Alamut

Alamut is the name of a valley of the solid mass of the Elbrouz in the south of the Caspian Sea, close to the town of Qazvin, with 100 kilometers of current the Teheran, in the North-West of the current Iran. The “ fortress of Alamut ”, often called simply Alamut , considered impregnable, was drawn up formerly at an altitude of 2100 meters above the village currently named Gâzor Khân.

This fortress was built towards 840. The archeological site is completely with the state of ruins especially since the earthquake of 2004. There are 23 other fortresses of the same period in ruins in the area.

The word Alamut would mean “Eyrie” or “Lesson of the eagle” in the local dialect. Into Persan one says the “ fortress of Alamut ” to name the archeological site.

The fortress was taken in 1090 by Hassan ibn Al-Sabbah called the “ Vieux of the Mountain ”, ( Chayr Al-Jabal ) to be used as a basis for the Shiite sect ismaélienne of the Nizârites, also called Assassins . This nickname is considered to mean consuming haschich . This interpretation is disputed. The word would come from the Persan substantive assâs (base) or from the adjective assâssâ (fundamental) two words which one can bring closer for their direction to the Arab word Al-Qâ `Ida (base). Nizârites wanted to be the fundamentalist ones, and Hassan liked to call her followers " Assassiyoun" , those which are faithful to the " fondement" faith. This word, badly included/understood foreign travellers, who seemed to have relents of haschich. Being wary towards the latter taking into account their beliefs hétérodoxes, the contemporaries called them sometimes Batin iyya , or Batini .

In 1256, the fortress of Alamut went without combat to the Mongolian army of Houlagou Khan which broke on the Iran. It was entirely shaven.

List chiefs of Nizârites with Alamut

This list relates to only the Imams having reigned in the fortress. For the complete listing, lira the Imams nizârites of XIe in XIIe century .

Al-Hassan Ier (1097-1124)
Buzurg-Ummid (1124-1138)
Mohammed I {{er}} (1138-1162)
Al-Hassan II (1162-1166)
Mohammed II (1166-1210)
Al-Hassan III (1210-1221)
Mohammed III (1221-1255)
Rukh AD-DIN Khurshah (1255-1256)

The followers of Hassan were not thus any more afraid of nothing of their alive and were submitted body and heart to the Master. They thus made perfect killers acting such of the commando-suicide.

Indeed, they left (only or in small groups) armed with a dagger and when the target left to it or walked on quietly in the street, the assassin emerged from crowd and struck the target. They generally killed it in full day and in front of witnesses, to shake the spirits.

The effectiveness of this method came owing to the fact that, not being any afraid of death, the assassin struck then awaited the blows and agreed to die because he thus believed to join the houris paradise. These assassins could handle several weapons also perfectly and were physically involved. To deny oneself such opponents against required rough engagements so much they were coriaces.

It is told that a cross embassy was sent to Alamut, the den of the nizârites of the time. When the ambassador arrived, he wanted to know what made these assassins of so terrible characters that they terrorized the politicians and the local elites. The Master thus called two fedais. He asked the one to run towards one of the strengthened walls overhanging a ravine and to jump in the vacuum. Whereas this last ran, he asked the second to leave his dagger and to stab himself. The first arrived at the top and jumped, without a cry. The second was inserted the knife in the belly with a happy smile on the face. The ambassador was frankly impressed by the degree of handling which the Master exerted on his henchmen, at side of which the most horrible threats of the Christian clergy would have remained without effect.

Hassan would have profited then from a great influence in the area; from where probably the diffusion of this legend.

It is thus in the valley of Alamut that was born large a sect, and Hassan achieves her goal: to make tremble the bases even Secular capacity which surrounded it.

Inconsistency

This chart watch a zone, between Antioche and Tripoli, which would be the ground of operations of so terrible Hasshîshîn, according to the legend. However, the site describes in this legend, with hundred kilometers of Teheran, is considerably distant of this zone. The Assassins are supposed to leave the mountain, after the washing of brains describes low, to occir the Mécréant S. Except the embassy described in the text of the legendary account, it is thus not very probable that the base of operations was so distant place where the Crusaders had settled. It thus acts well of a legend.

This inconsistency apparent could be explained by the fact why during the twelfth century, the sect extended its influence on Syria while seizing a series castles and fortified towns in the mountains of Year-Nusayriyah, of which the fortress of Masyaf. Since this position considered impregnable, Rachid AD-DIN Asinan establishes a State Assassin practically independent, distinct staff from Alamut. According to Simon Cox (" Illuminati décryptés"), they are the legends born of the life of Rachid AD-DIN who would be at the origin of the stories of the Old man of the Mountain, even if this name seems to be improperly translated Arab expression meaning " chief of the montagne".

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