Hasan bin Sabbah and the secret order of hashishins

The story of Hasan bin Sabbah is a tale of sex, drugs, myth, and murder. A secluded mountain fortress, a paradisial garden, poison dipped daggers, and covert political maneuverings are the ingredients of this alchemical mixture, which is undoubtedly one of the most intriguing true stories ever told.

Hasan bin Sabbah - businessman, scholar, heresiarch, mystic, murderer, ascetic, and political revolutionary - was born in Persia (Iran) around 1034. As a child, the man who would one day claim to be the incarnation of God on earth (probably just another way of saying he was Enlightened) was a diligent student of theology.

Supposedly, Hasan was schoolmates with Nizamul Mulk (the future vizier to the sultan of Persia) and Omar Khayyam (the great poet/astronomer/mathematician). These three future luminaries made a pact whereas, if one of them reached a position of power and influence, he would assist his companions.

As a young man, Hasan traveled to Egypt, where he remained for a year and a half. Here he was taught at the illustrious Abode of Learning in Cairo, which was a Shiite training center (the Shiites are a branch within the Islamic community, they broke off from the mainstream Sunnis after a dispute over who should succeed the prophet Muhammad).

At the Abode, students were taught to question Islamic dogma, to the point where their only source of the truth lied in the teachings of their all-powerful instructors. The students had to ascend through nine degrees, until finally they were taught the Ultimate Truth: that the world is created through actions, and beliefs are powerless distractions used to enslave the masses. This system would later serve as the model for the organizational structure of the Hashishins . . .

Hasan ran into trouble in Egypt, however, after a controversy arose over who should succeed the Fatimid caliph. The Fatimids, who ruled Egypt at the time, were the heads of the Ismailis, a sect of Islam that separated from the mainstream Shiites. Before the Fatimid caliph died, he appointed his youngest son to take over the dynasty, because his oldest son died before he did. This infuriated Sabbah, who believed the descendant of the caliph's oldest son, Nizar, was the rightful heir to the throne.

Sabbah was imprisoned in Egypt for supporting Nizar, but, as luck would have it, the prison wall collapsed and he fled to Persia. While searching for a permanent residence, Hasan found a secluded fortress high in the mountains of Qazwin. This castle, called Alamut ("the eagle's nest") was the ideal stronghold for Hasan's new sect, the Nizari Ismailites (who later called themselves the "Hashishins"). Alamut was positioned in a central location, and so was an excellent hub from which Hasan could spread Ismaili propaganda.

Hasan went about securing Alamut using subtle trickery and persuasion. Whilst bargaining with the owner of Alamut, he requested only a portion of land that could be covered by the skin of a cow. The owner agreed, not realizing how clever and resourceful Hasan could be. Hasan proceeded to divide a cow's hide into such thin layers that he was able to cover the entire surface area of the fortress. The owner was forced to live up to his end of the bargain, and Hasan now had a stronghold from which he could extend his influence throughout the Mideast and, indeed, the history of Western civilization.

When word reached Nizamul Mulk (the childhood friend) of Hasan's securing of Alamut, he grew so inflamed with jealousy and rage that he sent an army to siege the fortress, a plot that failed miserably. For this, Hasan had Mulk killed by a dagger into the heart. So much for the pact.

Within Alamut, Hasan built the legendary "Garden of Earthly Delights", which would play an important role in the initiatic rites of the Hashishins (also called the "Assassins").


The garden lay in a beautiful valley nestled between two high mountains. Here he had imported exotic plants, birds, and animals from all over the world. Surrounding the garden were luxurious palaces of marble and gold, decorated with beautiful paintings and fine silk furniture. Streams of milk, wine, and honey flowed throughout this earthly paradise, while fountains gushed with wine and pure spring water.

The initiate, after being knocked out by a powerful potion mixed with hashish, would be carried into the garden. When he awoke from his slumber, he would be greeted by a host beautiful teenage girls (houris), who sang and danced and played lovely instruments for him. As he drifted into an ecstatic daze, the girls would go to work on the initiate, giving him a full-body tongue massage, while one girl performed oral sex on him. Eventually, the bedazzled young man would climax into the girl's mouth "as softly and slowly and blissfully as a single snowflake falling." (Robert Anton Wilson, from Prometheus Rising) No wonder Hasan could demand absolute loyalty from his followers, no questions asked . . .

This was only a small part of Hasan's system, which was divided into seven degrees. The Hashishins combined both the exoteric (communicated, "God's Law") and esoteric (subjective, mystical) doctrines of Islam. Sabbah was a noted alchemist, and a student of Sufism, so part of the initiatic curriculum for the future Hashishins involved mastering occult methods for reaching higher planes of consciousness. Of course, they were also taught how to properly kill a man using poison or a dagger. Initiates were trained to learn multiple languages, as well as the dress and manners of merchants, monks and soldiers. Moreover, they were taught to fake beliefs and devotion to every major religion of that era. In this way, an Assassin could pretend to be anyone from a well-to-do merchant to a Sufi mystic, a Christian, or a common soldier.

The Hashishin Order was set up much like your traditional bureaucratic organization. At the top of the hierarchy sat Hasan, the Old Man of the Mountain, who preached absolute devotion to a transcendental God. Below him were the grand priories (enlightened mystics), the propagandists, and finally the fidais, who were the lowest ranking Hashishins. The fidais were self-sacrificers (called "the destroying angels") who were willing to commit any atrocity their master demanded of them, including suicide. They dressed in white tunics with red sashes: colours that represented innocence and blood.

As the Hashishins gained power and influence, the sultan of Persia grew agitated. He decided to send troops to storm Alamut, which, like the similar attack attempted by his vizier, was a pathetic failure. Hasan had the sultan poisoned, and after his death the kingdom of Persia split into warring factions, which made the Assassins the most cohesive and powerful group in Persia for many years.