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Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology & the Ancient World
Brown University
Box 1837 / 60 George Street
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: (401) 863-3188
Fax: (401) 863-9423
[email protected]
They split from the Fatmid Isma’ili Empire after a dispute regarding the succession of the 8th Fatimid Caliph Ma’ad al-Mustansir Billah. Nizar’s supporters (after his execution) were led by Hassan-I Sabbah and in 1090 the formal origin of the Federation of the Assassins was officially marked by the establishment of the fortress of Alamut. Alamut became the capital. Since they were unable to form a conventional army they used the act of public political assassination as a system of survival and defense. The trained assassins are known as Fedayeen. The Seljuk Turks were often their targets. Today they are survived by the Shia Imami Isma’ili Muslims, also known as the Nizari.
Posted at Apr 10/2009 01:31PM:
ian: Perhaps we might bring in the discussion that we had about terrorism and the notion of legitimate state violence.