Assassins

originally an order of religious fanatics, founded in Persia, about the year 1090. According to the tenets of their belief, their chief was inhabited by the Holy Ghost, and received his orders direct from the deity. Each member held himself bound to carry out the orders of his chief, and to put to death anyone obnoxious to the order. The name means hashish-eater, and is derived from a habit of exciting the members to murder by means of the drug hashish. The chief seat of the order was transferred to Mt. Lebanon, but their emissaries were sent everywhere, and spread terror throughout Christendom. They were exceedingly expert in the use of poisoned daggers, cords, and noiseless air guns. Their religion was a mixture of Judaism, Mohammedism, Christianity, and the magic of the East. At their height, they were able, it is said, to oppose 50,000 troops to the Crusaders. A small remnant still remains, now characterized by piety, kindly manners, and poverty. The term has been extended to anyone who deliberately takes human life in a stealthy manner. Among the notable assassinations of public men, the following may be mentioned:

A graphic account of the order of Assassins at the height of its power may be read in Hewlett's historical novel, Richard Yea-and-Nay, and in William Stearns Davis' God Wills It.

See Hashish; Nihilist