Hammer-Purgstall - The History of the Assassins, Derived from Oriental Sources

THE

HISTORY

OF

THE ASSASSINS.

DERIVED FROM ORIENTAL SOURCES,

BY THE CHEVALIER JOSEPH VON HAMMER,

AUTHOR OF

THE HISTORY OF THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE, &c.

TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN,

BY

OSWALD CHARLES WOOD, M. D.

&c. &c. &c.

LONDON:

SMITH AND ELDER, CORNHILL.

1835.

VIZETELLY, BRANSTON AND CO., PRINTERS,
76, FLEET STREET, LONDON.

TO

The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain,

WITH THE

PROFOUNDEST RESPECT AND ADMIRATION FOR THEIR IMPORTANT SERVICES

IN CHERISHING AND PROMOTING THE CULTIVATION OF

ORIENTAL LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE,

THE PRESENT WORK IS DEDICATED

BY

THEIR MOST OBEDIENT SERVANT,

OSWALD CHARLES WOOD.

The Translator has been induced to present The History of the Assassins to the British Public as much on account of the interest of the subject itself, as by a desire to introduce to them a portion, certainly but a small one, of the works of an author so highly gifted, and of such established reputation, as M. Von Hammer. Nor will the present volume be deemed supererogatory, if it be considered that, notwithstanding the attention which, of late years, has been in this country so meritoriously devoted to the study of Oriental history and philology, still, but few and meagre accounts have been afforded of the extraordinary association forming the subject of the ensuing pages, and even those scattered through large and voluminous works. The Translator deems it unnecessary to apologize for the notes which he has appended, believing that their curiosity will plead his excuse.

It may be proper to remark, that the Translator has thought it advisable to adapt the orthography of the proper names to the pronunciation of English readers: in this, he has been for the most part guided by Sir William Joness Persian Grammar, and the very excellent Turkish one of his late accomplished and lamented friend, Arthur Lumley Davids; he has only, therefore, to state, that the vowels are to be pronounced broad and open, as in Italian, and the consonants as in English; by this means, the uncouth appearance of the names, occasioned by endeavouring to represent the vowels by English diphthongs, is avoided.

Brompton ,

June, 1835.

HISTORY

OF

THE ASSASSINS.

IntroductionMohammed, founder of IslamismExhibition of its doctrines and of its different sects, from one of which (the Ismailites) the Assassins sprung.

A lthough 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 Assassinsthat 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.