Assassins

Because it was on the way, and because we will be visiting other Assassin castles in Iran, we took a detour on our way to Krak des Chevaliers to see Misyaf fort. The fort itself is not particularly noteworthy, but I thought I would take this opportunity to provide a little background on the Assassins.

To explain the origins of the Assassins, it is necessary to go back to the early years of Islam, in the seventh century. After the death of Mohammed in 632, there arose a dispute as to who should succeed his role as the (religious and political) head of the Islamic world. One faction supported Ali, cousin and son-in-law of Mohammed, while others supported Abu Bakr. Abu Bakr was elected the first caliph (or successor to Mohammed), followed in relatively quick succession by Umar, Uthman, and then finally Ali. Showing the contentiousness of the power struggles at the time, Umar, Uthman and Ali each met his end by murder. Some blamed the death of Uthman on the Ali faction (now known as Shiites), while the Shiites blamed the death of Ali on the others (now known as Sunnis). Following the death of Ali, the Sunni Umayyad dynasty, based in Damascus, took over the caliphate. During this period, the conflict between the majority Sunnis and the Shiites deepened, especially after the Umayyads killed Ali’s son Hussein, much of his family and many of his followers, at Karbala in now Iraq, following an uprising.

While the Shiites have been out of the majority and power in most of the Islamic world since, there have been significant times and areas when they came into control. One of the most important areas was and remains Iran, where Shiites form a majority. Another was the Cairo-based Fatimid caliphate (910-1171, named after Fatima, daughter of Mohammed and wife of Ali), which ruled much of North Africa, Egypt and nearby lands.

In 1094, the Fatimids suffered from their own succession problem. Some of the Shiites in Iran refused to accept the Fatimid ruler in Cairo and formed a somewhat radical rebel group, known as the Assassins.

As you may know, the word “assassin,” which we use now to describe a professional killer, derives from the Assassins, who are called Assassins because it was rumored that they took hashish before embarking on their missions. And much like the contemporary English meaning of the word and its derivative, assassination, the missions of the Assassins, their method of operation, was murder: the strategic killing of Sunni Muslim leaders, including those of the Seljuk (Turks) of Anatolia and attempts on the life of Saladin. The Assassins would work by embedding an operative, sometimes over the course of years, in order to murder, or assassinate, a prominent leader or otherwise powerful or influential person.

Saladin’s greatest success, prior to his defeat of the Crusaders at the Battle of Hattin in 1187, was the conquest of Egypt from the Fatimid caliphate in 1171. After terminating Fatimid rule, Saladin wanted to consolidate his (Sunni) control over the region, including by wiping out the Assassins, who had expanded into now Syria from their bases in Iran and were particularly active under the leadership of Rashid al-Din Sinan, also famous to the Crusaders as the Old Man of the Mountains. In 1176, Saladin sieged the castle of Misyaf, an Assassin stronghold since 1140. According to legend, Saladin woke up one morning during the siege to find on his bed a dagger or poisoned cake and a threatening note, making clear that the Assassins had infiltrated his camp and could murder him at their will. The siege was called off.

The Assassins were largely destroyed (along with so many others) by the Mongols in the 13th century, although some descendent communities are believed to exist today.

Column capital at Misyaf, evidence of earlier fortifications at the site