The capture of Alamút, which was rapidly followed by the seizure of many other similar strongholds, * like Sháh-Dizh and Other strong­holds of the Assassins in Persia. Khálanján, near Iṣfahán; Ṭabas, Tún, Qá'in, Zawzan, Khúr and Khúsaf, in Quhistán; Washmkúh, near Abhar; Ustúnáwand, in Mázandarán; Ardahán; Gird-i-Kúh; Qal'atu'n-Ná dhir, in Khúzistán; Qal'atu'ṭ-Ṭanbúr, near Arraján; and Qal'atu Khallád Khán, in Fárs, marks the beginning of the political power of the followers of Ḥasan-i-Ṣabbáḥ, who, on the death of al-Mustanṣir, became definitely separated in their aims from the Isma'ílís of Egypt, since they espoused the cause of Nizár, while al-Musta'lí, another son of al-Mustanṣir, succeeded to the Fáṭimid Caliphate of Cairo. Hence, in nearly all Persian histories, such as the Jámi'u't-Tawáríkh and the Ta'ríkh-i-Guzída, separate sections are generally assigned to the “Isma'ílís of Egypt and the West” and the “Isma'ílís of Persia,” “Nizárís,” or, to give them the name by which they are best known, “Assassins.”

The etymology of the name “Assassin” was long disputed, and many absurd derivations were suggested. Some supposed Etymology of the word “Assassin.” it to be a corruption of Hasaniyyún (-yín), or “followers of Ḥasan”; Caseneuve proposed to connect it with the Anglo-Saxon word seâx, “a knife”; and Gébélin wished to derive it from Sháhinsháh (for Sháhán-sháh), “King of kings,” while many equally impossible theories were advanced. It was reserved for that great scholar Sylvestre de Sacy to show that the word, variously corrupted by the Crusaders (through whom it came into Europe) into Assassini, Assessini, Assissini, and Heissessini, was more closely represented by the Greek chroniclers as <text in Greek script omitted>, and most accurately of all by the Ḥashishin of Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela; and that it stood for the Arabic Ḥashíshí (in the plural Ḥashíshiyyún or Ḥashíshiyya), * a name given to the sect because of the use which they made of the drug Ḥashísh, otherwise known to us as “Indian hemp,” “bang,” or Cannabis Indica. This drug is widely used in most Muham­madan countries from Morocco to India at the present day, and allusions to it in Jalálu'd-Dín Rúmí, Ḥáfidh, and other poets show that it has been familiar to the Persians since, at any rate, the thirteenth century of our era. But, at the epoch cf which we are speaking, the secret of its properties seems to have been known in Persia only to a few—in fact, to Ḥasan-i-Ṣabbáḥ and his chief confederates, amongst whom, we may recollect, was at least one physician, the already-mentioned Aḥmad b. 'Abdu'l-Malik b. 'Aṭṭásh.

I have elsewhere * discussed at greater length than is possible here the use and peculiarities of this drug, and I there em- Ill repute of Ḥashísh. phasised the evil repute, as compared with opium and other narcotics, which it bears in Persia, where it is seldom mentioned save in some meta­phorical way, as “the Green Parrot,” “the Mysteries,” “Master Sayyid,” and so on; and I ascribed this ill repute less to the harmfulness of the drug than to its close association with a heretical and terrifying sect. It must not, however, be imagined that the habitual use of ḥashísh was encouraged, or even permitted, amongst his followers by the “Old Man of the Mountain,” for its habitual use causes a lethargy, negli­gence, and mental weakness which would have fatally dis­qualified those to whom it was administered from the effective performance of the delicate tasks with which they were charged; and its use was confined to one of the Grades or Degrees or Grades in the Order of the Assassins. Degrees into which the Isma'ílí organisation was divided. These Grades of Initiation existed, as we have seen, from an early period in the Isma'ílí sect, but after the “New Propaganda” they were in some degree rearranged by Ḥasan-i-Ṣabbáḥ as follows. At the head of the Order (subject at this time to the Imám, who, after the death of al-Mustanṣir, was no longer the Fáṭimid Caliph, but a son of his disinherited and murdered brother Nizár) stood the Dá'i'd-Du'át, Chief-Propagandist, or Grand Master, com­monly called outside the circle of his followers Shaykhu'l-Jabal, “the Mountain Chief,” a term which the Crusaders, owing to a misunderstanding, rendered “le Vieux,” “the Old One,” or “the Old Man of the Mountain.” Next came the Grand Priors, or Superior Propagandists (Dá'í-i-Kabír), who formed a kind of episcopacy, and to each of whom was probably com­mitted the charge of a particular district or “see.” * After these came the ordinary propagandists, or dá'ís. These formed the higher grades, and were pretty fully initiated into the real doctrines, aims, and politics of the Order. The lower grades comprised the Rafíqs, or “Companions” of the Order, who were partly initiated; the Láṣiqs, or “Adherents,” who had yielded the oath of allegiance without much comprehension of what it involved; and, lastly, the Fidá'ís, or “Self-devoted Ones,” the “Destroying Angels” and ministers of vengeance of the Order, and the cause of that far-reaching terror which it inspired—a terror which made kings tremble on their thrones and checked the angry anathemas of outraged orthodoxy.

In this connection I cannot refrain from again quoting the graphic and entertaining account of the initiation of these Fidá'ís given by Marco Polo in the thirteenth century of our era, at a time when the power of the Assassins in Persia (for in Syria they continued to hold their own, and, though quite innocuous, continue to exist there even at the present day) had been just destroyed, or was just about to be destroyed, by the devastating Mongols of Hulágú Khán:—

“The Old Man,” says he, “was called in their language Aloadin. * He had caused a certain valley between two mountains to be Marco Polo's description. enclosed, and had turned it into a garden, the largest and most beautiful that ever was seen, filled with every variety of fruit. In it were well-erected pavilions and palaces, the most elegant that can be imagined, all covered with gilding and exquisite painting. And there were runnels, too, flow­ing freely with wine and milk, and honey and water, and numbers of ladies, and of the most beautiful damsels in the world, who could play on all manner of instruments, and sing most sweetly, and dance in a manner that was most charming to behold. For the Old Man desired to make his people believe that this was actually Paradise. So he fashioned it after the description that Mahomet gave of his Paradise—to wit, that it should be a beautiful garden running with conduits of wine and milk and honey and water, and full of lovely women for the delectation of all its inmates. And, sure enough, the Saracens of those parts believed that it was Paradise!

“Now no man was allowed to enter the garden save those whom he intended to be his Ashishin. * There was a fortress at the entrance of the garden strong enough to resist all the world, and there was no other way to get in. He kept at his Court a number of the youths of the country, from twelve to twenty years of age, such as had a taste for soldiering, and to these he used to tell tales about Para­dise, just as Mahomet had been wont to do; and they believed in him, just as the Saracens believe in Mahomet. Then he would introduce them into his garden, some four or six or ten at a time, having made them drink a certain potion * which cast them into a deep sleep, and then causing them to be lifted and carried in. So when they awoke they found themselves in the garden.

“When, therefore, they awoke and found themselves in a place so charming, they deemed that it was Paradise in very truth. And the ladies and damsels dallied with them to their heart's content, so that they had what young men would have; and with their own good will would they never have quitted the place.

“Now this Prince, whom we call the Old One, kept his Court in grand and noble style, and made those simple hill-folks about him believe firmly that he was a great prophet. And when he wanted any of his Ashishin to send on any mission, he would cause that potion whereof I spoke to be given to one of the youths in the garden, and then had him carried into his palace. So when the young man awoke he found himself in the castle, and no longer in that Paradise, whereat he was not over-well pleased. He was then conducted to the Old Man's presence, and bowed before him with great veneration, as believing himself to be in the presence of a true prophet. The Prince would then ask whence he came, and he would reply that he came from Paradise, and that it was exactly such as Mahomet has described it in the law. This, of course, gave the others who stood by, and who had not been admitted, the greatest desire to enter therein.