The Assassins: A Redical Sect in Islam
Page 19
From what has come to light so far, it would seem that the Ismailis of Syria preserved no histories comparable with the chronicles of Alamut cited by Juvayni and other Persian historians. An Ismaili biography of Sinān, the most important of the Syrian chiefs, is late, hagiographic, and of limited historical value. The text was published, with French translation, by S. Guyard, ‘Un grand maltre des Assassins au temps de Saladin’, in JA, 7e série, ix (1877), 324-489, and re-published by Mehmed §erefiiddin [Yaltkaya] in Darülfünun Ilahiyat Fakültesi Mecmuast, ii/7 (Istanbul 1928), 45-71. Some evidence of Ismaili provenance is cited in the life of Sinān, included in Kamāl al-Dīn Ibn al-’Adim’s unpublished biographical dictionary of Aleppo; text, with translation and commentary, in B. Lewis, ‘Kamāl al-Dīn’s biography of Rashīd al-Dīn Sinān’, in Arabica, xiii (1966).
Apart from a few such fragmentary survivals, and the local inscriptions (on which see M. van Berchem, ‘Epigraphie des Assassins de Syrie’, in JA, 9e série, ix (1897), 453-501), the historian of the Syrian Assassins must rely on the general sources for the history of Syria in the period.
1 Arabic text in B. Lewis, ‘Three biographies from Kamāl al-Dīn’, in Mé langes Fuad Köprülü, Istanbul 1953, 336.
2 Kamāl al-Dīn Ibn al-’Adim, Zubdat al-alab min ta’rikh alab, ed. Sāmī Dahān, ii, Damascus 1954, 532-3.
3 Ibn al-Qalānisī, History of Damascus, ed. H. F. Amedroz, Beirut 1908, 215; English translation by H. A. R. Gibb, The Damascus chronicle of the Crusades, London 1932, 179.
4 Kamāl al-Dīn, Zubda, ii, 235.
5 Ibn al-Qalānisī, 221; English trans., 187-8.
6 Ibn al-Qalānisī, 223; English trans., 193.
7 Rashīd al-Dīn, 145; Kāshānī, 167. Both give the date of the murder as 524 A.H. The Syrian sources agree that Buri was attacked in 525 and died in 526 A.H. According to one report his attackers used poisoned daggers. The use of poison is not confirmed by the contemporary sources, and seems very unlikely.
8 B. Lewis, ‘Kamāl al-Dīn’s biography of Rashīd al-Dīn Sinān’ 231-2.
9 B. Lewis, ‘Kamāl al-Din’s biography . . .’, 230.
10 Kamāl al-Dīn, Zubda, Ms. Paris, Arabe 1666, fol. 193b ff.
11 Lewis, ‘Kamāl al-Dīn’s biography . . .’, 231.
12 ibid., 10-11. The first of ‘the Bee’ and the last of ‘ād’ are verses from the Qur’an. They read: ‘The decree of God has come, seek not to hasten it; glory be to Him and exalted be He away from all that they associate (with Him)’ (xvi.i). ‘Ye shall surely know the story of it after a while’ (xxxviii, 88).
13 ibid., 12-13.
14 Muhammad al-amawī, Al-Tārikh al-Manūri, ed. P. A. Gryaznevič, Moscow 1960, fols. 164 a and b, 166b-167a, 170b.
15 Joinville, chapter lxxxix, 307.
16 Maqrizi, Kitāb al-Sulūk, ed. M. M. Ziyāda, i, Cairo 1943, 543; French translation E. Quatremére, Histoire des sultans mamlouks, i/2, Paris 1837, 245; ‘Ayni, in RHC, historiens orientaux, ii/a, Paris 1887, 223. See further Defrémery, ‘Nouvelles recherches . . .’, 50-1.
17 Ibn Baüa, Voyages, ed. and French trans, by Ch. Defrémery and B. R. Sanguinetti, i, Paris 1853, 166-7; cf. English translation by H. A. R. Gibb, The travels of Ibn Battuta, i, Cambridge 1958, 106.
18 Registers for the district of Masyāf, in the province of Hama, and for the group of districts called Qilā al-da‘wa (Castles of the mission) in the province of Tripoli. These consist of Khawābī, Kahf, ‘Ulayqa, Qadmūs, and Manīqa. A study of these registers is in progress. On more recent history see N. N. Lewis, ‘The Isma‘ilis of Syria today’, in RCASJ, xxxix (1952), 69-77.
Chapter 6
Some discussion of the methods, purposes, and significance of the Ismailis will be found in the works already cited, especially those of Hodgson and Bertel’s. Briefer characterizations are given in articles by D. S. Margoliouth (’Assassins’ in Hastings Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics) and, more recently, by R. Gelpke (’Der Geheimbund von Alamut – Legende und Wirklichkeit’, in Antaios, viii, 1966, 269-93). An important aspect of the religious evolution of Ismailism is discussed by Henry Corbin, ‘De la gnose antique à la gnose ismaélienne’, in Convegno di sciene morali storiche e filologiche 1956: Oriente ed Occidente nel medio evo, Rome 1957, 105–46.
Muslim views on the problems of authority and of tyranny have been discussed by Miss Ann K. S. Lambton (‘The problem of the unrighteous ruler’, in International Islamic Colloquium, Lahore 1960, 61-3; eadem, ‘Quis custodiet custodes: some reflections on the Persian theory of government’, in SI, v, 1956, 125-48; vi, 1956, 125-46; ‘Justice in the medieval Persian theory of kingship’, in SI, xvii, 1962, 91-119); by H. A. R. Gibb (Studies on the civilisation of Islam, London 1962, 141 ff.); by G. E. von Grunebaum (Islam: essays in the nature and growth of a cultural tradition, London 1955, 127-40, and Medieval Islam, 2nd edn., Chicago 1953, 142-69). There appears to be no study of assassination as such, but it may be noted that a ninth-century author in Baghdad wrote a history of the murders and assassinations of prominent people (Muammad ibn abīb, Asmā al-mughtālīn min al-ashrāf, ed. ‘Abd al-Salām Hārūn, in Nawādir al-makhuāt, 6-7, Cairo 1954-5). The Muslim law on killing – both as a crime and as a punishment – is discussed by J. Schacht, article ‘Ḳatl’ in EI(1).
The most recent treatment of Muslim messianism is that of Emanuel Sarkisyanz (Russland und der Messianismus des Orients, Tubingen 1955, 223 ff.). Earlier discussions include: J. Darmesteter, Le Mahdi, Paris 1885; E. Blochet, Le Messianisme dans l’hétérodoode musulmane, Paris 1903; D. S. Margoliouth, ‘Mahdī’, in Hastings Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics; C. Snouck Hurgronje, ‘Der Mahdi’, in Verspreide Geschriften, i, Bonn 1923, 147-81; D. B. MacDonald, ‘Al-Mahdi’, in EI(1).
The men’s societies in Islam – guilds, train-bands, religious orders, etc. – have formed the subject of an extensive literature, of which a few examples, dealing with different aspects, must suffice: Cl. Cahen, ‘Mouvements populaires et autonomisme urbain dans l’Asie musulmane du moyen âge’, in Arabica, v (1958), 225-50; vi (1959), 25-56, 223-65; H. J. Kissling, ‘Die islamischen Derwischorden’, in Zeitschrift für Religions – und Geistesgeschichte, xii (1960), 1-16; EI(2), articles “Ayyar’ (by F. Taeschner), ‘Darwīsh’ (by D. B. MacDonald) and ‘Futuwwa’ by C. Cahen and F. Taeschner).
1 For the evidence in support of this interpretation of the first civil war in Islam, see Laura Veccia Vaglieri, II conflitto ‘Ali-Mu’āwiya e la secessione kharigita . . .’, in Annali dell’ Istituto Universitario Orientate di Napoli, n.s. iv (1952), 1–94.
2 On an apparent exception, see Hodgson, 114, n. 43.
3 Above p. 4.
4 G. van Vloten, ‘Worgers in Islam’, in Feestbundel van Taal-Letter-, Geschied- en Aardrijkskundige Bijdragen . . . aan Dr P. J Veth. . . Leiden, 1894, 57-63; I. Friedlaender, ‘The heterodoxies of the Shi‘ites’, in JAOS, xxviii (1907), 62-4; xxix (1908), 92-5; Laoust, Schismes, 33–4.
5 W. Ivanow, ‘An Ismaili poem in praise of Fidawis’, in JBBRAS, xiv (1938), 71.
6 J. B. S. Hardman, ‘Terrorism’, in Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences.
7 Joinville, Chapter lxxxix, 307.
8 Hamdullah Mustawfi, Tārikh-i Guida, ed. E.G.Browne, London-Leiden 1910, 455-6; French trans, by Ch. Defremery, in JA, 4e sér., xii (1848), 275.
9 These various economic interpretations are critically examined by A. E. Bertel’s, Nasir-i Khosrov i Ismailim, especially 142 ff., where the Russian literature is cited. A more recent view is given in Mme Stroeya’s article, already mentioned. Barthold gave a brief statement of his views in an article published in German, ‘Die persische Šu‘ūbīja und die moderne Wissenschaft’, in Zeitschrift fur Assyriologie, xxvi (1911), 249-66.
The Assassins
‘Abbās, governor of Rayy
Abbasid Caliphate, the
‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Aāsh
Abū Bakr, the first Caliph
Abū amza
Abū Hāshim
Abu’l-Fat
; Abū Manūr
Abū Manūr al-‘Ijlī
Abu Muhammad
Abū āhir al-ā’igh, leader of the Assassins in Syria
Acre
Afāmiya
al-Afal
murder of
Aga Khan, the
origin of the title
and the Khojas
Amad ibn Niām al-Mulk
attempted assassination of
Amadīl, emir
Amad, son of ‘Abd al-Malik ibn ‘Aāsh
death of
‘Alā al-Dīn Muammad, son of Jalāl al-Dīn
Alamūt, et seq, et seq. library at,
destruction of,
agents of in Syria, et seq.
‘Alawīs, the, (see also Nuayrīs)
Aleppo
Alexandria
‘Alī, the fourth Caliph
‘Alī ibn Mas‘ūd
‘Alī ibn Wafā
‘Alī Zayn al-‘Ābidin, son of usayn
Alp Arslan, son of Riwān
al-Āmir, Fatimid Caliph
Amīra Żarrāb
Andij, the river
Antioch
‘Aqr al-Sudan
Arnold of Lübeck
Amould, Sir Joseph
his judgement of the Khoja case
Arrajān
Arslantash
al-Asadābādī
Abū Ibrāhīm
‘Asqalān
Assassins, the, western knowledge of
origins of the name
in Syria, et seq
consolidation of in Syria
in Syria after the death of Sinān, et seq.
end of power of in Syria, et seq.
place of in the history of Islam
Avicenna
‘Azāz
al-Bāb
Badakhshān
Badr al-Dīn Amad, Ismaili envoy
Badr al-Dīn, the Qāī of Sinjar
Badr al-Jamālī
Baghdad
captured by the Buyids
captured by the Mongols
Bahrām, successor of Abū āhir in Syria
Banū ‘Ulaym
Bānyās
Baraq ibn Jandal
Barbarossa, Emperor Frederick
Barthold, V.V.
Basra
Bāinī, origin of the term
Baybars, Mamluk Sultan of Egypt
Bayhaq
Benjamin of Tudela
Berkyaruq, Seljuq Sultan
Biqā‘, the
Bobrinskoy, Count Alexis
Bohemond IV
Bohemond VI
Bohras, the
Bombay
Brocardus
Būrī
Bursuqī
da Buti, Francesco
Buzaā‘a,
Buzurgumīd
Cairo
Cannabis sativa
Caprotti, G.
Carmathians, the
Conrad of Montferrat, King of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem, murder of
Crusaders, the
aāk ibn Jandal,
murder of
Dā‘īs, the place of in the Shī‘a
Dāī al-du‘āt,
Damascus
Dāmghān
Dante
al-Dargazīnī, Qiwām al-Dīn Nāir ibn ‘Alī
Dā’ūd, Seljuq Sultan
Da‘wa (Persian da’vat)
Da‘wa jadīda, see ‘new preaching’
Da‘wa qadīma, see ‘old preaching’
Daylam
Daylamis, the
Druzes, the
Duqāq, son of Tutush
Edessa
Edward, Prince of England
‘Epistles of the Sincere Brethren’
Fakhr al-DZīn Rāzī
Fakhr al-Mulk, son of Niām al-Mulk
Fārs
Fāima, daughter of the Prophet
Fatimid Caliphate, the
foundation of (909)
organisation of
decline of
fidā'ī, term introduced
Fitzgerald, Edward, translator of the Rubaiyat
Franks, the, (see also Crusaders)
Fraser, J. B.
Gardens of Paradise, of the Assassins
Georgia
Gīlān
de Gobineau, Count A.
Girdkūh
Gümüshtigin
al-Hajïra
al-ākim, Fatimid Caliph
al-akīm al-Munajjim, Assassin leader in Syria
Hama
Hamadān
Hammer, Joseph von, History of the Assassins
asan, son of ‘Alī
asan, see Jalāl al-Dīn asan
asan of Māzandarān
asan ‘alā dhikrihi’ 1-salām
proclaims the Resurrection
murder of
and the early years of Sinān
āsbayyā
ashīshī, ashīshiyya
Hashshāsh, Hashshāshīn
Henry of Champagne, Count
d’Herbelot, Bartholomé, Bibliothèque orientale
Heyssessini
al-ijāz
Homs
Hospitallers, see Knights Hospitaller
Hūlegū, grandson of Jenghiz Khan
defeats the Ismailis, et seq.
ujja, the (Persian ujjat)
usayn, son of ‘Alī
usayn Qā’inī
Ibn al-Athīr
Ibn Badī',
Ibn Baūa
Ibn Wā il
Il-Ghāzī
‘Imād al-Dīn
Imām
significance of in the Ismaili system
Inab
Indian Hemp
Ifahān
Ismā'īl, son of Ja‘far al-ādiq
Ismā'īl, successor of Bahrām
Ismailis, the, after the death of asan, et seq.
break links with Cairo
decline of in Persia, et seq.
established at Alamūt
expansion of in Persia, et seq.
in Syria, et seq. (see also Assassins)
murders and general policy of,
origins of
see also the Fatimid Caliphate
as a secret society
struggle of with the Seljuks
see also the Shī‘a
Ithnā‘asharī, see Twelver Shī‘a
Jabal Anāriyya
Jabal Bahrā
Jabal al-Summāq
Ja‘far al-ādiq, sixth Imam after ‘Alī,
Jalāl al-Dīn asan, son of Muammad
abolishes the Resurrection
reign of, as a period of occultation
Jalāl al-Dīn, Sultan, last of the Khorazmshāhs
James of Vitry, Bishop of Acre
Janā al-Dawla, murder of
Jazīra definition of
Jazr
Jenghiz Khan
Jerusalem
Joinville
Juvaynī
Kafr Nāi
al-Kahf
Kamāl al-Dīn ibn al-‘Adīm
Karakorum
Karbalā
Karrāmiyya, the
Kāshānī, Abu’l-Qāsim
Kermān
Khalaf ibn Mulā'ib
Khālinjān
Kharība
Khawābī
Khojas, the
Khorazmians
Khorazmshāhs
rising importance of
Khurāsān
Khūzistān
Knights Hospitaller
Knights Templar
Kūh-i Bara
Lattakia
Lamasar
Lebey de Batilly, Denis
Ma‘arrat Marīn
Mahdī, the
Mamūd, Seljuq Sultan
death of
Majd al-Dīn
Malāida
al-Malik al-āli, ruler of Aleppo
Malikshāh, the Great Sultan of the Seljuks
death of
al Ma’
mūn, vizier in Egypt
Manīqa
Marāgha
Marco Polo
Mardin
Mas‘ūd, Sultan
Mayāf
Matthew of Paris
Mawdūd, Seljuq emir of Mosul, murder of
Maymūndiz
Mayyāfāriqīn
Māzandarān
al-Mazdagānī, Abū ‘Alī āhir ibn Sa‘d
Mecca
Medina
Meellāt
Minhāj-i Sirāj Juzjāī
Mongols, the
Monteith, W., Colonel
Mosul
Mu‘āwiya, founder of the Umayyad dynasty
Mufarrij ibn al-asan ibn al-ūfī
al-Mughīra ibn Sa’īd
Muammad ibn al-anafiyya
Muammad ibn Ismā'īl al-Darazī, founder of the Druzes
Muammad Tapar
succeeds Sultan Berkyaruq
campaign of against the Ismailis
death of
Muammad, son of Buzurgumīd
Muammad II, son of asan
Mu‘īn al-Dīn Kāshī
murder of
al-Mu‘izz, Fatimid Caliph
Mukhtār
Mulid
Muliech, Mulihet
Mu’minābād
Murder,
as an instrument of policy,
as a religious duty,
and the Assassins, et seq.
Musā al-Kāim, son of Ja‘far
Mustajībsy
al-Musta‘lī, son of al-Mustanir
followers of
al-Mustanir (1036-94), Fatimid Caliph