Alamūt
Quick Summary
The term "Alamut" primarily refers to a historical fortress in Iran, famously captured in 1090 by Hasan-e Sabbah. This fortress became the center for the Nizārī Ismāʿīlī movement, a branch of Shīʿite Islam, often known in the West as the Assassins. The Nizārīs used their strongholds, including Alamut, to conduct operations through a network of agents and propagandists. Their tactics, which involved targeted assassinations of political and military figures, led to the development of the term "assassin". The Nizārī power eventually declined with the Mongol capture of Alamut in 1256. The fortress and the movement it represented also inspired Vladimir Bartol's allegorical novel Alamut.1234
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Nizārī Ismāʿīliyyah…captured the hill fortress of Alamūt near Kazvin, Iran. By the end of the 11th century, Ḥasan, as grand master or leader of the sect, commanded from this centre both a chain of strongholds all over Iran and Iraq and also a network of propagandists and agents in enemy camps…
Read More…captured the hill fortress of Alamūt near Kazvin, Iran. By the end of the 11th century, Ḥasan, as grand master or leader of the sect, commanded from this centre both a chain of strongholds all over Iran and Iraq and also a network of propagandists and agents in enemy camps…
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IranThe Ismāʿīliyyah…Ḥasan gained the castle of Alamūt in the Alborz Mountains, and the order’s principal cells were thereafter situated, so far as possible, in similar impregnable mountain strongholds. From these centers, fidāʾīs, or devotees ready to sacrifice their lives, issued forth and permeated society, spreading their mission as peddlers and itinerant…
Read More…Ḥasan gained the castle of Alamūt in the Alborz Mountains, and the order’s principal cells were thereafter situated, so far as possible, in similar impregnable mountain strongholds. From these centers, fidāʾīs, or devotees ready to sacrifice their lives, issued forth and permeated society, spreading their mission as peddlers and itinerant…
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