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Authors: Colin Wilson
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religious leaders of all time, died in his castle of Alamut, at the age of ninety. He appointed one
of his generals to succeed him, demonstrating thereby that he had learned from Mahomet’s chief mistake.
This was by no means the end of the Assassins. After initial difficulties, the Syrian branch took root, and it was the stories of the Syrian mission, carried back to Europe by Crusaders, that
introduced the word “assassin” into the European languages. The event that caused this notoriety was the murder of the Christian Knight Conrad of Montferrat in 1192; Conrad was stabbed
by two Assassins – agents of the Syrian Old Man of the Mountain, Sinan – who were disguised as monks. (King Richard the Lion Heart of England is supposed to have been behind the murder;
one of his protéges quickly married the widow, and became “King of Jerusalem” in his place.) After this, Assassins began to figure in every chronicle of the Third Crusade, and
the legend captured the imagination of Europe. They were masters of disguise, adepts in treachery and murder. Their Old Man was a magician who surveyed the world from his castle like some evil
spider, watching for victims. They were without religion and without morality (one early chronicler says they ate pork – against the Moslem law – and practised incest with their mothers
and sisters). They were so fanatically devoted to their master that he often demonstrated their obedience to visitors by making them leap out of high windows. Their arts of persuasion were so
subtle that no ruler could be sure of the loyalty of his own servants . . . A typical story illustrates this. Saladin – the Sultan of Egypt and the great enemy of the Crusaders – sent a
threatening message to Sinan, the Syrian Old Man. The Assassin chief sent back a messenger, whose mission was to deliver a message in private. Aware of the danger, Saladin had him thoroughly
searched, then dismissed the assembly, all except for two guards. The messenger turned to the guards and asked: “If I were to order you, in the name of my Master, to kill the Sultan, would
you do it?” They nodded and drew their swords. Whereupon the messenger, having made his point, bowed and took his leave – taking the two guards with him. Saladin decided to establish
friendly relations with the Assassins.
But by the time Marco Polo saw the castle of Alamut in 1273, the power of the Assassins was at an end. In Persia they had been slaughtered by the Mongols; in Syria, ruthlessly suppressed by
Baybars, Sultan of Egypt. Some of the survivors remained in the area of Alamut – where they may be found to this day. Others scattered to distant countries, induding India . . .
***
In 1975 three of the islands in the Comoro group, which lies between Africa and Madagascar, declared their independence from France. Soon
afterwards a man named Ah Soilih declared himself dictator of the tiny state with the military help of a French mercenary, Bob Denard. Soilih proved to be a despot: he raised death squads,
kidnapped and raped women and organized the destruction of all machinery on the islands.
Two years into his reign, Soilih consulted a witch-doctor in order to know what the future held for himself and his descendants. The witch-doctor was
encouraging: Soilih could only be killed by a man who owned a dog. Upon hearing this, Soilih acted as any dictator would and had his death squads kill all the dogs on the island.
Nevertheless, a year later he was dead, “shot while trying to escape” by the forces of his old comrade Bob Denard. The French mercenary had received
a new contract, this time from one of Soilih’s many enemies. And the witch-doctor had been right: among Denard’s troops was his ever-present mascot, a large Alsatian dog.
Sunday Times
***
The Thugs
By AD 1300, the Assassins had ceased to exist in the Middle East, at least as a political force. In 1825, the English traveller I. B. Fraser remarked
that although the
of his generals to succeed him, demonstrating thereby that he had learned from Mahomet’s chief mistake.
This was by no means the end of the Assassins. After initial difficulties, the Syrian branch took root, and it was the stories of the Syrian mission, carried back to Europe by Crusaders, that
introduced the word “assassin” into the European languages. The event that caused this notoriety was the murder of the Christian Knight Conrad of Montferrat in 1192; Conrad was stabbed
by two Assassins – agents of the Syrian Old Man of the Mountain, Sinan – who were disguised as monks. (King Richard the Lion Heart of England is supposed to have been behind the murder;
one of his protéges quickly married the widow, and became “King of Jerusalem” in his place.) After this, Assassins began to figure in every chronicle of the Third Crusade, and
the legend captured the imagination of Europe. They were masters of disguise, adepts in treachery and murder. Their Old Man was a magician who surveyed the world from his castle like some evil
spider, watching for victims. They were without religion and without morality (one early chronicler says they ate pork – against the Moslem law – and practised incest with their mothers
and sisters). They were so fanatically devoted to their master that he often demonstrated their obedience to visitors by making them leap out of high windows. Their arts of persuasion were so
subtle that no ruler could be sure of the loyalty of his own servants . . . A typical story illustrates this. Saladin – the Sultan of Egypt and the great enemy of the Crusaders – sent a
threatening message to Sinan, the Syrian Old Man. The Assassin chief sent back a messenger, whose mission was to deliver a message in private. Aware of the danger, Saladin had him thoroughly
searched, then dismissed the assembly, all except for two guards. The messenger turned to the guards and asked: “If I were to order you, in the name of my Master, to kill the Sultan, would
you do it?” They nodded and drew their swords. Whereupon the messenger, having made his point, bowed and took his leave – taking the two guards with him. Saladin decided to establish
friendly relations with the Assassins.
But by the time Marco Polo saw the castle of Alamut in 1273, the power of the Assassins was at an end. In Persia they had been slaughtered by the Mongols; in Syria, ruthlessly suppressed by
Baybars, Sultan of Egypt. Some of the survivors remained in the area of Alamut – where they may be found to this day. Others scattered to distant countries, induding India . . .
***
In 1975 three of the islands in the Comoro group, which lies between Africa and Madagascar, declared their independence from France. Soon
afterwards a man named Ah Soilih declared himself dictator of the tiny state with the military help of a French mercenary, Bob Denard. Soilih proved to be a despot: he raised death squads,
kidnapped and raped women and organized the destruction of all machinery on the islands.
Two years into his reign, Soilih consulted a witch-doctor in order to know what the future held for himself and his descendants. The witch-doctor was
encouraging: Soilih could only be killed by a man who owned a dog. Upon hearing this, Soilih acted as any dictator would and had his death squads kill all the dogs on the island.
Nevertheless, a year later he was dead, “shot while trying to escape” by the forces of his old comrade Bob Denard. The French mercenary had received
a new contract, this time from one of Soilih’s many enemies. And the witch-doctor had been right: among Denard’s troops was his ever-present mascot, a large Alsatian dog.
Sunday Times
***
The Thugs
By AD 1300, the Assassins had ceased to exist in the Middle East, at least as a political force. In 1825, the English traveller I. B. Fraser remarked
that although the
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