Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post - Assassin's (Hashishin) Dagger Info Sought

ariel · 25th September 2006, 11:56 PM

My understanding that they were not members of the intended target's household: they lived with Hassan ibn Sabbah (or another leader, as they were active for almost 5 centuries) at Alamut and dispatched to the target as necessary. Kind of Shiite ninjas or contemporary suicide bombers.
I am not sure we know much of their tactics and weapons as their archives were destroyed by the Mameluke Sultan Beibars.
I did not know of Omar Khayyam story; my impression was that the "Old man " was originally from Yemen. If true, the irony of diverging fates is striking.

25th September 2006, 11:56 PM	#3
ariel Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 5,503	My understanding that they were not members of the intended target's household: they lived with Hassan ibn Sabbah (or another leader, as they were active for almost 5 centuries) at Alamut and dispatched to the target as necessary. Kind of Shiite ninjas or contemporary suicide bombers. I am not sure we know much of their tactics and weapons as their archives were destroyed by the Mameluke Sultan Beibars. I did not know of Omar Khayyam story; my impression was that the "Old man " was originally from Yemen. If true, the irony of diverging fates is striking.