a
secret terrorist
sect of Muslims of the 11th to 13th century who killed their political
enemies as a
religious duty. The
word "assassin" comes from the
Arabic name for this
group, "
Hashshashin," meaning "addicts of the drug
hashish," as
hashish was used by the leaders of the
group to incite members to assassinate intended victims.
members of a
secret order of Muslim fanatics around the
time of the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries who terrorized and killed
Christian Crusaders, political
enemies and others as a
religious duty. The
order was founded around 1090 in
Persia by al-Hasan ibn-al-Sabbah (also known as
Old Man of the Mountain) when he gained
control of an almost
impregnable mountain fortress 10,000 feet (3,048 m) above the Caspian
Sea. Occupying a string of such strongholds throughout
Persia the
order spread. Its members were
given the drug
hashish and taken to an earthly paradise (being told it was heaven), where they indulged in sensual pleasures. They were then
given more
hashish and told that if they carried out their
religious duty (murdering selected
targets such as
Christian Crusaders) they could
return to paradise in a glorious afterlife. Yearning for this paradise and fearless of
death, they went out and assassinated the
targets. The
order, however, was eventually destroyed in the mid-1200s. The
word assassin originally came from the
Arabic word hashshashin meaning
hashish-eater, and later came to mean in
English, someone who murders politically important people.