Hasan-i-Sabah: Assassin Master

Description

This publication includes the first English translation of the 1310 biography of Hasan-i-Sabah by Rashid al-Din: The Biography of Our Master (Sar-Guzasht-i-Sayyidna) Hasan-i-Sabah was born in northern Persia around 1050 and died in 1124. He was an Ismaili missionary (or dai) who founded the Nizari Ismailis after the usurpation of the Fatimid Imamate by the military dictator of Egypt. It may be said that Hasan founded and operated the world's most successful mystical secret society, while building a political territory in which to maintain his independence. The small empire he created would be home to him, his followers, and their descendants for 166 years. Today, under the leadership of the Aga Khan, the Nizari Ismailis are one of the preeminent Muslim sects in the world, numbering some twenty million members in twenty-five countries. The medieval Nizaris were also known as Assassins or Hashishim. They became embedded in European consciousness because of their contact with the Knights Templar, and other Crusaders and visitors to the Near East. Several Europeans reported back with strange (and largely false) tales of the Assassins. In the fourteenth century, they were widely popularized by the famed Venetian traveler and writer Marco Polo in The Travels of Marco Polo. He added a whole new level of myth in his account of the sect (included in this volume along with extensive commentary). Of greatest interest is the idea that the Assassins were the spiritual initiators of the Knights Templar. If this is true, Hasan-i-Sabah would be in part responsible for the European Renaissance that would reclaim the spiritual centrality of the Hermetic writings and the Gnostic/Esoteric trends that continue to this day. Essential reading for an understanding of modern esoteric secret societies and today's headlines coming from the Middle East. Includes 9 maps. Front Cover Inside Front Flap Advance Praise for Hasan-i-Sabah Also by James Wasserman Copyright Page Dedication Contents Foreword Introduction A Bibliographic Note PART ONE: Historical Background 1: A Brief History of Mesopotamia 2: A Brief History of Persia 3: A Brief History of the Development of Islam PART TWO: The Life of Hasan-i-Sabah 4: Hasan’s Roots and Youth 5: Conversion to Ismailism 6: Purported Service in the Seljuk Court 7: Hasan Begins His Travels 8: Alamut 9: Letter Exchange with Malikshah 10: Expansion of the Dawa and the Early Seljuk Military Campaign against Alamut 11: The Founding of the Nizari Ismaili Faith 12: Military Campaigns and Territorial Acquisitions after the Death of Malikshah 13: The Mission to Syria 14: The Technique of Assassination 15: Life Among the Medieval Ismailis 16: The Death of Hasan andthe Continuation of the Nizari State 17: The Nizari Faith after the Fall of Alamut PART THREE: The Gnosis of Hasan-i–Sabah 18: The Doctrine of Talim or Authoritative Teaching 19: Sufism and the Qiyama 20: Hashish and the Derivationof the Word “Assassin” 21: The Degrees of Initiation Appendices 1: Marco Polo’s Medieval Legend 2: The Biography of Our Master(Sar-Guzasht-i-Sayyidna) by Rashid al-Din Tabib 3: Purported Letter Exchange Between Sultan Malikshah and Hasan-i-Sabah 4: Timeline 5: Glossary of Names 6: Glossary of Terms Acknowledgments Bibliography Index About the Author Inside Back Flap Back Cover