Were the medieval assassins real?

The Nizari Ismailis established their power base in Persia and Syria, where they constructed a network of fortresses in mountainous regions that allowed them to resist powerful states for over a century.

Their most famous stronghold, Alamut, stood high in the Elburz Mountains of northern Persia and came under Nizari control in 1090, when Hassan-i Sabbah seized the site and transformed it into a centre of military planning and religious education, supported by intensive training in their beliefs.

As the spiritual leader of the sect until his death in 1124, Hassan directed operations from Alamut and ensured that his followers carried out assassinations with careful preparation and strict discipline.

Alamut also housed a vast library of scientific and philosophical texts, most of which had been destroyed by later invaders. 

Hassan-i Sabbah arose from the fragmented political environment of the Islamic world during the later 11th century, when rivalries between Sunni and Shi’a factions created opportunities for ambitious leaders to assert religious and territorial independence.

His movement broke away from the Fatimid Caliphate, which had already experienced internal disputes over succession following the death of Caliph al-Mustansir in 1094, and developed an alternative doctrine focused on loyalty to a hidden imam.

From their fortified bases, the Nizaris sent agents into enemy territory to eliminate military commanders, powerful bureaucrats, and hostile religious figures who threatened their survival.

Among the most well-known targets was Nizam al-Mulk, the influential vizier of the Seljuk Empire, who was assassinated in 1092.

Later victims included Caliph al-Mustarshid, who was assassinated in 1135 while under Seljuk custody, and Conrad of Montferrat, a prominent Crusader leader who was murdered in 1192. 

Mission preparation included months of surveillance and training in disguise, accompanied by rehearsed escape plans, though many Assassins willingly sacrificed their lives in the process.

Unlike mercenary killers or ordinary rebels, they selected their targets with political intent and executed the attacks in ways that maximised public fear and disruption.

Some of the most famous assassinations occurred in public spaces, often in full view of armed guards, which enhanced the group’s reputation and sowed distrust within enemy forces.

Their agents were known as fida’is, who often grew up in Nizari communities and were raised to show total devotion to the imam.

Preparation could also include memorising the layout of enemy cities and learning local languages to better infiltrate hostile environments. 

Western accounts from the time of the Crusades helped amplify these stories, as European chroniclers encountered rumours of a secretive Muslim sect whose agents appeared from nowhere and killed accurately.

Writers such as William of Tyre described the Assassins as fanatics who obeyed their master’s orders without question.

Later European travellers and chroniclers, including Marco Polo, embellished these tales and claimed that the Assassins used drugs to control their minds.

These tales spread through Crusader states and filtered into Europe, where they contributed to the distorted image of the Assassin as a mystical killer.

Marco Polo later added to the myth when he wrote that the Assassins had drugged their recruits with hashish and had shown them artificial gardens of paradise before he sent them on missions, though he likely never visited Alamut himself. 

The origin of the word "Assassin" likely came from the Arabic term Hashashin, used by Sunni enemies of the Nizaris as an insult that suggested drug use and irrational behaviour.

Modern scholarship has found no credible evidence that the Assassins relied on hashish or other intoxicants, and the myth seems to have grown from the fear and confusion of their enemies rather than from direct observation.

Nizari agents acted out of religious devotion and firm belief, not because of hallucination or drug-fuelled loyalty.

Their doctrine encouraged taqiyya, or religious concealment of beliefs, which allowed them to blend into enemy populations for long-term missions. 

The Mongol conquests in the 13th century brought an abrupt end to the military strength of the Nizari state.

In December 1256, Hülegü Khan launched a planned campaign against their Persian fortresses, and he captured Alamut and destroyed its libraries, training grounds, and defences.

The Persian historian Juwayni accompanied the Mongols and wrote about the destruction of Alamut.

Other strongholds soon followed, and although some Assassin bases in Syria held out for several more decades, the Mamluks eventually dismantled their remaining presence.

The sect survived as a religious community, but it no longer possessed the organisation or leadership to continue its campaign of targeted political violence. 

Islamic, Christian, and Jewish sources had recorded the activities of the Assassins, often with a mix of fear and curiosity, which allowed modern historians to reconstruct the movement’s organisation and the beliefs that informed its operations.

Archaeological remains from Alamut and nearby fortresses support the historical record and confirm the scale of their defensive architecture and strategic planning.

The myths about them obscured the truth. The Assassins were neither supernatural killers nor mindless slaves.

They were real historical actors who used targeted murder as a weapon of survival in a hostile and divided world.

Today, their spiritual descendants live peacefully as part of the Nizari Ismaili community, which follows the Aga Khan as imam and no longer engages in political violence.