A sect of Moslem Shi'ites which originated in Persia towards the
end of the 11th century.
The secret society was founded in about 1000 A.D. by the Persian
Hassan i Sabbah and ruled by terror throughout Persia and Syria
for more than two centuries.
The order was destroyed in Persia by the invasion of the Mongols
in 1256; in Syria the order was destroyed in about 1270 by the
Mamluk sultan of Egypt.
ORGANISATION
The secret order was ruled over by a grand master, the apex of a
strict heirarchy of classes, admittance to which depended on the
level of initiation into the secrets of the order.
The assassinations were carried out by devotee's of the lower classes,
bounded by strict laws of obedience; they were in total ignorance of the
objects and ritual of the society.
ORIGINS OF THE NAME
It is thought that the operatives who carried out the actual
assassinations ordered by the society were given ecstatic visions
under the influence of hashish (
Cannabis sativa) and were
thus known as hashshashin, of which
"assassin" is a corruption.
