To date, the word "assassin" has gained widespread popularity in the mainstream gaming industry. The culprit was the company "Ubisoft" and their wonderful creation called "Assassin's Creed". Over many parts of this game, fans have developed a fairly clear image of these secretive mercenaries from ancient Arabia. However, in many ways, this image does not correspond to the real story. So who are the assassins?
The rise of the assassins
The beginning was laid on the Arabian Peninsula, when a preacher of the Cairo school named Hasan ibn Sabbah was sent into exile on a ship, wanting to send him away from the local lands. However, during the voyage, a disaster struck. Death was almost inevitable, a great storm arose, and the people on the ship were already ready for inevitable death. Only Hasan ibn Sabbah was in complete tranquility. In an imperative tone, at this difficult moment, he conveyed to his guides that the Almighty promised him complete safety, and therefore nothing bad would happen to the ship. Then the almost impossible happened, because the words of the preacher turned out to be true. As if by a magic word, the storm died down immediately. The sailors believed that Hassan ibn Sabbah was in fact a holy man who was blessed by the Almighty himself. It was from this moment that the history of the assassins began.
On that day, those accompanying the criminal became his faithful servants. They vowed to follow Hasan ibn Sabbah in everything - a strong warrior who never knew fear. Together, the warriors passed many lands, including Persia, replenishing the number of adepts and followers. Ultimately, the group stopped at the Iraqi border, which is located next to the Caspian Sea. They found their home in the Alamut fortress. The wise Hasan ibn Sabbah did not resort to extreme measures, and the fortress was not subject to siege, although he could well have done it. Instead, the preacher made a smarter decision: he introduced himself to the locals as a teacher and a pilgrim, as a result of which they became his loyal followers. This is how the future empire was built.
It is worth noting that the place chosen by Hasan ibn Sabbah was almost impregnable, and this ideally served his purposes. Having succumbed to the influence of this man, the owners of the fortress announced that they intend to serve the great leader. After some time, they built even more fortresses on his orders. The ancient territories occupied by Hasan ibn Sabbah and his army were in fact considered a separate state. This is how the Assassins, or Hassassins, which means "followers of Hasan", were formed.
Assassin activities
Today the word “assassin” is synonymous with the expression “secret killer”. But not all assassins were secretive, and not everyone needed it. Everything here depended on a specific task and the essence of a specific operation. And if you delve even deeper into the essence of the terminology, then it would be more accurate to call the assassins not secretive killers, but terrorists. For the most part, this order carried out high-profile and bloody operations with a large crowd of people, reminiscent of today's terrorists. They did this in such a way that information about any crime or murder would reach every local resident.
For the assassins, the elimination of some persons had a political overtones, and their main enemy was the high class of various kinds of bureaucrats. The activities of individual killers depended on the nature of the operation. Some of them always remained at the crime scene in order to "reach out to the people," while others, after committing terrible crimes, began to read sermons, trying to attract witnesses to their group.
Assassins in modern times
Assassins exist to this day, while modern society is no less afraid of them than in those distant times. True, today terrorists do not have a separate state, but in all other respects they fully correspond to the image of the then murderers who committed their insidious atrocities in the distant past. All over the world in our time, there are still secret organizations where followers of the order study the art of bravery of the assassins, their philosophy and values. Such associations are small sects. By entering them, people completely renounce real life, go through the necessary initiation procedure, plunge into the world of martial arts, learn how a real assassin should look like.
Some modern research confirms that there are many suicide bombers among assassins who commit grisly crimes without fear of dying. Their opponents are often state leaders, people with high earnings, as well as those individuals who do not recognize the achievements of Hasan ibn Sabbah, considering him a cruel person, and not a savior, as interpreted in the teachings of the assassins.
Influence of the Assassins
After the founding of their state, the assassins immediately began to seize foreign lands, because one of their main goals was to expand the territory. Acting wisely and progressively, they began their bloody activities from small villages and small fortresses. Before the capture of Hasan ibn Sabbah, in order not to shed excess blood and not lose his faithful adepts, he always tried to take the fortress by cunning. He had already done such a trick when he subdued Alamut. Some people obeyed, because the leader of the assassins had the gift of influence.
However, not everyone was following Hasan ibn Sabbah. And if he did not manage to take the fortress by cunning, then he resorted to weapons. Loyal assassins supported their mentor. They did not feel pangs of conscience, killing completely innocent people. Every year the empire of the preacher was gaining more and more scale and according to some sources the number of his minions reached more than fifty thousand.
The hand of Hasan ibn Sabbah and his empire was quite long, the influence of the Assassins began from the Arab lands and reached central Europe. Rulers and kings were horrified when they heard the name of the preacher and the word "Hassassin". They were so afraid of these true "carriers of terror" that they did not dare to take an extra step aside without the accompaniment of a large group of bodyguards.
In addition to European kings, the Assassins were also afraid to know the Seljuk Turks. To fight ill-wishers, they always kept chain mail and weapons ready. Many wealthy gentlemen at that time secretly paid tribute to Hasan ibn Sabbah, doing this not only as a sign of respect, but also in self-defense, because many people at that time dreamed of protecting themselves and their families from the atrocities of the order. This was the single most effective way to avoid falling victim to the assassins.
Assassin Teachings
Like today's terrorists, almost all assassins believed that they were committing all their atrocities at the behest of the Almighty. Their main idea was the existence of a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad - “the hidden imam”. Hasan ibn Sabbah convinced his followers of the existence of this very “hidden imam”. In addition, he was able to competently convey to them that it was he, Hasan ibn Sabbah, who raised this divine child, hiding him in the chambers of the fortress, which no one will find.
The Adepts of the Order have never questioned the divine origin of their leader. Their sincere belief that Hasan ibn Sabbah is a certain chosen one gave them additional fortitude, which only played into the hands of the order. The mystery of the Assassin Order attracted many people, in particular young people. They often mystified the image of a secretive, secret and, at first glance, not subject to the order. In the minds of impressionable people, the teaching of the assassins acquired such proportions that they unquestioningly began to obey their leader and commit atrocities, believing that with their help they could change the world for the better.
The philosophy of the assassins consisted in a simple truth: if you once became interested in teaching, later you can hardly choose a different path. At the same time, it was not so easy to join the brotherhood of assassins, since great endurance was required from the new members of the group. Those wishing to become part of the order had to wait at the gates of the fortress belonging to Hasan ibn Sabbah, from several days to a week, in order to personally meet with the leader. Those people who passed the first test were sent into the fortress, where they were beaten and humiliated by senior assassins until, according to the elders, the adept was ready to become part of the order. It was only after much suffering that the new followers began to be taught the martial arts. About once a week, they met with the founder of the order himself, who told them in detail what it meant to be an assassin. He often started from the very beginning of his path, talking about significant bloody wars and the strongest representatives of the order. And only when Hasan ibn Sabbah and his advisers were fully convinced that the recruits could be accepted into their ranks, they organized magnificent rites of passage, at which each assassin had to demonstrate his skills.
