event of great magnitude, -and rich in consequences; important in the history of the east, and -more especially in that of the Assassins, to whom, Salaheddin, whose -dominion rose on the ruins of the Egyptian khalifat, appeared a -powerful and dangerous foe. - - -END OF BOOK III. - - - - -BOOK IV. - - _Reign of Hassan II., Son of Mohammed, the Son of Busurgomid, - known by the name of Ala-sikrihi-es-selam—that is, Hail to - his memory—and his Son, Mohammed II._ - - -In the preceding books, we traced the mysteries of irreligion and -immorality up to their source, and stripped the secret doctrine of the -Ismailites of the mask of pretended sanctity, under which it concealed -itself from the eyes of the people. A doubt may, perhaps, have arisen -in the minds of our readers, whether we have not scrutinized the system -of the order too closely; and whether, as it was constantly kept -secret, it may not have been somewhat slandered by the uninitiated -and its enemies. The effects of the secret doctrine had, indeed, -manifested themselves in the bloody traces of the dagger; nevertheless, -these multiplied horrors might, perhaps, be attributed to accident, -or private feuds, rather than to a regular system of infidelity and -homicide. Even in our own days, the secret doctrines of many degenerate -orders has been lauded as pure and innocent, although their results -have appeared in the crimes of regicide and rebellion. - -The Jesuits and the illuminati, though otherwise opposed as to their -spirit—the former protecting, the latter undermining, thrones—have both -been accused of profligate doctrines: the former, of permitting the -killing of popes and kings; and the latter, of dispensing with thrones -and religion. In the writings of individual members, the maxim may be -found, that it is lawful to kill kings, and to strangle the last of -them with the intestines of the last priest: these horrors, however, -were never publicly taught, or acknowledged by the order at large. -The regicide, imputed by Pombal to the Jesuits, and the poisoning of -Ganganelli, have not been sufficiently proved; and even were this the -case, the Jesuits have as little confessed the guilt of Malagrida, -as have the Illuminati approved of Jean de Brie’s proposition of -establishing a propaganda of Assassins. - -As little is the secret doctrine of the Templars convicted of -profligacy, by the confessions wrung from them by the torture; and if -they have been accused of it by cotemporary writers, others, of later -date, have, on the other hand, defended them. - -In this matter, however, the case of the Assassins is very different -from that of the Templars, Jesuits, or Illuminati. All that has -hitherto been said of their secret doctrine of systematic infidelity -and sedition, is by no means founded on untenable conjectures, -historical accusations, or forced confessions; but on the free -acknowledgment of their teachers and masters; who, after having long -concealed the atrocities of impiety from the eyes of the world, under -the mask of the most profound hypocrisy, on a sudden lifted the -veil, and published, to the profane, the mysteries of atheism and -immorality, hitherto the inheritance of the initiated. This was a -most inconsiderate slip; most destructive to the order, and entirely -adverse to the profound policy of its founder, who had formed the -well-grounded opinion that the edifice of domination and civil society -can be held together only by the doctrines of faith and duty; that the -open abolition of all religion and morality would necessarily entail -the universal destruction of the existing order of things; and that the -strongest security for blind obedience is to give reins to the wildness -of the passions. Moreover, besides that, by such a desecration, the -secret of the few became the property of the many, the leaders and -their dupes changed parts, and the system of the order caused its own -destruction from within: it also exposed itself, in all its nakedness, -to its external enemies; and, by its own avowal, roused up the world to -vengeance, and justified the anathemas of priests—the persecution of -kings, and the curses of nations. All this had been well and thoroughly -considered by the son of Sabah; not so, however, by his namesake, and -third successor, Hassan the Second, the son of Mohammed, the son of -Busurgomid. - -He had, as we have seen already, during his father’s life, stood -forward, with innovations, as a prophet, and had only preserved his -life from the executioner’s sword by the deepest dissimulation. As -soon, however, as he succeeded to the grand-mastership, he threw off -the burthensome mask, and not only gave way himself to all possible -extravagances, but also permitted the same license to all others -with impunity. Not content with this, he could not resist the desire -to mount the pulpit himself, as a popular preacher. Had he been as -enlightened as his predecessors in the grand-mastership, and had the -maturity of his judgment kept pace with the riches of his attainments, -he would have forborne to hurl the flaming brand of infidelity and -lawlessness among the people. It was of small advantage to himself, and -still less for the order, that he was considered learned, and possessed -of intellect, and his father heavy and ignorant. - -Preservative ignorance is better than destructive erudition, -and darkness itself is to be preferred to the lurid glare of a -conflagration. Hassan, the son of Mohammed, determined, at whatever -cost, to be an expositor, and to favour the impunity of vice, -not merely by example, but also to preach from his own mouth the -irreprehensibility of crime. In Ramadan, of the 559th year of the -Hegira,[162] the inhabitants of the province of Rudbar were collected, -by his orders, at the castle of Alamut. On the place Mossella (_the -place of prayers_, situated at the foot of the castle, like the suburbs -of Shiras, celebrated by Hafez),[163] a pulpit was placed, looking -towards Kibla (_i. e._ the country of Mecca), to which the Moslemim -turn in praying, and in the four corners, four different coloured flags -were planted—a white, a red, a yellow, and a green. - -Oh the seventeenth of Ramadan,[164] the people were assembled on this -place: Hassan ascended the pulpit, and commenced by involving his -hearers in error and confusion, by dark and puzzling expressions. He -made them believe that an envoy of the imam (the phantom of a khalif -still tottering on the Egyptian throne) had come to him, and brought an -epistle, addressed to all Ismailites, by which the fundamental maxims -of the sect were renovated and fortified. He declared that, according -to this letter, the gates of mercy and grace were open to all who -would follow and obey him; that those were the peculiarly elect; that -they should be freed from all obligations of the law; released from -the burthen of all commands and prohibitions; that he had brought them -now to the day of the resurrection (_i. e._ the manifestation of the -imam). Upon this, he began to recite, in Arabic, the khutbe, or prayer, -which he pretended to have just received from the imam. An interpreter, -standing at the foot of the pulpit, translated to the audience in the -following words:—“Hassan, the son of Mohammed, the son of Busurgomid, -is our khalif, dai, and hudshet (our successor, missionary, and -proof), to whom all who profess our doctrine are to yield obedience -in spiritual, as well as temporal, affairs; executing his commands, -and considering his words as inspired, and must not transgress his -prohibitions, but observe his behests as our own. Know all, that our -Lord has mercy on them, and has led them to the most high God.” He then -descended from the pulpit, caused tables to be covered, and commanded -the people to break the fast, and to give themselves up to all kinds of -pleasure, to music, and play, as on feast days; “for to-day,” said he, -“is the day of the resurrection” (_i. e._ the revelation of the imam). - -From this day, on which crime manifested itself undisguisedly to the -world, the name of Mulahid, or Impious, which hitherto had been given -to the disciples of Karmath, and other disturbers of social order, -by the lawyers, was now bestowed upon all the Ismailites of Asia in -general. The seventeenth of Ramadan was celebrated with games and -banquets; not only as the feast of the revelation, but also as the -proper epoch of the publication of their doctrine. As the Moslimin -reckoned their time from the flight of the prophet, so did the Mulahid, -or Impious, from the revelation of the imam (_i. e._ the 17th Ramadan, -in the 559th year of the Hegira.) And as the name of Mohammed was -never mentioned without the addition of the “Blessed,” so, henceforth, -was added to that of Hassan, the words “Blessed be his Memory,” which -history, instead of blessing, curses. The historian Mirkhond, tells us, -that he had heard from Yusuf-shah Kiatib, on the authority of credible -persons who had read it, that the following inscription was over the -door of the library in the castle of Alamut:— - - “With the help of God, - The ruler of the world - Loosened the bands of the law. - Blessed be his name.” - -Hitherto, the grand-masters had always represented themselves as only -the precursors of the imam, as his missionaries and envoys, and severe -censors of observance of the rules of Islamism. Hassan, however, now at -once asserted that he was himself the imam, in whose hand all power lay -to loosen the band of the law. By abolishing them he accredited himself -with the blind multitude as lawgiver and khalif. - -In this character, he wrote to the presidents and envoys of the -different provinces. His letter of credentials to Reis Mosaffer, the -grand-prior of Kuhistan, as his namesake had been in Irak, under the -founder, Hassan Sabah, was of the following tenor: “I, Hassan, tell you -that I am God’s vice-gerent on earth; and mine, in Kuhistan, is the -Reis Mosaffer, whom the men of that province are to obey, and whose -words they are to listen to as mine.” The reis caused a pulpit to be -erected in the castle of Muminabad, the residence of the grand-prior -of Kuhistan, from which he read the letter of the grand-master to the -people. The majority of the inhabitants heard the perusal with joy. -They played the pipe and drum, danced and drank wine at the foot of the -pulpit, and made known their contempt of law, and their libertinism -in every possible way. Some few, who remained true to the doctrines -of Islamism, emigrated; others, who could not resolve upon this step, -stayed, and shared with the rest the reputation of impiety. - -Thus the standard of the freest infidelity and most daring libertinism -floated on all the castles of Rudbar and Kuhistan, as the insignia of -the new doctrine; and instead of the name of the Egyptian khalif, that -of Hassan resounded from all the pulpits, as that of the true successor -of the prophet. Since prejudices are often more deeply rooted in the -breast than religious rites and moral laws, it was easier for Hassan to -assume the character of legislator than that of imam, whom the people -hitherto only acknowledged in the Egyptian khalif. - -In order to support his pretensions to this title, he at length found -it necessary to deduce his descent in blood from the Fatimite khalifs; -and although he had, in the public assembly of the 17th Ramadan, called -himself the son of Mohammed Ben Busurgomid, he endeavoured to prove, -partly by dark intimations, partly by ambiguous writings, the opinion -that he was a son of Nesar’s and grandson of the Khalif Mostanssur, -during whose reign the founder, Hassan Ben Sabah, had been at Cairo, -and had, in the political dissensions of the Ismailites, espoused the -party of Mostanssur’s elder son against his younger brother, Nesar; on -which account he had been compelled by the generalissimo, Bedr Jemali, -to quit Egypt, as we have before related more at length. The rumour -which his adherents dispersed abroad in confirmation of his descent was -to this effect. A certain Abulhassan Seide, a confidant of the Khalif -Mostanssur, had come from Egypt to Alamut a year after his patron’s -death, and had brought with him a son of Nesar’s, whom he confided -to the care of Hassan Ben Sabah, who received the envoy with great -respect, and had assigned to the young imam a village at the foot of -the castle as a residence, where he, after a time, married, and gave -his son the name, “Blessed be his Memory.” - -At the same time that the imam’s wife was delivered of this child, -the wife of the grand-master, Mohammed, son of Busurgomid, was in -her accouchement. A confidential female servant carried the young -“Blessed be his Memory” into the castle, and substituted him in the -place of the son of Mohammed. As this tale was too absurd to meet with -easy credence, and as, according to their pure doctrine, that all was -indifferent and nothing forbidden, the assertors of this genealogy -were not ashamed subsequently to maintain that the young imam had had -clandestine intercourse with Mohammed’s wife, the fruit of which was -the reigning grand-master, imam, and khalif, Blessed be his Memory. -Thus, Hassan preferred being thought a bastard of the blood of the -khalifs, to being deemed his father’s legitimate child. The honour -of the mother was sacrificed to the ambition of the son; and because -adultery afforded grounds to his pretensions, the sanctity of the harem -was forced to give place to the merit of ambition. - -The Ismailites, who, in this manner, made Hassan a descendant of Nesar, -the son of Khalif Mostanssur, were called Nesari, a name considered -synonymous with the Impious or the Assassins. They gave Hassan the -name of Kaimolkiamet (i. e. _Lord of the Resurrection_), and called -themselves the sect of the Resurrection or Revelation; for, by the -epoch of the resurrection they understood the time when the one about -to rise (Kaim, i. e. _the imam_), should bring them near to God by the -removal of all laws. This period had, according to their pernicious -opinion, occurred during the imamat of Hassan, who, on that account, -emancipated the people from all legal obligations. Thus were the -bounds of duty and morals at once and openly violated. Undismayed, and -with heads erect, Vice and Crime stalked over the ruins of Religion -and social order; and Murder, which hitherto had felled the destined -victims under the mask of blind obedience, and as the executioner of a -secret tribunal, now raged in indiscriminate massacres.[165] - -Hassan, as might have been expected, died a martyr to his new doctrine. -In the fourth year of his licentious reign, he fell at the castle -of Lamsir, by the dagger of his brother-in-law, a descendant of the -family Buyeb. In this murder, the historian views not so much the -visitation of celestial wrath on so many crimes (which, indeed, both -his predecessors and successors had better merited), as the natural -punishment of insulted prudence, which, in the ordinary course of -human affairs, is sooner or later avenged equally with the greatest -viciousness. It was the height of imprudence in Hassan, the learned -explainer, to surrender the most recondite doctrines of the order to -the many-headed hydra, the people; and he sealed with his own blood the -universally accorded liberty of murder. - - -_Reign of Mohammed II., Son of Hassan II._ - -The conflagration which Hassan had kindled, by the revelation of -the secret doctrine, was not extinguished by his blood, but, on the -contrary, extended its flames through all Asia during the reign of -his son and successor, Mohammed II. The first act of his government -was to revenge his father’s death; whose murderer, Hassan Nanwer, -together with all his kindred, both male and female, bled under the -executioner’s axe. Instead of profiting by this bloody example, to -strike into a better road, he constantly pursued the same path. He -preached, even more loudly than his father, the doctrine of impiety; -and, like him, asserted his rights to the dignity of supreme imam. -Deeply versed in philosophical studies, he considered himself to be -in these, as in other branches of knowledge, alone and unequalled. -Many of his philosophical and legal apothegms have been handed down by -tradition; we shall not, however, cite them in this history. He did -homage by these studies, not only to the institution of the founder -of the order, who, profoundly acquainted with the mathematical and -metaphysical sciences, had collected books and instruments in his -castle of Alamut, but also to the spirit of the ages in which the -civilization of modern Persia approached the summit of its splendour; -and philosophy as well as poetry were at the epoch of their greatest -glory in that country. Cotemporary with his long reign of forty-six -years (for so long did the clemency of heaven endure the monster on -earth), lived and died a pleiad of Persian poets, greater and more -illustrious than that of the Alexandrines under the Ptolemies, or that -of the French poets under Francis the First.[166] - -During this period flourished the lyric poets, Suseni[167] and -Watwat,[168] of whom the former may be considered the creator of the -metrical system, and the latter as the legislator of Persian poetry; -the two great panegyrists, Khakani[169] and Sohair Faryabi,[170] who, -together with their predecessor, Enweri, stand the great columns of -the splendid edifice of oriental eulogium; the two great mystics, -Senayi[171] and Attar,[172] the former writer of the “Ornamental -Garden,” Kadikat, which the well-known author of the “Garden of Roses -and Fruit,” Saadi, seems to have kept in view; the latter the composer -of the “Dialogues of Birds” (Mantikettair) and other celebrated works, -in whose footsteps trod Jelaleddin Rumi,[173] the great mystic poet of -the east; lastly, Nisami, the greatest romantic poet of the Persians, -the immortal bard of Khosru and Shirin. - -Besides this pleiad of poets, other stars of the first magnitude shone -in the hemisphere of juridical and metaphysical science. The Sheikh -Abdolkadir-Ghilani,[174] the founder of one of the most respectable -orders of dervises, and whose monument at Bagdad is, to this day, -visited by pilgrims no less frequently than that of the great Imam -Ebu Hanife; the two great jurists, Ahmed Ibn Mahmud Gasnewi[175] and -Imam Borhaneddin Ali Ben Ebibekr Almaraghainani;[176] the former, -author of the “Mokademme” (_Prolegomena_), the latter of the “Hedayet” -(Guide), two classical works of practical jurisprudence; the secretary -Amad,[177] immortal in the annals of calligraphy; the great historian -Ibn Essir Jeseri,[178] the composer of the “Kamil;” and, to conclude, -the philosopher Shehabeddin Sehrwerdi,[179] and the Imam Fakhr -Rasi,[180] who must not be confounded with their namesakes, the former -with the sheikh, nor the latter with the poet nor the physician Rhases. -Both of them are remarkable, not only in the history of literature, on -account of their opinions, but also in that of the Assassins, by reason -of their fate, as presenting, both by their lives and their deaths, -examples of the danger which the literati incurred, who either openly -reproved or combatted the doctrines of infidelity. - -The former, namely, the philosopher Abufeth-Yahya Ben Hanosh Ben -Emirek, commonly celebrated as Shehabeddin Sehrwerdi, the writer of -several metaphysical works, was put to death at Aleppo by the son of -Salaheddin, by order of his father, because his doctrines had been -condemned by the College of Jurists as philosophical, or, in other -words, as atheistical, and the shedding his blood was declared to be -lawful. The Imam Fakhreddin Rasi being menaced with the same fate, -escaped it, but not without great danger. During the grand-mastership -of Mohammed II., the son of Hassan II., he taught jurisprudence -publicly in his native city, Rei. Having been slandered by some who -envied his reputation, as being secretly a disciple of the Ismailitic -doctrine, and even one of their missionaries and envoys, he mounted the -pulpit, and in order to clear himself from the imputation, he abused -and anathematized the Ismailites. As soon as the grand-master received -information of this, through his emissaries, he sent a Fedavi, or -initiated Assassin, to Rei with special instructions. This man appeared -as a student of law, and in that character visited the imam’s college. -Seven months elapsed ere he found a fitting opportunity of executing -his commission. At length he watched an instant when the imam’s servant -was absent in quest of food, and his master alone in his cabinet. - -The Fedavi entered, locked the door, and throwing the imam to the -ground, placed himself with his drawn dagger on his breast. The -imam demanded his purpose. “To tear out thy heart and bowels!”—“And -wherefore?”—“Because thou hast spoken evil of the Ismailites in the -public pulpit.” The imam conjured the Assassin to spare his life, and -swore most solemnly never to slander the Ismailites again. “If I leave -thee,” said the murderer, “thou wilt fall back into thy old ways, and -consider thyself released from thy oath by artful sophistries.” The -imam renounced all explaining away of the oath, and was willing to -abide the penalties of perjury. “I had no commands to slay thee, or I -had not been wanting in the execution. Mohammed, the son of Hassan, -greets thee, and requests thee to honour him with a visit at his -castle. Thou shalt there receive unbounded power, and we will obey thee -as honest servants. ‘We despise,’ says the grand-master, ‘the rumours -of the people, which glide from our ears like nuts from a globe; but -you shall not insult us, because your words are graven as with a -graver on stone.’” The imam replied that he could not go to Alamut, but -that, in future, he would not permit himself to utter a word against -the lord of that fortress. Upon this the Fedavi drew three hundred -pieces of gold from his girdle, which he gave him, saying, “Behold -thy pension; and by a decree of the divan, thou wilt receive the same -sum annually from the Reis Mosaffer. I also leave thee two dresses of -Yemen for thy servant; these also the grand-master sends thee.” At the -same instant the Fedavi disappeared. The imam took the dresses and the -money, and for four or five years the same sum was scrupulously paid -him. Prior to this occurrence, he was wont, whenever he mentioned the -Ismailites in a discussion, to express himself thus: “Whatever the -Ismailites (whom may God curse and destroy) may say.” After he had -received the pension, he always said briefly: “Whatever the Ismailites -may say.” He answered one of his pupils, who asked him the cause of -this change: “We may not curse the Ismailites; their arguments are too -convincing and pointed.” - -This singular occurrence, which is related by several Persian -historians,[181] circumstantially and concordantly, shows that the -grand-master’s policy did not consider murder only as the most -effective measure, but also frequently deemed the fear of it, and -money, preferable. It shows also that the divan, or assembly of the -order, studied less the removal of their foes than the converting them -into friends, especially where they were men of learning and celebrity, -as their lives being spared was of far more advantage to the order in -public opinion, than their violent deaths could have been. - -With the exception of this anecdote of the Imam Fakhr Rasi, history -mentions little or nothing of what occurred to the order during the -reign of Mohammed, in the Persian provinces of Jebal and Kuhistan. It -is, however, much more fertile in events of immediate interest in the -history of the Assassins, if we turn our eyes towards Syria, which -was, at the same time, the celebrated stage of the glorious deeds -of the Crusaders and Salaheddin. As this great prince seems to be -chosen as the instrument in the hands of Providence, of the downfall -of the khalifat of the Fatimites, whose partisans and missionaries -the Ismailites were; so was he, likewise, very early selected by the -latter as a mark for their daggers. In order to become more intimately -acquainted with the man whom they marked out as their victim, and to -know to what a pitch his power had risen when they made the first -attempt upon his life, we shall here give, as a sequel to what has -been said in the former book concerning the reign of Nureddin, a short -outline of the increasing greatness of Salaheddin. - -Invested after the death of his uncle, Esededdin Shirkuh, with the -highest dignity in the realm, under the name of Melek Ennassir, he -received from his lord, the Atabeg Nureddin, a confirmatory diploma, -together with the title of Emir al Isfahlar, which means the same -in Persian as the Arabic Emir al Juyush, that is, Prince of Armies. -Shortly afterwards, the khalif of Bagdad sent him also a diploma, -dress of honour, and present, as an acknowledgement to him for having -transferred the highest prerogative of Islam, the prayer from the -pulpit on Friday, from the family of Fatima to that of Abbas. At Cairo -stood the treasury, in which, for two centuries, the Fatimites had -amassed the wealth of Moghreb,[182] Egypt, Syria, and Arabia; its -riches, surpassing all belief, was but too small for the magnanimity of -Salaheddin.[183] According to Aini, an otherwise trustworthy writer, -there were in this treasury alone, seven hundred pearls, each of which -was, from its great size, of inestimable value; an emerald, a span long -and as thick as the finger; a collection of 2,600,000 books, which, -even if there is a superfluous cipher, surpassed the largest library in -Europe; gold, coined and in bars; aloes, amber, and arms without end. -A considerable part of this treasure Salaheddin divided immediately -among the chiefs of his army. He appointed guardians to the library; -the remainder of the collection being put for sale for ten years in -succession, produced the sums requisite for the campaigns against the -Crusaders, and for the buildings in Cairo. - -He built the citadel and walls of that city, constructed the large -aqueduct which brings the waters of the Nile to the fortress, and the -noble halls, amongst whose beautifully arranged colonnades, stripped as -they are of their roofs, the writer of this work has, more than once, -indulged in airy visions of Salaheddin’s greatness. Added to these, -are an academy at the tomb of Shafii, an hospital at Cairo the modern, -and a magazine of corn at Missr, the ancient capital of Egypt under -the Arabians. All these architectural works bear the stamp of their -founder’s greatness, and on them is inscribed his name, Yusuf, which -the ignorance of the present inhabitants of Cairo and Missr confounds -with that of the Egyptian Joseph. Thus, in this case, as with the -heroes of Grecian antiquity, the feats of several great men are united -under one name. The space of centuries, which intervenes between two -landmarks of human greatness, is lost to the thought of posterity, and -the common name becomes the more prominent as a monument of antiquity -on the wide plain of history. Thus it is with the Egyptian Yusuf, -whether he be the Joseph of ancient history, the minister of Pharoah -and grandson of Abraham, or the Yusuf of modern history, the lieutenant -of Nureddin, Salaheddin, the grandson of Eyub. - -Nureddin, indeed, viewed Salaheddin’s increasing greatness with a -jealous eye; and felt that it was no longer in his power to recall -at his pleasure the master of the treasure of the Fatimites; yet -was he politic enough to confirm his lieutenant, whom he could not -remove, and the latter sufficiently grateful, at least nominally, to -acknowledge Nureddin as his liege lord. As he did not wish to appear -in open opposition to him, and yet, in case of necessity, desired to -provide himself with a place of refuge, he undertook the campaign -against Yemen,[184] whither he sent his elder brother, Turanshah, with -an army. This region was, at the time, governed by Abdennebi, son of -Mehdi, a disciple of the impious sect of Karmath, who exhausted the -country with his extortions and oppression. The plundered treasure he -collected at the tomb of his father Mehdi, at Sobeid. The walls were -covered with gold, and likewise the cupola, which dazzled the eyes at -some miles distance. Gold, silver, pearls, and precious stones were -heaped in profusion. Abdennebi wished to make this tomb the resort of -pilgrims, instead of the kaaba, and for this reason he plundered the -caravans going to Mecca, and added their goods to the accumulated booty -of injustice and rapine. - -In the sequel, several princes, and particularly those of Persia, have, -from political motives, attempted to prevent the pilgrimage to Mecca, -and to turn the devotion of the people rather to other burial places, -as Meshed Ali’s, on the Euphrates, which was also covered with plates -of gold by Shah Abbas; or Meshed Ben Mussa’s, at Tuss, in Khorassan, -in order that, with the caravans, the money may remain in the country. -Mecca, however, retained its superiority as the true and only shrine -of Islamism, which triumphed over the conquests of the Karmathites -and Wahabites; and whose gates, spite of the wide-spread portals of -infidelity and impiety, remained to the last ever open to the pilgrim. -Turanshah defeated and killed Abdennebi, the protector of unbelief, -razed his father’s monument, and added the treasures to those of his -brother Salaheddin, in Egypt; by command of the latter he caused -prayers to be repeated from the pulpit for the khalif of Bagdad and -Nureddin. - -After the death of Nureddin,[185] the prayers as well as the coinage -were continued by Salaheddin, in Egypt and Arabia, in the name of -Saleh, a boy of eleven years of age, the son of Nureddin, who, himself -incapable as yet of governing, was in the power of his grandees, and -particularly of the eunuch Gumushteghin, who transferred the young -prince’s residence to Aleppo, leaving Ibn al Mokaddem governor of -Damascus. The Crusaders, who desired, after Nureddin’s demise, to -avail themselves of the favourable circumstance of his son’s minority, -threatened Damascus, the siege of which was only raised on the -governor’s disbursing to them large sums of money. Enraged at this, -and being invited by some of the chief men, Salaheddin repaired in -all haste to Damascus with only seven hundred horse. He reproached -the governor with his unworthy conduct, and wrote to the young atabeg -a respectful letter, in which he did homage to him as his lord, -and averred that he had come into Syria only for his defence, his -possessions being assailed on two sides, by the Crusaders and his -nephew Seifeddin, lord of Mossul. The answer which was drawn up by -his enemies, contained, instead of thanks, accusations of ingratitude -and disobedience, and threats of very shortly removing him from the -vice-royalty of Egypt. - -Provoked at this, Salaheddin declared to Nial, the lord of Manbedj, -bearer of the missive, that the inviolability of an ambassador alone -preserved his head, and marched with his troops to Aleppo, in order, -as he said, to have a personal interview with his young prince. On -his way he took Hama and Hemss, and encamped in the vicinity of -Aleppo. The inhabitants and the young prince, led by his guardian, -the eunuch Gumushteghin, instead of coming to a peaceful conference -with Salaheddin, advanced against him in arms. “God is my witness,” -exclaimed he, “that I wish it not to come to arms! but since ye will -have it so, they shall decide.” The troops of Aleppo were defeated, -and fled in disorder to the city, which their opponents now began to -besiege in due form.[186] - -Gumushteghin, who saw no protection at hand from the swords of his -valiant besiegers, had recourse to the daggers of the Assassins. At -that period reigned, as grand-prior at Massiat, the point, as we have -seen, of the Syrian power of the Ismailites, Rashideddin Sinan,[187] -a man, whose name and deeds are to this day remembered in their -annals.[188] - -Massiat lies in the mountain range Semak, which, running parallel -with the coast of the Mediterranean, unites itself with that of -Lebanon.[189] This village, with eighteen others, belongs to the -territory of Hama (Epiphania). At that time it was the chief of ten -mountain forts, forming the strength of the Ismailites, whose numbers -are reckoned by the cotemporary annalists of the Crusaders to amount -to more than sixty thousand men.[190] The names of these places are -found in Hadji Khalfa’s Geography;[191] three have already been -mentioned in this history; namely, Massiat, Kadmus, and Kahaf; the -seven others were, Akkar, Hossnalekiad, Safita, Alika, Hossnalkarnin, -Sihinn, and Sarmin, and were the first colonies of the Ismailites in -Syria.[192] By means of these strongholds, and the daggers of the -Assassins, Rashideddin Sinan was supreme in the mountainous parts of -the north of Syria. Salaheddin, the proper defender of the faith, who -had given the final blow to the Fatimite khalifate in Egypt, and whose -increasing power threatened to ingulph that of the Atabegs in Syria, -was the natural and most dangerous enemy of the order, and consequently -their daggers were unceasingly aimed against him. A large sum of money -contributed to procure easier access to the grand-prior Sinan, for the -prayer of Gumushteghin, that Salaheddin should be the victim of their -mutual revenge. Three Assassins attacked him in the camp before Aleppo; -fortunately, they inflicted no mortal wound, and were themselves cut in -pieces.[193] - -While the eunuch was concerting Salaheddin’s fall, he scarcely escaped -his own; which his enemies, the vizier Shehabeddin Abu Saleh, and the -emirs Jemaleddin, Shadbakht, and Mojahid, had conspired to ensure, -in order to deprive him of the favour of Meleksaleh. To anticipate -their purpose, he had recourse to the usual means dictated by his -policy. As the young prince was starting on a hunting excursion, -Gumushteghin presented him with a blank sheet of paper, desiring his -signature for the despatch of some pressing business. Meleksaleh -signed unsuspectingly, and his minister filled the paper with a -letter from his master to Sinan, the grand-prior of the Assassins, -requesting agents from him, for the purpose of despatching the three -emirs above-mentioned. Sinan, thinking that Meleksaleh wished, by this -deed, to remove some obstacles to his unbounded power, sent several -murderers. Two of them, who attacked the vizier as he was proceeding to -a mosque, lying near his house, without the eastern gate, were killed -on the spot. - -Soon after, Mojahid was set upon by three others: one seized the skirt -of his mantle, to stab with more certainty; but Mojahid spurred his -horse, and escaped the fatal blow, leaving his mantle behind. The -people seized the Assassins, two of whom were accustomed frequently to -visit Mojahid’s groom. One of them was crucified; and the same was the -fate of the groom, on whose breast was fixed the inscription, “This -is the reward of the concealers of villains.” The other Assassin was -dragged to the citadel, and beaten on the pierced soles of his feet, -to compel him to confess the motives of his crime. In the midst of the -torture, he called out to the young prince: “Thou desirest from our -lord Sinan, the death of thy slaves, and now thou punishest us for the -execution of thy orders.” - -Indignant at this, Meleksaleh wrote a letter, full of reproaches, to -Sinan, who returned him one subscribed by himself as his answer. This -was the origin of a kind of correspondence between them. Rashideddin -had frequently applied to the prince, for the restoration of the -district of Hajira, of which the Ismailites had been deprived. As his -writing had been fruitless, he had recourse, this time, not from the -pen to the dagger, but to the still more destructive means, fire. The -Assassins appeared as incendiaries, who set fire to several bazaars -of Aleppo, with burning naphtha. All the efforts of the governor and -his people to extinguish the conflagration were fruitless, which being -produced by means similar to the celebrated Greek fire, resisted -pertinaciously the action of water. Many buildings were entirely -consumed, and an immense quantity of rich stuffs and commodities of all -kinds fell a prey to the flames. The Assassins threw burning naphtha -into the streets, from the terraces of the houses, and, in the midst of -the confusion, escaped the popular rage unhurt.[194] - -Meleksaleh Ismail, Prince of Aleppo, whose favourite, Gumushteghin, had -in vain unsheathed the dagger of the Assassins against Salaheddin, now -sought assistance from the Crusaders, and his nephew Seifeddin, Lord of -Mossul. The former laid siege to Emessa, but retired on the approach -of Salaheddin; but Seifeddin, and Aseddin, his brother, united their -forces with those of Ismail, at Aleppo. Salaheddin once more attempted -to come to an amicable arrangement with the latter. He offered him, -in a submissive letter, the restoration of Hama, Hemss, and Baalbek; -and stipulated only for the vice-royalty of Egypt, and the possession -of Damascus. His liberality was deemed weakness. A great battle was -fought at Hama, in which the combined forces of Mossul and Aleppo were -completely routed.[195] - -From that day forward, he advanced with steady steps in the path of -sovereignty, as he transferred to his own name the two prerogatives of -coinage and prayer, which hitherto had remained, in Egypt and Syria, in -the name of Saleh. The latter received peaceful possession of Aleppo, -only by humble supplication, and the lord of Mossul, who again took -the field, with those of Hossn Keif and Maradin, lost at Tell, near -Hama, both his camp and army. Salaheddin divided the booty among his -soldiers, set the prisoners free, and took the fortresses of Asas, -Manbedj, and Bosaa. - -During the siege he was, a second time, attacked by an Assassin, who -wounded him in the head. Salaheddin seized his hand in time, and struck -him down. Another immediately rushed forward, but was cut down by the -guards; two others followed with no better success.[196] Having before -their eyes the example of their three precursors, who had fallen in -a similar attempt, they hoped the better to attain their object by -rushing on successively, and, by throwing the sultan and his guard into -consternation, succeed in taking his life. The first part of their -plan was more successful than the last. Salaheddin, terrified by these -repeated attacks, retired to his tent, mustered his army, and drove -away all strangers.[197] - -The following year,[198] however, as soon as he had concluded a peace -with the lords of Mossul and Aleppo, he attacked the territory of the -Ismailites, ravaged it, and blockaded the fortress, Massiat. He would -have carried it, and would have annihilated the power of the Ismailites -in Syria, had not his uncle, Shehabeddin, Lord of Hama, moved by the -entreaties of the grand-prior, Sinan, interposed, and induced his -nephew to make peace, on condition that he should, in future, be -secured from the Assassin’s dagger; and, in fact, Salaheddin reigned -fifteen years afterwards, carried on his campaigns in Egypt and Syria, -and captured the strongest places of the Crusaders, even Jerusalem -itself, without experiencing another murderous attack. - -Whether it was that the double failure of the Assassins, restrained -them from a third attempt, or that the order considered it necessary -to preserve Salaheddin, the greatest enemy of the Crusaders, as a -counterpoise to the growing power of the latter; or, lastly, that, -contrary to the fundamental maxims of the order, some idea of the -sanctity of a treaty floated in the mind of the grand-prior, though -most improbably,—all the ties of religion and morality having been -loosened, and the mysteries of impiety publicly divulged by the -grand-masters, Hassan and Mohammed; it nevertheless appears, that -Rashideddin Sinan struck out a path for himself, both in respect of -doctrine and policy; one, too, which varied somewhat from that of his -predecessors, and of the reigning grand-master. The former, as we have -seen above, were the secret friends of the order of the Templars, the -latter trampled on all religion. Sinan’s faith and policy, however, -took another direction, as is clearly shown in the unanimous accounts -of cotemporary historians of the Crusaders.[199] - -What William, Bishop of Tyre, and James, Bishop of Acca, on the -occasion of an embassy, despatched from the Old Man of the Mountain to -the king of Jerusalem, in the year 1172, relate concerning the origin, -system, and discipline of the Assassins, agrees very well with that -which we have derived from oriental sources, and presented to our -readers in the former books: “The Assassins,” say they, “were formerly -the strictest observers of the laws of Mohammedanism, till the epoch -when a grand-master of genius and erudition, and intimately acquainted -with the Christian tenets, and doctrine of the Gospel, abolished the -prayers of Mohammed, annulled the fasts, and allowed all, without -distinction, to drink wine and eat pork. The fundamental rule of their -religion, consists in blind submission to their abbot, by which alone -they could attain eternal life. This lord and master, who is generally -called the Old Man, resides in the Persian province, lying beyond -Bagdad (Jebal or Irak-Ajemi). There (at Alamut) young men are educated -in secret tenets and pleasures, instructed in various languages, and -then sent, armed with their daggers, throughout the world, to murder -Christians and Saracens without distinction; either from hatred, -as being enemies of their order, or to please its friends, or for -the sake of a rich reward. Those, who had sacrificed their lives in -the fulfilment of this duty, were adjudged to greater happiness in -paradise, as being martyrs; their surviving relations were loaded with -gifts, or, if slaves, set at liberty. Thus was the world overrun by -these miserably misled youths, who, devoted to murder, issued joyfully -from their brethren’s convent, to execute the sanguinary commands they -had received; appearing in different forms and disguises, sometimes as -monks, sometimes as merchants; in fact, in such a variety of shapes, -and with so much prudence and caution, that it was impossible for the -destined victims to escape their daggers. The low and mean mob of -the people are safe, inasmuch as the Assassins deem it beneath their -dignity to assail them; but for the great, and for princes, no remedy -remains but to ransom their lives at a heavy price; or to be constantly -armed and surrounded by their guards, and exist in a continued state of -alarm.” - -On an attentive comparison of these passages, in the works of the two -learned bishops, which agree in point of meaning, with the narratives -of oriental writers, much is found wanting, but nothing erroneous. The -strict observance of the duties of Islamism at first, the abrogation -of all commandments under the last grand-masters, Hassan II., and -Mohammed II., the vow of blind obedience, the bands of Assassins -devoted to death, their noviciate, the institution of the order, and -its murderous policy, are here comprised in a few words. It is, indeed, -difficult to conceive how European historians, who, hitherto, drew -from no other sources than the Byzantine and Crusading annalists, how -such orientalists as D’Herbelot and Deguignes, could have regarded -the Assassins as an usual dynasty of princes; whereas, here, every -thing points to an order, inasmuch as they clearly speak of the abbot, -convent, grand-master, rule of the order, and religion; as we should -concerning the knights-Hospitallers, the Teutonic knights, and the -Templars. Every thing harmonizes with the contents of the preceding -books of this history: one circumstance only, that of the superior, -who sent the embassy, being inclined to Christianity, and desirous -of conversion, does not agree with the systematic plan of irreligion -of the then reigning grand-master. Either the Crusaders deceived -themselves with the pious error, that because the grand-master had -abjured Islamism, he must assent to Christianity; or, his policy -induced him to preserve the king of Jerusalem in this opinion, and, -consequently, as the friend of the order; or, lastly, what appears more -probable than either of these conjectures, this mission did not proceed -from the grand-master at Alamut, but from the grand-prior of the order -in Syria, Rashideddin Sinan, Lord of Massiat. - -It must have been the latter, and not the former, who paid the Templars -the annual tribute, to effect the removal of which was the chief object -of the embassy; and what gives our opinion the highest degree of -probability, is the contents of Rashideddin’s writings, which are to -this day preserved in Syria, by the remainder of the Ismailites.[200] -In them appear evident traces of Christianity, and of an acquaintance -with its sacred books.[201] - -Rashideddin Abulhasher Sinan, son of Suleiman of Basra, pretended -that he was himself an incarnation of the Deity.[202] He never shewed -himself but in coarse dresses of hair; he was never seen to eat, or -drink, or sleep, or spit. From the top of a rock, he preached to the -people, from sunrise to sunset, and was long considered by his audience -as a superior being. When, however, they discovered that he limped, -from having been wounded by a stone in a great earthquake,[203] he -was near losing both the sanctity of his character, and his life, -the people wishing to murder him as an impostor. He exhorted them to -patience, descended from the rock, where he had preached so long as a -Stylite, invited his hearers to a banquet, and succeeded, by the power -of his eloquence, in inducing them unanimously to swear obedience and -fealty to him as their superior.[204] He seized the moment when the -grand-master of the Ismailites in Persia had exposed all the mysteries, -and by that means sapped the foundations of the order, to envelope -himself in the halo of an apostle, and confirm his dominion in Syria. - -For this reason, he is unanimously considered by oriental historians -as the chief of the Ismailitic doctrine in Syria;[205] and even to -this day, his writings are esteemed canonical by the Ismailites -still remaining in that country. They consist of a shapeless chaos -of contradictory articles of faith, which probably are all to be -understood only allegorically; a host of mutilated passages from the -Koran and the Gospels, hymns, litanies, sermons, prayers, and ritual -ordinances. These can hardly have been preserved in their original -purity, but must have descended to us intermixed with the superstition -and ignorance of later centuries, like the books of the Druses, who, -now as little acquainted as the Ismailites with the spirit of their -founder, possess but a very imperfect knowledge of their original -dogmas, and have lost the tradition of the allegorical doctrine. - -It was Rashideddin Sinan, therefore, the grand-prior of Massiat, -and not the cotemporary grand-master of Alamut, who sent, in the -latter years of the reign of Amaury, King of Jerusalem, the envoy -Behaeddewlet, a skilful, prudent, and eloquent man, with the secret -offer, that he and his followers would undergo baptism, providing the -Templars, their nearest neighbours on the mountains, would release -them from the annual sum of two thousand ducats, and live in brotherly -and peaceful union with them. King Amaury received the envoy with -joy, promised to pay the Templars, out of his own purse, the two -thousand ducats from which they begged to be released, and sent him, -after keeping him for some time, back with guides and an escort, as -far as the Ismailite confines. They had already crossed the territory -of Tripoli, and had, therefore, arrived in the vicinity of their -first castles, which are situated on the mountains in the environs of -Tortossa, or Antoradus, when suddenly a body of Templars rushed from an -ambuscade, and killed the envoy.[206] - -Thus, these knights, who were suspected of being secretly allied to -the Ismailites, and followers of their doctrine, openly proclaimed -themselves likewise as Assassins: the religion of both had a bond of -union in the guilt of wilful murder. The actor of this tragedy was -Walter de Dumesnil, a vicious, one-eyed man; who, however, did not -perform this act of atrocity from motives of private malice, but with -the knowledge of the brethren, and by the command of the grand-master, -Odo de St. Amand, and to avenge the order. The inducement seems to -have been no other, than the Assassins having endeavoured to relieve -themselves from the annual tribute of two thousand ducats to the -Templars, either to purchase peace with the neighbours, or for the -recompense of services performed: as, for example, as is mentioned in -its place, their refusal to participate in the campaign against the -Egyptian sultan, their natural protector.[207] - -The king, violently enraged at this atrocity, by which the honour of -the Christian name, and his own dignity, suffered so severe a blow, -assembled the princes of his realm, in order to consult with them, -concerning the measures proper to be adopted. Their unanimous decision -was, that religion, and the royal authority, had equally suffered -an affront, and could not permit this murder to pass unpunished. -Seiher, of Mamedun, and Gottschalk, of Turholdt, were despatched -by the council, in the name of the king and the realm, to demand -satisfaction from Odo de St. Amand, for so flagitious a deed. Odo, -haughty and wicked, fearing neither God nor man, replied, bursting -with arrogance and rage,[208] that he had already imposed a penance on -Brother Dumesnil, and should send him to the holy father, by whom it -was forbidden to lay violent hands on him; and more in the same strain, -suggested by his passion. But the king, meeting the grand-master and -several Templars afterwards, at Sidon, held a council, and had the -murderer, as guilty of high treason, dragged from their hospital, and -thrown, fettered, into a dungeon at Tyre.[209] The death of the king, -which followed soon after, saved him from well-merited punishment. - -The grand-master, however, met with his, by being taken prisoner -by Salaheddin, in the battle of Sidon,[210] the loss of which was -attributed to his fault, and dying, the same year, unpitied in -his dungeon. The king, indeed, seemed absolved in the eyes of the -Assassins; but the hope of converting them to Christianity was gone; -and their daggers were now again unsheathed against the princes of the -Crusaders, as they had already long been against the chiefs of the -Moslimin. Forty-two years had elapsed, since they stabbed Raymond, -the young Count of Tripoli,[211] as he was kneeling at prayer, and -stained the altar with his blood. This long truce of the dagger, with -the Christian chieftains, was at once raised by the atrocious murder -of Conrad, Lord of Tyre and Marquess of Montferrat. Richard, King of -England, is accused, both in European and Asiatic histories, of having -been the accomplice, or instigator of this action, by means of the -daggers of the Assassins. - -It is with a reluctant pen that we indicate the circumstances and -motives of this crime, which attaches to the splendid reputation of -one of the first heroes of the Crusaders, a stain, which neither his -military glory, nor forged documents, can obliterate from the sight -of an impartial writer. The pretended letter of the Old Man of the -Mountain, composed by Richard’s partisans, to acquit him of the guilt -of this murder, stands rather as a proof against him, since it has -been proved to be a manifest invention and forgery.[212] This letter -commences with an oath in the name of the law, and ends by being dated -according to the era of the Seleucidæ, both entirely strange and -unknown to the Ismailites; for, at this time, they publicly trampled -on the law, and had substituted, for the chronology of the Hegira -(which besides is the only one used in the countries of Islamism), -that from the accession of Hassan II.; making it the epoch of the -abrogation of the law. The writer’s making the Old Man of the Mountain -date from Massiat, proves, in fact, nothing, either for or against -Richard; but it rather heightens the probability of the opinion we -have advanced, that the Crusaders were not aware of the existence of -the distant grand-master at Alamut, but considered the grand-prior -of Massiat, as the Old Man of the Mountain to a certainty. According -to the purport of this apocryphal work of partiality for the hero, -this so much celebrated murder was only an instance of the order’s -revenge; the marquess having pillaged, and put to death, a brother, who -was shipwrecked at Tyre; and instead of giving the order’s envoy the -required satisfaction, threatening to throw him into the sea. From that -time, the death of the marquess was determined on; and executed, at -Tyre, by two brothers, in the presence of the whole people. - -All that is true in this Latin production of Nicolas of Treveth, which -was either written by himself, and accepted as credible by Richard’s -party, consists in the circumstances of the murder. The marquess was -attacked by two Assassins, disguised as monks,[213] who had approached -him unobserved, in the market-place of Tyre. Not only do western, -but also oriental historians, name Richard Cœur de Lion, King of -England, as the instigator of the murderers. Alberic des Troisfontaines -expressly affirms it,[214] but with those who doubt, the contradiction -of Nicolas of Treveth might be equiponderant to his charges, if the -scale did not turn against Richard, with the heavy weight of the -impartial testimony of oriental historians. The writer of the history -of Jerusalem and Hebron, a classical work for the history of the -Crusades, says, under the title of the murder of the marquess, clearly -and distinctly: “The marquess had gone, on the 13th of the month -Rebi-ul-ewel, to visit the bishop of Tyre; on coming out, he was attacked -by two murderers, who stabbed him with their daggers. Being seized, and -put to the torture, they confessed that they were employed by the king -of England. They were put to death with torments.”[215] - -The same work contains still farther traits of Richard’s craft and -perfidy, which stain his character but too deeply, and justify but too -much the suspicion of his being accessory to this murder. Thus, his -imprisonment by Leopold of Austria, a near relation of the marquess of -Tyre, seems to have been but a measure of reprisal, for the death of -his kinsman. - -While the English, to remove from their monarch the suspicion of this -assassination, and to liberate him the sooner from his captivity, -forged the above-mentioned letter[216] of the Old Man of the Mountain, -to Leopold of Austria; they, at the same time, and with the same -view, concocted a second, which is mentioned by William of Newbury, -as having been sent by the grand-master to Philip Augustus, King of -France. This letter, like the first, bears the marks of a counterfeit -on its front.[217] The grand-master of the Assassins is made to call -himself “_simplicitas nostra_;” which we cannot allow our simplicity -to err so far as to believe. In this palpably apocryphal writing, the -Old Man of the Mountain assures the king of France, that it had never -entered into his thoughts to send to France, at the desire of Richard, -Assassins with regicidal designs. - -This letter, the falsehood of which is still more manifest than that -of the former one, proves, instead of acquitting Richard, that the -murder of the marquess of Montferrat had drawn upon him the suspicion -of a similar attempt against the king of France. Rigord,[218] the -historian of Philip Augustus, relates, that while the king was in -Pontoise, in the year 1192, being apprised by letters from Palestine, -that Richard meditated his assassination, he established, for his -security, a body-guard, armed with iron maces; and William Quiart,[219] -who, a century after, wrote a rhyming history, openly ascribes the -whole murderous system of the Assassins to the king of England, who -had young men educated in the principles of blind obedience to his -cruel commands, in order to sacrifice the king of France; upon which, -the latter instituted his guard of _sergens à masses_. Even if these -precautions were groundless and exaggerated, they, nevertheless, were -occasioned by the known deeds and character of Richard. The murder of -Conrad of Montferrat, thus gave rise to the English king’s captivity -in Austria; and, likewise, to the institution of the first royal -body-guard in France. - -It may, perhaps, appear a thankless and vain labour, to wish to justify -the order of the Assassins, who are charged with a thousand manifest -murders, from the guilt of the thousand and first; but the duty of -impartiality imposes this task on the historian who remains faithful -to truth, although it may neither acquit, nor condemn. Whether the -order, in the person of Philip Augustus, attempted the life of one -prince more or less—whether the grand-master directed the poniards of -the murderers, who slew the marquess of Montferrat, moved by private -revenge, or by the desire of Richard, is of little consequence; -participation in murder does not lessen the guilt of the crime. - -We shall not, therefore, stop to inquire whether the Arab Assassin, -found in the camp of Frederic Barbarossa, at the siege of Milan, in the -year 1158,[220] and against whom the emperor received timely warning, -came from Spain or Syria; whether he was in the pay of the pope, or the -grand-master of the Ismailites; or, whether Frederic was destined to -fall a victim to the Old Man of the Mountain, or to him of the seven -hills. He was, on account of his campaigns in Palestine and Italy,—his -enterprises against the infidels and the papal chair, equally dreaded -by the supreme pontiffs, both of Bagdad and Rome; and the khalif on the -Tigris, would have had no less cause to rejoice at his death, than the -khalif on the Tiber. - -He, however, who profits by the commission of an atrocity, is not -always to be accused of being its author. Barbarossa’s grandson, -Frederic II., was accused by Pope Innocent IV., in the synod of -Lyons,[221] of having employed Assassins to murder the duke of Bavaria, -and was excommunicated; while Frederic, in a letter to the king of -Bohemia, charges the duke of Austria with having entertained similar -designs against himself.[222] These accusations, however, do not prove -the guilt of the accused, but only the crime of the Assassins. - -Two years after[223] the death of Conrad, Marquess of Montferrat and -Tyre, and that of Rashideddin Sinan, Henry, Count of Champagne, passed, -on his journey to Armenia, near the territory of the Assassins; the -grand-prior, the successor of Rashideddin Sinan, sent deputies to -welcome him, and to invite him to visit his fortress on his return. -The count accepted the invitation, and came; the grand-prior hastened -to meet him, and received him with great honours. He took him to -several castles and fortresses, and brought him at last to one having -very lofty turrets. On each look-out stood two guards, dressed in -white, consequently initiated in the secret doctrines. The grand-prior -told the count that these men obeyed him better than the Christians -did their princes; and, giving a signal, two of them instantly threw -themselves from the top of the tower, and were dashed to pieces at its -foot. “If you desire it,” said the grand-prior to the astonished count, -“all my whites shall throw themselves down from the battlements in -the same way.” The latter declined, and confessed, that he could not -calculate upon such obedience in his servants. - -After staying some time at the castle, he was, at his departure, loaded -with presents; and the grand-prior told him, on taking leave, that -by means of these faithful servants, he removed the enemies of the -order.[224] By this horrible example of blind submission, the prior -showed that he trod exactly in the footsteps of the founder of the -order, who had given the ambassador of Melekshah a similar proof of -the devotion of his faithful followers.[225] Jelaleddin Melekshah, -Sultan of the Seljuks, having sent an ambassador to him, to require his -obedience and fealty, the son of Sabah called into his presence several -of his initiated. Beckoning to one of them, he said, “Kill thyself!” -and he instantly stabbed himself; to another, “Throw thyself down from -the rampart!”—the next instant he lay a mutilated corpse in the moat. -On this, the grand-master turning to the envoy, who was unnerved by -terror, said, “In this way am I obeyed by seventy thousand faithful -subjects. Be that my answer to thy master.” - -As the historians of the east, as well as those of the Crusaders, -agree in their relation, we cannot, except with regard to the -extravagant amount of seventy thousand Assassins, (stated by William, -Bishop of Tyre, at sixty thousand, and James, Bishop of Acca, at forty -thousand, in which number must be included not only the initiated, -but also the profane subjects of the order), raise a tenable doubt -concerning the truth of the event, any more than with respect to the -noviciate and discipline of the catechumens of murder, of whom, the -Venetian traveller, Marco Polo, was the first[226] to give accounts, -discredited in his time, and doubted, even lately, by men of eminence. -Since, however, this narrative has been found to agree in every -point with oriental sources,[227] Marco Polo’s relation receives new -authority; and after his veracity, like that of Herodotus, has been -doubted by the sceptical for centuries, the fidelity of the father of -ancient history, and of the father of modern travels, shines, from day -to day, with a still brighter lustre, from the unanimous testimony of -eastern writers. - -In the centre of the Persian, as well as of the Assyrian, territory -of the Assassins, that is to say, both at Alamut and Massiat, were -situated, in a space surrounded by walls, splendid gardens,—true -eastern paradises. There were flower beds, and thickets of fruit trees, -intersected by canals; shady walks, and verdant glades, where the -sparkling stream bubbled at every step; bowers of roses, and vineyards; -luxurious halls, and porcelain kiosks, adorned with Persian carpets and -Grecian stuffs; where drinking-vessels of gold, silver, and crystal, -glittered on trays of the same costly materials; charming maidens and -handsome boys, black-eyed and seductive as the houris and boys of -Mohammed’s paradise, soft as the cushions on which they reposed, and -intoxicating as the wine which they presented. The music of the harp -was mingled with the songs of the birds, and the melodious tones of -the songstress, harmonized with the murmur of the brooks. Every thing -breathed pleasure, rapture, and sensuality. - -A youth, who was deemed worthy, by his strength and resolution, to -be initiated into the Assassin service, was invited to the table -and conversation of the grand-master, or grand-prior: he was then -intoxicated with henbane[228] (_hashishe_), and carried into the -garden, which, on awakening, he believed to be in Paradise: every -thing around him, the houris in particular, contributed to confirm -his delusion. After he had experienced as much of the pleasures of -Paradise, which the prophet has promised to the blessed, as his -strength would admit, after quaffing enervating delight from the eyes -of the houris, and intoxicating wine from the glittering goblets, -he sunk into the lethargy produced by debility and the opiate; on -awakening from which, after a few hours, he again found himself by the -side of his superior. The latter endeavoured to convince him, that -corporeally he had not left his side, but that spiritually he had been -wrapped into Paradise, and had then enjoyed a foretaste of the bliss -which awaits the faithful, who devote their lives to the service of the -faith, and the obedience of their chiefs. Thus did these infatuated -youths blindly dedicate themselves as the tools of murder, and eagerly -sought an opportunity to sacrifice their terrestrial, in order to -become the partakers of eternal, life. What Mohammed had promised -in the Koran to the Moslimin, but which to many might appear a fine -dream and empty promises, they had enjoyed in reality; and the joys of -heaven animated them to deeds worthy of hell. This imposture could not -remain undiscovered; and the fourth grand-master, after unveiling all -the mysteries of impiety to the people, probably revealed also to them -the joys of Paradise, which could, besides, have but little charms for -them, to whom already every thing was permitted on earth. That which -hitherto had served as a means to produce pleasure, became now itself -an object; and the effects of the intoxication of opium, were the -earnests of celestial delight, which they wanted strength to enjoy. - -To this day, Constantinople and Cairo show what an incredible charm -opium with henbane exerts on the drowsy indolence of the Turk, and -the fiery imagination of the Arab; and explains the fury with which -those youths sought the enjoyment of these rich pastiles (_hashishe_), -and the confidence produced in them, that they are able to undertake -anything or everything. From the use of these pastiles, they were -called _Hashishin_ (herb-eaters),[229] which, in the mouths of Greeks -and Crusaders, has been transformed into the word Assassin; and, as -synonymous with murder, has immortalized the history of the order in -all the languages of Europe. - - -END OF BOOK IV. - - - - -BOOK V. - - _Reigns of Jelaleddin Hassan III., Son of Mohammed Hassan - II.—and of his Son, Alaeddin Mohammed III._ - - -The retributive and avenging Fury proceeds with steady step through -the domain of history, but the traces of her silent progress are not -always visible to the eye of man. Generations have passed away, and -empires sunk in ruin, without its being possible, satisfactorily to -point out the remote and proximate causes of their fall. The judgment -of the conscientious historian stands, then, in the middle point, -between blind scepticism on the one hand, and rash credulity on the -other. He avoids the explaining of events as an officious interpreter -of Providence, no less than wishing to behold in their progress, -nothing but the concatenation of blind necessity. On the other hand, -incidents emerge, from time to time, from the ocean of history, under -the same circumstances and forms, and in which it is as impossible not -to perceive the hand of heaven, as it is to overlook the operation of -submarine fire in the formation of a new island. As in the extensive -department of acoustics, different nations have appropriated different -sounds to one and the same object, and have expressed it by different -words,—hence, the variety of languages; so, in the many-toned domain -of history, one and the same occurrence has been passed unnoticed by -many nations, and, by many others, viewed and represented in different -lights. Hence the variety of histories, according to the difference of -the characters and genius of countries and nations. - -The universally opposed _polarity_, if we may so express it, of the -east and the west, appears even in the different mode of writing -history. Some events are related by European, some by oriental writers, -and when they coincide, the same occurrence is viewed in an entirely -different light. What escapes the one is seized by the other, and -the latter considers attentively what the other passes over. How -very different are the judgments of eastern and western historians, -concerning the original condition of mankind, the rise of kingdoms, the -institution of religions, the developement of civilization, the horrors -of despotism, the struggles of liberty, and the continued connexion of -causes and effects! Where the one views immutable necessity, the other -perceives very often blind chance; and what is deemed by the latter the -consequence of a present crime, appears to the former the punishment of -one long past. This, however, is not the place to proceed farther with -these remarks; yet we have an opportunity of advantageously applying -them to the next event which we shall have to consider. - -The people of the east have the highest notions of the sanctity of -filial duty and paternal authority; to them the patriarchal is the -exemplar of the most perfect government. Though the violations of -filial piety, and the crimes of unnatural sons, are punished in the -west as in the east, and though parricides in no region escape the -vengeance of heaven, yet it is only oriental historians who inculcate -the experimental truth, that the curse of infanticide follows, in the -same family, parricide; and that the first murdered father is avenged -by the dagger of his grandson. - -To the disgrace of mankind, such sanguinary examples are exhibited in -the histories of the ancient Persian kings, and of the khalifs: how -could they be wanting in the history of the Assassins? Khosru Parwis -and the Khalif Mostanssur, who were stained with their fathers’ blood, -died by the hands of their sons. The resistance which Hassan, the -Enlightener, opposed to his father, was avenged on his son, Mohammed, -by his grandson, Jelaleddin; first, by similar refractoriness, and -then, it appears, by poison. - -Jelaleddin Hassan, the son of Mohammed, and grandson of Hassan, -was born in the 552d year of the Hegira, had attained the age of -twenty-five years, ere he assumed the helm of affairs, and had, -therefore, had sufficient time, during the long reign, or rather -anarchy, to make salutary reflections on the pernicious consequences -of his enlightening, and the abrogation of all ties of morality, -proceeding from it. Discontented with the innovation, which had -made public to the people and the profane, the secret doctrine of -the founder and the initiated, he openly, during his father’s life, -declared himself against it, and, by that means, drew upon himself -clouds of the darkest suspicion. The father feared the son, and the -son the father; and their mutual dread was justified by the sanguinary -examples of their predecessors. - -Mohammed’s father, Hassan II., had fallen by the poniard of one of -his nearest relations; and Hassan I. had put to death his two sons. -Father and son regarded each other reciprocally as murderers: on the -days of public audience, when the latter appeared at court, the former -wore a coat of mail under his clothes, and strengthened the guard; -but where the dagger can find no entrance, poison may; and, in fact, -as several historians affirm, Mohammed is said to have died from the -effects of poison. Jelaleddin Hassan, the third of that name among -the grand-masters of the order, stood forward as the restorer of the -true religion, according to the strictest principles of Islamism. He -prohibited every thing that his father and grandfather had declared to -be allowed; commanded the erection of mosques, the re-establishment -of the call to prayers, and the solemn assembly on Fridays. He called -round him imams, readers of the Koran, preachers, scribes, and -professors, whom he loaded with presents and favours, and appointed to -the newly-built mosques, convents and schools. - -He sent circulars, not only to the grand-priors in Syria[230] and -Kuhistan, by which he enjoined the re-establishment of Islamism among -the Ismailites, but also to the contemporary princes, to make known -to them his adhesion to the true religion. He sent ambassadors to -Nassir-ledinillah, the khalif of Bagdad; to the sultan of Transoxana, -Mohammed Khowaresmshah; and other Persian potentates, to assure them -of the purity of his faith. The khalif, the sultan, and the princes, -who considered this declaration to be sincere, received the envoys -with distinction, clothed them in pelisses of honour, gave them -re-credentials, and, for the first time, designated their lord by the -titles proper to reigning princes, and which, hitherto, none of the -preceding grand-masters could assume. The imams, and great scribes -of the time, issued formal declarations, in which they attested the -sincerity of his conversion, and the orthodoxy of his tenets; and gave -him the honorary tide of Nev Musulman, or New Musulman. - -As the inhabitants of Kaswin, who had hitherto lived in the greatest -hostility to the Ismailites, doubted the sincerity of Jelaleddin’s -religious opinions, in order to remove these doubts, he went still -farther: he requested them to send some persons of respectability -to Alamut, who should have ocular demonstration of the truth. They -appeared, and Hassan III., in their presence, burnt a number of -books, which, he affirmed, were those of the founder, Hassan I., and -the secret rules of the order. He anathematized the founder and the -grand-masters, his predecessors, and thus attained his object; which -was, that the inhabitants of Kaswin might, likewise, vouch for the -orthodoxy of his doctrine.[231] - -In the second year of Jelaleddin Hassan’s reign, his harem, that is -to say, his mother and his wife, undertook, with great pomp, the -pilgrimage to Mecca. During the progress, a standard was carried in -front, according to the custom of orthodox princes, and water was -distributed to the pilgrims. To lodge travellers, to afford them every -facility and convenience, to feed the hungry and give drink to the -thirsty, to nurse the sick and to instruct the ignorant; such are the -most meritorious of good works. Hence, were founded karavanserais, -bridges, and baths; eating-houses and fountains, hospitals and schools, -the finest monuments of Islamism, form, in the circuit of cities and -mosques, so many pious institutions. Many of these may be founded by -persons of either sex, and even by eunuchs, who belong to neither. - -The inscriptions on the mosques and other buildings, transmit to -posterity the names of sultans and sultanas, viziers and eunuchs, and -women of every rank and age. Although the latter are excluded from no -public institution, on account of sex, and build bridges and schools -as well as found hospitals and taverns, yet their names are found in -preference on mosques, baths, and fountains; probably, because prayer -and bathing are two favourite female occupations; and because, in the -east, they have nowhere an opportunity of meeting in public, except at -the mosque, the bath, and the well. According to the laws of Islamism, -also, ablution by water is as inseparable from the prescribed prayers, -five times in the day, as purity and devotion from the existence of -woman: baths and fountains, therefore, are a necessary assistance to -the entrance to the mosque of the female sex, who are naturally so -devout. Wells, at which water is distributed gratis to the passers-by, -have a still closer relation to the piety of Ismailitic women, as is -indicated by their name, Sebil. - -Sebil, in Arabic, “the way,” means generally the road, and the -traveller is hence called _Ibn-es-sebil_, the son of the road; but it -more particularly signifies the way of piety and good works, which -leads to Paradise. Whatever meritorious work the Moslem undertakes, -he does, _Fi sebil Allah_, on the way of God, or for the love of -God; and the most meritorious which he can undertake is the holy war, -or the fight for his faith and his country, _on God’s way_.[232] -But, since pious women can have no immediate share in the contest, -every thing which they can contribute to the nursing of the wounded, -and the refreshment of the exhausted, is imputed to them as equally -meritorious, as if they had fought themselves. The distribution of -water to the exhausted and wounded warriors, is the highest female -merit in the holy war on God’s way. - -War is the first of the good works commanded by God; after it comes -the pilgrimage, the difficulties of which, in the burning deserts -of Arabia, are an image of those of a real campaign; and after the -support of the warrior, that of the pilgrim, is the finest virtue in -a beneficent woman. Hence, the distribution of water (_sebil_) to the -caravans, the making of wells and aqueducts on the way to Mecca, have -ever been a splendid object of the piety and ambition of Mohammedan -princesses, from Zobeide, the wife of the Khalif Harun Rashid, down -to the Ottoman sultanas. Jelaleddin’s wife’s distribution of water -surpassed even that of the wife of Khowaresmshah, the powerful -sovereign of Transoxana; and the Khalif Nassir-ledinillah, gave -Jelaleddin’s standard the precedence of that of Khowaresmshah, which -circumstance afforded the first motive to the great dissensions and -earnest contest between the khalif and the shah of Khowaresm. - -The latter advanced with no less than three hundred thousand men -against the “_City of Salvation_.” The khalif sent the celebrated -Sheikh Shehabeddin Sehewerdi as ambassador to the enemy’s camp; this -learned envoy commenced a long and flowery oration, in praise of -the family of Abbas, and the reigning khalif. Khowaresmshah, on the -signification of the speech being communicated to him, replied, “’Tis -well! he, who, as successor of the prophet, and clothed in his mantle -commands the faithful, should possess such properties, but none of them -are to be found in the descendants of the family of Abbas.” - -The sheikh returned without attaining his object, and Khowaresmshah -advanced with his armament as far as Hamadan and Holwan, when a sudden -drifting snow-storm checked his farther progress, and compelled him to -retreat. As he was preparing for his second expedition against Bagdad, -his army was overthrown on the confines of Kashgar, by the hordes of -Jengis Khan. When Khowaresmshah’s son and successor, Alaeddin Tekesh, -in execution of his father’s plan against Bagdad, had advanced as far -as Hamadan, a twenty days’ snow-storm stopped him in his march.[233] -Winter, and the Mongols, who rushed like snow-flakes from the north, -for that time preserved the khalif city from destruction; a destruction -destined afterwards to befal it at the hands of the latter. Jelaleddin, -who saw no means of withstanding the approaching storm, secretly sent -ambassadors to Jengis Khan, to offer him, as well as to the khalif, his -homage and submission. - -In this manner, the chieftain of the Ismailites, attained not only -the reputation of unsullied orthodoxy, but also the actual rank of a -sovereign prince, which the khalif had constantly refused preceding -grand-masters. He supported his increasing credit by amicable relations -and alliances with the neighbouring princes; and, in particular, -maintained a good understanding with his nearest neighbour, the Atabeg -Mosafereddin, the lord of Aran and Aserbijan. They combined against -Nassireddin Mangeli, the governor of Irak, who had declared war against -the atabeg, and invaded the territory of the Ismailites. Jelaleddin -went from Alamut to Aserbijan, where he was received by the atabeg -with great splendour, and loaded with presents. His army likewise -experienced the liberality of the atabeg in the amplest manner: a -thousand dinars were carried, every day, to Jelaleddin’s residence, -for the maintenance of his kitchen only. - -The two allied princes sent ambassadors to Bagdad, desiring the -khalif’s aid against the governor of Irak. Nassir-ledinillah sent -several of his most distinguished men with full powers. Encouraged by -this embassy, and reinforced with subsidiary troops, they advanced -against Irak, defeated and killed the governor, Nassireddin Mangeli, -and appointed another in his stead.[234] After an absence of eighteen -months, Jelaleddin returned to his fortress of Alamut. As, during his -journey and campaigns, he had everywhere proclaimed his abhorrence of -the system of his ancestors, and had corroborated his declaration by -his prudent conduct, the chiefs of Islamism universally met him with -kindness and friendship.[235] - -He was desirous of cementing his alliance by a closer family union -with the princes and viceroys of Khilan: they, however, replied, that, -without the khalif’s consent, they could not comply with his wishes. -Jelaleddin sent an ambassador to Bagdad, and Nassir-ledinillah granted -his viceroys permission to ally themselves with Jelaleddin: he received -in marriage the daughter of Keikawus, who bore him his successor, -Alaeddin Mohammed. - -In order not to confound this Keikawus, viceroy of Khilan, with his -namesake, the Prince of Ruyan, of the family Kawpara (which might the -more easily occur, as both have been hitherto unknown to European -historians), we have purposely omitted to speak of the latter, who had -already, half a century before, entered into political relations with -the Ismailites, his next neighbours. We shall now embrace, at one view, -the fifty years’ contemporaneity of the grand-masters of the Assassins, -and the princes of the house of Kawpara, or Dabuye. It is, however, -necessary to premise a few words, concerning the geographical position -of the northern neighbours of the Ismailites. - -The mountain range, which bounds the Persian Irak Jebal on the north, -is, as it were, the bulwark of Persia, against the Caspian Sea. The -partly flat, and partly hilly country, lying between it and the -northern declivity of this chain, is divided into four provinces; so -that two of them are situated immediately at the foot of the mountains, -and the other two lie between the former and the sea coast. Dilem and -Thaberistan are to the south, and on the declivity of the mountains; -the former to the west, the latter to the east; beyond them lie Gilan -and Mazanderan; the former to the north of Dilem, the latter of -Thaberistan. This quadruply-divided territory is bounded on the north -by the Caspian Sea, and on the south by the above-mentioned mountains, -on the southern side of which the domain of the Ismailites extended -from Alamut, the seat of government, south-easterly, to Komis and -Kuhistan. - -Almost in the centre of these four provinces, beyond the Caspian -Alps, which maps distinguish with precision, lies the unnoticed -district of Ruyan and Rostemdar, ruled by its native princes, whose -family maintained its stand, uninterruptedly, for eight centuries; -while in Gilan, Dilem, Thaberistan, and Mazanderan, dynasties rose -and fell. As the territory of Ruyan and Rostemdar lie immediately on -one side of Mount Demawend and Alamut, and its subordinate places on -the other, these rulers of Rostemdar demand our attention, as the -nearest neighbours of the Assassins, and, after them, the lords of -Mazanderan, as the most powerful of this pentarchy. Both these ruling -families, and the country over which they held sway, possess, besides -the interest attaching to them, as being connected with the history of -the Assassins, one more peculiar, and hitherto unnoticed in European -histories; one which arises from the antiquity of their origin, and the -exceedingly ancient monuments of the Persian empire, still existing -in these provinces. In the time of the ancient Persian monarchy, the -family of Hanefshah reigned in Thaberistan and Mazanderan, till Korad, -the father of Nushirvan, transferred the government of this country to -his eldest son, Keyuss. Keyuss revolted against his brother Nushirvan, -who had ascended the throne of Persia, and succumbed to his arms. One -of his descendants, called Bawend, successfully re-asserted the rights -of his predecessors, in the 45th year of the Hegira; and the family -Bawend, of the blood of Nushirvan, although twice interrupted by the -Dilemides and Alides, reigned for a period of seven hundred years, -until, after their third fall, the dynasty Jelawi arose on their ruin. - -No less venerable than this race of the lords of Mazanderan, to whom, -likewise, Kuhistan owed obedience, was that of the family Dabuye, or -Kawpara, which reigned, uninterruptedly, from the 40th year of the -Hegira, when Baduspan possessed himself of the sovereignty of Ruyan and -Rostemdar; to the 888th, when the family Keyumers supplied their place. -Baduspan was a descendant of that blacksmith, so famous in the history -of the east, Kawe by name, who overthrew the tyrant Sohak, and hoisted -his leathern apron for a flag; which, adorned with pearls and jewels, -glittered till the end of the monarchy, as the national standard. -Feridun, the legitimate heir, whose right to the throne the magnanimous -smith proclaimed, was not only born in this province, in the village -Weregi, the oldest place in Thaberistan, but also secretly educated -there, during the reign of the tyrant.[236] - -His mother had taken refuge there, and had fed the child with the -milk of a buffalo-cow (_Kaw_, _cow_), the head of which, sculptured -on Feridun’s mace, has become no less celebrated among the national -insignia, than the leathern apron. It was, then, from the mountains of -Thaberistan, that the young hero commenced the fight for freedom, which -the smith (Kawe) maintained in the capital. Sohak was made prisoner -near Babylon, and confined in the village of Weregi, at the foot of -Demawend, whence freedom issued, and where tyranny expired. Feridun -divided his kingdom among his three sons, Iredj, Turan, and Salem, and -retired into his native land, to Temishe Kuti; which, according to the -Shah Nameh, formed a triangle with the cities, Sari and Kurgan, the -ancient Astrabad. Iredj having fallen in a contest with his brothers, -his son Menutshehr, excited by his grandfather Feridun, undertook to -avenge him. The bones of the three brothers repose at Sari, under an -edifice of stone, which has resisted the efforts of centuries, and of -thousands of men, who have endeavoured to destroy it. - -The plains and glens of Thaberistan were the scene of the splendid -battles of Menutshehr and Afrasiab, when Iran resisted the irruption -of Turan: the whole country is, in fact, as may be perceived from this -cursory topographical notice, the classic ground of ancient Persian -history. Besides the descendants of Nushirvan’s brother, and of the -liberator, Feridun, and the families of Bawend and Kawpara, whose -origin mounts to the highest Persian antiquity, that of Keyumers,[237] -which reigned from the fall of the Kawpara, to the foundation of the -empire of the Sefi, trace their descent from the king of the same -name, who appears so darkly through the remote clouds of historical -traditions, that many writers actually confound the first Persian king -with the first man. - -Nevertheless, this family is, as far as we know, the last which has -traced its origin, authentically, to the ancient Persian kings. Chance -has, in the conformity of the names of the first and last sovereign, -repeated the play of words, which appears in history, in the fall -of several great kingdoms. The first and last rulers of the eastern -and western Roman empires, of the Seljukides, of the governors of -Thaberistan, of the prophets of the Moslimin, and of the last of -his successors of the family of Abbas, had similar names. The names -of Augustus, Constantine, Mohammed, Togrul, Keyumers, commence and -terminate the series of Roman, Byzantine, Arabian, Seljukian, and -Persian royal families; and, perhaps, the European Turkish empire will -end, as it began, with an Othman. - -After this glance at the great interest, which the country immediately -bordering on the Ismailitic territory, to the north, presents to the -lover of oriental history, both in a topographical and historical -point of view, we shall again direct our attention to the rulers of -Ruyan and Rostemdar, who, together, are called, Astandar. Astan means -mountain, in the language of Thaberistan, a language entirely unknown -in Europe; and Astandar, ruler of the mountains, is equivalent to the -appellation, Sheikh-al-jebal, or the Old Man of the Mountain; that -is, the grand-master of the Assassins. The latter shared this title, -derived from the character of his territory, not only with the families -of Kawpara, but also with that of Bawend, who ruled over Mazanderan, -and, before the Ismailites, over Kuhistan; and also with the chiefs of -the highlands beyond Demawend. Astan, Jebal, Kuh, are Thaberistanish, -Arabic, and Persian words, signifying mountain. The sovereigns of the -family Kawpara, called themselves Astandar, or Prince of the Mountains, -as the grand-master of the Assassins, swaying the sceptre on the other -side, was named Sheikh-al-jebal, Old Man of the Mountain.[238] - -Astandar Keikawus Ben Hesarasf reigned in the first half of the -sixth century of the Hegira, at Ruyan, on the one side of the Alps, -while, on the other, flourished, as lord of the mountain, at Alamut, -Mohammed, son of Busurgomid, grand-master of the Assassins. The -innate hostility, existing between the Ismailites and all legitimate -governments, was still more increased, by the natural jealousy of -proximity, and by the friendly alliance between Keikawus and Shah -Gazi, Prince of Thaberistan. The latter was one of the greatest and -most implacable enemies of the Assassins, whose hatred against those -foes of government and faith, was spurred on by motives of personal -revenge. The Assassins had murdered, as he was coming out of the bath, -at Sarkhos, the shah’s favourite, an exceedingly handsome youth, whom -he had sent with a thousand cavalry to the court of Sandjar. Shah Gasi -buried him with great pomp, near the tomb of the Imam Ali Mussa, and -erected a vaulted chapel over his grave, richly endowed with the lands -of the surrounding villages. - -From this moment he never paused in the persecution of the murderers, -who, after bereaving him of what was dearer than life itself, -threatened to deprive him of that also. His general, Shelku, made -a nocturnal incursion into the Ismailitic territory, and immolated -with the sword, many thousands of the “initiated to the dagger,” and -erected, in Rudbar, five towers formed of their skulls. Shah Gasi -sent first against them, his brother-in-law, the prince of Dilem, Kia -Busurgomid, of the same name as the then grand-master of the Assassins; -and, after his death, the prince of Ruyan. Thus were irreconciliably -opposed to each other, Kia Busurgomid, of Dilem, against Kia -Busurgomid, of Alamut; the highland chieftain of one side of the Alps, -to the Old Man of the other.[239] - -When Keikawus, after the death of his nephew, Kia Busurgomid, of Dilem, -united the government of that province with the lordship of Ruyan -and Rostemdar, Shah Gasi, of Thaberistan, remitted the sum of thirty -thousand dinars, which Dilemistan paid, as tribute to his treasury; -but on condition, that he should maintain a continued war against the -order of the Assassins. The effect of this was, that, at that period, -they dared not show themselves anywhere in Ruyan, Mazanderan, and -Dilem, and that the Moslimin of those provinces were safe from their -daggers. Keikawus undertook some expeditions against Alamut itself, and -plundered and ravaged the surrounding country. He wrote a letter to -the grand-master Kia Mohammed, in the following words:— - -“May the life of the infidel, the wicked, the accursed, the base, the -reprobate, be extirpated from the face of the earth; may the Almighty -God annihilate his house, and the angel of torment prepare his dwelling -in hell! God, the most high, has not in vain commanded to the faithful -and the pious, the destruction of the infidel and the atheist. The -greatest grace and highest favour of the Almighty, is shown in this; -that the flaming sword of perdition is waving over your heads and -country; that ye, having recourse to empty arrogance and senseless -cunning, hemmed in on all sides, are now like the hunted fox, lost in -the brake. What hinders ye now from showing your manhood, against us, -who sit publicly every where, without chamberlains or door-keepers, -guard or officers? against me, your greatest foe on God’s earth?” - -The grand-master replied in the style of the order, laconically, and -cutting as their stilettoes:— - -“We have read thy letter; the contents are insults, and insult recoils -on the insulter.”[240] - -The successor of Keikawus, Astandar Hasarasf, son of Shehrnush, struck -into an entirely different line of policy. Weary of the war against -the Assassins, he concluded a treaty of peace and amity, resigned -his strongest castles to them, and even abandoned himself to the -extravagances of drunkenness. - -Two of the grandees of his court, whom he had injured by killing the -favourite of one, and the brother of the other, fled to Erdeshir, King -of Mazanderan; they complained that their prince, allied with the -Assassins, even trod in their steps; and represented that, if the king -should suffer this to proceed unresented, the murderers would soon -spread themselves through Mazanderan, and cause universal desolation. -Erdeshir entered into the spirit of this representation, retained the -complainants at his court, and despatched a person of distinction to -Hasarasf, to admonish him to more reasonable conduct. The admonition -being ineffectual, his nobles deserted him, and fled to Erdeshir’s -court; others took up arms against him, supported by Erdeshir with an -army. Hasarasf, thus abandoned, went over to the Assassins, with whom -he sought refuge. - -Shah Erdeshir appointed the Seid Eddai Ilulhaki Aburisa, governor of -Dilem. In a nocturnal attack, executed by Hasarasf, supported by the -Ismailites, the seid was slain; and Shah Erdeshir swore that he would -not rest, till he had revenged the murder of the seid, with the death -of Hasarasf: the latter fled to the strong castle, Welidj. Erdeshir -took Nur and Nadju, and besieged Welidj for a considerable time; -finding, however, the investment of it too difficult, he retreated, -and appointed Hesbereddin Khurshid, viceroy of Ruyan and Rostemdar, in -place of Hasarasf. The latter went into Irak, and thence to Hamadan, -where he sought protection from Togrul, the last sultan of the Persian -line of the Seljukides. - -Togrul sent an ambassador to Erdeshir, to intercede for Hasarasf; -the shah of Mazanderan replied: “If Hasarasf wishes to regain the -sovereignty of Ruyan, let him do penance for his impiety, and break -off his connexion with the Assassins; or the sultan may point out -another place, where he may be beyond the alliance of the order of -murderers.” The Seljukide sultan approved of the decision of the king -of Mazanderan. Hasarasf fled to Rei, where he sought the hand of the -daughter of Serajeddin Kamil, and aid from his father-in-law. Being -unable to effect his purpose, he went straight with his brother, to -Shah Erdeshir, who wished to confine him to the castle of Welidj. The -commandant, who had formerly served under Hasarasf, refused to imprison -his former lord; at length, however, Hasarasf terminated his unquiet -life, being murdered by Hesbereddin, unknown to Erdeshir. - -The shah caused his infant son to be brought up, but ere he attained -his majority and the government of Ruyan, he fell by the hand of -one Bistun, who pretended to the sovereignty. The murderer fled to -Alamut, which had ever been the safest asylum for such criminals. The -grand-master immediately offered to deliver him up, if Erdeshir would, -in return, surrender the village of Herdjan to the order. Erdeshir -would not consent, but replied to the envoy, “What is a wretch like -Bistun, that I should yield one of my possessions to the Assassins for -him?” This happened in the 610th year of the Hejira, that is, in the -third of the re-establishment of Islamism, by the grand-master, Nev -Musulman, who, on offering to give up the murderer, remained, indeed, -true to his newly-adopted system of restoring religion, yet at the same -time made this measure of policy subordinate to the interest of the -order. - -Although no murder stains the history of Jelaleddin’s reign, and so far -his conduct was in full accordance with his system, the historian is, -nevertheless, compelled not only to question the purity of his motives, -but also the sincerity of his return to the doctrines of Islamism. -Two circumstances place this in a very suspicious light. In the first -place, the just mentioned refusal to deliver up the murderer, who had -sought within the walls of Alamut, the usual sanctuary of impiety, -unless in return for the cession of a village; secondly, in the burning -of the books, when Jelaleddin pretended to celebrate an _auto da fe_, -of the works and rubrics of former grand-masters, in order to convince -the deputies from Kaswin of the truth of his conversion. In this, -however, it is probable that he consumed the works of the dogmatists -and fathers of Islamism, while the great library of free-thinking and -immorality, together with the metaphysical and theological works of -Hassan Sabah, the founder, were preserved, though secretly, and only, -as we shall see below, devoted to the flames on the fall of Alamut and -dissolution of the order. - -It is, therefore, more than probable, that Jelaleddin’s conversion of -the Ismailites to Islamism, so loudly proclaimed abroad, and his public -abjuration of the doctrine of impiety, was nothing else than hypocrisy -and deeply designed policy, in order to re-establish the credit of the -order, which had been exposed to the anathemas of priests, and the -ban of princes, by the inconsiderate publication of their doctrines, -and to gain for himself the title of prince, instead of the dignity -of grand-master. Thus the Jesuits, when they were threatened with -expulsion by the parliament, and with a bull of dissolution from the -Vatican,—when, on all sides, the voices of cabinets and countries -rose against the principles of their morals and policy,—denied their -doctrine of lawful rebellion and regicide, which had been imprudently -hinted at by some of their casuists, and openly condemned the maxims -which they, nevertheless, secretly observed as the true rules of the -order. - -This assertion of a purer moral system and genuine Christianity, -availed little in reinstating in the possession of their former -greatness and power, the once unmasked and exposed order of the -Jesuits; and equally small success had the Assassins, in regaining -their preceding influence and authority, by this system of proselytism, -which was preached from every pulpit. The twelve years’ reign of -Jelaleddin was too short to efface from the minds of the people the -traces of a system which had lasted fifty years. Under his son and -successor, the Ismailites sank anew into their old habits of impiety -and crime, by which they and their forefathers have been the abhorrence -of the world and the outcasts of mankind. Poison had put an end to the -bloody reign of Mohammed II. the predecessor and father of Jelaleddin; -it likewise accelerated the accession of his son, and successor, -Alaeddin Mohammed III., a boy of nine years of age. The poisoned -goblet, which had supplied the place of the poniard, was now replaced -by it. The dagger raged unceasingly, by order of the boy, among his -own relatives, who were accused as accomplices in the poisoning of his -father. According to the doctrine of the Ismailites, the imam, even -though a youth, is always considered as having attained his majority, -and the efficiency of his commands is neither enfeebled by the age of -childhood nor the childishness of age. His orders require unlimited -obedience, as emanating from the higher power, centered in the -vice-gerent of the Deity, and the Ismailites blindly followed the deadly -behests of the young prince, by which their hands, for twelve years -unused to the dagger, again became accustomed to it. - - -_Reign of Alaeddin Mohammed III., Son of Jelaleddin Hassan Nev -Musulman._ - -Although, in the warm climate of Arabia and Persia, human nature -arrives sooner at maturity, and the intellect sooner attains the -freedom of independence, than in the colder region of Europe, we can -more easily conceive a maiden of nine to be marriageable, than a boy -of the same age to be capable of governing. It appears more natural -that Aishe should, at the age of nine, have become the bride of the -prophet Mohammed, than that his namesake should, at the same age, -have assumed the throne of the Assassin sovereignty. If this is not -surprising, still less is it so that the boy, scarcely emancipated -from the care of the harem, should surrender to it both himself, and -the administration of affairs. The women governed, and Alaeddin amused -himself with feeding sheep, while the Assassins, as heretofore, raged -as wolves in the folds of Islamism. All the wise ordinances, which -Jelaleddin, the new Musulman, had instituted for the advantage of -religion and morality, were abolished by Alaeddin, the new infidel. -Atheism and licentiousness again raised their heads, and the dagger was -once more red with the blood of virtue and merit. In the fifth year of -his reign, Alaeddin, having bled himself without the knowledge of his -physician, an excessive loss of blood threw him into a deep depression -and melancholy, from which he never recovered. From that time, no one -ventured to propose to him any remedies, either for himself, or the -disorders of his government. Whoever spoke anything in the least -displeasing to him, concerning political affairs, received torture or -death for his answer; thus every thing was concealed from him, whether -domestic or foreign, and he was without any friends or advisers, who -could venture to lay representations before him. The evil increased -beyond all measure; the finances, the army, the administration, sunk -into the fathomless abyss of utter ruin. - -Alaeddin, nevertheless, treated the Sheikh Jemaleddin Ghili with great -reverence; he was entirely devoted to him, and sent him an annual -pension of five hundred dinars, on which the sheikh lived, although -he enjoyed besides a gratuity from the prince of Farsistan. The -inhabitants of Kaswin reproached him for distributing the latter, and -living on the money of the impious; the sheikh replied, “The imams -declare the executions of the Ismailites and the confiscation of their -goods to be lawful; how much more lawful, then, is it, to make use of -the money and goods which they give of their own accord!” Alaeddin, to -whose ears, probably, this talk of the Kaswiners came, affirmed that he -spared them only on the sheikh’s account; and that if Jemaleddin Ghili -did not reside there, he would fill sacks with the earth of Kaswin, and -hang them on the necks of its inhabitants, and drive them to Alamut. He -ordered a messenger, who gave him a letter of the sheikh’s once when -he was intoxicated, to receive a hundred blows of the bastinado, and -said to him, “Thoughtless and foolish man that thou wert, for giving -me a letter of the sheikh’s when I was intoxicated; thou shouldst have -waited till I had come from the bath, and recovered my senses.”[241] -Besides the sheikh, Alaeddin held in considerable estimation the great -mathematician, Nassireddin, of Tus, who had been sent as a hostage to -Alamut, by Mohammed Motashem Nassireddin, to whom he had dedicated -his celebrated work, Akhlaki Nasseri (_the Ethics of Nassir_). He, -as we shall soon see, as prime minister of Alaeddin’s successor, -supported, for a time, the tottering edifice of the Ismailitic rule; -it fell, however, at last, affording to the world a remarkable proof, -of what talents and a thirst for revenge, are able to effect in the -maintenance, and overthrow of thrones. - -During the reign of this weak prince, there took place the following -negotiation with Sultan Jelaleddin Mankberni, the last of the -sultans of Khowaresm, according to the relation of an eye-witness. -On his return from India, he had appointed the Emir Orkhan, governor -of Nishabur, immediately bordering on the possessions of the -Ismailites.[242] Orkhan’s lieutenant, in his absence, ravaged, by -bloody and repeated attacks, the territories of Tim and Kain, the -capitals of Kuhistan and the principal seat of the Assassins. One of -the latter, Kemaleddin, came as ambassador, to request the suspension -of hostilities; Orkhan’s lieutenant, however, deigned to give no other -answer than the silent but emphatical one, of drawing several daggers -from his girdle, and throwing them on the ground, before the envoy, -signifying, either that he wished to show his contempt for the daggers -of the Assassins, or that he would have him to understand that he would -meet dagger with dagger. This hieroglyphical style of embassy is a -chief feature in the diplomacy of the east, which not only speaks to -women in the language of flowers, but also to princes, by images and -symbols rather than words. The most ingenious messages of this kind -mentioned by eastern writers, are those which passed between Alexander -and the Indian king, Porus, who endeavoured to surpass each other in -subtilty and vaunting. They terminated in Alexander’s sending for a -cock to pick up the corn which was shaken from a sack before him: -intimating that though the hosts of the Indians should be as numerous -as the grains of corn, the Greeks, as brave as game cocks, would soon -swallow them up. A companion to this hieroglyphic of the cock, is -afforded in that of the dead hen, which Alexander is said to have -sent to Darius, concerning the claim of the tribute of golden eggs or -besana (beisa, meaning an egg), to explain to him, that the hen which -had laid these golden eggs was dead. These, and similar hieroglyphical -embassies, were as little effectual in settling the quarrel between -Darius and Alexander, as they were in the case of the Ismailites, who -resolved to procure for themselves that satisfaction which had been -denied them. - -While Sultan Mankberni was residing at Kendja,[243] Orkhan was attacked -without the city walls by three Assassins, and killed on the spot; they -then, with their bloody daggers in their hands, entered the city, and -shouted the name of the grand-master, Alaeddin: they thus proclaimed -the power and sovereignty of their superior in a manner most befitting -a combination of homicides, namely, by blood and unsheathed poniards. -They sought the vizier, Sherfal-mulk (_nobility of the kingdom_), in -the divan of his house, but not finding him there, he being with the -sultan, they wounded one of his servants, as a token of their visit; -they ran through the streets of the city, and declared themselves -to be Assassins, in which capacity, they had already, at the grand -vizier’s residence, left dagger wounds instead of a visiting card; -their insolence, however, did not go, this time, unpunished; the people -crowded together, and put them to death with a shower of stones.[244] - -In the meanwhile, an Ismailite envoy, Bedreddin Ahmed by name, -having travelled as far as Barlekan, on his way from Alamut to the -sultan’s court, on being informed of the above occurrence, inquired -of Sherfal-mulk, the vizier, whether he should continue his journey -forwards, or return; the vizier, knowing the enterprising vigour of -the Assassins, and dreading the fate of Orkhan, answered that he -might come in all security; and on his arrival, the vizier applied -all his energies to the satisfaction of his demands, which were the -suspension of the ravages of the Ismailite territory, and the cession -of the fortress of Damaghan. The vizier succeeded in having the first -point promised, and the second was allowed, in a solemn instrument, in -consideration of the annual sum of thirty thousand pieces of gold. The -sultan departed on a journey to Aserbijan, and the envoy remained as -the vizier’s guest. - -At a grand banquet, the wine having already mounted to their heads, the -envoy said to his host, that, in the immediate retinue of the sultan, -among his guards, marshals, and pages, there were several Ismailis. -The vizier, curious to become acquainted with these dangerous unknown, -entreated the ambassador to produce them, and gave him his handkerchief -as a pledge that no harm should befal him. Immediately five of the most -confidential of his chamberlains stepped forward as disguised Assassins. - -“On such a day, at such an hour,” said one of them, an Indian, to the -vizier, “I could have murdered thee with impunity, and unobserved; and, -if I did not, it was merely from the want of my superior’s command.” - -The vizier terrified, and apparently naturally timid, and still more -so when intoxicated, stripped off his clothes, threw himself, in his -shirt, at the feet of the five murderers, conjuring them, by their own -lives, to spare his; and protesting, that he would be a more faithful -slave of the grand-master, Alaeddin, than of the Sultan Mankberni. - -The sultan, on hearing of the cowardly baseness of his vizier, sent him -an angry message, with the command to burn the five Ismailites alive. -Sherfal-mulk would gladly have avoided the execution of this command; -at length, he reluctantly obeyed, and caused the five Assassins to -be thrown on the pile, in the flames of which they deemed themselves -happy, in being the sacrifice of their master, Alaeddin. Kemaleddin, -the superintendent of the pages, whose duty it was, more than that of -any other officer of the court, to watch over the immediate retinue of -the sultan, was condemned to death, for admitting Assassins among the -pages. The sultan then departed for Irak, and the vizier remained in -the province of Aserbijan, and with him the relater of this occurrence, -Abulfatah Nissawi. While they were staying at Berdaa, Salaheddin came -from Alamut, as ambassador of the grand-master, who, being admitted -to an audience of the vizier, spoke as follows:—“Thou hast sacrificed -five Ismailis to the flames; to ransom thy life, pay for each of these -unhappy men the sum of ten thousand pieces of gold.” - -The vizier, confounded by the message, treated the envoy with -distinction, and then commanded his secretary, Abulfatah Nissawi, -to prepare a deed in due form, by which he bound himself to pay the -Ismailis the annual sum of ten thousand ducats, in addition to the -thirty thousand due from them to the sultan’s treasury. At so dear a -rate did emirs and viziers purchase a respite of their lives from the -daggers of the Assassins, which were constantly pointed against their -breasts. - -Alaeddin could seek counsel from the Sheikh Jemaleddin, and the -astronomer, Nassireddin, in spiritual and temporal affairs, in -objects of politics and science; but neither of them could afford -him a remedy for his diseased brain and mental malady. To find a -skilful physician, he applied by embassies to the Lord of Farsistan, -the Atabeg Mosafareddin Ebubekr, who endeavoured to gratify him, -from the natural dread of the dagger, common to all the princes of -the time, and which made them incline to fulfil the wishes of the -prince of the Ismailites.[245] He despatched the Imam Behaeddin, son -of Siaeddin Elgarsuni, one of the first physicians, distinguished -alike by his theoretical science and his practical art; who employed -his attainments, not without some success, in the cure of Alaeddin. -When the latter was somewhat better, he could never obtain license to -return. For this once, it was not the death of the sick, but of the -convalescent, that released the physician. Alaeddin died, not from the -consequences of his early loss of blood, but from the usual remedy of -the order,—assassination. - -Ambition, and the fear of not attaining the supreme power till late, -or not at all, was the cause of his murder, as it had been of similar -preceding ones. Alaeddin had several sons, and had declared the eldest -of them, Rokneddin, while yet a child, his successor. As he grew in -years, he was honoured as their superior, by the Ismailites, who made -no difference between his commands and those of his father. Alaeddin, -irritated by this premature obedience,[246] declared that the right of -succession was transferred to another of his sons; but the Ismailites -paid no attention to this declaration, in accordance with the received -maxim of their sect, that the first declaration is always the true one, -and that with it the business ends. Our readers may recollect a similar -example, in the history of the Egyptian khalif, Mostanssur, mentioned -in the second book, who first declared his son Nisar, and afterwards, -being compelled by the Emir-ol-juyush, his younger son, Mosteali, as -his successor; whence arose the great schism of the Ismailites, some -adopting the side of Nisar, and others that of Mosteali. - -Hassan Sabah, the founder of the Assassins, who was at that time in -Egypt, was obliged to quit the country, as he belonged to the former; -and much the more natural was the prepossession of the Ismailites, -which, in the spirit of their founder, decided in favour of the first -declaration. Rokneddin, fearing for his life, which was threatened by -his father, resolved to retire from the court, and to wait in some -strong castle for the moment which should call him to the government. - -The same year, Alaeddin afforded likewise matter of suspicion to -several of his grandees, and occasion to look after their personal -safety. They concealed their well-grounded fears, under the mask of the -most fawning adulation, and conspired with Rokneddin against Alaeddin’s -life, in order to secure their own. Hassan of Masenderan, no Ismailite, -but a Musulman, but who stained his faith by a disgraceful connexion -with Alaeddin, was selected by them to be the murderer; and as he was -the instrument of Alaeddin’s unnatural lust, to be the instrument of -his unnatural death. They watched the opportunity when Alaeddin lay, as -usual, intoxicated among his sheep and shepherds. In order to devote -himself to this pleasure, he had built a wooden house near his flocks; -and while he was sunk in sleep, Hassan of Masenderan, by command of -Rokneddin, shot him through the neck with an arrow. The murderer -received the proper reward: he and his children were put to death, and -their bodies burnt. The planner of the murder was tortured, if not by -the stings of conscience, by the reproaches of his mother, until the -vengeance of heaven reached him also. - -Thus Alaeddin, whose father had been poisoned by his nearest relation, -was murdered by an Assassin employed by his son; and the horror of -parricide revenged parricide. Thus we come back upon the remark so -frequently repeated by oriental historians, and noticed by us in the -commencement of this book, that parricide begets parricide; as though -heaven would proclaim the atrocity of the crime, by the horror of the -punishment; as if an unnatural son were the only fitting executioner of -an unnatural son, and the terrible alone could revenge the terrible. - -If a double parricide stain the annals of other dynasties, nature and -terror stop with the second, lest, by a long enchainment of horrors, -and a series of parricides, our belief in humanity, and in the most -sacred feelings, should expire. The history of the Assassins alone, -in heaping atrocity on atrocity, surpasses hell itself; we see four -murders in succession, by near relations, criminally and horribly -avenged by near relations. From Hassan, the Illuminator, to the fall of -the order, the blood of the grand-masters dropped, from step to step, -down to the last: two of them died by the hands of their sons; two by -those of their nearest relatives: poison and the dagger prepared the -grave which the order had opened for so many. - -Hassan fell by the dagger of his brother-in-law, and his wicked son, -Mohammed: the latter, aiming at the life of his son, Jelaleddin, was -anticipated by him with poison; which murder was again revenged by -poison, by his nearest relative. Alaeddin, son of Jelaleddin, had the -mixer of the poison put to death, and was himself murdered, by his -own son’s command. The place of the ruby goblet of Jemshid, and the -sparkling sword of Rustam, the royal insignia of the ancient Persian -kings, was supplied with the Assassins, by the envenomed cup and -polished dagger. The grand-masters directed it to the hearts of their -enemies, without being able to turn it from their own. Their guards, -the devoted to death, were common murderers. Hell reserved for the -grand-masters themselves the privilege of parricide. - - -END OF BOOK V. - - - - -BOOK VI. - - _Reign of Rokneddin Kharshah, the last Grand-master of - the Assassins._ - - -The crimes of the society of murderers, which had long ago exceeded -the measure of humanity, had, at length, filled to overflowing that -of retributive vengeance: after an existence of a hundred and seventy -years, the tempest of destruction fell, with terrific fury, on the -Assassins. The conquering power of Jengis Khan, thundering in the -distance, had passed innocuously over their heads; but under the third -of his successors, Mangu Khan, the whirlwind of Mongols swept over -the eastern world, and, in its desolating progress, carried away, -along with the khalifat, and other dynasties, that of the Assassins. -In the year 582 of the Hegira,[247] when the seven planets were in -conjunction, in the sign Libra, as they had been, a century before, in -that of Pisces,[248] all Asia was trembling, in expectation of the end -of the world, which astrologers had declared was to happen, the first -time by a deluge, and the second by hurricanes and earthquakes. But if, -the first time, a swollen mountain torrent drowned only a few pilgrims, -in order not to put the prophecy to the blush; and the second, there -was so little wind on the appointed night, that lights burnt freely in -the open air, on the top of the minarets, without being extinguished; -nevertheless, at both periods, political revolutions came to the help -of the astrologers’ predictions, who had interpreted the conjunction of -the planets as indicating physical changes. - -At the end of the fifth century of the Hegira, the deluge of the -Assassins inundated the whole of Asia; and at the end of the sixth, -Jengis Khan rushed on, like a hurricane, and the earth quaked under the -hoofs of the Mongols. The rage of the tempest afterwards spread through -all Asia, and the shocks of the earthquake carried their ruin as far as -Europe. During the reign of Mangu, the conquest of China and Persia was -completed by his brothers, Kublai and Hulaku; and as the preponderating -power of the latter, trod into ruins the citadel of the Assassins, -and rolled the khalif’s throne in the dust, his expedition to Persia -deserves our most particular attention. - -Tandju Newian, the general of Mangu Khan, who covered the frontiers -of Iran, sent to his master the ambassadors of the khalif of Bagdad, -who complained of the atrocities of the Assassins, and besought him to -extirpate the vile race. Their complaints were seconded by those of -the judge of Kaswin, who was at the khan’s court, and went in armour -to the audience, fearing the daggers of the Assassins, against whose -crimes he raised the voice of humanity. Mangu immediately collected an -army, which he placed under the command of his brother, Hulaku, whom, -on departing, he addressed in the following words: “I send thee, with -much cavalry and a strong army, from Turan to Iran, the land of great -princes. It is thine, to observe the laws and ordinances of Jengis -Khan, in great things, and in small, and to take possession of the -countries from the Oxus to the Nile. Assemble round thee, with favours -and rewards, the obedient and the submissive; but tread into the -dust of contempt and misery, the refractory and mutinous, with their -wives and children. When thou hast done with the Assassins, begin the -conquest of Irak. If the khalif of Bagdad comes forward willingly to -serve thee, then shalt thou do him no harm; but, if he refuse, let -him share the fate of the rest.”[249] Upon this, Hulaku went from Kara -Kurum to the camp, and put his forces in order, and reinforced them -with a thousand families of Chinese fire-work makers. These latter -managed the besieging machines and the artillery of flaming naphtha, -which has been known to Europe, under the name of the Greek fire, since -the Crusades; but was long before used by the Arabs and Chinese, as -well as gunpowder.[250] In Ramadan,[251] he broke up his camp; and -receiving constant reinforcements on his march, he halted for a month, -first at Samarkand and afterwards at Kash. - -Hither came Shemseddin Kurt and Emir Arghun, from Khorassan, offering -him its homage, and from hence he sent ambassadors to the princes of -the surrounding countries, with this message: “By command of the khan, -I am advancing against the Assassins, to destroy them: if ye will -support me in this enterprise, your trouble shall be rewarded—your -country protected; but if ye conduct yourselves negligently, I will, -after having finished this affair, advance against you; so shall ye -know it—it is foretold to you.” As soon as the news of the approach of -his victorious standard was spread abroad, ambassadors appeared from -Rum, from Sultan Rokneddin, Prince of the Seljuks in Fars, from the -Atabeg Saad of Irak, Aserbijan, Kurdjistan, and Shirwan, to offer the -homage of their masters. - -The beginning of the month Silhidje, in the 553rd year of the Hegira, -Hulaku crossed the Oxus by a temporary bridge, and amused himself by -lion hunting on the hither side. Here winter overtook him, and the cold -was so severe, that most of his horses perished. He was compelled to -wait till spring, when Arghun Khan appeared at his command in the camp; -the political affairs of the latter were conducted by his son Gherai, -Ahmed Bitegi, and Khoja Alaeddin Ata-mulk, the vizier, writer of the -celebrated historical work Jehan Kusha (_Conqueror of the World_). -Hulaku marched from Shirgan to Khawaf whence being himself attacked -with indisposition, he despatched his general, Kayu Kanian, on the -conquest of Kuhistan. He went himself to Tus, the native city of the -greatest Persian poet, astronomer, and vizier, Ferdusi, Nassireddin, -and Nisam-ol-mulk; the renowned burial-place of the Imam Ali Ben Mussa -Risa, and established his quarters in a newly-laid out garden of Arghun -Aka. From thence he went to Manssuriye, where the wives of Arghun and -his lieutenant, Aseddin Taher, gave him a sumptuous banquet. He then -sent the Prince Shemseddin Kurt as ambassador to Nassireddin Mohtashem, -Rokneddin’s governor in Sertakht. Although an old man, Nassireddin, the -first patron of the astronomer of the same name, who has immortalized -his memory by his ethical work dedicated to him, nevertheless -accompanied the envoy in person, to the camp of Hulaku, who loaded him -with marks of distinction. - -Hulaku, on arriving on his march at Junushan, commanded the place, -which had formerly been destroyed by the Mongols, to be rebuilt, at -the public expense; he then returned to Khirkan, where he sent another -embassy to Rokneddin Kharshah, the lord of Alamut, summoning him to -obedience and submission. Rokneddin had just ascended the throne, still -reeking with the blood of his father, and followed in his political -conduct the treacherous advice of his vizier, the great astronomer, -Nassireddin of Tus. The latter had presented a work to the Khalif -Mostrassem: for which, instead of receiving honours and rewards, as -he expected, he only gained contempt and insult. Alkami, the khalif’s -vizier, jealous of Nassireddin, objected to the work, that, in the -dedication, the title of “Vicegerent of God on Earth,” was wanting; -and the khalif, who thought it badly written, threw it into the -Tigris.[252] - -From this moment, the insulted _savant_ swore vengeance against the -vizier and the khalif, and fled to Alamut, where the grand-master still -clutched his dagger, beneath which more than one vizier and one khalif -had already fallen. As the grand-master, however, did not interest -himself with sufficient earnestness in Nassireddin’s revenge, or did -not expedite it quickly enough, for the approach of Hulaku drew the -attention of the order away from the khalif to the consideration of -their own defence; and as, according to all probability, the citadel -of the Ismailites would, at length, be obliged to succumb to the hosts -of the Mongols, Nassireddin immediately changed his plan and designs. -He resolved, in the first instance, to deliver up his master, and the -castles of the Assassins, to the advancing victor, in order to ensure, -by treachery, the means to his ultimate revenge, and to pave the way -for the destruction of the khalif’s throne, with the ruins of the -order. He thus extended the prospect of his revenge, and his joy at the -fall of his foes took a wider compass. The vizier and the khalif would -only have bled under the poniards of the Assassins; the burning brands -of the Mongols, however, menaced the conflagration of the capital, -and the whole edifice of the khalifat. The lust of destruction must -have been great in that mind, which could sacrifice the Assassins to -its revenge, because they unsheathed their daggers too slowly for his -purpose. - -By the advice of Nassireddin, Rokneddin Kharshah sent to Baissur -Nubin, Hulaku’s general, who had already reached Hamadan, an embassy -of submission, and expressing his desire to live in peace with every -one. Baissur Nubin answered, that as Hulaku was not far off, Rokneddin -would do best to go to him in person. After several messages, it was -determined, that Rokneddin should send his brother Shehinshah in -Baissur’s suite to Hulaku. Shehinshah addressed himself to Baissur, -and the latter gave him his own son, as escort on his way to Hulaku; -he himself, however, by command of his lord, entered the district of -Alamut, with his army, on the 10th of the month Jemesi-ul-ewel, in -the 654th year of the Hegira.[253] The Assassins and the troops of the -order occupied a height near Alamut, which they defended obstinately -against the Mongols. The rock was steep, and the occupying party -numerous. The assailants, compelled to abandon the attack, burned -the houses of the Ismailites, and ravaged the fields. While this -happened near Alamut, and after Shehinshah had arrived at Hulaku’s -quarters, the latter sent an envoy to Rokneddin, with the command as -follows:—“Because Rokneddin has sent his brother to us, we pardon -him the guilt of his father and his partisans; he himself, who has, -during his short reign, as yet proved himself guilty of no crime, shall -destroy his castles, and repair to us.” - -At the same time, Baissur received orders to suspend the ravaging of -the province of Rudbar. After the arrival of these orders, Rokneddin -caused some of the battlements of Alamut to be knocked down, and -Baissur withdrew his troops from Rudbar. By order of Rokneddin, -Sadreddin Sungi, one of the most respectable of the order, went, -accompanied by an envoy of Hulaku’s, to the latter’s camp, to announce -submissively to him, that the prince of the Assassins had already -begun to demolish his castles, and that he was proceeding in the work -of destruction; that he, however, dreading the presence of Hulaku, -requested the term of a year, after the lapse of which, he would -appear at his court. Hulaku sent back Sadreddin, the Ismailite envoy, -accompanied by one of his basikakis, or officers, and wrote to the -grand-master:—“If Rokneddin’s submission be sincere, let him come to -the imperial camp, and cede to Basikaki, the deliverer of this letter, -the defence of his country.” - -Rokneddin, misled by his evil genius, and the ill advice of -Nassireddin, delayed his obedience to this command. He sent the vizier, -Shemseddin Keilaki, and his cousin, Seifeddin Sultan Melik Ben Kia -Manssur, again, with ambassadors, to Hulaku, to cloak his refusal to -appear in person, under bad excuses. He commanded, at the same time, -his governors and commanders of Kuhistan and Kirdkuh, to hasten to the -Mongol camp, and to proffer their homage. - -As soon as Hulaku reached Demawend, which lies immediately on the -mountains of the Assassins, he despatched the vizier, Shemseddin -Keilaki, to Kirdkuh, to bring the commander of that fortress into the -camp, in pursuance of Rokneddin’s command; one of the envoys, who had -accompanied the vizier and Rokneddin’s cousin to the camp, was sent, on -the same mission, to Kuhistan, and the latter proceeded, with Hulaku’s -ambassador, to the castle of Maimundis, where Rokneddin had established -his residence, in order to inform him that “the ruler of the world had -now advanced as far as Demawend; there was now no longer any time for -delay; but if he wished to wait a few days, he might, in the meanwhile, -send his son.” These ambassadors arrived at Maimundis the beginning of -Ramadan, and gave the intelligence that Hulaku’s victorious standards -were floating on the frontiers, and communicated his commands. At -this news, Rokneddin and his people fell into stupid astonishment -and helpless terror. He answered the ambassador that he was ready -to send his son, but then, urged by the persuasion of his wives and -short-sighted advisers, he delivered to the envoy the child of a slave, -who, being of the same age as his son, was substituted for him, and -requested that Hulaku would allow his brother, Shehinshah, who was -still at his court, to return. Hulaku, who was already on the confines -of Rudbar, easily unmasked the imposture, and, without betraying his -discovery, sent back the child, two days after, with the information -that, on account of his youth, the khan would not detain him; and that, -if he had an elder brother, he might be sent into the camp, in exchange -for Shehinshah, who would then be permitted to return. - -In the meanwhile, the governor of Kirdkuh had arrived in the camp, and -Hulaku, who now permitted Shehinshah, Rokneddin’s brother, to return, -dismissed him with these words: “Tell thy brother to demolish the -castle of Maimundis, and come to me: if he comes not, the Eternal God -knows the consequences.” During these negociations, the Tawadgi or -recruiters of the Mongols, had collected so considerable a number of -troops, that hill and dale swarmed with them. On the seventh of the -month Shewal, Hulaku appeared in person before Maimundis, to undertake -the siege of that fortress, and a battle took place on the 25th. - -Rokneddin, ill advised, and still worse betrayed by Nassireddin, sent, -at length, his other brother, Iranshah, together with his son, Kiashah, -and the vizier, Nassireddin, into the camp, to offer his homage and -submission, and to request a free retreat. They were accompanied by -the most distinguished members of the order, who bore rich presents. -Nassireddin, instead of speaking for his prince, and placing the -strength of the fortress in the balance of the negotiation, told -Hulaku, that the security of the castles of the Ismailites need not -trouble him, that the stars foretold clearly the downfall of their -power, and the sun would accelerate their ruin. The surrender of the -place was then agreed upon, on condition of an unmolested retreat, -and on the 1st of the month Silkide, Rokneddin, and his ministers and -confidents, evacuated the castle of Maimundis, and went into Hulaku’s -camp. The gold and the presents, which he brought with him, were -divided among the troops. Hulaku had compassion on Rokneddin’s youth -and inexperience; he having scarcely been seated more than a year, -on the throne of his fathers. He gave him good words and flattering -promises, retained him as his guest, but the traitor, Nassireddin, as -his vizier. The latter, who had put the fortress and the grand-master -into the hands of the khan, and had laid the axe at the root of the -Assassin power, had effrontery enough to compose a chronograph on this -occurrence, which immortalizes his treachery and revenge, containing -the date of this affair, in two verses.[254] - -In Hulaku’s camp, Rokneddin was given into the custody of a guard -of Tartars; and officers of the khan accompanied the grand-master’s -deputies into the district Rudbar, in order to demolish the castles -belonging to the Assassins, there situated: others were despatched -to the two grand-priorates of Syria and Kuhistan, to summon the -commandants of the places belonging to the order, to surrender them -to Hulaku, in the name of the last grand-master. The number of these -strongholds amounted to more than a hundred; and these, by which the -mountainous parts of Kuhistan, Irak, and Syria, were crowned, formed -the girdle of the Assassins’ power, reaching from the shores of the -Caspian to those of the Mediterranean sea; in all these, the dagger -was the insignia of dominion. In Rudbar, alone, more than forty were -levelled with the ground, all well fortified and full of treasure. The -three strongest refused obedience to Hulaku’s summons, and Rokneddin’s -commands; the commanders of Alamut, the grand-master’s capital, of -Lamsir and Kirdkuh, replied, that they were waiting for the khan’s -arrival to surrender them to him. Hulaku struck his camp, and appeared, -in a few days, before Alamut; he sent the captive grand-master to -the foot of the ramparts to persuade the inhabitants by promises and -threats, to surrender; Rokneddin obeyed, but the governors of the -fortress refused to yield. Hulaku left a blockading force before -Alamut, and marched to Lamsir, whose inhabitants came out to meet -him, and offer their allegiance; the constancy of the Alamuters -being shaken by this, they sent an envoy to Rokneddin, to beg him to -intercede with the enraged prince in their favour. - -By the mediation of Rokneddin, Hulaku allowed the commander a safe -conduct to the camp. The inhabitants requested three days to remove -their money and goods, this was permitted; and, on the third, the -castle was given up to pillage. Alamut, or the Eagle’s Nest, so called -from its inaccessible height, lay on a rock, which presented the shape -of a lion kneeling, with his neck stretched on the ground: the walls -rose from the lion’s rock, which they equalled in solidity, as it did -them in its perpendicular rise; they were vaulted for the defence of -the garrison; the rock was excavated into corn magazines and cellars -for honey and wine; these had been, for the most part, filled in the -time of Hassan Sabah; and so excellent was the choice of the spot, and -the care bestowed upon it, that neither had the wheat become mouldy, -nor the wine sour; which was considered by the Ismailites as a miracle -of their founder. The Mongols, who, without knowledge of the locality, -sought in the subterraneous chambers and cellars, for treasure, fell -into the wine and honey. - -The armies of the Assassins being scattered, and their poniards broken -in the destruction of their fortresses, Hulaku returned in the month -Selhidje, of the same year, to Hamadan, where he had left his children. -Rokneddin, who accompanied him, was treated with kindness, either -from pity or contempt. Entirely degenerated from the blood of his -fathers, he had not even the virtues of a common Assassin,—courage, -and contempt of death; still less those of a grand-master,—strength -of rule and state-craft. Already morally a slave, even before he -fell into the hands of Hulaku, he still showed himself in the same -character by the meanness of his pursuits. A Mongol girl, of the lowest -grade, was the object of his affections, and Hulaku, who neglected no -opportunity of exposing him to the shafts of public scorn, commanded -a solemn marriage, on being asked for the slave by the prince of the -Assassins. After the completion of the ceremony, Rokneddin begged the -favour of being sent to the great khan Mangu: Hulaku was, at first, -astonished at this senseless request, by which Rokneddin sought his -own destruction; as, however, he did not feel himself called upon to -prevent it, he gave him permission, and a troop of Mongols, as an -escort. Rokneddin had promised on his way to persuade the garrison of -Kirdkuh, the last castle of the Assassins which still held out against -the Mongols, to surrender. He left Hulaku’s camp at Hamadan, on the -first of Rebi-ul-ewel, in the 655th year of the Hegira;[255] as he -passed Kirdkuh he sent the inhabitants a public message, requiring them -to surrender; he, however, secretly instructed them to hold out, and to -deliver the fortress up to no one. - -By this foolish, contradictory policy, by which he had already entailed -the ruin of the order, he now accelerated his own. On arriving at -Karakurum, the khan’s capital, the latter, without admitting him to an -audience, sent him the following message: “If thou pretendest to be -submissive, wherefore hast thou not surrendered the castle of Kirdkuh? -return, and demolish the yet unyielded castles; then mayest thou share -the honour of appearing in our imperial presence.” When Rokneddin and -his escort, had reached the Oxus, on his return, the latter, under -pretence of taking refreshment, made him dismount, and pierced him with -their swords. - -Mangu had already, some time before, issued the command to Hulaku, -to exterminate all the Ismailites, and not to spare even the infant -at his mother’s breast: and immediately upon Rokneddin’s departure, -the sanguinary task was commenced, which had only been delayed till -Kirdkuh and the remainder of the castles of the Assassins in Kuhistan -and Syria should have fallen. He sent one of his viziers to Kaswin, -to put to death, indiscriminately, Rokneddin’s wives, children, -brothers, sisters, and slaves; only two relations (females apparently) -of Rokneddin, were selected from this devoted band, not for mercy, -but to be the victims of the princess, Bulghan Khatun’s, private -revenge; her father, Jagatai, having bled by the Assassin’s daggers. A -command, similar to that given to the governor of Kaswin, was issued -to the viceroy of Khorassan. He assembled the captive Ismailites, and -twelve thousand of these wretched creatures were slaughtered, without -distinction of age. Warriors went through the provinces, and executed -the fatal sentence, without mercy or appeal. Wherever they found a -disciple of the doctrine of the Ismailites, they compelled him to kneel -down, and then cut off his head. The whole race of Kia Busurgomid, -in whose descendants the grand-mastership had been hereditary, were -exterminated. The “devoted to murder” were not now the victims of the -order’s vengeance, but that of outraged humanity. The sword was against -the dagger, and the executioner destroyed the murderer. The seed, sowed -for two centuries, was now ripe for the harvest, and the field ploughed -by the Assassin’s dagger, was reaped by the sword of the Mongol. The -crime had been terrible, but no less terrible was the punishment. - -The castles of the Assassins in Rudbar and Kuhistan, Kain, Tun, Lamsir, -and even Alamut, the capital, were now in the hands of the victor. -Kirdkuh alone, whose garrison had been encouraged not to yield, by -Rokneddin, when on his way to Mangu, resisted the besieging forces -of the Mongols for three years. It is situated in the district of -Damaghan, near Manssurabad, on a very lofty mountain, and is, probably, -the same as the castle Tigado, mentioned by the Armenian historian, -Haithon, who has converted the three years’ siege into one of thirty -years’ duration.[256] Circumstantial details of this siege, are found -in Sahireddin,[257] the historian of Masenderan, and Ruyan, whose -princes, having done homage to the overwhelming power of Hulaku Khan, -received his commands to besiege Kirdkuh, while he was engaged in his -expedition against Bagdad. At that period, the throne of Mazanderan -was filled by Shems-ol-Moluk Erdeshir, of the family of Bawend; and -at Ruyan reigned the Astandar, or mountain prince, Shehrakim, of -the family Kawpare. They were united in the bonds of friendship, -relationship, and contiguity of situation. The prince of Ruyan had -given his daughter in marriage, to the shah of Masenderan, and Hulaku -Khan promised himself a large result from the wisdom of his measures, -in imposing upon them both the conduct of the siege of Kirdkuh. - -It was in the beginning of spring, that the poet, Kutbi Ruyani, who was -in the camp of the allied princes, sung a solemn poem, in honour of -spring, in the language of Thaberistan, beginning— - - The sun has now once more passed from the Fish to the Ram, - Spring waves her flowery banner to the east wind. - -By this distich, inserted by the historian, Sahireddin, in his work, -the existence of a particular language in Thaberistan is made known -to Europe. It consists of a mixture of Mongol, Ouigour, and Persian -words.[258] The inspiration of the native poet, had so great an effect -upon the two princes, that, without waiting for the khan’s permission, -they raised the siege, and marched home, in order fully to enjoy, in -their native plains, the delights of returning spring, unmindful of -the wrath of Hulaku Khan, of which they soon felt the full weight. -Gasan Behadir was despatched from the army, to chastise them for their -disobedience. The prince of Ruyan, who had first set his son-in-law -the bad example of withdrawing, had the magnanimity to take the whole -fault upon himself, and, in order not to expose his own, and his -relative’s possessions, to the ravages of the Mongols, he went, of his -own accord, to Amul, where Gasan Behadir had encamped. He had the good -fortune to appease the khan, and received, both for himself and the -shah of Masenderan, a new investiture of their principalities, which -had been declared forfeited by their disobedience. - -The effect of this invocation of spring, of the Thaberistani poet, -is, although in an opposite manner, no less remarkable in martial and -literary history, than are the hymns, with which Tyrtæus animated the -Spartans to the combat; and, if the Greek poet has been imitated in -our own time, in the songs of the Prussian and Austrian soldiery, and -with the happiest effect, nevertheless, no siege has ever been raised -yet, either by the Pervigilium Veneris, or by Bürger’s imitation of -it. This desertion of the siege, by the two commanders, explains its -protraction, for full three years; a period, which, without being -extended to thirty, appears amply sufficient, since Alamut, the -strongest of the Assassin’s fortresses, yielded, on the third day, -after being summoned by Hulaku. - -After the fall of Alamut, the residence of the grand-master, and -the centre of the order, Atamelik Jowaini, the learned vizier and -historian, asked and obtained from Hulaku, permission to search the -celebrated library and archives of the order, for the purpose of -saving the works which might be worthy of the khan’s preserving. He -laid aside the Koran and some other precious books, and committed -to the flames, not only all the philosophical and sceptical works, -containing the Ismailite doctrine, and written in harmony with it, but -also all the mathematical and astronomical instruments, and thus at -once destroyed every source from which history might have derived a -more circumstantial account of the dogmas of the Ismailites, and the -statutes of the order. Fortunately, in his own history, he preserved -the results of the information which he derived from the library and -archives of the order, together with a biographical sketch of Hassan -Sabah, from which all the more modern Persian historians, as Mirkhond -and Wassaf, have collected their stories, and which we ourselves have -likewise followed.[259] - -The existence of this library, at the time of the Conquest, convicts -of hypocrisy the sixth grand-master, Jelaleddin Nev Musulman; since -he could not have committed to the flames, in the presence of the -deputies of Kaswin, the archives and doctrinal works of the order which -remain preserved, for the inquisitorial zeal of Atamelik Jowaini. This -fanatical zeal has, at all periods, but particularly in the middle -ages, converted millions of books into ashes. If the west does, not -unjustly[260] (as Gibbon believes), accuse the Khalif Omar of the -conflagration of the Alexandrian library, the east returns the charge -with the accusation of the burning of the books at Tripoli, where an -immense library of Arabic works was consumed by the Crusaders.[261] -The assertion that, in the former place, the baths were heated for a -space of six months with the wisdom of the Greeks, is as extravagant -as that in Tripoli alone, three millions of Arabic manuscripts fed -the flames: but that both conflagrations were lighted up by the -torch of fanaticism, is not, on that account, the less an historical -fact, clearly attested and confirmed by the first historians of the -east.[262] The library of Alexandria was burnt by the Moslimin, -because, according to the instructions of Omar, the Koran only was -the book of books, and all knowledge not contained in it was vain and -useless. The library at Tripoli was consumed by the Christians, because -it contained, for the most part, nothing but the Koran, and the works -written on it. At Alamut the Koran was preserved by Jowaini, and the -philosophical works written against it, doomed to destruction; and -at Fas, a century before, an _auto da fe_ of theological books was -held by Sultan Yakub.[263] Had these two alone been lost, there would -not be so much reason to complain; but with them, the conflagrations -of Alexandria and Alamut swept away treasures of Grecian, Egyptian, -Persian, and Indian philosophy. - - -END OF BOOK VI. - - - - -BOOK VII. - - _Conquest of Bagdad—Fall of the Assassins—Remnant of - them._ - - -In the fall of Alamut, the centre of the Assassins was gone; the props -of their authority were broken, in the loss of the castles of Rudbar -and Kuhistan. Still, the grand-prior of Syria refused submission to -the grand-master’s orders to surrender,—the armies of the Mongols -being, as yet, too distant to compel his obedience. A far greater -object occupied the mind of Hulaku, than the destruction of a few -Syrian mountain forts, in which the order, after the fall of Alamut, -and the annihilation of the Ismailites in Persia, might yet, though -with difficulty, raise its head. He entertained no less a project than -the conquest of Bagdad, and the overthrow of the khalif’s throne, on -which the Arabs had, in the prophet’s name, already, for six centuries -and a half, ruled over the world of Islam. This great event is, not -only by its immediate consequences, but also from its proximate cause, -inseparably connected with the destruction of the Assassins. - -In the second year after the fall of Alamut, and, consequently, before -the conquest of Kirdkuh the last fortress of the Assassins, which only -surrendered in the third year of the siege, Bagdad, the queen of the -cities of the Tigris, fell. The overthrow of the khalifat, as we have -seen, in the instructions given by Mangu to his brother Hulaku, did -not enter immediately into the plan of the khan, who merely claimed -submission and troops, but Nassireddin, the great _savant_ and traitor, -who had delivered the capital of the Assassins into the conqueror’s -hands, and had paved a road to his own revenge, over its ruins, -laboured unceasingly to urge Hulaku to the destruction of the khalifat. -Besides the close connexion of this event with the one which we have -described, it is in itself so great and important, in the history of -Asia, and the middle ages,—so attractive, from the novelty and rarity -of the subject, that we cannot deny our readers and ourselves the -pleasure of following the khan, in his expedition from Alamut to Bagdad. - -The siege and conquest of Constantinople, by the Turks, is, perhaps, -the only event in history, worthy to be compared with that of Bagdad, -by the Mongols; and the fall of the long-sinking Byzantine empire, -may be placed by the side of that of the khalifat. The conquest of -other cities, on whose sieges history has dwelt with astonishment -and admiration, or with pity and terror, is less mighty in its -consequences, because, under their ruins, no throne of universal sway -has been buried. This interest is wanting, in the most obstinate and -glorious sieges of ancient and modern history, however remarkable by -the great names of the assailants, or the consummate skill with which -they may have been prosecuted, or the patient courage with which they -have been defended. Tyre and Saguntum, illustrious in their besiegers, -Alexander and Hannibal; Syracuse, which has immortalized the names -of Marcellus and Archimedes; Rhodes, twice attacked by Demetrius -Poliorcetes, and defended against the Turks, by Villiers de l’Isle -Adam; Candia, and Saragossa; have all earned unfading glory, by the -lion courage of their inhabitants and defenders; but, although these -cities fought for the highest of earthly objects—their country’s -freedom, still their fall did not draw down with it the seat of the -ancient dominion over half the world. - -The history of the conquest of other celebrated cities, the seat -of universal monarchy, such as Babylon and Persepolis, under whose -ruin were buried the Assyrian and Persian monarchies, is wrapt in -the distance of thousands of years, and impenetrable obscurity. The -destruction of Jerusalem eclipses in the brightness of its lustre that -of all those cities; not, however, on account of the importance of its -power, or of its siege, for that by Khosroes was not less remarkable -than that by Titus; but because the latter was described by Tacitus. -If Gibbon had had access to the sources which are at our command, the -conquest of Bagdad would not have shone with less splendour, in his -immortal work, than that of Constantinople, nor would it have been -so briefly treated. What we want of his power of expression, must be -supplied by the richness of the material. - -After the fall of Alamut, and the other fortresses of the Assassins, -except that of Kirdkuh, Hulaku vacated the territory of Kaswin, and -marched to Hamadan, whither his general, Tanju Nowian, hastened from -Aserbijan, to lay an account of his victories at the foot of the -throne. Hulaku dismissed him, with instructions to advance to Rum and -Syria, and to subject the whole of Asia and Africa, to the extreme -western boundary, to his dominion. In the month of Rebi-ul-ewel, in the -555th year of the Hegira, he commenced his march against Bagdad, and -proceeded as far as Tebris, whence he sent an ambassador to the khalif, -Mostassem, with the message: “When we went out against Rudbar, we sent -ambassadors to thee, desiring aid; thou promisedst them, but sentest -not a man. Now, we request that thou wouldst change thy conduct, and -refrain from thy contumacy, which will only bring about the loss of thy -empire and thy treasures.” - -The ambassadors having despatched their mission to Mostassem, the -latter sent the learned Sherefeddin Ibn Jusi, the most famous orator -of his time, and Bedreddin Mohammed, of Nahjiwan, to Hulaku, with a -haughty message. The khan, irritated at this, gave more easy audience -to the counsels of Nassireddin, who continually urged him to march -against Bagdad, and to the treacherous invitation of Ibn Alkami, the -khalif’s vizier. Moyededdin Mohammed Ben Mohammed Ben Abdolmelek -Alkami, who, as vizier, administered the affairs of the khalifat with -unlimited power, and, by the blackest treachery, caused its fall, is -stigmatized ignominiously, as traitor, throughout the whole east; and -the name of Alkami is not less abhorred, in their history, than is that -of Antalcides, in that of the Greeks: as eloquent, and versed in poetry -and the polite literature of the Arabs, as Nassireddin was in the -mathematical sciences, he was no less faithless to his lord. Both poet -and mathematician were traitors.[264] - -Nassireddin had personal cause of complaint against Alkami, who, by -his censure, had occasioned the khalif’s throwing into the Tigris the -poem dedicated to him by the former; adding, that it was, in every -respect, badly written. It is probable, that Nassireddin was a better -astronomer than poet; but it is still more probable, that Alkami was -jealous of the credit which he might gain with the khalif. The vizier -would not have deemed it necessary to warn the viceroy of Khorassan, -Nassireddin Mohteshem, with whom the astronomer was, against a mediocre -or bad _Kasside_, who was a juggler, and wished to insinuate himself -into the favour of the khalif. Out of respect for Alkami, the viceroy, -on this warning, threw the astronomer into prison, notwithstanding -he had dedicated his great work, Akhlaki Nassiri, to him. He escaped -to Alamut, where, as vizier of the last grand-master, he, meditating -revenge against Alkami and the Khalif Mostassem, laid the foundation of -it in the ruin of the Assassins. - -Ibn Alkami, like Nassireddin, swore vengeance against the khalif: he -had to complain, not only of the neglect of some of the grandees and -favourites being unpunished by Mostassem, but also, he feared for his -own personal security, on account of some severe measures against the -Shiites, to which sect he himself belonged. He entered, therefore, on -the same path of treachery, in which Nassireddin had already preceded -him, and besieged the ear of Hulaku, with complaints and invitations, -which were readily accepted. Nassireddin, Hulaku’s vizier, and Ibn -Alkami, the khalif’s, played mutually into each other’s hands. The -contemporaneous fall of two such powerful sovereignties, as that of the -Assassins and of the khalifat, caused by the jealousy and treachery of -an astronomer and a wit, is unique in history.[265] - -Ere we commence the detail of the fall of the khalif throne of Bagdad, -it will be proper to premise a few words, relating to the foundation -and splendour of this renowned city. - -Bagdad, the city, valley, or house of peace, the citadel of the -holy, the seat of the khalifat, called also the oblique,[266] from -the oblique position of its gates, was founded, on the banks of the -Tigris, in the 148th year of the Hegira, by Abujafer Almansur, the -second khalif of the Abbas family. It stretches two miles along the -eastern banks of the river, in the form of a bow with an arrow on the -string, and is surrounded by a brick wall, whose circumference of -twelve thousand four hundred ells, is interrupted by four gates and one -hundred and sixty-three turrets. When Mansur resolved upon building the -city, he called his astronomers, at whose head was his vizier, Nevbakht -(i. e. _new fortune_), to determine a fortunate hour for laying the -foundations; and the latter chose a moment when the sun stood in the -sign Sagittarius, by which the new city was promised flourishing -civilization, numerous population, and long endurance. At the same time -he assured the khalif, that neither he, nor any of his successors, -would die within the walls of this capital; and the confidence of the -astronomer, in the truth of his prophecy, is less surprising than its -fulfilment by thirty-seven khalifs, the last of whom, Mostassem, during -whose reign Bagdad fell, did not die within its walls, but at Samara, a -place built below Bagdad, on the banks of the Tigris, by Motassem, the -eighth Abbaside khalif (called the eighther from the coincidence of -the number eight, in his nativity) for his Mameluke guard.[267] - -As Bagdad, from the circumstance of no khalif having died within its -walls, merited, most peculiarly, the name of the House, Valley, or -City of Peace; so, also, on account of the great number of holy men -of Islam, who are buried within or without it, and whose tombs are so -many objects of the pilgrimages of the Moslimin, it gained the title of -Bulwark of the Holy. Here are the mausolea of the greatest imams and -the most pious sheikhs. Here reposes the Imam Mussa Kasim, the seventh -of the twelve imams, who, in direct descent from Ali, claimed the right -to the throne and the khalifat, on account of their relationship to the -prophet; also, the imams, Hanefi and Hanbeli, the founders of two of -the four orthodox sects of the Sunna; the sheikhs, Juneid, Shobli, and -Abdolkadir-Ghilani,[268] the chiefs of the mystic sect of the sofis. - -In the midst of the monuments of the imams and sheikhs, stand those of -the khalifs, and their spouses; of which that of Zobeide, the wife of -Harun al Rashid, has, by the strength of its construction, survived the -repeated captures and destructions of Bagdad, by the Mongols, Persians, -and Turks. Equally splendid specimens of Saracenic architecture are -the academies, colleges, and schools; two of which have immortalized -the names of their founders in the history of Arabic literature. The -academies, Nisamie and Mostansarie, the former instituted in the first -half of the fifth century of the Hegira, by Nisam-ol-mulk, the great -grand-vizier of Melekshah, sultan of the Seljuks, the latter, built two -centuries later, by the Khalif Almostansar-billah, with four different -pulpits for the four orthodox sects of the Sunnites. - -The most magnificent of all the palaces was that of the Khalif -Moktader-billah, called the “House of the Tree,”[269] and seated -in a wide extent of gardens. In the middle of the vestibule, near -two large basins of water, stood two trees of gold and silver, each -having eighteen branches, and a great number of smaller boughs. One -of these bore fruit and birds, whose variegated plumage was imitated -with different precious stones, and which gave forth melodious sounds, -by means of the motion of the branches, produced by a mechanical -contrivance. On the other tree were fifteen figures of cavaliers, -dressed in pearls and gold, with drawn swords, which, on a signal being -given, moved in concert. In this palace, the Khalif Moktader gave -audience to the ambassadors of the Greek emperor, Theophilus,[270] -and astonished them with the numbers of his army, and the splendour -of his court.[271] A hundred and sixty thousand men stood in their -ranks before the palace; the pages glittered in golden girdles; seven -thousand eunuchs, three thousand of whom were white, the rest black, -surrounded the entrance; and, immediately at the gate, were seven -hundred chamberlains. On the Tigris floated gilded barks and gondolas, -decorated with silken flags and streamers. The walls of the palace were -hung with thirty-eight thousand carpets, twelve thousand five hundred -of which were of gold tissue; and twenty-two thousand pieces of rich -stuff covered the floors. A hundred lions, held by their keepers with -golden chains, roared in concert with the sound of fifes and drums, the -clang of the trumpets, and the thundering of the tamtam.[272] - -The entrance to the audience chamber was concealed by a black silk -curtain; and no one could pass the threshold, without kissing the black -stone of which it was formed, like the pilgrims at Mecca.[273] Behind -the black curtain, on a throne seven ells high, sat the khalif, habited -in the black mantle (_borda_) of the prophet, girded with his sword, -and holding his staff in his hand as a sceptre. Ambassadors, and even -princes, who received investiture, kissed the ground in front of the -throne, and approached, conducted by the vizier and an interpreter, -and were then honoured with a habit of ceremony (_khalaat_), and -presents. So Togrul-beg, the founder of the Seljuks, on receiving -investiture from the Khalif Kaim-Biemrillah, was dressed in seven -caftans, one over the other, and presented with seven slaves, from the -several different states forming the khalifat. He received two turbans, -two sabres, and two standards, in token of being invested with the -sovereignty of the east and the west.[274] - -These proceedings of the khalif’s court were copied by that of -Byzantium; and traces of them have been preserved to the present day, -in the ceremonials of the great kingdoms both of the east and the west. -Theophilus, whose love of splendour rivalled that of the khalif, built -a palace in Constantinople, the exact counterpart of the “House of the -Tree,” even to the golden tree,[275] and the artificial singing birds -on it; which was no less an object of admiration to the envoys of the -European courts, than the original at Bagdad had been to the Greeks. -The etiquette of the khalif’s court, which was repeated at Byzantium, -still subsists at the Constantinopolitan courts, as Luitprand describes -it. When the khalif rode out, he was saluted with the shouting a long -formula of benediction;[276] in the same manner was the Greek emperor, -with the cry of “Many years” (πολυχρονιζειν)! and so is the Ottoman -sultan, at this day, with the usual “_Tehok-yasha_” (may he live long)! -The two turbans, which are placed before him when he enters the mosque, -signify his sovereignty over Asia and Europe; the prophet’s sword and -mantle are preserved in the treasury of the seraglio. The _borda_, that -is, the Arabian prince’s mantle of black, afterwards embroidered with -gold, is still worn by the princes of Lebanon, and the emirs of the -desert; its colours, black and gold, were adopted in the livery of the -Roman emperor. - -The military force no longer bore any proportion to the splendour and -magnificence with which the sinking throne of the khalifat was still -enriched, as in the glorious days of Moktader. The army, indeed, still -consisted of sixty thousand cavalry, under the command of Suleimanshah; -but even this number was diminished by Ibn Alkami’s treachery. The -latter proposed the curtailing the forces, and dismissing the men, -in order to save their pay and preserve the treasure; and, in spite -of the opposite warning of the four greatest officers of state, the -commander-in-chief, Suleimanshah, the first and second ink-holders, or -secretaries of state, and the chief cup-bearer, he lulled the khalif -into security from the danger of the Mongols, so that he carelessly -stretched himself on the pillow of ease and effeminacy. - -While he was occupied with the conquest of Kuhistan, and the -extirpation of the Assassins, Hulaku received a letter from Ibn -Alkami, who promised to deliver into his hands, the bulwarks and -treasure of the khalif city; and magnifying the charms of the capture, -he studiously depreciated the dangers of the attempt, till they -disappeared. The khan, however, did not blindly trust the traitor’s -promises; the former unsuccessful attempts upon Bagdad were too fresh -in his memory. Churmaghun, the general of Jenghis Khan, had, during -the reign of the Khalif Nassir-ledinillah, twice advanced against -Bagdad, with an army of a hundred and twenty-four thousand men; and -twice was he beaten back, with the loss of the greater part of his -forces. Hulaku had recourse to Nassireddin, his vizier, and, through -him, to the stars; in which the latter naturally read the overthrow -of the khalifat, so long determined upon by his revengeful spirit. -Ibn Alkami’s divining-rod struck on the deeply-concealed vein of -Nassireddin’s inveterate rancour, and treachery responded to revenge. - -In accordance with Nassireddin’s counsels, Hulaku, as soon as he -reached Hamadan, sent the before-mentioned embassy to the khalif, -whom he requested to send to meet him, one of the two secretaries of -state, the chief cup-bearer, or the commander of the army, with whose -opposition to his views he was fully acquainted. The khalif sent the -learned orator, Ibn-al-jusi, who poured the oil of his eloquence into -the fire of wrath, and returned, without performing his task. Hulaku, -still more enraged, commanded the Emir Sogranjan to advance to Erdebil, -and cross the Tigris, and then to form a junction with the troops of -the Emir Boyanje, on the western side of Bagdad. In the meanwhile, -he himself broke up his head-quarters at Hamadan. On the news of the -advance of the Mongol vanguard reaching Bagdad, the khalif despatched -Fetheddin, one of his oldest and most experienced commanders, with the -secretary of state, Mujeheddin, one of his young favourites, and a -thousand cavalry, armed with lances, who, in the first action, beat the -Mongols, and forced them to retreat. - -Fetheddin’s grey-headed experience wished to encamp; but Mujeheddin’s -youthful arrogance incited him so long with insulting charges of -cowardice and treachery, that he, at last, gave orders to pursue the -enemy. They overtook them at the western branch of the Tigris, called -Dojail, or Little Tigris. Fetheddin mounted a common horse, on whose -fore and hind legs he had iron chains fastened, and so remained in one -spot, to show to all that he was determined not to desert his post in -the field, and that he would either conquer or die there. Night, and -the fatigue of both armies, put an end to the combat, and dropping -their arms, they sank into those of sleep; but while the khalif’s army -were buried in slumber, the Mongols cut through some dykes, and the -water broke impetuously on the opposing forces. The darkness of the -rushing waters, and that of the night, was made still darker, by the -despair of the army. Then they saw the words of the Koran fulfilled: -“Darkness on darkness; everywhere darkness;” and, like Pharoah’s -host, they were buried in the waves. The brave old Fetheddin, whose -prudence would have averted the danger, perished; and the rash youth, -Mujeheddin, whose arrogance had produced it, escaped with two or -three companions, who brought the news of the catastrophe to Bagdad. -So blind was the khalif’s partiality to his favourite, so slight his -sorrow for the loss of his army, that on receiving the intelligence, -he merely exclaimed, three times, thankfully: “God be praised for the -preservation of Mujeheddin!” And when the enemy had already advanced as -far as Jebel-Hamr (the red mountain), three days’ march from Bagdad, -and he was informed of their approach, he only replied: “How can they -pass that mountain?” All representations to the contrary were either -unheard or ineffectual. - -In the meanwhile, the main body of the Mongols had pushed forward on -the road of Yakuba, and was encamped on the eastern bank of the Tigris. -Then only did the khalif command the gates of Bagdad to be shut, the -fortifications to be garrisoned, and preparations to be made for -defence. The two secretaries and Suleimanshah once more led the _élite_ -of the army, against the enemy. The battle lasted two days, with -various fortune, but with equal loss: on the third, Hulaku prohibited -the Mongols from renewing the attack, and resolved to enclose the city -in a blockade. On all the heights without the city, and on all the -towers and palaces which commanded it, were placed projectile engines, -throwing masses of rock and flaming naphtha, which breached the walls, -and set the buildings on fire. - -At this period, the three presidents of the sherifs, or descendants -of Ali, who resided at Helle, on the banks of the Euphrates, not far -from the ruins of Babylon, sent a letter to Hulaku, in which they -offered their submission, and added bitter complaints of the wrongs -which they had suffered from the khalif. They informed him, that -according to a tradition preserved by their glorious ancestor, the Lion -of God, the sage of the faith, the son-in-law of the prophet Ali, -the son of Abu-taleb, the period of the fall of the family of Abbas, -and the conquest of Bagdad, was arrived. Hulaku, equally pleased with -the homage of the descendants of the prophet and with the prophecy, -answered them graciously, and commanded his general, Emir Alaeddin, -to occupy the district of Helle, and to protect the inhabitants from -violence. Thus their hatred against the family of Abbas secured them -against the rage of the Mongols. - -After the siege had lasted forty days, the khalif convoked a general -assembly of all the grandees of the realm, in which Ibn Alkami -spoke at great length of the innumerable host of the Mongols, and -the impossibility of long resisting them; he therefore, recommended -a treaty with Hulaku, who was more desirous of the treasures than -the dominions of the khalif; he advised a mutual alliance between a -daughter of Hulaku and a son of the khalif, and between a daughter -of the latter and a son of the former, that the ties of peace and -friendship might be drawn the closer. For this purpose, the khalif -should go in person to the khan’s camp, and thus the blood of thousands -would be spared, the city preserved from utter destruction, and the -khalifat fortified against every enemy by the acquisition of so -powerful an ally. - -The fear and pusillanimity of the khalif caused him to listen to -Alkami’s faithless advice. He sent him, in the first place, into the -camp to negotiate peace, under the same conditions as had been offered -to him from Hamadan; he returned with the answer, probably suggested by -himself, that “What was admissible at Hamadan, is no longer so before -the gates of Bagdad.” Then, only one of the great dignities of the -realm was demanded; now all four were, namely: the commander of the -army, Suleimanshah, the two ink-holders or secretaries of state, and -the chief cup-bearer. The siege continued six days longer with renewed -vehemence; on the seventh, Hulaku caused six letters of immunity to be -prepared, in which it was stated that the kadis and the seids, the -sheikhs and imams who had not borne arms should be secure of their -lives and property; these letters were attached to arrows, and shot -into the city on six sides. One of the two secretaries, who despaired -of the safety of the city, and was more anxious for his own, embarked -on the Tigris to seek it in flight; as however, he came abreast -of Kariet-ol-akab, he was stopped by a body of the Mongol troops, -posted there for the purpose of cutting off the communication between -Medain and Basra. Three of his vessels fell a prey to the flaming -naphtha, and he was himself compelled to return. The khalif, who had -already renounced all hope, now sent Fakhreddin Damaghani, and Ibn -Derwish, with presents to Hulaku, and to treat with him concerning the -conditions of peace. These two, however, returning without success, he -despatched, on the following day, his son Abulfase Abdorrahman, with -very considerable presents, and, on the third, his brother Abulfasl -Abubekr, with the noblest and greatest personages in the state. These -embassies were as fruitless as the first, and the vizier, who was sent -into the camp along with Ibn-al-jusi, again brought back the surrender -of Suleimanshah and the secretaries, as the indisputable condition of -the khalif’s free exit. - -Suleimanshah, and one of the secretaries, after being assured of -a safe conduct, went to Hulaku, who sent them back to the city, -commanding them to bring with them their families and whole household, -in order that he might send them unobstructedly to Syria and Egypt; -they returned to the camp with a considerable escort of troops, who -seized this opportunity of deserting the city. Different quarters had -just been assigned them, when an Indian struck out the eye of one of -Hulaku’s principal emirs, with an arrow; Hulaku seized this accident as -a pretext for the most sanguinary rage; he commanded the secretary of -state and his suite to be put to death, and the general, Suleimanshah, -and his officers, to be brought, bound, before him: he said to him, -“How comes it, that so great an astrologer as thou could not foresee -the hour of thy death? Wherefore didst thou not counsel thy lord to -enter the path of submission, in order to save thy own life and that of -others?” Suleimanshah replied, that “the khalif’s evil star had made -him deaf to good advice.” After some interrogatories and replies of -this kind, the general and his officers were put to the sword. - -Many thousands, who had surrendered into the hands of the conqueror -on the faith of the safe conduct, were murdered, unarmed, after they -had been separated from each other, on pretence of being sent into -different provinces; a cold-blooded and faithless cruelty, which, -however, is not without example, having been repeated both in the -east and in the west. The history of Alexander, of Charlemagne, -Jengiskhan, Timur, and other conquerors, presents us with instances -similar to this atrocity of Hulaku, agreeing also wonderfully with it -in the number of the victims,—from three to four thousand,—as well as -in the circumstances of the promised safe retreat, the division into -detachments, and the dialogue held with the commanders, who, for that -very reason, were the more certain of their lives being spared. - -The khalif seeing no farther hope of saving his life except by -surrendering to the conqueror, repaired to the khan’s camp, after a -siege of forty-nine days, on Sunday, the 4th of the month Jafer, in the -656th year of the Hegira; he was attended by his brother and his two -sons, together with a suite of nearly three thousand persons, kadhis, -seids, sheikhs, and imams; only the khalif and the three princes, -his brother and two sons, together with three of the suite (one in -a thousand), in all, seven persons, were admitted to an audience. -Hulaku concealed the perfidy of his designs under the mask of smooth -words, and the most friendly reception. He requested the khalif to -send word into the city that the armed inhabitants should throw away -their weapons, and assemble before the gates, in order that a general -census might be taken. At the order of the khalif the city poured out -its unarmed defenders, who, as well as the person of Mostassem, were -secured. The next day, at sunrise, Hulaku issued commands to fill up -the ditch, demolish the walls, pillage the city, and massacre the -inhabitants. The ditch, according to the expression of the Persian -historian, deep as the deep reflections of wisdom, and the walls as -high as the soaring of a lofty mind, were, in an hour, levelled. -The army of the Mongols, as numerous as ants and locusts, mined the -fortifications like an ant-hill, and then fell upon the city as -destructive as a cloud of the latter; the Tigris was dyed with blood, -and flowed as red as the Nile, when Moses, by a miracle, changed its -waves into blood; or, it was at least as red as the Egyptian river is -to this day, when it is swollen by that annual miracle of nature, its -overflow, and coloured red by the red loam and sand which it washes -down from Abyssinia; affording a natural explanation of the Mosaic -miracle. - -The city was a prey to fire and the sword; the minarets and domes of -the mosques glowed, like fiery columns and cupolas; from the roofs of -the mosques and baths, flowed melted gold and lead, setting on fire the -palm and cypress groves which surrounded them. The gilded battlements -of the palaces fell like stars to the earth,—like the demons who -endeavoured to scale the battlements of Heaven. In the mausolea, the -mortal remains of the sheikhs and pious imams, and in the academies, -the immortal works of great and learned men, were consumed to ashes; -books were thrown into the fire, or where that was distant and the -Tigris near, were buried in the waters of the latter. Gold and silver -vessels from the palaces and kitchens of the great, fell, in such -quantities, into the hands of the ignorant Mongols, that they sold -them by weight, like brass or tin. The treasures of Asiatic splendour -and art, accumulated for centuries in the khalif’s city, became the -booty of barbarians. So great a quantity of Persian and Chinese gold -tissues, Arab horses, Egyptian mules, Greek and Abyssinian slaves of -both sexes, coined and uncoined gold, silver, pearls, and precious -stones, was found, that the private soldier became richer than even -the chiefs of the army or the khan himself had ever been before. And -yet the treasures of the khalif’s palace had not been touched, as these -the khan retained for himself. - -After four days’ pillage, he went, on the 9th of the month Safir, in -company with the khalif, to the palace of the latter; where he, as -his guest, as he said, desired his host to give him all that he was -able. This Mongol politeness struck the khalif with such terror, that -his whole body trembled, and as he either had not the keys, or could -not find them, he ordered the bolts and locks to be broken open. -Two thousand costly garments, ten thousand ducats, and many jewels, -were brought out; which the khan, without deigning them a glance, -distributed among his suite, and then turned to the khalif, with the -words: “Thy public treasures belong to my servants; now produce thy -concealed ones.” Mostassem pointed to a spot, on excavating which were -found the two basins of treasure, so celebrated in the history of -the khalifat, each filled with bars of gold, weighing each a hundred -miscals. Nassir-ledinillah’s wise economy had commenced filling these -two vessels; Mostanssur’s prodigality emptied them; and Mostassem’s -avarice again replenished them. - -An anecdote is told, in the history of the last reigns of the khalifs, -that Mostanssur, when he paid his first visit to this treasure, prayed -aloud: “Lord, my God! grant me the favour to be enabled to empty both -these vessels during my reign!” The treasurer smiled, and being asked -his reason, he said: “When thy grandfather visited this treasure, he -besought heaven to reign only until he had filled these two basins; -while thou desirest precisely the reverse.” Mostanssur applied this -gold in the foundation of useful institutions, which immortalize his -name; particularly in the erection of the celebrated academy, which was -named after him, Mostansarie, and also Omm-ol-Medaris, that is, the -Mother of Academies. Mostassem, on the other hand, hoarded gold from -avarice; whereas, a politic application of his riches, in the pay of -troops and tribute, might have saved his throne from ruin. - -Hulaku’s cruelty to Mostassem, realized the Grecian fable of the wishes -of King Midas. He commanded plates filled with gold to be placed before -him, instead of food; and on the khalif’s observing that gold was not -food, the Mongol told him, by an interpreter: “For that very reason -that it is not food, wherefore hast thou not rather given it to thine -army to defend thee, or distributed it amongst mine to satisfy me?” -Too late, Mostassem repented the consequences of his avarice, and -after spending a sleepless night, tormented with the pangs of hunger -and conscience, he prayed, in the morning, in the words of the Koran: -“O Lord, my God! possessor of all power; thou givest it to whom thou -wilt, and takest from whom thou wilt; thou raisest up and pullest down -whomsoever thou pleasest; in thy hands is all goodness, and thou art -mighty over all things!” - -The khan now held a council of his ministers, to deliberate concerning -the fate of the khalif; and it being their unanimous opinion, that -prolonging his existence would only be preserving the bloody seeds of -war and insurrection, and that only with his life could the dominion -of the khalifat be terminated, his death was determined. But as Hulaku -himself deemed it improper that the khalif should suffer as an ordinary -criminal, and the blood of the prophet’s successor be shed by the -sword, Mostassem was wrapped in a thick cloth, and beaten to death. -So great was the religious veneration for the sacred person of the -khalif, and thus did eastern etiquette extend even to the execution of -kings. From similar motives of reverence, the Ottoman sultans, when a -revolt costs them their lives, are not strangled, but are put to death -by compression of the genitals:—a singular and elaborate trait of -executioner tenderness! - -As the pillage and sack of Bagdad had commenced four days before -the khalif’s death, so it continued forty days afterwards; till -the barbarians dropped their swords from fatigue, and fuel was -wanting for the flames. If we abstract the usual horrors of insulted -humanity, which have been repeated in every sacked city, and only in -Bagdad were carried to the highest pitch of enormity, we shall not -blame the Mongols so much in their conquest of that city, for the -conflagration of the mosques, and the desecration of the mausolea, -for the destruction of the immense treasures, and the melting of the -gold and silver vessels, nor even for the demolition of the bulwarks -of holiness, and the overthrow of the khalif throne, as for the -annihilation of the libraries, and the loss of many hundred thousand -volumes, which fell a prey to the flames. - -They consisted of the treasures of Arabic literature, the accumulation -of nearly five hundred years; together with the relics of the Persian, -which had probably been saved from the destruction of Medain. As the -second khalif had commanded his general, in Egypt, to consume the -Alexandrian library, so he also caused that of Medain, the residence of -Khosroes, to be thrown into the Tigris; and Omar, whom some European -historians have in vain endeavoured to exculpate from this high treason -against literature, is loaded with the double guilt of the double _auto -da fe_ of the Greek and the Persian library, by fire and water. As the -Arabs destroyed these libraries, five centuries before, in two years; -so did the Mongols, in the same space, annihilate the Arabian libraries -of Alamut and Bagdad. To this double conflagration must be added, that -of the great libraries of Tripoli, Nishabur, and Cairo, in the same -century. Thus the conjunction of the seven planets in the same sign of -the zodiac, which indicated, according to some astrologers, a universal -deluge, and according to others, a universal conflagration, might be -justly understood to signify the inundation of the Mongols, and the -burning of the libraries. - -A most melancholy observation is suggested by the destruction of the -libraries of Alamut and Bagdad; it is, that the fall of both was -caused by the guilt of learned men: the former, by the perfidy of -the astronomer, Nassireddin; the latter, by the treachery of the _bel -esprit_, Ibn Alkami; both being sacrificed to their revenge. The fate -of these two learned statesmen, distinguished alike by their great -talents and evil hearts, who caused the overthrow of the Assassins and -the khalifat, falls now to be mentioned. A few words will suffice. -After the conquest of Bagdad, Nassireddin built the celebrated -observatory of Meragha; by which, as well as his astronomical tables, -both his name and that of Hulaku are immortalized in the history of -astronomy. Thus that science derived, at least, some advantage from -the many evils in which astrology had been its handmaid. Ibn Alkami, -the man of letters, and vizier, instead of the reward he expected, -reaped that of a traitor. As such, treated by the Mongols with the -most profound contempt, he died, in a few days, a prey to remorse and -despair. The inhabitants of Bagdad wrote on every wall, over the gates -of the caravanserais and schools, in large letters cut in marble: “The -curse of God on him who curses not Ibn Alkami!” One of the traitor’s -partisans, a Shiite, having expunged the “not” from one of these -inscriptions, was punished with seventy blows of the bastinado. The -name of Ibn Alkami is intimately interwoven with that of Nassireddin, -in the history of the fall of the Assassins, and the khalifat. Asia -long trembled from the shock of the violent fall of the empire of the -dagger, and the prophet’s staff. - -The conquest of Bagdad has almost diverted us from our proper object, -not merely by the intrinsic importance of the subject, but also on -account of its intimate connexion with the end of the Assassins, whose -overthrow prepared that of the khalifat. - -After their castles in Rudbar and Kuhistan had been razed to the -ground, and numbers of them massacred and scattered, they still -maintained their stand, for fourteen years, in the mountains of Syria, -against the armies of the Mongols, the Franks, and the Egyptian sultan, -Bibars, one of the greatest princes of the Circassian Mamelukes of -Egypt. This prince, who zealously sought for supreme power, was not -inclined to share it any longer with the remains of the Assassin -order, which had been chased from the mountains of Persia. During his -reign, Frank and Arab vessels put into the Egyptian ports,[277] with -embassies; which the Christian and Arabic princes, such as the German -emperor, Alphonso of Arragon, the commander of Yemen, and others, -sent with rich presents to the Syrian Ismailites. Bibars, in order -to show that he was far above all fear of the order, levied on all -these presents the usual customs; and sent to the superior in Syria, a -letter, full of threats and reproaches. Terrified and humbled by their -misfortunes in Persia, they answered submissively, and with the request -that the sultan would not forget them in his peace with the Franks, but -include them in his treaty, in token of his protection of them as his -slaves; and, in fact, Bibars, who, in this year, concluded a peace with -the knights-hospitallers, made the abolition of the tribute paid by the -Ismailites, one of the conditions of the treaty. The following year, -he received an embassy of the Ismailites, who sent him a sum of money, -with the words: “That the money which they had hitherto paid to the -Franks, should, in future, flow into the treasury of the sultan; and -serve for the pay of the defenders of the true faith”.[278] - -Three years afterwards,[279] when Sultan Bibars was marching against -the Franks, in Syria, the commanders of the different towns appeared -to do him homage. Nejmeddin, the grand-master of the Assassins, -however, instead of following this example, requested a diminution of -the tribute, which the order now paid to the sultan instead of the -Franks. Saremeddin Mobarek, the commandant of the Ismailite fortress, -Alika, had formerly drawn upon himself the anger of the sultan; but -having received pardon on the intercession of the governor of Sihinn, -or, according to others, of Hama, he appeared with a numerous suite, -in Bibar’s presence, who received him into favour and loaded him with -honours. He granted him the supreme command of all the castles of the -Ismailites in Syria, which were no longer to be governed by Nejmeddin, -but by Saremeddin, in the name of the sultan of Egypt. Massiat, as the -property of the sultan, was subjected to the command of Emir Aseddin. -In conformity with his orders, Saremeddin appeared before the walls of -this fortress; of which he possessed himself, partly by stratagem, and -partly by the massacre of a number of the inhabitants. Nejmeddin, the -late grand-master of the order, an old man of seventy years of age, and -his son, implored the sultan’s clemency. He had compassion on them; and -granted the former the restoration of his authority, in conjunction -with Saremeddin, in consideration of an annual tribute of a hundred and -twenty thousand drachmas. A contribution of two thousand gold pieces, -was required of Saremeddin; and Nejmeddin left his son in the sultan’s -court, as a pledge of his obedience and fidelity.[280] - -In the meanwhile, Saremeddin having taken possession of Massiat, -drove out Aseddin, the governor named by the sultan; but not being -able to maintain the place against the approaching forces of the -sultan, he threw himself into the castle of Alika. Aseddin returned -from Damascus, whither he had taken refuge, again to Massiat, to the -command of which he was restored by the sultan’s troops, who left him -a garrison and body guard. Malik Manssur, Prince of Hama, who had been -charged by Bibars with the restoration of the emir, and the deposition -of Saremeddin, took the latter prisoner, and brought him before the -sultan, who threw him into a dungeon. The castle of Alika surrendered -to the sultan’s army on the 9th of Shewal. - -Nejmeddin, the former grand-prior, again held the command of the -Ismailite castles in Syria,[281] in the name of the sultan, by whom -Shemseddin was retained at court, as the pledge of his father’s -fidelity. On a suspicion being raised against him, he came in person -to court, and offered, with his son, Shemseddin, to deliver up all the -castles, and to live in future in Egypt; his offer was accepted, and -Shemseddin departed for Kehef, to induce the inhabitants to surrender -within twenty days. Not appearing, however, at the end of this term, -the sultan admonished him, by letter, to fulfill his promise; and -Shemseddin desired that the castle of Kolaia should be left in his -possession, in exchange for which he engaged to yield all the rest. The -sultan acceded to his request; and sent Aalemeddin Sanjar, the judge -of Hama, for the purpose of receiving from Shemseddin, the oath of -allegiance, and the keys of Kehef; the inhabitants, however, secretly -instigated by the latter, refused to admit the envoy. - -A second embassy having no better effect, Bibars gave orders for the -castle to be besieged. On this, Shemseddin left Kehef, and repaired to -the sultan, who was encamped before Hama, and was honourably received; -receiving, however, intelligence in a letter, that the inhabitants -of Kehef had sent Assassins into the camp, in order to murder his -principal emirs, Bibars caused Shemseddin and all his suite to be -arrested, and carried into Egypt. At the same time, two officers of the -order, who had persuaded their friends in the castle of Khawabi, to -surrender to the sultan, were seized at Sarmin. This castle surrendered -to negotiation, that of Kolaia to force; and, in the following -year, those of Menifa and Kadmus fell into the sultan’s hands. The -inhabitants of Kehef wished to oppose a longer resistance; but being -closely blockaded, and cut off from all relief, they at length sent -Bibars the keys of the town; and the Emir Jemaleddin Akonsa made his -entry on the 22d of Silvide. - -From this moment, Bibars was master of all the forts and castles which -had been in the possession of the Ismailites; and he ruined their power -in Syria, as Hulaku had done in Persia. Next to Massiat, the residence -of the grand-master, Shiun, a strong place on a rock, abundantly -supplied with water,[282] and at a short day’s journey from Latakia, -had been lately particularly distinguished, by the valiant exploits -of its commandant, Hamsa, one of the greatest heroes among the Syrian -Ismailites. This Hamsa must not be confounded with Hamsa, the companion -of the prophet, and one of the bravest heroes of Mohammedanism; nor -with Hamsa, the founder of the religion of the Druses. The numerous -battles and enterprises of the Assassins, their valorous defence -against the armies of the Crusaders, and the Egyptian sultan, Bibars, -and the adventurous character of their whole history, offered a fertile -source to the Syrian romance writers and story-tellers; a source of -which they did not fail to avail themselves. - -This was the origin of the Hamsaname, or Hamsiads,[283] a kind of -chivalrous romance, modelled after the style of the Antar, Dulhemmet, -Benihilal, and other Egyptian works. After the conquest of Syria, by -the Ottomans, the tales of the feats and adventures of Hamsa passed -from the mouths of the Arabian story-tellers and coffee-house orators, -to those of the Turks; and Hamsa, together with Sid Battal (Cid y -Campeador) the proper Cid of the orientals, an Arabian hero, who fell -in battle against the Greeks, at the siege of Constantinople, by Harun -al Rashid,[284] afforded the richest materials for Turkish romances, -which are exclusively occupied by the feats of Hamsa and Sid Battal. -The tomb of the Sid in the Anatolian Sanjak Sultanoghi is, to this -day, a much frequented resort of pilgrimages, enriched by the Sultan -Suleiman, the legislator, with the endowment of a mosque, a convent, -and an academy.[285] - -The conquest of Massiat was succeeded by that of Alika, and, at length, -two years after, by that of Kahaf, Mainoka Kadmus, and of the other -castles on the Antilebanon; and thus the power of the Ismailites was -overthrown, both in Syria and Persia. One of their last attempts at -assassination is said to have been directed against the person of St. -Louis, King of France, but the falsity of this supposition has already -been demonstrated, by French writers.[286] - -The power of the Ismailites had now terminated, both in Persia and -Syria; the citadels of the grand-master, in Rudbar, and of the -grand-priors, in Kuhistan and Syria, had fallen; the bands of the -Assassins were massacred and scattered; their doctrine was publicly -condemned, yet, nevertheless, continued to be secretly taught, and the -order of the Assassins, like that of the Jesuits, endured long after -its suppression. In Kuhistan, in particular, remains of them still -existed; that being a region which, on account of its very mountainous -character, was more impracticable than the surrounding countries, and, -being less accessible to the persecutors of the order, it afforded the -partisans of the latter a more secure asylum. - -Seventy years after the taking of Alamut and Bagdad, in the reign of -Hulaku’s eighth successor, Abu Said Behadir Khan, the great protector -of the sciences, to whom Wassaf dedicated his history, the whole of -Kuhistan was devoted to the pernicious sect of the Ismailites, and the -doctrine of Islamism had not yet been able to enter the hearts of the -natives, hard as their mountain rocks. Abusaid determined, in concert -with the lieutenant of the province, Shah Ali Sejestani, to send an -apostolic mission, for the conversion of these miscreants and infidels. -At the head of the society of missionaries, which was composed of -zealous divines, was the Sheikh Amadeddin, surnamed of Bokhara, -one of the most esteemed jurisconsults, who, on the destruction of -that city, had fled to Kuhistan. His grandson, Jelali, in his work, -“Nassaih-ol-Moluk” (_Counsels for Kings_), dedicated to the Sultan -Shahrokh, the son of Timur, relates the history of this mission from -the mouth of his father, who had accompanied his grandfather to -Kuhistan.[287] - -Amadeddin, with his two sons, Hossameddin and Nejmeddin, the father -of Jelali, and four other Ulemas, in all seven persons, went to Kain, -the chief seat of the Ismailites; where, since the illuminative period -of Hassan II., the mosques had fallen down, the pious institutions -decayed—where the word of the Koran was no longer heard from the -pulpit, nor the call to prayers sounded from the minaret. As prayer, -five times a day, is the first of the duties of Islamism, and the call -to it proclaims aloud the creed of the faithful, Amadeddin resolved -to commence his mission with it. He went, therefore, with his six -companions armed, to the terrace of the castle of Kain, from whence, -they began, at the same instant, to cry out on all sides: “Say God -is great! there is no God but God, and Mohammed is his prophet. To -prayers! Up! to do good!” This summons, to which the unbelieving -inhabitants had long been unaccustomed, instead of collecting them -in the mosque, excited them to a tumult against the summoners; and, -although the latter had taken the precaution to be armed, they did not -deem it expedient to purchase the crown of martyrdom with their lives, -by defending themselves, but took refuge in a drain, where they hid. -As soon as the people were dispersed, they again mounted the terrace, -and repeated the call to prayers, and the retreat to the drain. In this -manner, their obstinate zeal, supported by the power of the governor, -succeeded in accustoming the ears of the infidels to the formula of -the summons to prayer, and then to that of prayer itself; and sowed -the good seed of the true doctrine of Islamism on the waste field of -infidelity and atheism.[288] - -While the political wisdom of Abusaid was endeavouring to extirpate -the Ismailite doctrine in Persia, its ashes still smouldered in -Syria; and, from time to time, threw out destructive flames, which -were extinguished in the blood of the slaughtered victims. As it -had originated in Egypt, and had but served as an instrument of the -ambitious designs of the Fatimites; so the Circassian sultans of that -country availed themselves of the last fruits of the wide-spread tree -of murderous policy, in order to execute their revenge, and to try the -dagger on those enemies who resisted the sword. A memorable instance of -such an attempt, is afforded us in the history of the Emir Kara Sonkor, -who had deserted the court of the Egyptian sultans, and had entered -into the service of the khan of the Mongols. - -Two years after[289] Abusaid had sent the before-mentioned learned -Jelali to Kuhistan, the Egyptian sultan, Mohammed, the son of Bibars, -sent no less than thirty Assassins from Massiat to Persia, to sacrifice -the Emir Kara Sonkor to his vengeance. They arrived at Tebris, and the -first having been cut to pieces in his murderous attempt, the report -was soon spread that Assassins were come to murder the Khan Abusaid, -the Emir Juban, the Vizier Ali Shah, and all the Mongol nobles. A -second attempt on the life of Kara Sonkor cost, like the former one, -that of the murderer. A similar attack had been made on the governor of -Bagdad, and Abusaid, the great khan, prudently shut himself up in his -tent for eleven days. Nevertheless, the Egyptian sultan, Mohammed, did -not give up his vengeful attempt on the life of Kara Sonkor. He sent a -merchant, named Yunis, to Tebris, with a large sum of money, to hire -new Assassins. Yunis sent for them from Massiat, and concealed them -in his house. One day, as the Emir Juban was riding in company with -the Emirs Kara Sonkor and Afrem, two Assassins watched a favourable -opportunity to murder the two latter. The first assailant, who was too -hasty in his attack on the Emir Afrem, only tore his clothes with his -dagger, instead of wounding his breast, and being cut down on the -spot, the second did not think it advisable to approach Kara Sonkor. - -Inquiries were immediately set on foot into the Funduks (_Fondaeki_) -of Tebris, for the purpose of discovering the haunts of the Assassins; -the merchant, Yunis, was arrested, but his life was preserved by the -interest of the vizier. The Emirs Afrem and Kara Sonkor took all -necessary precautions for the preservation of their own. A servant of -the latter, a native of Massiat, searched the whole city of Tebris, to -find out the Assassin who was to have poniarded his lord; and found -him, at last, in the person of his own brother. The emir, in order to -gain him over, gave him a hundred pieces of gold, and a monthly salary -of three hundred dirhems, together with other presents; for which, he -was induced to betray his accomplices. One of them escaped; another -stabbed himself; a third expired under the torture, without confessing -anything. - -In the meanwhile, the Assassins at Bagdad executed their commission -better than those at Tebris. One of them threw himself on the governor, -as he was going out to ride, and plunged his dagger into his breast, -saying: “In the name of Melek Nassir;” and escaped so quickly to -Massiat, that he could not be overtaken. From that place, he sent -information of the accomplishment of the murder of the governor, to -Sultan Mohammed.[290] The two emirs redoubled their vigilance; and, by -means of the Ismailite in Kara Sonkor’s pay, discovered four others, -who were immediately put to death. Nejmeddin Selami, who had been sent -as ambassador, from Mohammed to the Khan Abusaid, insinuated himself -into a confidential intercourse with the Emir Juban, and the vizier. He -informed his master of the execution of the four Assassins; in whose -place four others were immediately sent; three of them being arrested -and discovered, expired under the pangs of the torture; fortunately for -Selami, the fourth escaped, who was the bearer of the sultan’s letter -to his plenipotentiary at Massiat, whence he apprised the sultan of the -ill success of his mission. - -Selami continued his negotiations with the Emir Juban and the -vizier, so happily, that they concluded a peace with the sultan, on -condition that he should send no more Assassins into their country. -Notwithstanding this, the Emir Kara Sonkor was attacked anew, while he -was hunting, by a murderer, who only, however, wounded his horse in the -thigh, and was immediately killed by the guard. Even in the suite of -the Emir Itmash, who came on his second embassy to Abusaid’s court, two -Assassins were detected; one of whom immediately stabbed himself, and -the other, after refusing to confess, was put to death in chains. Juban -loaded Itmash with reproaches, saying that, by sending these murderers, -the sultan scoffed at the treaty; and the ambassador assured him, in -return, that if they really were Assassins, they must have arrived at -Tebris, before it was signed. After Itmash and Selami had returned to -the sultan, their master, in Cairo, the latter wrote once more to the -Massiat Ismailites, reproaching them for not fulfilling their contract. -They sent him for answer, one of their best Fedavis, a great eater, who -devoured a calf, and drank forty measures of wine a-day. After being -kept some time, at Keremeddin’s house, in Cairo, he went to the court -of the great Khan Abusaid, in the suite of Selami, who was sent as -ambassador, with presents. - -At the feast of Bairam, when the emirs were attending the khan, Selami -ordered the Assassin to watch the moment when Kara Sonkor should leave -the palace, from the banquet: “The first,” said he, “who comes out, -is the destined victim.” By accident, the vizier called the Emir Kara -Sonkor back, just as he was on the point of quitting the palace; and -the governor of Rum, who was dressed in red, like him, fell beneath -the blows of the murderer, who jumped from a roof on to the governor’s -horse, and stabbed him. Being taken, he died under the most horrible -tortures, without confessing a word. Murderer succeeded murderer, in -attempting to satisfy the sultan’s desire of revenge; but, fortunately, -Kara Sonkor escaped them all. If we may credit the testimony of -Macrisi, no less than one hundred and twenty-four Assassins lost their -lives in attempting that of Kara Sonkor; so little is the life of man -in the power of his species, and so incapable are the tools of murder -of cutting the thread of those days, which the Almighty has numbered. - -Three generations after Abusaid’s mission, when the whole of Kuhistan -had returned, at least in appearance, within the pale of the true -faith, the Sultan Shahrokh, the son of Timur, sent Jelali, of Kain, -who usually lived in Herat, and was thence called Al Herat, and Al -Kaini, for the purpose of ascertaining the state of belief in that -province. Jelali felt himself the more called upon to engage in -this inquisitorial affair, as his grandfather had presided over the -apostolic mission, and because the prophet had appeared to him in a -dream, and put a broom in his hand, with which he was to sweep the -country. He interpreted this vision as a celestial call, by which he -was appointed to the high office of cleansing away all the impurities -of unbelief; and he entered upon it with a conscientious zeal, and a -spirit of more than Islamitic toleration. His before-mentioned work, -“The Counsels for Kings,” contains the results of the report of his -inquiry given to Sultan Shahrokh, and likewise, some information -respecting the secret policy of the still unconverted Ismailites, taken -from Jowaini’s “History of Jehan Kusha (_the Conqueror of Worlds_).” - -Within the space of eighteen months, Jelali travelled through the -whole of Kuhistan; and every where found that the Ulemas, or teachers -of the law, were true orthodox Sunnites. The seids, the descendants -of the prophet, passed for such; and, still more, the dervishes, who -represented themselves to be sofis, or mystics. The emirs of Tabs and -Shirkuh were good Sunnites; but the commanders of the other castles, -and even the servants of the government (_Beg-jian_), were to be -suspected. For the rest, the peasants, merchants, mechanics, were all -good Moslimin. - -Notwithstanding the people were entirely devoted to the true doctrine -of Islamism, still it appears that the order preserved its existence in -secret, long after the loss of temporal power, in the hope of, sometime -or other, recovering it, under more favourable circumstances. The -Ismailites, indeed, no longer ventured to unsheath the dagger against -their foes; but the chief aim of their policy, to acquire influence -in affairs of state, remained; they, in particular, sought to make -proselytes of the members of the divan; in order, by this means, to -secure the majority of voices in their favour, and to stifle in their -birth, all complaints and denunciations of their secret doctrine. For -this reason, the author of “Jehan Kusha, (_Conqueror of the World_),” -as well as the writer of the “Siasset-ol-Moluk” (_Art of Governing; -or, Discipline of Kings_), warns princes to place in the divan none -of the officers of Kuhistan, who were more or less to be suspected, -on account of their principles. When intrusted with the management of -the finances, they were, indeed, never in arrear with their contracts; -so that the public treasury had never any claims against them; they, -however, ruined the villages which they farmed, and sent the surplus of -the taxes to their secret superiors, who still preserved an existence -at Alamut, the centre of the ancient splendour of the order. Thither -also flowed a portion of the revenues of pious institutions, the -produce of which was destined for the support of mosques and schools, -servants of religion, and teachers. Similar well-intentioned warnings -have, in our own times, been frequently given to princes: the attentive -ear of government is always the most powerful obstacle to the rise of -secret orders and societies to power. - -Remains of the Ismailites still exist both in Persia and Syria,[291] -but merely as one of the many sects and heresies of Islamism, without -any claims to power, without the means of obtaining their former -importance, of which they seem, in fact, to have lost all remembrance. -The policy of the secret state-subverting doctrine of the first lodge -of the Ismailites, and the murderous tactics of the Assassins, are -equally foreign to them. Their writings are a shapeless mixture of -Ismailite and Christian traditions, glossed over with the ravings of -the mystic theology. Their places of abode are, both in Persia and -Syria, those of their forefathers, in the mountains of Irak, and at the -foot of Antilebanon.[292] - -The Persian Ismailites recognise, as their chief, an imam, whose -descent they deduce from Ismael the son of Jafer-Essadik, and who -resides at Khekh, a village in the district of Kum, under the -protection of the shah. As, according to their doctrine, the imam is -an incarnate emanation of the Deity, the imam of Khekh enjoys, to this -day, the reputation of miraculous powers; and the Ismailites, some -of whom are dispersed as far as India, go in pilgrimage, from the -banks of the Ganges and the Indus, in order to share his benediction. -The castles in the district of Rudbar, in the mountains of Kuhistan, -particularly in the vicinity of Alamut, are still inhabited, to this -day, by Ismailites, who, according to a late traveller, go by the -general name of Hosseinis.[293] - -The Syrian Ismailites live in eighteen villages, dispersed round their -ancient chief place, Massiat, and are under the rule of a sheikh or -emir, who is the nominee of the governor of Hamah. Being clothed in a -pelisse of honour, he engages to pay to Hamah an annual sum of sixteen -thousand five hundred piastres; his vassals are divided into two -parties, the Suweidani and Khisrewi: the former so named after one of -their former sheikhs; the latter, for their extraordinary veneration -of the prophet Khiser (Elias), the guardian of the spring of life: -the former, who are by far the smaller number, live principally at -Feudara, one of the eighteen places under the jurisdiction of Massiat; -three miles east of that fortress lies a strong castle, whose name, -pronounced Kalamus, is probably the same with the Kadmos of Arabian -historians and geographers; from thence, the chain of mountains, after -several windings, descends to the sea, near Tripoli. - -In 1809, the Nossairis, the neighbours and enemies of the Ismailites, -possessed themselves, by treachery, of their chief fortress, Massiat; -the inhabitants were pillaged and murdered; the booty amounted to -more than a million piastres in value. The governor of Hamah did not -suffer this rash enterprise of the Nossairis to go unpunished; he -besieged Massiat, and compelled them to resign the fortress to its -ancient possessors; the latter, however, sunk into complete political -insignificance. Externally they practise the duties of Islamism with -austerity, although they internally renounce them: they believe in the -divinity of Ali; in uncreated light as the principle of all created -things; and in the Sheikh Rashideddin, the grand-prior of the order -in Syria, contemporary with the grand-master, Hassan II., as the last -representative of the Deity on earth. - -We shall mention here, in passing, as they are neighbours of the -Ismailites, the Nossairis, the Motewellis, and the Druses, three sects -anathematized by the Moslems, on account of their infidelity and -lawlessness. Their doctrine agrees, in many points, with that of the -Ismailites; their founders having been animated with the same spirit of -extravagant fanaticism,—of unprincipled licentiousness. The Nossairis -and Druses are both older in their origin than the eastern Ismailites; -the former having appeared in Syria, as a branch of the Karmathites, -as early as the fifth century of the Hegira; the latter received their -laws from Hamsa, a missionary of Hakem-biemrillah’s from the lodge of -Cairo. The former believe, like the Ismailites, in the incarnation -of the divinity in Ali; the latter consider that maddest of tyrants, -Hakem-biemrillah, as a god in the flesh. Both abjure all the rules of -Islamism, or only observe them in appearance; both hold secret and -nocturnal assemblies stigmatized by the Moslimin, where they give -themselves up to the enjoyment of wine and promiscuous intercourse. - -The origin and doctrine of the Motewelli is less known than that of -the Nossairis and Druses. Their name is corrupted from Motewilin, -the _interpreters_; and therefore, probably, indicates a sect of the -Ismailites, who taught the _Tenvil_, or allegorical interpretation of -the commands of Islamism, in opposition to the _Tensil_, or positive -letter of the word, not from God, the sense of which is a command to -the true believer.[294] - -The reproach of immorality, which these sects share in common, is -certainly much more applicable to the Motewellis than to their -neighbours. For the inhabitants of the village of Martaban, on the road -from Latakia to Aleppo, who offer travellers the enjoyment of their -wives and daughters, and who consider their refusal as an affront, are -Motewellis.[295] - -In still worse report than the Ismailites, Motewellis, Nossairis and -Druses, are some tribes of Syrian and Assyrian kurds, who are called -Yezidis, because they hold in peculiar veneration Yezid, the khalif -of the Ommia family, who persecuted, sanguinarily, the family of the -prophet, and likewise the devil, neither of whom they curse like other -Moslimin. Their sheikh is called Karabash, that is, Blackhead, because -he covers his head with a black scarf. The name of their founder is -Sheikh Hadi, who, according to opinion, prayed, fasted, and gave alms -for all his future disciples; so that they believe themselves exempted -from these duties of Mohammedanism, and that, in consideration of his -merits, they will go to heaven without appearing before the tribunal of -God.[296] - -All these still existing sects are designated by the Moslimin, -generally, Sindike (_free-thinkers_), Mulhad (_impious_), and Batheni -(_esoterics_), and, on account of their nocturnal assemblies, sometimes -the one, sometimes the other, receive from the Turks the name of -_Mumsoindiren_, or the _extinguishers_; because, according to the -accusations of their religious adversaries, they extinguish the lights, -for the purpose of indulging in promiscuous intercourse, without regard -to kindred or sex. - -Similar charges have been, at all times, raised against secret -societies, whenever they concealed their mysteries under the veil of -night; sometimes groundlessly, as against the assemblies of the early -Christians, of whose innocence Pliny affords a testimony; sometimes but -too well founded, as against the mysteries of Isis, and, still earlier, -against the Bacchanalia of Rome. As the latter was the first secret -society mentioned in Roman history, as dangerous to the state, and -which assumed religion as a cloak to every enormity, the similarity of -the subject, renders the mentioning them not out of place here. - -As, in the sixth century, after the flight of the prophet, and the -establishment of Islamism, the pest of the Ismailites threatened, under -the appearance of religion, to undermine and overthrow the edifice, -so, also, in the sixth century, after the foundation of Rome and the -republic, the pest of the Bacchanalians, menaced the ruin of the city -and the state, under the mask of religion.[297] - -“A Greek, of mean extraction,” says Livy, “came first into Etruria, -skilled in none of the arts which that most learned of all nations has -devoted to the culture of the mind and the body, but a sacrificer and -soothsayer; not that he spread his doctrine by public teaching, or -filling the mind with a sacred horror, but, as the president of secret -and nocturnal sacrifices. At first, but few were initiated; afterwards, -however, the people, both men and women, were admitted. In order to -attract the mind the more, wine and banquets were added to religious -sacrifices. When the intoxication of the wine, night, the mixture of -the sexes, and of youth and age, had extinguished every shadow of -shame, vice and corruption of all kinds burst forth, every one having -at hand the means of gratifying his desires. There was not merely one -species of vice and the mere promiscuous intercourse of noble youths -and maidens; but also from this source proceeded false witnesses, false -documents, false informations, and accusations, poisoning, and secret -murder,—so secret, indeed, that even the bodies of the dead were not -found for sepulchre. Much was attempted by stratagem, but most by -violence. Violence remained concealed, because, in the midst of the -yells, and noise of cymbals and drums, the cries of the violated and -the murdered could not be heard.” - -The consul, Posthumus, had no sooner given intelligence to the senate -of the discovery of the existence and object of this secret society, -than the latter adopted the most powerful measures, for the safety -of the state and the commonweal, and proceeded against the members -of the Bacchanalia, as criminals against the state, with the utmost -rigour. The speech of the consul to the people, advised them to watch -over the peril which threatened the state, from the conspiracy of vice -with religion. “I am not sure (said he) that some of you may not have -fallen into error; for nothing has a more deceptive appearance than -corrupted religion. When the Deity is made a cloak for iniquity, the -mind is seized with terror, lest, in the punishment of human imposture, -some divine law may be transgressed.” This unveiling of crime, from -which the mask of religion had been torn, and the rigour with which the -Bacchanalians were persecuted, not only in Rome, but also throughout -Italy, with the sword and exile, stifled, in its birth, the monster -whose increasing strength menaced the state with ruin. Had the princes -of the east acted in the same spirit towards the first secret societies -and the emissaries of the lodge of Cairo, as the senate and consuls had -done, the sect of the Ismailites would never have attained political -influence, nor would the blood-dropping branch of Assassins have -sprouted from that poisonous stem. - -Unfortunately, as we have seen in the course of this history, several -princes were themselves devoted to the secret doctrine of infidelity -and immorality, and others were deficient in strength to restrain its -progress with effect. Thus, through the blindness of princes and the -weakness of governments—through the credulity of nations, and the -criminal presumption of an ambitious adventurer, like Hassan Sabah, the -monstrous existence of secret societies and an _imperium in imperio_, -attained so frightful an extent and power, that the murderer seated -himself openly upon the throne, and the unbounded dominion of the -dagger in the hands of the Assassins was an object of terror to princes -and rulers, and insulted mankind in a manner unexampled and unique -in history. We have, more than once, briefly pointed out the analogy -which the constitution of the order of the Assassins presents with -contemporary or more modern orders; but, although so many points of -similarity are found, which can neither be accidental nor yet spring -from the same cause, but which, probably, through the medium of the -Crusades, passed from the spirit of the east into that of the west, -they are still insufficient to make a perfect companion to the order of -the Assassins, which, thank Heaven, has hitherto been without parallel. -The Templars, incontrovertibly, stand in the next rank to them; their -secret maxims, particularly in so far as relates to the renunciation of -positive religion, and the extension of their power by the acquisition -of castles and strong places, seem to have been the same as those of -the order of the Assassins. The accordance, likewise, of the white -dress and red fillets of the Assassins, with the white mantle and red -cross of the Templars, is certainly remarkably striking. - -As the Templars, in many respects, trod in the footsteps of the -Assassins, so also did the Jesuits, whose exertions for the -aggrandisement of their order, and its preservation, if not by -political power, at least by secret connexions and influence, agree -entirely with the similar policy of the Assassins after the fall of -Alamut. The Assassins were, themselves, as we have seen, a branch of -the Ismailites, the proper Illuminati of the east. The institution -of their lodge at Cairo; the various grades of initiation; the -appellations of master, companions, and novices; the public and the -secret doctrine; the oath of unconditional obedience to unknown -superiors, to serve the ends of the order; all agree completely with -what we have heard and read, in our own days, concerning secret -revolutionary societies; and they coincide not less in the form or -their constitution, than in the common object of declaring all kings -and priests superfluous. - -The ostensible object of this institution was in itself sufficiently -laudable, and the exoteric doctrine had merely for its object the -extension of knowledge, and the mutual support of the members. The -house of science, at Cairo, or the public school of the lodge, was the -temple of the sciences, and the model of all academies; the greater -number of the members were certainly deceived into good faith by the -fair exterior of a beneficent, philanthropical, knowledge-spreading -form; they were a kind of Freemasons, whose native country, as we have -seen, may really be sought and found in Egypt, if not in the most -ancient times, at least in the history of the middle ages. As in the -west, revolutionary societies arose from the bosom of the Freemasons, -so in the east, did the Assassins spring from the Ismailites. - -Traces of retribution immediately executed, which fulfilled the -sentence of the order as infallibly as though it were the arm of fate -itself, are, perhaps, likewise to be found in the proceedings of the -Vehme, or secret tribunal, although its existence only commenced -two hundred years after the extermination of the order of murderers -in Asia.[298] The insanity of the enlighteners, who thought that by -mere preaching, they could emancipate nations from the protecting -care of princes, and the leading-strings of practical religion, -has shown itself in the most terrible manner by the effects of the -French revolution, as it did in Asia, in the reign of Hassan II; and -as, at that period, the doctrine of assassination and treason openly -proceeded from Alamut, so did the doctrine of regicide produce from the -French National Convention, in Jean de Brie, a legion of regicides. -The members of the Convention who sat with Robespierre on the side of -the mountain, and who decreed the king’s execution, would have been -satellites worthy of the Old Man of the Mountain. Like the initiated to -murder, they almost all died a violent death. - -The dominion of the Assassins sank under the iron tramp of Hulaku; -their fall drew after it that of the ancient throne of the khalif, and -of other dynasties; thousands bled under the conquering sword of the -Mongols, who went forth as the scourge of Heaven—like Attila and Jengis -Khan, to steel with blood the deadened nerves of nations. After him, -the remains of the hydra of Assassination quivered in the remnant of -the sect of the Ismailites, but powerless and venomless; held down by -the preponderance of the government in Persia and Syria; politically -harmless, somewhat like the juggling of the Templars of the present -day, and other secret societies watched by the vigilant eye of the -police in France. - -In writing this history, we have set two things before us as our -object, to have attained which is less our hope than our wish. In the -first place, to present a lively picture of the pernicious influence of -secret societies in weak governments, and of the dreadful prostitution -of religion to the horrors of unbridled ambition. Secondly, to give a -view of the important, rare, and unused historical treasures, which -are contained in the rich magazine of oriental literature. We have but -seized the prey which the lions of history have abandoned: for Müller, -in his twenty-four books of history, has not mentioned the Assassins at -all; and Gibbon, who, according to his own avowal, let no opportunity -escape him of painting scenes of blood, has treated them but -superficially; although, at the same time, both these great historians -have snatched from oblivion, with the pencil of the most masterly -description, many other insignificant events, the sources of which were -accessible to them. We may easily estimate from this condensed account -of all that is worth knowing of and concerning the order of Assassins, -and which is but sparingly scattered through the works of eastern -writers, how many concealed rarities and costly pearls are to be found -in the untrodden depths of the ocean of Oriental history. - - -END OF BOOK VII. - - - - -AUTHORITIES. - - -Khitati-missr-lil Macrisi (Arabic). The Topography of Egypt, in 2 vols. -folio, in the Imp. Library at Vienna, Nos. 97 and 98. - -Mokaddemei Ibn Khaledun (Arabic), and translated into Turkish. The -Historical Prolegomena of Ibn Khaledun, in the collection of Count -Rzewusky. - -Jehannuma (Turkish). The Mirror of the World, Hadji Khalfa’s large -geographical work, printed at Constantinople. - -Takwimet-tevarikh (Turkish). Hadji Khalfa’s Chronological Tables, -printed at Constantinople. - -Gulsheni Khulifa (Turkish). The Khalif’s Rose Garden, by Nasmisade. - -Jamiet-tevarikh (Turkish). The Collector of Histories, by Mohammed -Katib, dedicated to Murad III.; in the author’s collection. - -Jami-ol-hikayat, translated into Turkish. The Collector of Tales, by -Jemaleddin Mohammed Alufi; in the author’s collection. - -Tenhimet-tevarikh (Turkish). Exposition of Histories, by Hersarfenn; -in the author’s collection. - -Nokhbetet-tevarikh. The Selection of Histories, by Mohammed Effendi; -in the author’s collection. - -Abulfeda. Annales Muslemici Arabice et Latine, Opera Reiskii, Edidit -Adler. Hafniæ. - -Tarikhi Mirkhond. Mirkhond’s Universal History; in the Imperial -Library, at Vienna, and that of Count Rzewusky, and the History of the -Assassins, translated from it, in the Notice de l’Histoire Universelle -de Mirkhond, par M. A. Jourdain. - -Tarikhi Ibn Forat. Ibn Forat’s History, in nine vols.; Imperial -Library, Vienna; unique in Europe. - -Teskeret-esh-shuara (Persian). The Biography of Persian Poets, by -Devletshah; Imperial Library, Vienna, and in the collection of Count -Rzewusky. - -Tarikhi Thaberistan u Masenderan (Persian). History of Thaberistan and -Masenderan, by Sahireddin; Imperial Library, at Vienna, No. 117. - -Nassaih-ol-Moluk. Counsels for Kings, by Jelali of Kain, in Persian; -Imperial Library, Vienna, No. 163. - -Tarikhi Wassaf (Persian). Wassaf’s History; in the collections of Count -Rzewusky and the author. - -Tarikhi Lari, translated from the Persian into the Turkish. The History -of Lari; in the collections of Count Rzewusky and the author. - -Nigaristan (Persian). The Picture Gallery, by Ghaffari; in Count -Rzewusky’s collection. - -Fussuli-hall-u Akd-we-ussuli Kharj-u-nakd (Turkish). Sketches of -Loosing and Binding, Maxims of Giving and Receiving; by the historian -Aali; Imperial Library, Vienna, No. 125. - -Siret-ol Hakem-biemrillah (Arabic). Biography of Hakem-biemrillah; -Imperial Library, Vienna, No. 107. The passages quoted are translated -in the Mines de l’Orient, vol. III. p. 201. - -Enis-ol-jelil fit tarikhi Kods u Khalil. The Sublime Associate, in the -History of Jerusalem and Hebron (Arabic); in the collections of Count -Rzewusky and the author. The places quoted are translated in the Mines -de l’Orient, vol. IV. - -Memorie istoriche del Popolo degli Assassini, e del Vecchio della -Montagna loro capo, e Signore per Mariti; Livorno, 1787. - -Eclaircissement sur quelques Circonstances de l’Histoire, du Vieux de -la Montagne, Prince des Assassins, dans les Mémoires de l’Académie des -Inscriptions, et des Belles-Lettres, par Falconet, XVI. and XVII. tom. - -Mémoire sur les Ismailis et Nossairis de Syrie, par M. Rousseau; -Annales de Géographie, cah. XLII. et cah. LII. - -Mémoire sur la Dynastie des Assassins, et sur l’Origine de leur Nom; -par M. Silv. de Sacy; Moniteur, No. 210, 1809. - -Mémoire sur les Ismailiens dans les Mémoires Géographiques et -Historiques sur l’Egypte, par M. Quatremère, tom II. et dans le IV. -vol. des Mines de l’Orient. - -Mémoire sur la Vie et les Ouvrages d’Alaeddin Ata Melek Djovaini, par -M. Quatremère, dans les Mines de l’Orient, tom II. p. 220. - -Mémoire sur l’Observatoire de Meragha, par M. Jourdain. - -Herbelot Bibliothèque Orientale. - -Gesta Dei per Francos. - -Wilkins’s Geschichte der Kreuzzüge. - -Withof’s Das Meuchelmörderische Reich der Assassinen. - -Anton’s Versuch einer Geschichte des Tempelherrenordens. - -Deguignes’ Histoire Générale des Huns. - -Viaggi di Marco Polo. - - - - -NOTES. - - -Note A, page 127. - -After giving a view of the dogmas of the Ismailites, Rousseau -adds:—[299] - -“Such were, substantially, the dogmas of the first Ismailis; and such, -nearly, are those which their descendants in Syria profess to this day. -I say, nearly; for there can be no doubt that the latter, having fallen -so tremendously from their ancient social organization, must also have -lapsed from their original faith. This belief, now more than ever -disfigured, is become, to the last degree, extravagant, from a mass of -abuses and senseless superstitions, introduced in the course of time. A -certain Sheikh Rashideddin, who appeared among them, I believe, three -hundred years ago, put the finishing stroke to their errors, by making -them believe that he was the last of the prophets, in whom the divine -power was to be manifested. This impostor, who was profoundly versed -in the sacred writings, appears to be the author of the book, some -fragments of which I have translated, and in which he promulgates his -principles as if he were himself the Almighty.” - - -Note B, page 131. - -The sovereign of the Assassins is called _sheikh_, by oriental -authors. Vincent le Blanc names him, _Ségucmir_, a word compounded -of _sheikh_ and _emir_, and makes him reside in Arabia; but nothing -that such an author says is astonishing. The Arabic word _sheikh_, -which is equivalent to the Latin _Senior_, and which has its two -significations in the lower Latinity, has been ridiculously rendered -_Vetus_, _Vetulus_; _Senex_, instead of _Senior_, when _Dominus_ was -not meant. We read _Vetulus de Monte_, in the chronicle of Nicholas -of Treveth, A. D. 1236; _Vetulus de Montanis_, in that of William de -Nangis, of the same year; _Vetulus de Montibus_, several times in -Sanuto; and _Senex de Montanis_, in the Latin translation of Marco -Polo. In Haïton, _Sexmontius_ is but the contraction of _Senex montis_, -which Batilli, who translates it, _Prince of Six Mountains_, has not -understood: we have seen him called _Summus_ _Abbas_, _Prolatus_, -_Magister Cultellorum_, by James de Vitri: in the same author, we read -that this sovereign was commonly called _simplex_. He gives himself -the title of “_Simplicitas Nostra_,” in his letter to Philip Augustus, -handed down by William of Newbury: this is one of the two which have -been supposititiously attributed to him. This _simplicity_ consisted in -inhumanly putting to death those whom he deemed enemies of his sect, -or whom he regarded as extortioners, as William of Tyre expresses -himself. The Assassins exercised their enormities alike, against -both Mahommedans and Christians: we see in history the catalogue of -khalifs, princes, and viziers, slain by their emissaries.[300] I am -also convinced, that the sheikh, simple as he entitled himself, caused -assassinations to be committed at the solicitation of other princes, -from motives of interest, in which religion had no share. We are -justified in believing this, from what their commandant in Syria said -to Henry the Second, Count of Champagne, when he invited him to pass -through his domains: “_Si inimicum aut insidiatorem regni haberet, ab -hujus modi servis suis continuò interfici procuraret._” These are the -words given by Sanuto; so that, when the chief of the Assassins is made -to speak otherwise, in his letter, dated from Massiat, and inserted -by Nicholas of Treveth, in his chronicle (A. D. 1192): “_Sciatis quod -nullum hominem mercede aliqua vel pecuniá occidimus_,” it is a reason -why we should suspect it to be false. In fact, it is very probable -that the English fabricated the letter addressed to Leopold, Duke of -Austria, in order to procure the liberty of King Richard I., whom he -detained in prison; and that, at the same time, they addressed another -to Philip Augustus, to remove his suspicions about the murder of the -Marquess of Montferrat, and to obviate his acting hostilely against -them in their king’s absence. The best justification of Richard must -be derived from the generosity of his character, whatever ferocity his -valour may have possessed. This king, when mortally wounded at the -siege of Chaluz, in the Limousin, by a cross-bowman, not only pardoned -him after the town was taken, but also before his death ordered him to -have a hundred shillings given to him. - -With regard to the true cause of the assassination of Conrad, Marquess -of Montferrat, there is great reason to believe that Humphrey, Lord -of Thoron, the first husband of Isabel, the daughter of Amalric, and -heiress to the kingdom of Jerusalem, seeing his wife, together with the -crown, fall into the possession of Conrad, employed the Assassins as -the ministers of his revenge.[301] - - -Note C, page 132. - -The following is the supposititious letter, from the Old Man of the -Mountain, to Leopold Duke of Austria, as given in “Rymer’s Fœdera,” -vol. i. p. 23:— - -“Limpoldo, Duci Austriæ, Vetus de Monte, salutem: Cum plurimi reges -et principes ultra mare Ricardum Regem Angliæ et Dominum de morte -Marchisi inculpant, juro per Deum qui in æternum regnat, et per legem -quam tenemus, quod in ejus morte culpam non habuit; est causa siquidem -mortis Marchisi talis. - -“Unus ex fratribus nostris, in unam navem de Salteleya ad partes -nostras veniebat et tempestas forte illum apud Tyrum impulit, et -Marchisus fecit illum rapi et occidi, et magnum ejus pecuniam rapuit. -Nos vero Marchiso nuncios nostros misimus mandantes, ut pecuniam -fratris nostri nobis redderet, et de morte fratris nostri satisfaceret, -quam super Reginaldum Dominum Sidonis posuit. Et nos tamen fecimus -per amicos nostros quod in veritate scivimus, quod ipse fecit illum -occidere et pecuniam illius rapere. - -“Et iterum alium nuncium nostrum, nomine Eurisum misimus ad eum, quem -in mari mergere voluit; sed amici nostri illum a Tiro festinanter -fecere recedere, qui ad nos cito pervenit et ista nobis nunciavit. Nos -quoque ex illa hora Marchisum desideravimus occidere. Tunc quoque duo -fratres misimus ad Tirum, qui eum apertè et ferè coram omni populo Tiri -occiderunt. - -“Hæc itaque fuit causa mortis Marchisi, et bene dicimus vobis in -veritate, quod Dominus Ricardus Rex Angliæ in hac Marchisi morte nullam -culpam habuit: et qui, propter hoc Domino Regi Angliæ malum fecerunt, -injusté fecerunt et sine causa. - -“Sciatis pro certo quod nullum hominem hujus mundi pro mercede aliqua, -vel pecunia occidimus, nisi prius malum nobis fecerit. - -“Et sciatis quod literas istas fecimus in domo nostra ad castellum -nostrum Massiat, in dimidio Septembris, anno ab Alexandro millesimo -quingentesimo decimo quinto.” - -Which may be rendered as follows: - -“To Leopold, Duke of Austria, the Old Man of the Mountain sends, -greeting: - -“Seeing that many kings and princes, beyond sea, accuse the Lord -Richard, King of England, of the death of the marquess, I swear, by -the God who reigns for ever, and by the laws which we observe, that he -had no share in his death: the cause of the marquess’s death was as -follows:— - -“One of our brethren journeying in a ship, from Salteleya to our -parts, was driven by a tempest near to Tyre; and the marquess had him -seized and put to death, and laid hands on his money. Now, we sent our -messengers to the marquess, requiring him to restore our brother’s -money, and give us satisfaction for our brother’s death, of which he -accused Reginald, Lord of Sidon; but we ascertained the truth, by means -of our friends, that it was the marquess himself who caused him to be -slain, and his money to be seized. - -“And again we sent another messenger to him, by name Eurisus, whom -he would have thrown into the sea, had not our friends caused him -to depart hastily from Tyre: he came quickly to us, and told us -these things. We, therefore, from that hour have desired to slay the -marquess; so, then, we sent two brethren to Tyre, who killed him -openly, and almost before the whole people of Tyre. - -“This, therefore, was the cause of the marquess’s death; and we tell -you of a truth, that the Lord Richard, King of England, hath had no -share in this death of the marquess; and they who, on that account, ill -treat the king of England, do it unjustly, and without cause. - -“Know ye for certain, that we slay no man in this world for any gain or -reward, unless he have first injured us. - -“And know, that we have drawn up these present letters in our palace, -in our castle of Massiat, in the middle of September, in the fifteen -hundred and fifteenth year after Alexander.” - - -Note D, page 137. - -_Memoir on the Dynasty of the Assassins, and on the Origin of their -Name, by M. Sylvestre de Sacy, read at the public meeting of the -Institute of France, July 7th, 1809._ - - -Among the writers who have transmitted to us the history of those -memorable wars, which, for a space of nearly two centuries, unceasingly -depopulated Europe, in order to carry destruction and desolation -throughout the finest regions of Asia and Africa, there is scarcely -one who does not make mention of that barbarous horde, which, -established in a corner of Syria, and known by the name of Assassins, -rendered itself formidable both to the orientals and occidentals, and -exercised its atrocities indifferently against the Moslem sultan and -the Christian prince. If the historians of the Crusades have mingled -a few fables with the information which they have handed down to us, -regarding the tenets and manners of these sectarians, we ought not to -feel surprised; for the terror which they inspired, scarcely permitted -our warriors to search very deeply into their origin, or to procure -exact data concerning their religious and political constitution. -Even their name has been disfigured and presented under a multitude -of different forms, and it is to this that we must attribute the -uncertainty of modern critics as to its origin and etymology. Among all -the writers who have devoted their attention to historical and critical -researches into the subject of the Assassins, none has shed more light -upon it than M. Falconet. Nevertheless, as this learned gentleman had -not applied himself at all to the study of the languages of the east, -and could not, therefore, avail himself, in his inquiries, of the -assistance of the Persian and Arabian writers, whose works had never -been either published or translated, he has not been able to trace the -Assassins up to their true origin, nor to give the etymology of their -name. It is to supply this defect in his labours that I have decided -upon treating this subject anew. In a dissertation, which I submitted -to the judgment of the _classe_, and of which I shall present you with -a short analysis, I proposed to inquire, what was the doctrine of -this sect, and by what ties they were related to one of the principal -divisions of Mohammedanism; and, lastly, why they had received a name, -which, passing with a slight change into the west, has furnished -several modern languages with a term expressive of a cool premeditated -murder. - -It is a most singular circumstance, which cannot fail to strike us in -studying the history of the religion and power of the Mohammedans, that -their empire, which, in a small number of years, subjected the whole of -Arabia, Syria, Egypt, Persia, and several other vast regions of Asia -and Africa, was, from the very first, torn by intestine divisions, -which seemed as though they would arrest its progress, and insure the -neighbouring potentates against the invasion which menaced them. It -is difficult to explain how the spirit of faction, which armed the -Musulmans against each other, should not have checked the rapidity -and extent of their conquests; but, without stopping to consider this -point, which forms no part of our subject, we shall content ourselves -with stating the fact, that the death of Mohammed was the signal of -discord amongst those who had embraced his doctrine, and hitherto -fought under his victorious standard. Ali, Mohammed’s cousin, and -husband of his daughter, Fatima, who, to an ardent zeal for the new -religion, added more instruction then the rest of the Musulmans, -seemed destined to supply the place of the legislator and pontiff of -Islamism, and to complete the work left still imperfect by him. But -Mohammed had not had the prudence to name his successor; or, if he had -done so, as Ali’s partisans generally maintain, he had not given his -nomination sufficient publicity to prevent its being contested; and he -had neglected to invest it with that divine sanction which he so well -knew how to give to all his determinations, even when the interests of -his household, and the altercations excited by his wife’s jealousy, -were the only matters in question. Ali, in consequence, saw the wise -Ebubekr, the fierce Omar, and the weak Othman, preferred before him; -and it was only after the violent death of the latter, that the -suffrages of the Musulmans seemed to unite in his favour. Scarcely had -he ascended the throne, ere an ambitious man, supported by a powerful -family, declared himself his rival; and succeeded, by treachery, and -availing himself of Ali’s faults, in stripping him of an authority, -whose legitimacy was irrefragable. Ali soon fell beneath the murderer’s -dagger. His two sons were not long in experiencing the same fate; and, -from that moment, were laid the immoveable foundations of that schism, -which, to this day, divides the disciples of Mohammed into two great -hostile factions, which, for several centuries, ceased not to steep -the eastern provinces of the empire in blood, and was felt in the most -southern parts of Arabia, and even on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. - -The partisans of Ali themselves soon split into several parties; and -though united in their veneration for the blood of the prophet, which -flowed in the veins of the descendant of Ali, they neither agreed -in the prerogatives they attached to this noble origin, nor on the -branch to which the right to the dignity of imam was transmitted. This -name, which comprises the idea of all temporal and spiritual power, -and which, in the opinion of some fanatics, was nearly co-equal with -that of divinity, was the watch-word of all the enemies of the khalifs -descended from the houses of Moawia and Abbas; but they did not all -recognise the same person as imam. One of the most powerful, among the -factions formed of the followers of Ali, was that of the Ismailians, -so called, because they maintained that the dignity of imam had been -transmitted, through an uninterrupted succession of descendants, from -Ali to a prince named Ismail; and that, since his time, this same -office had been filled by personages unknown to man, awaiting the -moment when the posterity of Ali should at length triumph over its -enemies. A character peculiar to this sect is, that it explains all -the precepts of the Musulman law allegorically; and this allegory -was pushed so far by some of the Ismailian doctors, that it tended -to nothing less than the abolition of all public worship, and the -foundation of a purely philosophical doctrine, and a very licentious -moral code, on the ruins of all revelation and divine authority. To -this sect belong the Karmathites, whose enormities we shall not here -mention, to whom the Wahabees, who, at this time, fill several of the -provinces of the Ottoman empire with the terror of their name, and -who, under the mask of reformers, appear destined to overthrow the -Mohammedan religion, seem to have succeeded. From this same sect issued -the Fatimite khalifs. These, after establishing themselves in Africa, -were not long in depriving the khalifs of Bagdad, of Egypt and Syria, -and they formed a potent empire, which lasted two centuries and a half, -until it was overthrown by Saladin. These Fatimite khalifs acknowledged -themselves to be Ismailians; but the interests of their policy obliged -them to disguise the secret doctrines of their sect, which were known -only to a small number of adepts, and the most intolerant of them -imposed no other obligation on their subjects, than the recognition of -Ali and his descendants’ right to the sovereignty, and to vow a mortal -hatred against the khalifs of Bagdad. In the person of the Fatimites, -the Ismailians had ascended the throne, and deprived the Abassides of -a considerable portion of their empire: but their ambition was not -satisfied. The race of the prophet ought not to share the sovereignty -with the descendants of usurpers, and even the honour of Islamism, and -of the doctrine taught and propagated by the imams, required that all -Musulmans should be united in the same faith, and pay obedience to a -single legitimate pontiff. To attain this end, missionaries, spread -throughout all the oriental provinces, secretly taught the dogmas of -the Ismailians, and laboured unceasingly to increase the number of -their proselytes, and to inspire them with the spirit of revolt against -the khalifs of Bagdad and the princes who acknowledged their authority. - -About the middle of the sixth century of the Hegira, one of these -missionaries, named Hassan, son of Ali, having been gained over to -the Ismailians, afterwards signalized himself by his zeal in the -propagation of his adopted sect. This man, in other respects a good -Musulman, being persuaded that the Fatimite khalif, Mostanssur, at -that time reigning in Egypt, was the legitimate imam, resolved to -repair to his court, deeming himself happy in being able to proffer his -homage, and to revere in him the image and vice-gerent of the Deity. -For this purpose, he left the northern provinces of Persia, where -he was exercising the secret and dangerous functions of missionary, -and proceeded to Egypt. His reputation had preceded him thither. The -reception which he met with from the khalif, rendered it beyond the -reach of doubt, that he would soon be called to the first offices. As -usual, favour excited jealousy, and Hassan’s enemies soon found an -opportunity of rendering him an object of the khalif’s suspicion. They -even wished to have him arrested; but Mostanssur acceding reluctantly -to their plans of revenge, they were satisfied with putting him on -board a vessel bound for the northern coast of Africa. After some -adventures, strongly tinged with the marvellous, Hassan returned to -Syria, and thence passing through Aleppo, Bagdad, and Ispahan, he -traversed the several provinces submitted to the Seljukide rule, -everywhere performing his missionary functions, and omitting no means -to effect the recognition of Mostanssur’s pontificate. After much -travelling about, he at length established himself in the fortress of -Alamut, situated in ancient Parthia, a short distance from Kaswin. The -predictions of Hassan and some other missionaries, had multiplied the -partisans of the Ismailites in these regions so considerably, that it -was far from difficult to him, to compel the governor of that fortress, -commanding in the of the Sultan Melekshah, to sell it to him for a -moderate sum of money. Having become master of the place, he was able -to maintain himself in its possession against all the sultan’s forces; -and, by the insinuations of the missionaries, whom he sent into the -environs, and by planned excursions, he subjected several places in -the immediate neighbourhood, and erected for himself an independent -sovereignty; in which, however, he only exercised his authority in the -name of the imam, whose minister he acknowledged himself to be. The -position of Alamut, situated as it is in the midst of a mountainous -region, caused its prince to receive the title of _Sheikh al Jebal_ -(_i. e._ _Sheikh_, or _Prince of the Mountains_); and the double -sense of the word _Sheikh_, which means both prince and old man, has -occasioned the historians of the Crusades, and the celebrated Marco -Polo, to call him the “_Old Man of the Mountain_.” - -Hassan and his successors, for nearly three centuries, were not -satisfied with having established their power in Persia: they soon -found means to possess themselves of several strong places in Syria. -Masyat, a place situated in the mountains of the Anti-Libanus, became -their chief seat, in that province; and also the residence of the -Prince of Alamut’s lieutenant. This branch of the Ismailites, which had -settled in Syria, is the one mentioned by the western historians of the -Crusades, and to which they have given the name of _Assassin_. - -Before proceeding to the etymology of this name, we ought to observe, -that Hassan, and the two princes who succeeded him in the sovereignty -over the Ismailites of Persia and Syria, although attached to the -peculiar tenets of the sect, nevertheless observed all the laws of -Islamism; but, under the fourth prince of this dynasty, a great change -took place in the religion of the Ismailites. This prince, who was -named Hassan, son of Mohammed, pretended that he had received secret -orders from the imam, by virtue of which he abolished all the external -practices of Musulman worship; permitted his subjects to drink wine, -and gave them a dispensation from all the obligations which the law -of Mohammed imposes on its followers. He publicly announced, that the -knowledge of the allegorical sense of the precepts, dispenses with -the observation of the literal sense; and thus gained the Ismailites -the name of _Mulahid_, or the _Impious_; a title by which they are -most frequently designated by oriental writers. The example of this -prince was followed by his son; and, for about fifty years, the Persian -and Syrian Ismailites persisted in this doctrine. After this period, -the worship was restored and preserved among them, until the entire -destruction of their power. - -The embassy which the Old Man of the Mountain, of the historians -of the Crusades, that is, the sovereign of the Ismailites, sent to -Amaury I. King of Jerusalem, falls under the reign of one of the two -apostate princes, whom we have just mentioned. It is true, then, as -William, Archbishop of Tyre, says, that the prince by whom this embassy -was sent, had suppressed all the practices of the Musulman religion, -destroyed the mosques, authorized incestuous unions, and allowed the -use of wine and pork. When we read the sacred book of the Druses, or -the fragments which we possess of those of the Ismailites, we have -little hesitation in believing, that this prince, as the same historian -asserts, was acquainted with the books of the Christians, and that he -had formed a wish not to embrace the Christian religion, but to study -more accurately its doctrines and observances. - -Let us now pass to the name _Assassin_. This word, as I have already -said, has been written in a variety of ways; but to confine myself to -those possessing the best authority, I shall state, that it has been -pronounced _Assassini_, _Assissini_, and _Heississini_. Joinville has -written _Haussaci_. The limits which I have prescribed myself, forbid -my entering here into the discussion of the various etymologies of this -name, which have been proposed by different learned persons. Suffice it -for me to say, that they have all been mistaken, because they had, no -doubt, never met with the word in any Arabic author. The Assassins are -almost always called by oriental historians, _Ismailites_, _Mulahid_ -(i. e. _the Impious_), or _Batenites_, signifying _partisans of the -allegorical sense_. Only one literary person, in a letter, preserved by -Menage, had a glimpse of the true etymology; but he had erected it on -bad foundations, as he had not the slightest suspicion of the motive -which led to the Ismailites being designated by this term. - -One of the most illustrious, most certainly, of the victims to the -fury of the Ismailites, is Saladin. It is true, this great prince -escaped their attacks; but he was twice on the point of losing his -life by these wretches’ daggers, for which he afterwards reaped a -striking revenge. It is in perusing the account of these reiterated -attempts, in some Arabic authors, contemporaries of Saladin, and ocular -witnesses of what they relate, that I have been convinced that the -Ismailites, or, at least, the men whom they employed to execute their -horrible projects, were called, in Arabic, _Hashishin_ in the plural, -and _Hashishi_ in the singular; and this name, slightly altered by the -Latin writers, has been expressed as exactly as possible by several -Greek historians, and by the Jew, Benjamin, of Tudela. - -As for the origin of the name in question, although I have not gleaned -it from any one of the oriental historians that I have consulted, I -have no doubt whatever that denomination was given to the Ismailites, -on account of their using an intoxicating liquid, or preparation, -still known in the east by the name of _Hashish_. Hemp leaves, and -some other parts of the same vegetable,[302] form the basis of this -preparation; which is employed in different ways, either in liquid, -or in the form of pastiles, mixed with saccharine substances; or even -in fumigation. The intoxication produced by the _hashish_, causes an -ecstasy similar to that which the orientals produce by the use of -opium; and, from the testimony of a great number of travellers, we may -affirm, that those who fall into this state of delirium, imagine they -enjoy the ordinary objects of their desires, and taste felicity at a -cheap rate; but the too frequent enjoyment changes the animal economy, -and produces, first, marasmus, and then, death. Some, even in this -state of temporary insanity, losing all knowledge of their debility, -commit the most brutal actions, so as to disturb the public peace. It -has not been forgotten, that when the French army was in Egypt, the -general-in-chief, Napoleon, was obliged to prohibit, under the severest -penalties, the sale and use of these pernicious substances; the habit -of which has made an imperious want in the inhabitants of Egypt, -particularly the lower orders. Those who indulge in this custom, are, -to this day, called _Hashishin_; and these two different expressions -explain why the Ismailites were called by the historians of the -Crusades, sometimes _Assissini_, and sometimes _Assassini_. - -Let us hasten to meet an objection, which cannot fail to be made -against the motive on which we found the origin of the denomination of -Assassins, as applied to the Ismailites. If the use of intoxicating -substances, prepared from hemp leaves, is able to disturb the reason; -if it throws a man into a sort of delirium, and makes him take dreams -to be realities; how could it be proper for people who had need of -all their _sang-froid_ and mental calmness, in order to execute the -murders with which they were charged, and who were seen to proceed to -countries most remote from their own residence, to watch many days for -an opportunity favourable to the execution of their designs; to mix -among the soldiers of the prince whom they were about to immolate to -the will of their chieftain; to fight under his colours, and skilfully -to seize the instant which fortune offered for their purpose? This, -certainly, is not the conduct of delirious beings, nor of madmen, -carried away by a fury which they are no longer able to control; such -as travellers describe those who _ran a muck_, so much dreaded among -the Malays and Indians. One word will suffice, in answer to this -objection; and with this, Marco Polo’s account will supply us. This -traveller, whose veracity is now generally acknowledged, informs us, -that the Old Man of the Mountain educated young men, selected from -the most robust inhabitants of the places under his sway, in order to -make them the executioners of his barbarous decrees. The whole object -of their education went to convince them, that, by blindly obeying -the orders of their chief, they insured to themselves, after death, -the enjoyment of every pleasure that can flatter the senses. For this -purpose, the prince had delightful gardens laid out near his palace; -there, in pavilions, decorated with every thing rich and brilliant that -Asiatic luxury can devise, dwelt young beauties, dedicated solely to -the pleasures of those for whom these enchanting regions were destined. -Thither, from time to time, the princes of the Ismailites caused the -young people, whom they wished to make the blind instruments of their -will, to be transported. After administering to them a beverage which -threw them into a deep sleep, and deprived them, for some time, of the -use of their faculties, they were carried into those pavilions, which -were fully worthy of the gardens of Armida; on their awaking, every -thing which met their eyes, or struck their ears, threw them into a -rapture, which deprived reason of all control over their minds; and -uncertain whether they were still on earth, or whether they had already -entered upon the enjoyment of that felicity, the picture of which had -so often been presented to their imagination, they yielded in transport -to all the kinds of seduction, by which they were surrounded. After -they had passed some days in these gardens, the same means which had -been adopted to introduce them, without their being conscious of it, -were again made use of to remove them. Advantage was carefully taken -of the first moments of an awakening, which had broken the charm of -so much enjoyment, to make them relate to their young companions, -the wonders of which they had been the witnesses; and they remained -themselves convinced, that the happiness which they had experienced in -the few days which had so soon elapsed, was but the prelude, and, as -it were, the foretaste of that of which they might secure the eternal -possession, by their submission to the orders of their prince. - -Although some exaggeration might be supposed to exist in the Venetian -traveller’s recital; and although, instead of crediting the existence -of these enchanted gardens, which is, however, attested by many other -writers, we should still reduce all the wonders of that magnificent -abode to a phantom, produced by the exalted imagination of the young -men who were intoxicated with the _hashish_, and who, from their -infancy, had been nursed with the idea of this happiness; it would -not be the less true, that we here find the use of a liquor, destined -to deaden the senses, and in which we cannot overlook, that its -employment, or rather abuse, is spread throughout a great part of Asia -and Africa. At the epoch of the Ismailitic power, these intoxicating -preparations were not yet known in the Moslem countries. It was only at -a later period, the knowledge of it was brought from the most eastern -regions, probably even from India into the Persian provinces. Thence it -was communicated to the Musulmans of Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, Syria, -and Egypt. No doubt, the Ismailites, whose doctrines had several points -of resemblance with those of the Indians, had acquired this knowledge -earlier, and preserved it as a precious secret, and as one of the -principal springs of their power. This conjecture is supported by the -fact, that one of the most celebrated Arabian writers attributes the -introduction amongst the Egyptians, of an electuary prepared from hemp, -to a Persian Ismailite. - -I shall conclude this memoir by observing, that it is not impossible -that hemp, or some parts of that vegetable, mixed with other substances -unknown to us, may have been sometimes employed to produce a state of -phrenzy and violent madness. We know that opium, the effects of which -are, in general, analogous to those of intoxicating preparations made -with hemp, is, nevertheless, the means made use of by the Malays, to -throw themselves into that state of fury, during which, being no longer -masters of themselves, they murder every one they meet, and blindly -precipitate themselves into the midst of swords and lances. The means -employed thus to alter the effects of opium is, if travellers are to be -believed, mixing it with citron juice, and to allow the two substances -to incorporate for a few days. - - -Note E, p. 137. - -_To the Editor of the Moniteur._[303] - - Paris, December, 23, 1809. - - SIR, - -You were kind enough to insert in your 210th number, of the 29th -of July last, the memoir on the dynasty of the Assassins, and on -the origin of their name; which I read at the public sitting of the -Institute, on the 7th of the same month. That memoir has occasioned a -letter, dated from Marseilles, the 16th of September, 1809, and signed -“M. R., Old Residents in the Levant;” to be likewise inserted in your -269th number, of the 26th of September. - -I do not know whether I am mistaken in suspecting, that the signature -of that letter disguises a justly celebrated name, whose authority -might have added great weight to the objections contained in the -letter, had the writer of it been inclined to make himself known. -However, as the author, or authors, of that letter, in attacking -(although in the most gentlemanly manner, and with the most obliging -expressions) the etymology of the word _Assassins_, which I have -proposed, display no common knowledge of the Arabic language, I think -it becomes me to justify my opinion, and reply to their objections; the -more so, as the paper which I read at the public sitting of the 1st of -July, was but a very brief extract from a much more extended memoir; -and that this memoir, as well as all the others that I have submitted -to the judgment of the Ancient History and Literature Class of the -Institute, will, perhaps, not be published during my life-time, owing -to the caprice of circumstances, which neither I myself, nor that class -of the Institute, have power to control. - -The origin which I attributed to the word _Assassin_, appears, to -the authors of the letter in question, to be _too far fetched_; -consequently, they propose another; and affirm, that the name of the -Assassins is nothing more than the plural of _Hassas_, “a word which,” -they add, “is employed by the people of Syria, and even of Lower Egypt, -to designate _a thief of the night—a robber_.” - -These gentlemen might have supported their opinion by most respectable -authorities; for their etymology is not new; and I did not fail to make -mention of it, as well as of a host of others, which were, perhaps, -unknown to them, in my memoir, read at the private sitting. - -This discussion was not admissible in a reading destined for a public -meeting; I have, therefore, suppressed it entirely. Permit me to -transcribe a few lines here:— - -“Thomas Hyde, I remarked, who had, no doubt, never encountered the true -denomination of the _Assassins_, in any Arabic writer, believed, that -it must be the Arabic word _Hassas_, derived from the root _Hassa_, -which signifies, amongst other things, to _kill_, to _exterminate_. -This opinion has been adopted by Menage and the learned Falconet. M. -Volney has likewise admitted it, but without citing any authority.” - -I then discussed the various etymologies proposed by M. de Caseneuve, -the prelate, J. S. Assemani, M. Falconet, the celebrated Reiske, M. -Court de Gebelin, the Abbé S. Assemani, of Padua, and lastly, Le Moyne; -and I showed that none of these writers had given the true etymology of -the name, with the exception of Le Moyne, who had, indeed, perceived, -that the denomination of _Assassins_ or _Assissins_, was derived from -the Arabic word _Haschisch_ (Hashish). “But,” I add, “M. Le Moyne did -not know why the Ismailites bore the designation of _Haschischin_ -(_Hashishin_), and he has given a very bad reason, which has caused the -proscription of his etymology.” - -Messrs. M. R. assuredly imagine, that it is merely conjecturally -that I have maintained that the Ismailites were designated by the -name of _Haschischin_ (_Hashishin_), by the Arabs: for they express -themselves thus: “The oldest Italian and French authors commonly write -_Assassini_, sometimes _Heissessini_, and _Assissini_; Joinville wrote -it _Haussaci_. On these grounds, M. de Sacy _doubts not_, that the -Arabic which has served as the type, was _Haschisch_ (_Hashish_), -signifying _herb_, in general, and in one particular meaning, _hemp_. -Now, because the Arabs have long known how to prepare a beverage from -hemp, which intoxicates and maddens like opium; and because this -beverage has sometimes been made use of to stimulate fanatics to the -deed, which the Musulmans call _the holy war_, namely, _premeditated -murder_, M. de Sacy will have it, that the whole sect of the -Ismailites, which supplied many of this kind of fanatics, was called -_Hachichi_ or _Haschischi_ (_Hashishi_); that is, the _herb people_, -but, in order to establish this, it is necessary, in the first place, -to prove, that the use of this beverage was habitual and general among -this sect; so much so, as to distinguish them from all other Arabs, -who used it, but without becoming murderers like them. History teaches -us nothing similar. It even appears, that this artificial means could -only have been employed when their primitive zeal began to cool; but, -moreover, the word _haschisch_ (_hashish_), differs too strongly from -the words _Assassin_, _Heissessin_, and _Haussaci_, to have served as -their original root.” - -These gentlemen will allow me to observe, that if they had read with -attention my printed Memoir, and the report made by my esteemed -colleague, M. Ginguené, of the labours of the Ancient History and -Literature Class, since the 1st of July, 1808, they would have found -that there was no conjecture in it at all on my part. In fact, it -was in quoting different passages of Arabic authors, relating to the -enterprises undertaken at different periods by the Syrian Ismailites -against Saladin, that I proved to demonstration, that those writers -employed indifferently, in the same work, the names _Ismailites_, -_Batenites_, and _Haschischin_ (_Hashishin_), as synonymous; and that -the chief of this horde of ruffians, was called the Possessor of the -_Haschischa_ (_Hashisha_). I even took occasion to observe, that the -Byzantine writers called the Assassins _Chasisioi_; and that the Jew, -Benjamin of Tudela, names them in Hebrew, _Haschischin_ (_Hashishin_). - -These facts being incontestable, I had to inquire what was this -_Haschisch_ or _Haschischa_ (_Hashish_ or _Hashisha_), possessed by -the chief of the Ismailites, from which these latter derived their -name of _Haschischin_ (_Hashishin_); and, certainly, it needed no -great stretch of imagination, to discover the _haschiseha_ of the -Ismailites in that of the Syrians and Egyptians of the present day. I -afterwards showed, by very positive historical testimony, that, at the -period when the Assassins signalized themselves by their atrocities and -murders, the use of intoxicating preparations made with hemp had not -yet been introduced among the Musulmans; lastly, I proved by a host -of facts, and the testimony of Marco Polo, that the _hashish_ was not -used among the Ismailites for the purpose of throwing those to whom -it was administered, into a state of madness and frenzy, during the -continuance of which they performed the most barbarous actions, almost -consciously; but, that it was a secret known only to the chief of the -sect, and which he employed, to deprive for a time of the use of their -reason, those young men, whom he wished, by means of every kind of -seduction, which could inflame the imagination and exalt the sense, to -inspire with blind obedience to his behests. - -The chief reason why the authors of the letter which I am -controverting, have a difficulty in admitting that the word -_Assassins_, or _Assissins_, is actually derived from _Haschischin_, -is, that they cannot believe that western writers could have -substituted the articulation of the Arabic _Sin_, that is, of an _s_, -for that of _Schin_ (_Shin_), which answers to our _ch_ (_sh._ Eng.); -but they have perhaps forgotten, that, at the epoch of the Crusades, -the Latin language was the common idiom of writers throughout Europe; -and that, in that language, the sound of the Arabic _Shin_, cannot -be expressed. We must also add, the Arabic _Shin_ is not in general -pronounced so strongly as our _ch_, (_sh_, Eng.); and that the Arabians -themselves have often used it for the Greek sigma, and the Latin _S_, -of Latin names; such as Pontus, Orosius, Philippus, Busiris, &c., and -lastly, that the Moors in Spain, in writing the Castilian in Arabic -characters, made use of the _Shin_ to express _s_; for example, in -the words _los cielos y las tierras_. (See Notices et Extraits des -Manuscrits, tome IV. page 631 & 642.) Perhaps, we have an example -of the substitution of our _s_, for the Arabic _shin_, in the word -_Sarrasins_ (_Saracens_). - -Here, again, I am at variance with the authors of the letter, who -reject the etymologies which have been hitherto proposed, of the name -of the _Sarrasins_ (_Saracens_), in order to derive it from _Sarrag_ -or _Sarradj_, a word, meaning, according to them, a _saddle-man_, -and, consequently, a _horse-man_. These gentlemen will not take it -ill, if I deny the consequence, and if I remark, that _sarradj_, or, -as it is otherwise pronounced, _sarrag_, never did, and never could, -according to the analogy of the Arabic language, signify any thing -but _a man who makes or sells saddles for horses, or a stable-boy who -takes care of these animals’ harness_. As I do not wish to be believed -on my word alone, I shall quote Golius, who has not omitted the word -_Sarrag_, as is asserted in the postscript to the letter, and who -translates it thus: _Qui confecit ephippia et ea quæ ad equi et currus -apparatum spectans_ (one who makes saddles, and every thing belonging -to the harness of horses and carriages). Menins, who translates it -into Latin, by _Ephippiarius_, _qui Ephippia et quæ ad ea spectant -conficit—qui curam equorum et apparatus eorum ephippii et phalerarum -habet_; in Italian, by _sellaro_, _palfreniere_; and in French, by -_sellier_, _palfrenier_. Germanus de Silesia, who makes it correspond -with the Italian sellaro: lastly, Father F. Cannes, who, in his Spanish -and Arabic Dictionary, makes use of the Spanish word _Sillero_, -to translate it. The objections which Messrs. M. R. make against -one of the etymologies of the word _Sarrasins_ (Saracens), which -several learned men have derived from the word _Sarikin_, robbers, -are destitute of weight. It is not true, that we cannot admit this -etymology, without, at the same time, supposing that the Arabs called -themselves _robbers_; because, in fact, the Arabs known to the Greeks -and Latins by the denomination of _Sarrasins_ (Saracens), did not give -themselves that name at all, but received it from the neighbouring -tribes, who may very well have termed them _brigands_. This objection -has no more force against those who derive the name of _Sarrasins_, -_Saracens_, _Saraceni_, from _sharki_, or _sharaki_, that is, -_eastern_. If this latter be the true origin of the name, it is beyond -a doubt that it was first given to some Arabs, by nations inhabiting a -more western country, and that it might afterwards have been applied -to the greater part of the nation. As, according to either hypothesis, -the word _Sarrasins_ (_Saracens_), will have an Arabian origin, there -will be some probability in supposing, that this denomination, which -succeeded that of the _Scenites_, was first given to the Nomade Arabs -by the civilized tribes settled in the north-east of Arabia, and who -recognised the Roman authority. In either case, if these etymologies -appear too forced, I should prefer confessing, that we are ignorant of -the origin of the word, than deriving it from an expression which is in -no respect proper to characterize the Arabian nation. - -I shall conclude, by observing, as I did in my Memoir, that, perhaps, -the word _Hashishin_, or _Hashashin_, for both are used, did not -properly designate all the Ismailites, but was peculiarly applied to -those who were destined to the Assassin service, and who were also -known by the name of Fedawi (or _devoted_). “I have not, up to this -day,” I said, at the conclusion of my Memoir, “met with a sufficient -number of passages in which this word is employed, to hazard a decided -opinion on the subject; but I am led to believe, that among the -Ismailites, those only were termed _Hashishin_, who were specially -educated to commit murder, and who were, by the use of the _Hashish_, -disposed to an absolute resignation to the will of their chief; this, -however, may not have prevented the denomination from being applied to -Ismailites collectively, especially among the Occidentals.” - - Accept, &c. &c. - - SYLVESTRE DE SACY. - - -THE END. - - - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] Maracci Prodromus Alcorani Patavii, 1698. - -[2] Gagnier Vita Mohammedis ex Abulfeda Oxonii, 1723. - -[3] Sale’s Koran, London, 1734. - -[4] Essai sur les Mœurs et l’Esprit des Nations, par Voltaire, tom. 2, -Chap. 6. - -[5] The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Gibbon, -chap. 50. - -[6] Vier und Zwanzig Bücher Allgemeine Geschichten, durch Johannes von -Müller, 12 buch, 2 kap. - -[7] Ikra-bi-ismi reblike, _read in the name of the Lord_. The -commencement of the first published Sura, the 90th in the present -arrangement. - -[8] This fact is not related by Aboulfaraj alone, but also by Macrisi -and Ibn Khaledun, and after them by Hadji Khalfa. - -[9] Abulfeda, Annales Moslemici, I. 282. - -[10] Abulfeda, Annales Moslemici, I. 314. - -[11] A. D. 750; A. H. 132. - -[12] A. D. 787; A. H. 172. - -[13] Ibn Khaledun, Book l, c 3, § 25. Lari, Chapter of the Twelve Imams. - -[14] A. D. 1011; A. H. 402. - -[15] A. D. 1058; A. H. 450. - -[16] Chap. XIII. - -[17] Macrisi. Lari. - -[18] _Vide_ Hadji Khalfa, and Reiskii’s Notas ad Abulfeda, 2nd. p. B. 36. - -[19] A. D. 758; A. H. 141. - -[20] A. D. 778; A. H. 162. - -[21] See Herbelot, art. Mani, Erteng, Mokannaa, and Hakem Ben Hashem. - -[22] A. D. 837; A. H. 223; according to Hadji Khala. A. D. 841; A. H. -227; according to Lari. - -[23] See Lari. Herbelot, art. Babek. - -[24] Macrisi, in the beginning of the chapter of the Genealogy of the -Fatimite Khalifs, and below, in the section on the Doctrines of the -Dais; Art. beginning of the Missions of Ibtidai Dawet. - -[25] Gulsheni Khalifa, the Khalif’s Bed of Roses, by Nasmisade, after -the Jamius-seir (_i. e._ Collector of Memoirs), and the History of -Nisam-ol-mulk, p. 20. - -[26] Nasmisade ibid. See also the Magasin Encyclopédique. - -[27] A. D. 920; A. H. 308. - -[28] A. D. 909; A. H. 297. - -[29] A. D. 977; A. H. 335. - -[30] A. D. 1004; A. H. 395. - -[31] Macrisi, art. Mohawal and Darol-hikmet. - -[32] A. D. 1004; A. H. 395. - -[33] A. D. 1122; A. H. 516. - -[34] A. D. 1123; A. H. 517. - -[35] Macrisi art. Mohaval, Darolilm and Darolilm-jedide. - -[36] A. D. 1058; A. H. 450. - -[37] Mirkhond and Devletshah; art. Shahfur of Nishabur. - -[38] A. D. 1078; A. H. 471. - -[39] Nokhbetet-tevarikh and Mirkhond. - -[40] A. D. 1078; A. H. 471. - -[41] A. D. 1079; A. H. 472. - -[42] A. D. 1085; A. H. 478. - -[43] A. D. 1072; A. H. 465. - -[44] A. D. 1077; A. H. 470. - -[45] A. D. 1084; A. H. 477. - -[46] A. D. 1077; A. H. 470. - -[47] A. D. 1079; A. H. 472. - -[48] A. D. 1084; A. H. 477. - -[49] Mirkhond and Takwimet-tevarikh. - -[50] Mirkhond. - -[51] Mirkhond. - -[52] Mirkhond. - -[53] A. D. 860; A. H. 246. - -[54] Jehannuma, p. 296 and 304. - -[55] Dealbati. - -[56] Daniel, 7, 9. - -[57] Nassaih-ol-Moluk. - -[58] Nassaih-ol-Moluk, after the Mevakit of the judge Asadeddin. - -[59] A. D. 1092; A. H. 485. - -[60] Mirkhond. - -[61] The Hamakati ehli ilahat yeni Mulahide khaselehum Allah. - -[62] Jevahitol Fetavi. - -[63] See the Nassaih-ol-Moluk and the Mevakif. - -[64] Abulfeda Anno 494; Jihannuma, Mirkhond. - -[65] A. D. 1096; A. H. 490. - -[66] A. D. 1100; A. H. 494. - -[67] Abulfeda Anno 494; Jihannumma, Mirkhond. - -[68] Anno H. 490. - -[69] Ibn Forat and Kemaleddin. - -[70] Jihannumma, art: Sarmin. - -[71] A. D. 1107. - -[72] Wilken, Geschichte der Kreuzzüge, II. p. 272, after Kemaleddin, -and Albert of Aix. This latter constantly confounds names: he calls -Riswan, Brodoan; Apamea, Femia; Abutaher, Botherus, and the Assassins, -Azopart. _Vide_ Gesta Dei per Francos, p. 350 and 375. - -[73] A. D. 1110; A. H. 504. - -[74] Ibn Forat and Kemaleddin. - -[75] A. D. 1108; A. H. 512. - -[76] Abulfeda, Takwimet tevarik, Mirkhond Abulfaradj. - -[77] A. D. 1113; A. H. 507. - -[78] A. D. 1115; A. H. 509. - -[79] A. D. 1119; A. H. 513. - -[80] A. D. 1120; A. H. 514. - -[81] Ibn Forat. - -[82] A. D. 1114; A. H. 508. - -[83] Abulfeda, Takwimet-tevarikh Mirkhond Abulfaradj. - -[84] A. D. 1117; A. H. 511. - -[85] A. D. 1104; A. H. 498. - -[86] Mirkhond. - -[87] A. D. 1124; A. H. 518. - -[88] A. D. 1126; A. H. 520. - -[89] Mirkhond. - -[90] A. D. 1127; A. H. 521. - -[91] Takwimet-tevarikh. - -[92] Mirkhond. - -[93] A. D. 1128; A. H. 522. - -[94] Mirkhond. - -[95] A. D. 1129; A. H. 524. - -[96] Takwimet-tevarikh. - -[97] A. D. 1131; A. H. 526. - -[98] Mirkhond. - -[99] Mirkhond. - -[100] Abulfeda, a. 523. - -[101] Jehannumma, p. 559. - -[102] A. D. 1128; A. H. 523. - -[103] Kemaleddin and Ibn Forat; the latter calls the vizier Mardeghani -Mardekani; and the prince of Aleppo, Bure instead of Busi. - -[104] Abulfeda, a. 523. Wilhel. Tyr. XIII. 25. - -[105] A. D. 1118. - -[106] Anton, Versuch einer Geschichte des Tempelherrenordens. p. 10-15 - -[107] A. D. 1129; A. H. 524. - -[108] Wilken, Geschichte der Kreuzzüge. II. p. 566. - -[109] The crown of kings. - -[110] Justini Epitome, l. xxiv. c. 8. - -[111] A. D. 1129; A. H. 524. - -[112] A. D. 1132; A. H. 527. - -[113] Wilken Geschichte der Kreuzzüge, II. p. 612. - -[114] Dispenser of fortune. - -[115] Abulfeda, ad an. 520. - -[116] A. D. 1126; A. H. 520. - -[117] Wilken, II. p. 531; after Kemaleddin. - -[118] A. D. 1127; A. H. 521. - -[119] Ibn Forat. - -[120] A. D. 1130; A. H. 525. - -[121] Abulfeda, ad ann. 525. - -[122] Abulfeda, ad ann. 529. - -[123] Mirkhond. - -[124] The command according to the command of God. - -[125] Abulfeda, ann. 524. - -[126] Wilken Geschichte der Kreuzzüge, 11, p. 593; after Renandot. - -[127] A. D. 1134; A. H. 529. - -[128] Abulfeda, ann. 529. - -[129] A. D. 1134; A. H. 529. A. D. 1138; A. H. 533. - -[130] A. D. 1140; A. H. 535. - -[131] Mirkhond and Abulfeda. - -[132] Mirkhond. - -[133] Mirkhond. - -[134] A. D. 1092; A. H. 485. - -[135] A. D. 1107; A. H. 501. - -[136] D’Herbelot, after Ghaffari and others. - -[137] A. D. 1150; A. H. 545. - -[138] A. D. 1151; A. H. 546. Devletshah art. Enweri, Ferideddin Katib, -and Sabir. - -[139] The Atabegs of Aserbijan, A. D. 1145; A. H. 540; those of Fars, -A. D. 1148; A. H. 543; those of Loristan, A. D. 1150; A. H. 545. -(Takwimet tevarikh.) - -[140] A. D. 1142; A. H. 537. - -[141] A. D. 1154; A. H. 549. - -[142] A. D. 1158; A. H. 553. - -[143] A. D. 1160; A. H. 555. - -[144] A. D. 1154; A. H. 549. - -[145] Gesta Dei per Francos, p. 893. - -[146] A. D. 1148; A. H. 543. Nepa, p. 915. - -[147] Nokhbetet-tevarikh. - -[148] A. D. 1151; A. H. 546. Turbessel, Hamtab, Hazart, Rarendel, Gesta -Dei, &c. p. 920. - -[149] Mejereddin, G. D. p. 893. - -[150] Miheneddin Ainardus (ibidem). - -[151] Jihad ol assghar. - -[152] Jihad ol ekbar. - -[153] From the Nokhbetet-tevarikh of Mohammed Effendi, after the -Akdol-jemen, (i. e. _coral necklace_); the Kamil (i. e. _the -complete_) of Ibn Essir, and the Miret-ol-edvar, or _mirror of ages_. - -[154] A. D. 1162; A. H. 558. - -[155] According to the Nokhbetet-tevarikh; according to the Gesta Dei, -two hundred thousand paid down, and as much promised. - -[156] According to the Nokhbetet-tevarikh; according to the Gesta Dei, -two hundred thousand ready money, and as much promised. - -[157] Gesta Dei, p. 978. - -[158] A. D. 1168; A. H. 564. - -[159] Nokhbetet-tevarikh. - -[160] Here again the Nokhbetet-tevarikh gives exactly half the sum -mentioned by William of Tyre, according to whom, the khalif promised -two millions, and paid one hundred thousand ducats. Gesta Dei, p. 979. - -[161] A. D. 1171; A. H. 567. - -[162] A.D. 1163. - -[163] Hafez, letter Alif. - -[164] According to Mirkhond and Wassah; according to the Nokhbetet -tevarikh, the seventh. - -[165] Mirkhond. - -[166] Devletshah. Heerens Geschichte der Classischen Litteratur. -Bouterwek Geschichte der französischen Dichtkunst. - -[167] A. D. 1175; A. H. 569. - -[168] A. D. 1177; A. H. 573. - -[169] A. D. 1186; A. H. 582. - -[170] A. D. 1201; A. H. 598. - -[171] A. D. 1180; A. H. 576. - -[172] A. D. 1190; A. H. 586. - -[173] A. D. 1180; A. H. 576. - -[174] A. D. 1170; A. H. 566. - -[175] A. D. 1196; A. H. 593. - -[176] A. D. 1196; A. H. 593. - -[177] A. D. 1200; A. H. 597. - -[178] A. D. 1209; A. H. 606. - -[179] A. D. 1172; A. H. 568. - -[180] A. D. 1209; A. H. 606. - -[181] Mirkhond. Devletshah. Ghaffari. - -[182] Western Africa. T. - -[183] From the Okdet-ol-jeman in the Nokhbetet-tevarikh. - -[184] A. D. 1173; A. H. 569. - -[185] A. D. 1174; A. H. 570. - -[186] Nokhbetet-tevarikh. - -[187] Nokhbetet-tevarikh. Jehannuma. - -[188] Rousseau, Mémoire sur les Ismailis, p. 13. - -[189] Ibid. Ibid, p. 1. - -[190] William of Tyre, p. 994. - -[191] Jehannuma, pp. 591, 592. - -[192] Macrisi. Abulfeda. - -[193] Nokhbetet-tevarikh. - -[194] Ibn Forat. - -[195] A. D. 1175; A. H. 571. - -[196] Nokhbetet-tevarikh. - -[197] Abulfeda, ad ann. 571. - -[198] A. D. 1176; A. H. 572. - -[199] William of Tyre, Gesta Dei per Francos, p. 994. Jacobi de -Vitriaco Historia Hierosolymæ, p. 1062. - -[200] Extraits d’un Livre des Ismailis, par M. Rousseau, tiré du 52 -Cahier des Annales des Voyages. - -[201] Mémoire sur les Ismailis, par la même, tiré du 42 Cahier des -Annales des Voyages, p. 13. See note (A) at the end of this volume. - -[202] Extraits d’un Livre des Ismailis, p. 10. - -[203] A. D. 1157; A. H. 552. - -[204] Ibn Forat. - -[205] Hadji Khalfa, in the Jehannuma, and Abulfeda, ad. ann. 588. - -[206] Gesta Dei per Francos, p. 994 and 1143. - -[207] Ibid., p. 978. - -[208] Gesta Dei per Francos, p. 1215. - -[209] A. D. 1173; A. H. 569. - -[210] A. D. 1178; A. H. 574. - -[211] A. D. 1149; A. H. 544. - -[212] Eclaircissement sur quelques circonstances de l’histoire du vieux -de la Montagne. Mem: Acad. des Inscriptions, XVI., 155. Note (B) at the -end of this volume. - -[213] Abulfeda, ad ann. 588. Nokhbetet-tevarikh. - -[214] Chron: Alberic itrium fontium, ann. 1192. - -[215] Enis-ol-jelil ji kuda vel khalil. See Mines de l’Orient, vol. IV. - -[216] See note (C) at the end. - -[217] Wilhelmus Neobrigensis; vide Dissertation sur les Assassins, par -M. Falconet, dans les Mémoires de l’Acad. XVII., p. 167. - -[218] Rigord in du Chesne, V., p. 35. - -[219] Mém. de l’Acad. des Inscriptions, XVI., p. 161. - -[220] Radevicus Frisingensis, l. II., c. 37. Sigonius Guntherus. - -[221] Franciscus Pagus Breviarum hist. chron. crit. ad ann. 1244. - -[222] Epistolæ Petri de Vineis, l. III. cap. 5. - -[223] A. D. 1194. - -[224] Marinus Sanutus, l. III., part X., c. 8. - -[225] Elmacini Hist. Saracencia, l. III., p. 286. - -[226] Marco Polo, De Regionibus Orientalibus, lib. I. c. 28. - -[227] Siret Hakem biemrillah in Mines de l’Orient, Part III., p. 201, -Arabic and French. - -[228] This appears to be a mistake, as the _hashishe_ is found to -consist chiefly of hemp; see notes D and E, at the end of this vol. _T._ - -[229] See the circumstantial proof of this indubitable genealogy, in -the Mémoire sur la Dynastie des Assassins, et sur l’Origine de leur -Nom; by M. Silvestre de Sacy; read at the Institute, 7th July, 1809. -And a letter of M. Silvestre de Sacy to the Editor of the Moniteur, on -the Etymology of the name of the Assassins.—Moniteur, No. 359, year -1809. The reader will find both translated, in notes D and E, at the -end of the volume. - -[230] Abulfeda, ad. ann. 607. Mirkhond. Wassaf. - -[231] Ibid. - -[232] Trumpet of the holy war, from the mouth of the prophet Mohammed, -son of Abdallah. Vienna, 1813. - -[233] Gulsheni’s Khulifa. - -[234] A. D. 1214; A. H. 611. - -[235] Mirkhond. - -[236] History of Thaberistan and Mazanderan, by Sahereddin, in the -Imperial Library, at Vienna, No. 117. - -[237] Jehannuma, p. 442. - -[238] Sehareddin’s History of Mazanderan and Thaberistan. - -[239] Sehareddin’s History of Mazanderan and Thaberistan. - -[240] Sehareddin, op. cit. - -[241] Mirkhond. - -[242] Mohammed Nisawi, Biography of Jelaleddin Mankberni. - -[243] A. D. 1226; A. H. 624. - -[244] Mohammed Nissawi’s Biography of Sultan Mankberni, and Hassan -ben Ibrahim, both extracted in Quatremère’s Notice Historique sur les -Ismaéliens, in vol. IV. Mines de l’Orient. - -[245] Wassaf. - -[246] A. D. 1255; A. H. 653. - -[247] A. D. 1186. - -[248] Takwimet-tevarikh, ann. 489 and 582. A. D. 1095. - -[249] Mirkhond, fifth Part, History of the Mongols. - -[250] See Mines de l’Orient, part I. p. 248. - -[251] A. D. 1253; A. H. 651. - -[252] Ali Effendi’s Historical Writings. Imperial Library at Vienna, -No. 125. - -[253] A. D. 1256. - -[254] - - Besal areb sheshsad u panchah u chehar shud - Yek shumbah awal meh Silkide bamdad. - - In the six hundred and fifty-fourth year, it was - Early on Sunday, on the first of Silkide. - - Mirkhond. - -[255] A. D. 1257. - -[256] Bengertus. Joachimus Camerarius, Arnoldus Lubecensis. Haithon -Armenensis, quoted in Withof’s Meuchelmörderischen Reich. der -Assassinen, p. 168, et seq. Bengertus, by mistake, places Tigado in -Syria. - -[257] Tarikhi Masenderan. Imperial Library, Vienna. No. 117. - -[258] Mines de l’Orient. vol. III. - -[259] Mémoire Historique sur la Vie et les Ouvrages d’Alaeddin Atamelik -Djovaini, par M Quatremère. Mines de l’Orient, II. p. 220. - -[260] View of the Sciences of the East. Encyclopedie. - -[261] Mémoires Géographiques et Historiques sur l’Egypte, par -Quatremère, II. p. 506. - -[262] Macrisi. Ibn Khaledun, Ibn Forat, Abulfaradj. - -[263] Takwimet-tevarikh. - -[264] Mirkhond. Wassaf. Gulsheni Khulifa. - -[265] Aali’s Historical Sketches. Imp. Lib. Vienna. No. 115. - -[266] Dar-es-selam, the house of peace. Wadi-es-selam, the valley of -peace. Medenet-es-selam, the city of peace. Burj ol evlia, castle of -the holy. Sevra, oblique. - -[267] Jehannuma, p. 459. - -[268] Ibid, p. 479, 480. - -[269] Dar-es-shedshret. - -[270] A. D. 918; A. H. 306. - -[271] There is a more circumstantial detail in Abulfeda, Part II. p. -332, and Jehannuma, pp. 459 and 478, and in the Gulsheni Khulifa and -Lari, than in Gibbon, c. LII. - -[272] The Persian Damdama, as well as the Arabic Thanthana, and the -Latin Tinnitus, are onomatopœias of this musical sound. - -[273] Mirkhond, Wassaf, Gulsheni Khulifa. - -[274] Deguignes, Part II. p. 197, and Abulfeda, ad. ann. 449. - -[275] Continuator Theophanis. Gibbon, c. LIII. - -[276] Mirkhond, Wassaf, Gulsheni Khulifa. - -[277] A. D. 1165; A. H. 664. - -[278] Macrisi, in the Book of the Sects. Ibn Forat. - -[279] A. D. 1269; A. H. 668. - -[280] Macrisi. Ibn Forat. - -[281] A. D. 1270; A. H. 669. - -[282] Jehannuma. - -[283] Ibid, p. 590. - -[284] About A. D. 790; A. H. 109. - -[285] Jehannuma, p. 642. - -[286] Eclaircissemens sur quelques circonstances de l’Histoire du -Vieux de la Montagne, Prince des Assassins. Histoire de l’Académie des -Inscriptions, XVI. p. 163. - -[287] Nassaih-ol-Moluk, by Jelali. Imp. Library Vienna, No. 163. - -[288] Ibid. - -[289] A. D. 1326; A. H. 720. - -[290] Macrisi, in the Book of Sects. Abulfeda. - -[291] Mémoires sur les Ismaelis et Nossairis de Syrie, adressé à M. -Silv. de Sacy, par M. Rousseau. Annales des Voyages. Cahier XLII. - -[292] Extrait d’un livre des Ismailis, pour faire suite au Mémoire sur -les Ismailis et Nossairis. Annales des Voyages, LII. - -[293] A topographical Memoir on Persia. - -[294] De Tenvil et Tensil autore Silvestre de Sacy, in novis -Commentariis Societatis Göttingensis. - -[295] Volney Voyages. - -[296] Jehannuma, p. 419. - -[297] Livy. l. XXXIX. c. 8. - -[298] Kopp, Ueber die Verfassung der heimlichen Gerichte in Westphalen. - -[299] Annales des Voyages, cahier XLII. p. 13 of the article, and 283 of -the collection. - -[300] Two khalifs; one of Bagdad, the other of Egypt; Herbelot, art. -Bathania. Tapares, Sultan of Khorassan, Ann.: Comnen. Alexiad. Book VI. -A king of Mossul and Seljukide prince; Extracts from the History of -Abulfeda, by Deguignes. The celebrated Vizier Nisam-ol-mulk, Herbelot, -art. Melekshah:—without reckoning many other assassinations recounted -by Abulfaradj, in different parts of his ninth dynasty. - -[301] Mémoires de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, tom -XVII. p. 168. Falconet; Dissertation sur les Assassins Peuple d’Asie, -2e partie. - -[302] The following is an extract from a late work on Botany, published -by Professor Burnett, of King’s College, which is strongly confirmatory -of De Sacy’s views; the same is likewise stated by Dr. Ainslie. _T._ - -“In India, hemp is cultivated as a luxury, and used solely as an -excitant. It possesses several peculiar intoxicating powers, and -produces luxurious dreams and trances. The leaves are sometimes chewed, -and sometimes smoked as tobacco. A stupifying liquor is also prepared -from them; and they enter with opium, betel nut, sugar, &c. into -various narcotic preparations. Prepared hemp is called by the Arabs -_hashish_, &c. &c.”—Burnett’s Botany, p. 560. - -[303] Vol. XLI. No. 359, Monday, 25th December, 1809. - - -VIZETELLY, BRANSTON AND CO. PRINTERS, 76 FLEET STREET, LONDON. - - - - - * * * * * * - - - - -Transcriber's note: - -English transliterations of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish names -are often inconsistent. Alternate spellings of these names occur -troughout this book, as is the case in similar books. - -To avoid errors which can be introduced, to assure consistency, and -to be faithful to the original edition, only typographical and some -other obvious errors have been corrected. - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE HISTORY OF THE ASSASSINS*** - - -******* This file should be named 53023-0.txt or 53023-0.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/5/3/0/2/53023 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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