The History of the Assassins

by Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall

Although the affairs of kingdoms and of nations, like the revolutions of day and night, are generally repeated in countless and continued successions, we, nevertheless, in our survey of the destinies of the human race, encounter single great and important events, which, fertilizing like springs, or devastating like volcanoes, interrupt the uniform wilderness of history. The more flowery the strand,—the more desolating the lava,—the rarer and more worthy objects do they become to the curiosity of travellers, and the narratives of their guides. The incredible, which has never been witnessed, but is nevertheless true, affords the richest materials for historical composition, providing the sources be authentic and accessible. Of all events, the account of which, since history has been written, has descended to us, one of the most singular and wonderful is the establishment of the dominion of the Assassins—that imperium in imperio , which, by blind subjection, shook despotism to its foundations; that union of impostors and dupes which, under the mask of a more austere creed and severer morals, undermined all religion and morality; that order of murderers, beneath whose daggers the lords of nations fell; all powerful, because, for the space of three centuries, they were universally dreaded, until the den of ruffians fell with the khaliphate, to whom, as the centre of spiritual and temporal power, it had at the outset sworn destruction, and by whose ruins it was itself overwhelmed. The history of this empire of conspirators is solitary, and without parallel; compared to it, all earlier and later secret combinations and predatory states are crude attempts or unsuccessful imitations.
Notwithstanding the wide space, to the extremest east and west, over which the name of Assassins (of whose origin more hereafter) has spread, and that in all the European languages it has obtained and preserved the same meaning as the word murderer , little has hitherto been made known, in consecutive order, or satisfactory representation, of their achievements and fortunes, of their religious or civil codes. What the Byzantines, the Crusaders, and Marco Polo related of them, was long considered a groundless legend, and an oriental fiction. The narrations of the latter have not been less doubted and oppugned, than the traditions of Herodotus concerning the countries and nations of antiquity. The more, however, the east is opened by the study of languages and by travel, the greater confirmation do these venerable records of history and geography receive; and the veracity of the father of modern travel, like that of the father of ancient history, only shines with the greater lustre...

Genres: Nonfiction, History

254 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1818

About the author

Baron Joseph Freiherr von Hammer-Purgstall was an Austrian orientalist and historian.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_...

Reviews

[Dorum · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book contains a wealth of information on the Assassins and their history. A lot of details are described and a huge geographical and historical period of time is covered, with many details. It is obvious that the author was quite well read.

Sadly, the bad points of the book outweigh the good ones:

First of all, the book is dated. The author takes Marco Polo's accounts as true. Because of this he bases his etymology on the word hashish. This is incorrect because of various reasons: Marco Polo supposedly passed by in Alamut some 20 years after it was wrecked by the Mongols. Additionally, Ata-Malik Juvayni surveyed the Alamut castle before the Mongol destruction. No gardens were described. Since he was surveying the destruction of the manuscripts left by the Ismailis, he would have taken serious care in exposing such a deceit.

Second, the book is written using sources of the enemies of the Ismailis. Mostly, Sunni texts are used. Because of this, Joseph von Hammer does a serious disservice. Especially since part of the Ismaili sect is still existant, a more balanced viewpoint would have been useful.

As such, during the whole book the assassins are described as motivated only by greed, lust etc. An objective historian should have provided a better account.

The first objection to this book might be dismissed given the time period in which the author lived. Unfortunately, I have no such excuse for the second objection. Ever since Thucydides, historians were required to present a balanced view of the facts. This cannot be seen here.

A third problem is with regards to the manner of writing. Joseph von Hammer follows a roughly chronological narrative. However, he jumps from one idea to the other and doesn't systematically introduce any of the characters appearing in the book. He easily jumps from one to another, and doesn't describe the events in any real detail. The characters are addressed with different names and the phrases are It is

So, where can we find a better book. I believe that The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines by Farhad Daftary is probably a more actual and useful book. Add Bernard Lewis' "The Assasins" and you have an excellent overview over this interesting sect.

One more thing... No Parkour in this book guys, sorry :(. The Assassins were sleeper agents and religious fanatics, not acrobats. Also, they were allies with the Templars at some point. :)

[F S · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wealth of historical information in an easily digestible writing!