Secret Societies: Who Were The Assassins?

The Assassins were a group so feared, and whose reach was so far, that their very name became synonymous with murder for political means. While most of their history was lost with the fall of their strongholds, we do know some things about this organization, its founder, and the actions of its followers. And while they didn't invent parkour (at least not officially), they were certainly the auteur geniuses who came up with using the constant threat of knives in the dark as a way to keep a populace in line.

Used as inspiration for everything from popular fantasy novels to video games, the truth of who the Assassins were, and what they did, is far darker than most can imagine.

For more dives into unusual bits of history, from the Vikings who guarded the Eastern Roman Emperor, to the truth about the pirate code, all you have to do is take a moment to check out my full Vocal archive!

The Origin of The Order

According to History Net, the Assassins were a small, splinter sect of hard-line fundamentalists created by a former Nazari Ismaili missionary named Hassan-i-Sabbah. While there's no telling at what point Hassan began collecting his followers, and training them to be tools of terror, the first recorded instance of the order's activities was when they infiltrated the castle at Alamut, and took it over with no blood being shed.

Once the order had clamped its iron fist onto a remote, mountaintop stronghold where it was safe from attack (and where maintaining a siege would be extremely difficult) it began to spread its tendrils into the surrounding countryside. The order's network grew as more followers were recruited, trained, and sent into the world to act as spies, informants, and when necessary, enforcers. In fact, what made the Order of Assassins so feared was that their members looked just like anyone else. They would go unnoticed for months, sometimes years, getting positions in a target's inner circle and earning someone's trust. Assassins would often disguise themselves as servants, playing the role of the loyal maid or cook to the hilt. Then, when the order was given, they'd draw a dagger and sink it into their target's back. They would even do it in broad daylight, martyring themselves as long as it meant the target they were assigned also died if there was no other way to accomplish the task.

It was this fanaticism that made the Assassins so feared, and the very fact that they wore no uniforms, and bore no secret markings, that made those in power so paranoid about where they might strike from next.

What Did The Assassins Want?

As a group of religious fundamentalists, the followers of Hassan had objections to the way their country was being run. Those objections were primarily with Seljuk Turks, according to Thought Co, who ruled large parts of what had been Persia, though they also had violent disagreements with other, more permissive branches of Islam. As such, the group sent messages from the shadows, giving the impression that they could be anyone, anywhere, at any time. They made it clear they expected their wants and desires to be what guided public policy, and the way laws were both made and enforced by the government. When they were denied, targets who were considered to be acting against the interests of the Assassins were killed in what would become the organization's trademark method.

The Order of Assassins focused mainly on political targets. Viziers, caliphs, and all manner of officials wound up with daggers in their backs as a clear message from the agents of the order. This went on for hundreds of years, until roughly 1219 when the Mongol Empire trod large sections of the Middle East under their elite cavalry's hooves. The order pledged loyalty to the Mongols, and for the most part were left alone. Or at least they were, until 1250, when the current Khan turned his attention to the Middle East after he had conquered Baghdad. The Assassins planned to attack the current Khan, who was the grandson of the great Genghis Khan, but they were turned away.

That was the beginning of the end. The Mongols laid siege to the group's mountain stronghold, and forced the leadership into surrender. Once the head was cut off, the rest of the group crumbled soon after. Several of the Assassins' strongholds were destroyed, and in the year 1256 those who had once been the brains of the deadly organization were taken into the mountains and killed.

And after that, supposedly, the Order of Assassins was no more.

The Legacy of The Assassins

The Order of Assassins were driven, disciplined, and brutal in a way that set the standard for similar groups throughout history. Their methods were effective, but deemed dishonorable and underhanded by many of their detractors. In time their name became a phrase you would use to insult your enemies, claiming they were no better than liars, spies, and deluded, fanatical murderers. It wasn't until even more time had passed that the group's name became synonymous with politically-motivated killings, which is an association we have to this day.

The Assassins left us with more than a quirk of language, though. Its use of force and fear in order to bend the will of governments is, in a very real sense, alive and well today. Suicide bombers can do hundreds of times more damage than a single man with a dagger, this much is true, but the principles of the approach share the same spirit, and generate the same fear in today's world as the Assassins did in their day.