Chapter XIII: Book VII (3)

Let us hasten to meet an objection, which cannot fail to be made against the motive on which we found the origin of the denomination of Assassins, as applied to the Ismailites. If the use of intoxicating substances, prepared from hemp leaves, is able to disturb the reason; if it throws a man into a sort of delirium, and makes him take dreams to be realities; how could it be proper for people who had need of all their _sang-froid_ and mental calmness, in order to execute the murders with which they were charged, and who were seen to proceed to countries most remote from their own residence, to watch many days for an opportunity favourable to the execution of their designs; to mix among the soldiers of the prince whom they were about to immolate to the will of their chieftain; to fight under his colours, and skilfully to seize the instant which fortune offered for their purpose? This, certainly, is not the conduct of delirious beings, nor of madmen, carried away by a fury which they are no longer able to control; such as travellers describe those who _ran a muck_, so much dreaded among the Malays and Indians. One word will suffice, in answer to this objection; and with this, Marco Polo’s account will supply us. This traveller, whose veracity is now generally acknowledged, informs us, that the Old Man of the Mountain educated young men, selected from the most robust inhabitants of the places under his sway, in order to make them the executioners of his barbarous decrees. The whole object of their education went to convince them, that, by blindly obeying the orders of their chief, they insured to themselves, after death, the enjoyment of every pleasure that can flatter the senses. For this purpose, the prince had delightful gardens laid out near his palace; there, in pavilions, decorated with every thing rich and brilliant that Asiatic luxury can devise, dwelt young beauties, dedicated solely to the pleasures of those for whom these enchanting regions were destined. Thither, from time to time, the princes of the Ismailites caused the young people, whom they wished to make the blind instruments of their will, to be transported. After administering to them a beverage which threw them into a deep sleep, and deprived them, for some time, of the use of their faculties, they were carried into those pavilions, which were fully worthy of the gardens of Armida; on their awaking, every thing which met their eyes, or struck their ears, threw them into a rapture, which deprived reason of all control over their minds; and uncertain whether they were still on earth, or whether they had already entered upon the enjoyment of that felicity, the picture of which had so often been presented to their imagination, they yielded in transport to all the kinds of seduction, by which they were surrounded. After they had passed some days in these gardens, the same means which had been adopted to introduce them, without their being conscious of it, were again made use of to remove them. Advantage was carefully taken of the first moments of an awakening, which had broken the charm of so much enjoyment, to make them relate to their young companions, the wonders of which they had been the witnesses; and they remained themselves convinced, that the happiness which they had experienced in the few days which had so soon elapsed, was but the prelude, and, as it were, the foretaste of that of which they might secure the eternal possession, by their submission to the orders of their prince.

Although some exaggeration might be supposed to exist in the Venetian traveller’s recital; and although, instead of crediting the existence of these enchanted gardens, which is, however, attested by many other writers, we should still reduce all the wonders of that magnificent abode to a phantom, produced by the exalted imagination of the young men who were intoxicated with the _hashish_, and who, from their infancy, had been nursed with the idea of this happiness; it would not be the less true, that we here find the use of a liquor, destined to deaden the senses, and in which we cannot overlook, that its employment, or rather abuse, is spread throughout a great part of Asia and Africa. At the epoch of the Ismailitic power, these intoxicating preparations were not yet known in the Moslem countries. It was only at a later period, the knowledge of it was brought from the most eastern regions, probably even from India into the Persian provinces. Thence it was communicated to the Musulmans of Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt. No doubt, the Ismailites, whose doctrines had several points of resemblance with those of the Indians, had acquired this knowledge earlier, and preserved it as a precious secret, and as one of the principal springs of their power. This conjecture is supported by the fact, that one of the most celebrated Arabian writers attributes the introduction amongst the Egyptians, of an electuary prepared from hemp, to a Persian Ismailite.

I shall conclude this memoir by observing, that it is not impossible that hemp, or some parts of that vegetable, mixed with other substances unknown to us, may have been sometimes employed to produce a state of phrenzy and violent madness. We know that opium, the effects of which are, in general, analogous to those of intoxicating preparations made with hemp, is, nevertheless, the means made use of by the Malays, to throw themselves into that state of fury, during which, being no longer masters of themselves, they murder every one they meet, and blindly precipitate themselves into the midst of swords and lances. The means employed thus to alter the effects of opium is, if travellers are to be believed, mixing it with citron juice, and to allow the two substances to incorporate for a few days.

Note E, p. 137.

_To the Editor of the Moniteur._[303]

Paris, December, 23, 1809.

SIR,

You were kind enough to insert in your 210th number, of the 29th of July last, the memoir on the dynasty of the Assassins, and on the origin of their name; which I read at the public sitting of the Institute, on the 7th of the same month. That memoir has occasioned a letter, dated from Marseilles, the 16th of September, 1809, and signed “M. R., Old Residents in the Levant;” to be likewise inserted in your 269th number, of the 26th of September.

I do not know whether I am mistaken in suspecting, that the signature of that letter disguises a justly celebrated name, whose authority might have added great weight to the objections contained in the letter, had the writer of it been inclined to make himself known. However, as the author, or authors, of that letter, in attacking (although in the most gentlemanly manner, and with the most obliging expressions) the etymology of the word _Assassins_, which I have proposed, display no common knowledge of the Arabic language, I think it becomes me to justify my opinion, and reply to their objections; the more so, as the paper which I read at the public sitting of the 1st of July, was but a very brief extract from a much more extended memoir; and that this memoir, as well as all the others that I have submitted to the judgment of the Ancient History and Literature Class of the Institute, will, perhaps, not be published during my life-time, owing to the caprice of circumstances, which neither I myself, nor that class of the Institute, have power to control.

The origin which I attributed to the word _Assassin_, appears, to the authors of the letter in question, to be _too far fetched_; consequently, they propose another; and affirm, that the name of the Assassins is nothing more than the plural of _Hassas_, “a word which,” they add, “is employed by the people of Syria, and even of Lower Egypt, to designate _a thief of the night—a robber_.”

These gentlemen might have supported their opinion by most respectable authorities; for their etymology is not new; and I did not fail to make mention of it, as well as of a host of others, which were, perhaps, unknown to them, in my memoir, read at the private sitting.

This discussion was not admissible in a reading destined for a public meeting; I have, therefore, suppressed it entirely. Permit me to transcribe a few lines here:—

“Thomas Hyde, I remarked, who had, no doubt, never encountered the true denomination of the _Assassins_, in any Arabic writer, believed, that it must be the Arabic word _Hassas_, derived from the root _Hassa_, which signifies, amongst other things, to _kill_, to _exterminate_. This opinion has been adopted by Menage and the learned Falconet. M. Volney has likewise admitted it, but without citing any authority.”

I then discussed the various etymologies proposed by M. de Caseneuve, the prelate, J. S. Assemani, M. Falconet, the celebrated Reiske, M. Court de Gebelin, the Abbé S. Assemani, of Padua, and lastly, Le Moyne; and I showed that none of these writers had given the true etymology of the name, with the exception of Le Moyne, who had, indeed, perceived, that the denomination of _Assassins_ or _Assissins_, was derived from the Arabic word _Haschisch_ (Hashish). “But,” I add, “M. Le Moyne did not know why the Ismailites bore the designation of _Haschischin_ (_Hashishin_), and he has given a very bad reason, which has caused the proscription of his etymology.”

Messrs. M. R. assuredly imagine, that it is merely conjecturally that I have maintained that the Ismailites were designated by the name of _Haschischin_ (_Hashishin_), by the Arabs: for they express themselves thus: “The oldest Italian and French authors commonly write _Assassini_, sometimes _Heissessini_, and _Assissini_; Joinville wrote it _Haussaci_. On these grounds, M. de Sacy _doubts not_, that the Arabic which has served as the type, was _Haschisch_ (_Hashish_), signifying _herb_, in general, and in one particular meaning, _hemp_. Now, because the Arabs have long known how to prepare a beverage from hemp, which intoxicates and maddens like opium; and because this beverage has sometimes been made use of to stimulate fanatics to the deed, which the Musulmans call _the holy war_, namely, _premeditated murder_, M. de Sacy will have it, that the whole sect of the Ismailites, which supplied many of this kind of fanatics, was called _Hachichi_ or _Haschischi_ (_Hashishi_); that is, the _herb people_, but, in order to establish this, it is necessary, in the first place, to prove, that the use of this beverage was habitual and general among this sect; so much so, as to distinguish them from all other Arabs, who used it, but without becoming murderers like them. History teaches us nothing similar. It even appears, that this artificial means could only have been employed when their primitive zeal began to cool; but, moreover, the word _haschisch_ (_hashish_), differs too strongly from the words _Assassin_, _Heissessin_, and _Haussaci_, to have served as their original root.”

These gentlemen will allow me to observe, that if they had read with attention my printed Memoir, and the report made by my esteemed colleague, M. Ginguené, of the labours of the Ancient History and Literature Class, since the 1st of July, 1808, they would have found that there was no conjecture in it at all on my part. In fact, it was in quoting different passages of Arabic authors, relating to the enterprises undertaken at different periods by the Syrian Ismailites against Saladin, that I proved to demonstration, that those writers employed indifferently, in the same work, the names _Ismailites_, _Batenites_, and _Haschischin_ (_Hashishin_), as synonymous; and that the chief of this horde of ruffians, was called the Possessor of the _Haschischa_ (_Hashisha_). I even took occasion to observe, that the Byzantine writers called the Assassins _Chasisioi_; and that the Jew, Benjamin of Tudela, names them in Hebrew, _Haschischin_ (_Hashishin_).

These facts being incontestable, I had to inquire what was this _Haschisch_ or _Haschischa_ (_Hashish_ or _Hashisha_), possessed by the chief of the Ismailites, from which these latter derived their name of _Haschischin_ (_Hashishin_); and, certainly, it needed no great stretch of imagination, to discover the _haschiseha_ of the Ismailites in that of the Syrians and Egyptians of the present day. I afterwards showed, by very positive historical testimony, that, at the period when the Assassins signalized themselves by their atrocities and murders, the use of intoxicating preparations made with hemp had not yet been introduced among the Musulmans; lastly, I proved by a host of facts, and the testimony of Marco Polo, that the _hashish_ was not used among the Ismailites for the purpose of throwing those to whom it was administered, into a state of madness and frenzy, during the continuance of which they performed the most barbarous actions, almost consciously; but, that it was a secret known only to the chief of the sect, and which he employed, to deprive for a time of the use of their reason, those young men, whom he wished, by means of every kind of seduction, which could inflame the imagination and exalt the sense, to inspire with blind obedience to his behests.

The chief reason why the authors of the letter which I am controverting, have a difficulty in admitting that the word _Assassins_, or _Assissins_, is actually derived from _Haschischin_, is, that they cannot believe that western writers could have substituted the articulation of the Arabic _Sin_, that is, of an _s_, for that of _Schin_ (_Shin_), which answers to our _ch_ (_sh._ Eng.); but they have perhaps forgotten, that, at the epoch of the Crusades, the Latin language was the common idiom of writers throughout Europe; and that, in that language, the sound of the Arabic _Shin_, cannot be expressed. We must also add, the Arabic _Shin_ is not in general pronounced so strongly as our _ch_, (_sh_, Eng.); and that the Arabians themselves have often used it for the Greek sigma, and the Latin _S_, of Latin names; such as Pontus, Orosius, Philippus, Busiris, &c., and lastly, that the Moors in Spain, in writing the Castilian in Arabic characters, made use of the _Shin_ to express _s_; for example, in the words _los cielos y las tierras_. (See Notices et Extraits des Manuscrits, tome IV. page 631 & 642.) Perhaps, we have an example of the substitution of our _s_, for the Arabic _shin_, in the word _Sarrasins_ (_Saracens_).

Here, again, I am at variance with the authors of the letter, who reject the etymologies which have been hitherto proposed, of the name of the _Sarrasins_ (_Saracens_), in order to derive it from _Sarrag_ or _Sarradj_, a word, meaning, according to them, a _saddle-man_, and, consequently, a _horse-man_. These gentlemen will not take it ill, if I deny the consequence, and if I remark, that _sarradj_, or, as it is otherwise pronounced, _sarrag_, never did, and never could, according to the analogy of the Arabic language, signify any thing but _a man who makes or sells saddles for horses, or a stable-boy who takes care of these animals’ harness_. As I do not wish to be believed on my word alone, I shall quote Golius, who has not omitted the word _Sarrag_, as is asserted in the postscript to the letter, and who translates it thus: _Qui confecit ephippia et ea quæ ad equi et currus apparatum spectans_ (one who makes saddles, and every thing belonging to the harness of horses and carriages). Menins, who translates it into Latin, by _Ephippiarius_, _qui Ephippia et quæ ad ea spectant conficit—qui curam equorum et apparatus eorum ephippii et phalerarum habet_; in Italian, by _sellaro_, _palfreniere_; and in French, by _sellier_, _palfrenier_. Germanus de Silesia, who makes it correspond with the Italian sellaro: lastly, Father F. Cannes, who, in his Spanish and Arabic Dictionary, makes use of the Spanish word _Sillero_, to translate it. The objections which Messrs. M. R. make against one of the etymologies of the word _Sarrasins_ (Saracens), which several learned men have derived from the word _Sarikin_, robbers, are destitute of weight. It is not true, that we cannot admit this etymology, without, at the same time, supposing that the Arabs called themselves _robbers_; because, in fact, the Arabs known to the Greeks and Latins by the denomination of _Sarrasins_ (Saracens), did not give themselves that name at all, but received it from the neighbouring tribes, who may very well have termed them _brigands_. This objection has no more force against those who derive the name of _Sarrasins_, _Saracens_, _Saraceni_, from _sharki_, or _sharaki_, that is, _eastern_. If this latter be the true origin of the name, it is beyond a doubt that it was first given to some Arabs, by nations inhabiting a more western country, and that it might afterwards have been applied to the greater part of the nation. As, according to either hypothesis, the word _Sarrasins_ (_Saracens_), will have an Arabian origin, there will be some probability in supposing, that this denomination, which succeeded that of the _Scenites_, was first given to the Nomade Arabs by the civilized tribes settled in the north-east of Arabia, and who recognised the Roman authority. In either case, if these etymologies appear too forced, I should prefer confessing, that we are ignorant of the origin of the word, than deriving it from an expression which is in no respect proper to characterize the Arabian nation.

I shall conclude, by observing, as I did in my Memoir, that, perhaps, the word _Hashishin_, or _Hashashin_, for both are used, did not properly designate all the Ismailites, but was peculiarly applied to those who were destined to the Assassin service, and who were also known by the name of Fedawi (or _devoted_). “I have not, up to this day,” I said, at the conclusion of my Memoir, “met with a sufficient number of passages in which this word is employed, to hazard a decided opinion on the subject; but I am led to believe, that among the Ismailites, those only were termed _Hashishin_, who were specially educated to commit murder, and who were, by the use of the _Hashish_, disposed to an absolute resignation to the will of their chief; this, however, may not have prevented the denomination from being applied to Ismailites collectively, especially among the Occidentals.”

Accept, &c. &c.

SYLVESTRE DE SACY.

THE END.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Maracci Prodromus Alcorani Patavii, 1698.

[2] Gagnier Vita Mohammedis ex Abulfeda Oxonii, 1723.

[3] Sale’s Koran, London, 1734.

[4] Essai sur les Mœurs et l’Esprit des Nations, par Voltaire, tom. 2, Chap. 6.

[5] The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Gibbon, chap. 50.

[6] Vier und Zwanzig Bücher Allgemeine Geschichten, durch Johannes von Müller, 12 buch, 2 kap.

[7] Ikra-bi-ismi reblike, _read in the name of the Lord_. The commencement of the first published Sura, the 90th in the present arrangement.

[8] This fact is not related by Aboulfaraj alone, but also by Macrisi and Ibn Khaledun, and after them by Hadji Khalfa.

[9] Abulfeda, Annales Moslemici, I. 282.

[10] Abulfeda, Annales Moslemici, I. 314.

[11] A. D. 750; A. H. 132.

[12] A. D. 787; A. H. 172.

[13] Ibn Khaledun, Book l, c 3, § 25. Lari, Chapter of the Twelve Imams.

[14] A. D. 1011; A. H. 402.

[15] A. D. 1058; A. H. 450.

[16] Chap. XIII.

[17] Macrisi. Lari.

[18] _Vide_ Hadji Khalfa, and Reiskii’s Notas ad Abulfeda, 2nd. p. B. 36.

[19] A. D. 758; A. H. 141.

[20] A. D. 778; A. H. 162.

[21] See Herbelot, art. Mani, Erteng, Mokannaa, and Hakem Ben Hashem.

[22] A. D. 837; A. H. 223; according to Hadji Khala. A. D. 841; A. H. 227; according to Lari.

[23] See Lari. Herbelot, art. Babek.

[24] Macrisi, in the beginning of the chapter of the Genealogy of the Fatimite Khalifs, and below, in the section on the Doctrines of the Dais; Art. beginning of the Missions of Ibtidai Dawet.

[25] Gulsheni Khalifa, the Khalif’s Bed of Roses, by Nasmisade, after the Jamius-seir (_i. e._ Collector of Memoirs), and the History of Nisam-ol-mulk, p. 20.

[26] Nasmisade ibid. See also the Magasin Encyclopédique.

[27] A. D. 920; A. H. 308.

[28] A. D. 909; A. H. 297.

[29] A. D. 977; A. H. 335.

[30] A. D. 1004; A. H. 395.

[31] Macrisi, art. Mohawal and Darol-hikmet.

[32] A. D. 1004; A. H. 395.

[33] A. D. 1122; A. H. 516.

[34] A. D. 1123; A. H. 517.

[35] Macrisi art. Mohaval, Darolilm and Darolilm-jedide.

[36] A. D. 1058; A. H. 450.

[37] Mirkhond and Devletshah; art. Shahfur of Nishabur.

[38] A. D. 1078; A. H. 471.

[39] Nokhbetet-tevarikh and Mirkhond.

[40] A. D. 1078; A. H. 471.

[41] A. D. 1079; A. H. 472.

[42] A. D. 1085; A. H. 478.

[43] A. D. 1072; A. H. 465.

[44] A. D. 1077; A. H. 470.

[45] A. D. 1084; A. H. 477.

[46] A. D. 1077; A. H. 470.

[47] A. D. 1079; A. H. 472.

[48] A. D. 1084; A. H. 477.

[49] Mirkhond and Takwimet-tevarikh.

[50] Mirkhond.

[51] Mirkhond.

[52] Mirkhond.

[53] A. D. 860; A. H. 246.

[54] Jehannuma, p. 296 and 304.

[55] Dealbati.

[56] Daniel, 7, 9.

[57] Nassaih-ol-Moluk.

[58] Nassaih-ol-Moluk, after the Mevakit of the judge Asadeddin.

[59] A. D. 1092; A. H. 485.

[60] Mirkhond.

[61] The Hamakati ehli ilahat yeni Mulahide khaselehum Allah.

[62] Jevahitol Fetavi.

[63] See the Nassaih-ol-Moluk and the Mevakif.

[64] Abulfeda Anno 494; Jihannuma, Mirkhond.

[65] A. D. 1096; A. H. 490.

[66] A. D. 1100; A. H. 494.

[67] Abulfeda Anno 494; Jihannumma, Mirkhond.

[68] Anno H. 490.

[69] Ibn Forat and Kemaleddin.

[70] Jihannumma, art: Sarmin.

[71] A. D. 1107.

[72] Wilken, Geschichte der Kreuzzüge, II. p. 272, after Kemaleddin, and Albert of Aix. This latter constantly confounds names: he calls Riswan, Brodoan; Apamea, Femia; Abutaher, Botherus, and the Assassins, Azopart. _Vide_ Gesta Dei per Francos, p. 350 and 375.

[73] A. D. 1110; A. H. 504.

[74] Ibn Forat and Kemaleddin.

[75] A. D. 1108; A. H. 512.

[76] Abulfeda, Takwimet tevarik, Mirkhond Abulfaradj.

[77] A. D. 1113; A. H. 507.

[78] A. D. 1115; A. H. 509.

[79] A. D. 1119; A. H. 513.

[80] A. D. 1120; A. H. 514.

[81] Ibn Forat.

[82] A. D. 1114; A. H. 508.

[83] Abulfeda, Takwimet-tevarikh Mirkhond Abulfaradj.

[84] A. D. 1117; A. H. 511.

[85] A. D. 1104; A. H. 498.

[86] Mirkhond.

[87] A. D. 1124; A. H. 518.

[88] A. D. 1126; A. H. 520.

[89] Mirkhond.

[90] A. D. 1127; A. H. 521.

[91] Takwimet-tevarikh.

[92] Mirkhond.

[93] A. D. 1128; A. H. 522.

[94] Mirkhond.

[95] A. D. 1129; A. H. 524.

[96] Takwimet-tevarikh.

[97] A. D. 1131; A. H. 526.

[98] Mirkhond.

[99] Mirkhond.

[100] Abulfeda, a. 523.

[101] Jehannumma, p. 559.

[102] A. D. 1128; A. H. 523.

[103] Kemaleddin and Ibn Forat; the latter calls the vizier Mardeghani Mardekani; and the prince of Aleppo, Bure instead of Busi.

[104] Abulfeda, a. 523. Wilhel. Tyr. XIII. 25.

[105] A. D. 1118.

[106] Anton, Versuch einer Geschichte des Tempelherrenordens. p. 10-15

[107] A. D. 1129; A. H. 524.

[108] Wilken, Geschichte der Kreuzzüge. II. p. 566.

[109] The crown of kings.

[110] Justini Epitome, l. xxiv. c. 8.

[111] A. D. 1129; A. H. 524.

[112] A. D. 1132; A. H. 527.

[113] Wilken Geschichte der Kreuzzüge, II. p. 612.

[114] Dispenser of fortune.

[115] Abulfeda, ad an. 520.

[116] A. D. 1126; A. H. 520.

[117] Wilken, II. p. 531; after Kemaleddin.

[118] A. D. 1127; A. H. 521.

[119] Ibn Forat.

[120] A. D. 1130; A. H. 525.

[121] Abulfeda, ad ann. 525.

[122] Abulfeda, ad ann. 529.

[123] Mirkhond.

[124] The command according to the command of God.

[125] Abulfeda, ann. 524.

[126] Wilken Geschichte der Kreuzzüge, 11, p. 593; after Renandot.

[127] A. D. 1134; A. H. 529.

[128] Abulfeda, ann. 529.

[129] A. D. 1134; A. H. 529. A. D. 1138; A. H. 533.

[130] A. D. 1140; A. H. 535.

[131] Mirkhond and Abulfeda.

[132] Mirkhond.

[133] Mirkhond.

[134] A. D. 1092; A. H. 485.

[135] A. D. 1107; A. H. 501.

[136] D’Herbelot, after Ghaffari and others.

[137] A. D. 1150; A. H. 545.

[138] A. D. 1151; A. H. 546. Devletshah art. Enweri, Ferideddin Katib, and Sabir.

[139] The Atabegs of Aserbijan, A. D. 1145; A. H. 540; those of Fars, A. D. 1148; A. H. 543; those of Loristan, A. D. 1150; A. H. 545. (Takwimet tevarikh.)

[140] A. D. 1142; A. H. 537.

[141] A. D. 1154; A. H. 549.

[142] A. D. 1158; A. H. 553.

[143] A. D. 1160; A. H. 555.

[144] A. D. 1154; A. H. 549.

[145] Gesta Dei per Francos, p. 893.

[146] A. D. 1148; A. H. 543. Nepa, p. 915.

[147] Nokhbetet-tevarikh.

[148] A. D. 1151; A. H. 546. Turbessel, Hamtab, Hazart, Rarendel, Gesta Dei, &c. p. 920.

[149] Mejereddin, G. D. p. 893.

[150] Miheneddin Ainardus (ibidem).

[151] Jihad ol assghar.

[152] Jihad ol ekbar.

[153] From the Nokhbetet-tevarikh of Mohammed Effendi, after the Akdol-jemen, (i. e. _coral necklace_); the Kamil (i. e. _the complete_) of Ibn Essir, and the Miret-ol-edvar, or _mirror of ages_.

[154] A. D. 1162; A. H. 558.

[155] According to the Nokhbetet-tevarikh; according to the Gesta Dei, two hundred thousand paid down, and as much promised.

[156] According to the Nokhbetet-tevarikh; according to the Gesta Dei, two hundred thousand ready money, and as much promised.

[157] Gesta Dei, p. 978.

[158] A. D. 1168; A. H. 564.

[159] Nokhbetet-tevarikh.

[160] Here again the Nokhbetet-tevarikh gives exactly half the sum mentioned by William of Tyre, according to whom, the khalif promised two millions, and paid one hundred thousand ducats. Gesta Dei, p. 979.

[161] A. D. 1171; A. H. 567.

[162] A.D. 1163.

[163] Hafez, letter Alif.

[164] According to Mirkhond and Wassah; according to the Nokhbetet tevarikh, the seventh.

[165] Mirkhond.

[166] Devletshah. Heerens Geschichte der Classischen Litteratur. Bouterwek Geschichte der französischen Dichtkunst.

[167] A. D. 1175; A. H. 569.

[168] A. D. 1177; A. H. 573.

[169] A. D. 1186; A. H. 582.

[170] A. D. 1201; A. H. 598.

[171] A. D. 1180; A. H. 576.

[172] A. D. 1190; A. H. 586.

[173] A. D. 1180; A. H. 576.

[174] A. D. 1170; A. H. 566.

[175] A. D. 1196; A. H. 593.

[176] A. D. 1196; A. H. 593.

[177] A. D. 1200; A. H. 597.

[178] A. D. 1209; A. H. 606.

[179] A. D. 1172; A. H. 568.

[180] A. D. 1209; A. H. 606.

[181] Mirkhond. Devletshah. Ghaffari.

[182] Western Africa. T.

[183] From the Okdet-ol-jeman in the Nokhbetet-tevarikh.

[184] A. D. 1173; A. H. 569.

[185] A. D. 1174; A. H. 570.

[186] Nokhbetet-tevarikh.

[187] Nokhbetet-tevarikh. Jehannuma.

[188] Rousseau, Mémoire sur les Ismailis, p. 13.

[189] Ibid. Ibid, p. 1.

[190] William of Tyre, p. 994.

[191] Jehannuma, pp. 591, 592.

[192] Macrisi. Abulfeda.

[193] Nokhbetet-tevarikh.

[194] Ibn Forat.

[195] A. D. 1175; A. H. 571.

[196] Nokhbetet-tevarikh.

[197] Abulfeda, ad ann. 571.

[198] A. D. 1176; A. H. 572.

[199] William of Tyre, Gesta Dei per Francos, p. 994. Jacobi de Vitriaco Historia Hierosolymæ, p. 1062.

[200] Extraits d’un Livre des Ismailis, par M. Rousseau, tiré du 52 Cahier des Annales des Voyages.

[201] Mémoire sur les Ismailis, par la même, tiré du 42 Cahier des Annales des Voyages, p. 13. See note (A) at the end of this volume.

[202] Extraits d’un Livre des Ismailis, p. 10.

[203] A. D. 1157; A. H. 552.

[204] Ibn Forat.

[205] Hadji Khalfa, in the Jehannuma, and Abulfeda, ad. ann. 588.

[206] Gesta Dei per Francos, p. 994 and 1143.

[207] Ibid., p. 978.

[208] Gesta Dei per Francos, p. 1215.

[209] A. D. 1173; A. H. 569.

[210] A. D. 1178; A. H. 574.

[211] A. D. 1149; A. H. 544.

[212] Eclaircissement sur quelques circonstances de l’histoire du vieux de la Montagne. Mem: Acad. des Inscriptions, XVI., 155. Note (B) at the end of this volume.

[213] Abulfeda, ad ann. 588. Nokhbetet-tevarikh.

[214] Chron: Alberic itrium fontium, ann. 1192.

[215] Enis-ol-jelil ji kuda vel khalil. See Mines de l’Orient, vol. IV.

[216] See note (C) at the end.

[217] Wilhelmus Neobrigensis; vide Dissertation sur les Assassins, par M. Falconet, dans les Mémoires de l’Acad. XVII., p. 167.

[218] Rigord in du Chesne, V., p. 35.

[219] Mém. de l’Acad. des Inscriptions, XVI., p. 161.

[220] Radevicus Frisingensis, l. II., c. 37. Sigonius Guntherus.

[221] Franciscus Pagus Breviarum hist. chron. crit. ad ann. 1244.

[222] Epistolæ Petri de Vineis, l. III. cap. 5.

[223] A. D. 1194.

[224] Marinus Sanutus, l. III., part X., c. 8.

[225] Elmacini Hist. Saracencia, l. III., p. 286.

[226] Marco Polo, De Regionibus Orientalibus, lib. I. c. 28.

[227] Siret Hakem biemrillah in Mines de l’Orient, Part III., p. 201, Arabic and French.

[228] This appears to be a mistake, as the _hashishe_ is found to consist chiefly of hemp; see notes D and E, at the end of this vol. _T._

[229] See the circumstantial proof of this indubitable genealogy, in the Mémoire sur la Dynastie des Assassins, et sur l’Origine de leur Nom; by M. Silvestre de Sacy; read at the Institute, 7th July, 1809. And a letter of M. Silvestre de Sacy to the Editor of the Moniteur, on the Etymology of the name of the Assassins.—Moniteur, No. 359, year 1809. The reader will find both translated, in notes D and E, at the end of the volume.

[230] Abulfeda, ad. ann. 607. Mirkhond. Wassaf.

[231] Ibid.

[232] Trumpet of the holy war, from the mouth of the prophet Mohammed, son of Abdallah. Vienna, 1813.

[233] Gulsheni’s Khulifa.

[234] A. D. 1214; A. H. 611.

[235] Mirkhond.

[236] History of Thaberistan and Mazanderan, by Sahereddin, in the Imperial Library, at Vienna, No. 117.

[237] Jehannuma, p. 442.

[238] Sehareddin’s History of Mazanderan and Thaberistan.

[239] Sehareddin’s History of Mazanderan and Thaberistan.

[240] Sehareddin, op. cit.

[241] Mirkhond.

[242] Mohammed Nisawi, Biography of Jelaleddin Mankberni.

[243] A. D. 1226; A. H. 624.

[244] Mohammed Nissawi’s Biography of Sultan Mankberni, and Hassan ben Ibrahim, both extracted in Quatremère’s Notice Historique sur les Ismaéliens, in vol. IV. Mines de l’Orient.

[245] Wassaf.

[246] A. D. 1255; A. H. 653.

[247] A. D. 1186.

[248] Takwimet-tevarikh, ann. 489 and 582. A. D. 1095.

[249] Mirkhond, fifth Part, History of the Mongols.

[250] See Mines de l’Orient, part I. p. 248.

[251] A. D. 1253; A. H. 651.

[252] Ali Effendi’s Historical Writings. Imperial Library at Vienna, No. 125.

[253] A. D. 1256.

[254]

Besal areb sheshsad u panchah u chehar shud
Yek shumbah awal meh Silkide bamdad.

In the six hundred and fifty-fourth year, it was
Early on Sunday, on the first of Silkide.

Mirkhond.

[255] A. D. 1257.

[256] Bengertus. Joachimus Camerarius, Arnoldus Lubecensis. Haithon Armenensis, quoted in Withof’s Meuchelmörderischen Reich. der Assassinen, p. 168, et seq. Bengertus, by mistake, places Tigado in Syria.

[257] Tarikhi Masenderan. Imperial Library, Vienna. No. 117.

[258] Mines de l’Orient. vol. III.

[259] Mémoire Historique sur la Vie et les Ouvrages d’Alaeddin Atamelik Djovaini, par M Quatremère. Mines de l’Orient, II. p. 220.

[260] View of the Sciences of the East. Encyclopedie.

[261] Mémoires Géographiques et Historiques sur l’Egypte, par Quatremère, II. p. 506.

[262] Macrisi. Ibn Khaledun, Ibn Forat, Abulfaradj.

[263] Takwimet-tevarikh.

[264] Mirkhond. Wassaf. Gulsheni Khulifa.

[265] Aali’s Historical Sketches. Imp. Lib. Vienna. No. 115.

[266] Dar-es-selam, the house of peace. Wadi-es-selam, the valley of peace. Medenet-es-selam, the city of peace. Burj ol evlia, castle of the holy. Sevra, oblique.

[267] Jehannuma, p. 459.

[268] Ibid, p. 479, 480.

[269] Dar-es-shedshret.

[270] A. D. 918; A. H. 306.

[271] There is a more circumstantial detail in Abulfeda, Part II. p. 332, and Jehannuma, pp. 459 and 478, and in the Gulsheni Khulifa and Lari, than in Gibbon, c. LII.

[272] The Persian Damdama, as well as the Arabic Thanthana, and the Latin Tinnitus, are onomatopœias of this musical sound.

[273] Mirkhond, Wassaf, Gulsheni Khulifa.

[274] Deguignes, Part II. p. 197, and Abulfeda, ad. ann. 449.

[275] Continuator Theophanis. Gibbon, c. LIII.

[276] Mirkhond, Wassaf, Gulsheni Khulifa.

[277] A. D. 1165; A. H. 664.

[278] Macrisi, in the Book of the Sects. Ibn Forat.

[279] A. D. 1269; A. H. 668.

[280] Macrisi. Ibn Forat.

[281] A. D. 1270; A. H. 669.

[282] Jehannuma.

[283] Ibid, p. 590.

[284] About A. D. 790; A. H. 109.

[285] Jehannuma, p. 642.

[286] Eclaircissemens sur quelques circonstances de l’Histoire du Vieux de la Montagne, Prince des Assassins. Histoire de l’Académie des Inscriptions, XVI. p. 163.

[287] Nassaih-ol-Moluk, by Jelali. Imp. Library Vienna, No. 163.

[288] Ibid.

[289] A. D. 1326; A. H. 720.

[290] Macrisi, in the Book of Sects. Abulfeda.

[291] Mémoires sur les Ismaelis et Nossairis de Syrie, adressé à M. Silv. de Sacy, par M. Rousseau. Annales des Voyages. Cahier XLII.

[292] Extrait d’un livre des Ismailis, pour faire suite au Mémoire sur les Ismailis et Nossairis. Annales des Voyages, LII.

[293] A topographical Memoir on Persia.

[294] De Tenvil et Tensil autore Silvestre de Sacy, in novis Commentariis Societatis Göttingensis.

[295] Volney Voyages.

[296] Jehannuma, p. 419.

[297] Livy. l. XXXIX. c. 8.

[298] Kopp, Ueber die Verfassung der heimlichen Gerichte in Westphalen.

[299] Annales des Voyages, cahier XLII. p. 13 of the article, and 283 of the collection.

[300] Two khalifs; one of Bagdad, the other of Egypt; Herbelot, art. Bathania. Tapares, Sultan of Khorassan, Ann.: Comnen. Alexiad. Book VI. A king of Mossul and Seljukide prince; Extracts from the History of Abulfeda, by Deguignes. The celebrated Vizier Nisam-ol-mulk, Herbelot, art. Melekshah:—without reckoning many other assassinations recounted by Abulfaradj, in different parts of his ninth dynasty.

[301] Mémoires de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, tom XVII. p. 168. Falconet; Dissertation sur les Assassins Peuple d’Asie, 2e partie.

[302] The following is an extract from a late work on Botany, published by Professor Burnett, of King’s College, which is strongly confirmatory of De Sacy’s views; the same is likewise stated by Dr. Ainslie. _T._

“In India, hemp is cultivated as a luxury, and used solely as an excitant. It possesses several peculiar intoxicating powers, and produces luxurious dreams and trances. The leaves are sometimes chewed, and sometimes smoked as tobacco. A stupifying liquor is also prepared from them; and they enter with opium, betel nut, sugar, &c. into various narcotic preparations. Prepared hemp is called by the Arabs _hashish_, &c. &c.”—Burnett’s Botany, p. 560.

[303] Vol. XLI. No. 359, Monday, 25th December, 1809.

VIZETELLY, BRANSTON AND CO. PRINTERS, 76 FLEET STREET, LONDON.

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Transcriber's note:

English transliterations of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish names are often inconsistent. Alternate spellings of these names occur troughout this book, as is the case in similar books.

To avoid errors which can be introduced, to assure consistency, and to be faithful to the original edition, only typographical and some other obvious errors have been corrected.