Secret Societies of the Middle Ages Part 4

Keah Buzoorg Oomeid trod faithfully in the footprints of his predecessor. He built the strong fortress of Maimoondees, and he made the enemies of the society feel that it was still animated by the spirit of Ha.s.san Sabah. Sultan Sanjar, who, on account of the favourable terms on which he had made peace with the a.s.sa.s.sins, was regarded by the rigidly orthodox as a secret follower of their doctrine, declared himself once more their open enemy, and sent an army to ravage Kirdkoh.

These troops were defeated by those which Keah sent against them; but the following year Sanjar put to the sword a great number of the members of the sect. The dagger, as usual, retaliated. Mahmood, the successor of Sanjar, having first tried in vain the effect of arms, sent his grand falconer Berenkesh to Alamoot, to desire that an envoy might be sent to him to treat of peace. The Khojah (_Master_) Mohammed Na.s.sihi accompanied Berenkesh back to court, and kissed the hand of the sultan, who spoke to him a few words about the peace; but as the Khojah was going out of the palace, he and his followers were fallen upon and ma.s.sacred by the people.

When the sultan sent an amba.s.sador to Alamoot to exculpate himself from the guilt of partic.i.p.ation in this violation of the laws of nations, Keah made answer, "Go back to the sultan, and tell him, in my name, Mohammed Na.s.sihi trusted to your perfidious a.s.surances, and repaired to your court; if you speak truly, deliver up the murderers to justice; if not, expect my vengeance." On the refusal of the sultan to surrender the murderers, a corps of a.s.sa.s.sins appeared at the gates of Casveen, slew 400 men, and led away 3,000 sheep, 200 horses, and 200 oxen. Next year the sultan took, and retained for a short time, the fortress of Alamoot; but a body of 2,000 men which he sent against Lamseer fled, without drawing a sword, when they heard that the Refeek (_Companions_) of the society were marching against them. Shortly afterwards the sultan died, and the a.s.sa.s.sins made another incursion into the district of Casveen, where they carried off booty and prisoners.

The mountain chief would tolerate no rival near his throne. Hearing that one Aboo Hashem, a descendant of Ali, had arrogated to himself the dignity of imam in the province of Ghilan, which lies north of Kuhistan, and had issued letters calling on the people to acknowledge him, Keah wrote to him to desist from his pretensions. The self-appointed imam only replied by reviling the odious tenets of the Ismalites. The sheikh forthwith sent a body of his troops against him, took him prisoner, and, after trying him by a court-martial, committed him to the flames.

Though, as we have seen, the settlements of the a.s.sa.s.sins were in the mountainous region of Irak, in the north-west of Persia, their power was of such a nature that no distance was a security against it. A Fedavee could speedily traverse the intervening regions to plant his dagger in the bosom of any prince or minister who had incurred the vengeance of the Sheikh-al-Jebal. Accordingly we find the shah (_King_) of Khaurism, between which and Irak lies the extensive province of Khorasan, coming to Sultan Ma.s.sood, the successor of Mahmood, to concert with him a plan for the destruction of these formidable foes to princes. The shah of Khaurism had been formerly rather disposed to favour the Ismalites, but his eyes were now opened, and he was become their most inveterate enemy.

Sultan Ma.s.sood, we know not for what reason, bestowed on him the lands which Berenkesh, the grand falconer, had held of the sultan. Berenkesh, mortally offended at this unworthy treatment, retired, with his family, to the territory of the Ismalites, and sought the protection of Keah, whose open enemy he had hitherto been. Policy, or a regard to good faith and humanity, made the a.s.sa.s.sin prince grant the protection which was required; and when the shah of Khaurism wrote, reminding Keah of his own former friendship, and the bitter hostility of Berenkesh, and requesting him, on that plea, to give up the fugitive, the sheikh replied, "The shah of Khaurism speaks true, but we will never give up our suppliants."

Long and b.l.o.o.d.y enmity between the sheikh and the shah was the consequence of this refusal to violate the rights of hospitality.

The Syrian branch of the society begins at this time to attract rather more attention than that of Persia, chiefly on account of its connexion with the Crusaders, who had succeeded in establishing an empire extending from the frontiers of Egypt to those of Armenia. A Persian Ismalite, named Behram of Astrabad, who is said to have commenced his career by the murder of his own father, gained the confidence of the vizir of the prince of Damascus, who gave him the castle of Banias, or Panias (the ancient Balanea), for the use of the society. This place, which became the nucleus of the power of the a.s.sa.s.sins in Syria, lies in a fertile, well-watered plain, about 4,000 paces from the sea. The valley whence the numerous streams which fructify it issue is called the Wadi-al-Jinn (_Valley of Demons_), "a place," observes Hammer, whom no casual coincidence escapes, "from its very name worthy of becoming a settlement of the a.s.sa.s.sins." From Banias they extended their power over the neighbouring castles and fortresses, until, twelve years afterwards, the seat of dominion was transferred thence to Ma.s.syat.

Behram fell shortly afterwards in an engagement against the people of the valley of Tam, the brother of whose chief had perished by the daggers of the a.s.sa.s.sins. His successor was Ismal, a Persian, who continued the bond of amity with the vizir of Damascus, whither he sent, by way of resident, a man named, rather inappropriately as it would appear, Aboo-'l-Wefa (_Father of Fidelity_). This man so won the favour of the vizir and prince that he was appointed to the office of Hakem, or supreme judge; and having thus acquired power and influence, he immediately turned his thoughts to the best mode of employing them for the advantage of the society, an object always near the heart of a true Ismalite. A place of strength on the sea-coast would, he conceived, be of the utmost importance to them; so he fixed his eyes upon Tyre, and fell upon the following expedient to obtain possession of it.

The Franks had been now upwards of thirty years established in the East.

Their daring and enthusiastic valour was at once the dread and the admiration of their Mussulman foes, and feats almost surpa.s.sing the fables of the romances of chivalry had been performed by their gallant warriors. These were the auxiliaries to whom Aboo-'l-Wefa directed his attention; for we are to observe that as yet the fanatic spirit had not united all the Moslems in enmity against the followers of the Cross, and the princes of Aleppo, Damascus, and the other districts of Syria, had been more than once in alliance with the Christian realms of Jerusalem and Antioch. Aboo-'l-Wefa sent therefore and concluded a secret treaty with Baldwin II., king of Jerusalem, in which he engaged, if the Christian warriors would secretly march and appear before Damascus on a Friday, when the emir and his officers would be at the mosk, to give them possession of the gates of the town. The king was in return to put Tyre into the hands of the Ismalites.

The Christian army was a.s.sembled; all the barons of the kingdom appeared in arms; the king in person led the host; the newly-formed military order of the Templars displayed for the first time in the field their striped banner _Beauseant_, afterwards so well known in many a b.l.o.o.d.y fray. Prince Bernard of Antioch, Count Pontius of Tripolis, the brave Joscelin of Edessa, led their knights and footmen to share in the capture of the wealthy city of Damascus. The mountains which environ Lake Tiberias were left behind, and the host joyfully emerged into the plain watered by the streams Abana and Pharpar. But here defeat awaited them. Taj-al-Molook (_Diadem of Kings_) Boozi, the emir of Damascus, had in time discovered the plot of his hakem. He had put him and the vizir to death, and had ordered a general ma.s.sacre of the Ismalites in the city[43]. The Christian army was now at a place named Marj Safar, and the footmen had begun to plunder the villages for food, when a small body of gallant Damascene warriors rushed from the town and fell upon them. The defenceless Christians sank beneath their blows, incapable of resistance. The rest of the army advanced to aid or avenge their brethren, when suddenly[44] the sky became overcast, thick darkness enveloped all objects, the thunder roared, the lightning flashed, the rain poured down in torrents, and, by a rapid transition, peculiar to Eastern climates, the rain and waters turned into snow and ice, and augmented the horrors of the day. The superst.i.tious and conscience-stricken Crusaders viewed in this awful phenomenon the immediate agency of heaven, and deemed it to be sent as a punishment for their sins; and, recollecting that on that very spot but four years before King Baldwin had gained, with a handful of men, a victory over an army of the Damascenes, they were plunged into grief and humiliation.

The only advantage which they derived from this expedition was the acquisition of the castle of Banias, which the Ismalite governor put into their hands, that under their protection he might escape the fate of his brethren.

[Footnote 43: The number slain was 6,000.]

[Footnote 44: It was the month of December.]

Banias was given up to the Christians in the same year in which Alamoot was taken by the Seljookian sultan, and thus the power of the a.s.sa.s.sins seemed to be almost gone. But it had in it a conservative principle, and, hydra-like, it grew by its wounds. Alamoot was speedily recovered, and three years afterwards Banias was once more the seat of a Da-al-Kebir. At the same time the dagger raged with unwonted fury against all of whom the society stood in apprehension, and the annals of the reign of Keah Buzoorg Oomeid furnish a list of ill.u.s.trious victims.

The first of these was the celebrated Aksunkur, Prince of Mossul, a warrior equally dreaded by the Christians and by the a.s.sa.s.sins. As this prince, on his return from Maarra Mesrin, where the Moslem and Christian hosts had parted without venturing to engage, entered the mosk at Mossul to perform his devotions, he was attacked at the moment when he was about to take his usual seat by eight a.s.sa.s.sins, disguised as dervishes.

Three of them fell beneath the blows of the valiant emir, but ere his people could come to his aid he had received his death-wound and expired. The remainder of the murderers became victims to the vengeance of the people; one youth only escaped. The Arabian historian, Kemal-ed-Deen, relates on this occasion a curious trait of the fanaticism and Spartan spirit which animated the members of the sect of the Ismalites. When the mother of the youth above-mentioned heard that the formidable Aksunkur had been slain, she painted her face and put on her gayest raiment and ornaments, rejoicing that her son had been found worthy to die the glorious death of a martyr in the cause of the Imam.

But when she saw him return alive and unscathed, she cut off her hair and blackened her countenance, and would not be comforted.

In the following year (1127) fell Moin-ed-deen, the vizir of Sultan Sanjar. In this case the a.s.sa.s.sin had engaged himself as a groom in the service of the vizir. As Moin-ed-deen went one day into the stable to look at his horses the a.s.sa.s.sin appeared before him, stripped, and holding one of the horses by the bridle. As the vizir, unsuspicious of danger, came near where he was, the false groom made the horse rear, and, under the pretence of soothing and pacifying the restive animal, he took out a small dagger which he had concealed in the horse's mane, and plunged it into the bosom of the vizir.

The slaughter of the Ismalites by the Prince of Damascus was not forgotten, and two years afterwards he received two dagger wounds, one of which proved mortal. Their vengeance was not appeased by his blood, and his son and successor, Shems-al-Molook (_Sun of Kings_), perished by a conspiracy with the guilt of which the a.s.sa.s.sins were charged. In the catalogue of the victims of this period appear also the names of the Judges of the East and of the West, of the Mufti of Casveen, of the Reis of Isfahan, and the Reis of Tebreez.

The East has been at all times prolific of crime; human life is not there held to be of the value at which it is estimated in Europe; and the dagger and poison are freely employed to remove objects of apprehension, to put obstacles out of the way of ambition, or to satiate the thirst of vengeance. We are not, therefore, lightly to give credit to every charge made against the a.s.sa.s.sins, and to believe them guilty of murders from which they had no advantage to derive. Thus, when at this time the Fatimite Khalif Amir bi-ahkami-llah (_Commander of the observance of the laws of G.o.d_) fell by the hands of murderers, the probability is that he was not a victim to the vengeance of the Ismalite society, whom he had never injured, but rather to that of the family of the powerful vizir Afdal, who had been a.s.sa.s.sinated some time before by the khalif's order, as we have every reason to suppose.

With a greater show of reason may the murder of Mostarshed, the Khalif of Bagdad, be imputed to the policy of the mountain chief. The Seljookian princes, the predecessors of Ma.s.sood, had been satisfied to exercise all real power in the empire which had once obeyed the house of Abbas, leaving to that feeble _Shadow of G.o.d upon Earth_ the unsubstantial privilege of having the coin of the realm struck and prayers offered on Friday in the mosk in his name. But Ma.s.sood arrogated even these rights to himself, and the helpless successor of the Prophet was obliged to submit to the indignity which he could not prevent. At length some discontented military chiefs pa.s.sed with their troops over to the khalif, and persuaded him that by one bold effort he might overthrow the might of the Turkish sultan, and recover all his rights.

The khalif listened to their arguments, and, placing himself at the head of an army, marched against Sultan Ma.s.sood. But fortune proved adverse to him. At the first shock the greater part of the troops of Bagdad abandoned him, and he remained a captive in the hands of the sultan, who brought him with him a prisoner to Maragha. Here a treaty was concluded between them, and the khalif bound himself not to go any more outside of the walls of Bagdad, and annually to pay a sum of money. This treaty appears to have been displeasing to the a.s.sa.s.sins; and, watching their opportunity, when Ma.s.sood was gone to meet the amba.s.sadors of Sultan Sanjar, a party of them fell upon and ma.s.sacred the khalif and his train. The lifeless body of the Commander of the Faithful was mangled by them in the most scandalous manner.

After a blood-stained reign of fourteen years and three days Keah Buzoorg Oomeid died. Departing from the maxims of Ha.s.san Sabah, who it is probable wished to imitate the conduct of the Prophet, and leave the supreme dignity elective, he appointed his own son, Keah Mohammed, to be his successor, induced either by paternal partiality, or believing him to be the person best qualified for the office.

CHAPTER VII.

Keah Mohammed--Murder of the Khalif--Castles gained in Syria--Ismalite Confession of Faith--Mohammed's Son Ha.s.san gives himself out for the promised Imam--His Followers punished--Succession of Ha.s.san--He abolishes the Law--Pretends to be descended from the Prophet--Is murdered.

The policy of the society underwent no alteration on the accession of Mohammed. The dagger still smote its enemies, and as each victim fell, the people who maintained the rights of Ismal, and who were kept in rigid obedience to the positive precepts of the Koran, beheld nothing but the right hand of Heaven made bare for the punishment of crime and usurpation. The new mountain prince had hardly taken the reins of government into his hands when Rasheed, the successor of the late khalif, eager to avenge the murder of his father, a.s.sembled an army and marched against Alamoot. He had reached Isfahan, but there his march terminated. Four a.s.sa.s.sins, who had entered his service for the purpose, fell upon him in his tent and stabbed him. When the news was conveyed to Alamoot great rejoicings were made, and for seven days and seven nights the trumpets and kettle-drums resounded from the towers of the fortress, proclaiming the triumph of the dagger to the surrounding country.

The Syrian dominion of the Ismalites was at this time considerably extended. They purchased from Ibn Amroo, their owner, the castles of Cadmos and Kahaf, and took by force that of Ma.s.syat from the lords of Sheiser. This castle, which was situated on the west side of Mount Legam, opposite Antaradus, became henceforth the chief seat of Ismalite power in Syria. The society had now a line of coast to the north of Tripolis, and their possessions extended inland to the verge of the Hauran.

The reign of Mohammed presents few events to ill.u.s.trate the history of the a.s.sa.s.sins. It was probably in his time that the following confession of the Ismalite faith was made to the persons whom Sultan Sanjar sent to Alamoot to inquire into it[45]:

[Footnote 45: As Sanjar lived to a great age he was contemporary with several of the Ismalite sheikhs.]

"This is our doctrine," said the heads of the society. "We believe in the unity of G.o.d, and acknowledge as the true wisdom and right creed only that which accords with the word of G.o.d and the commands of the Prophet. We hold these as they are delivered in the holy writ, the Koran, and believe in all that the Prophet has taught of the creation, and the last things, of rewards and punishments, of the last judgment, and the resurrection. To believe this is necessary, and no one is authorized to judge of the commands of G.o.d for himself, or to alter a single letter in them. These are the fundamental doctrines of our sect, and if the sultan does not approve of them, let him send hither one of his learned divines, that we may argue the matter with him."

To this creed no orthodox Mussulman could well make any objection. The only question was, what was the Ismalite system of interpretation, and what other doctrines did they deduce from the sacred text; and the active employment of the dagger of the Fedavee suggested in tolerably plain terms that there were others, and that something not very compatible with the peace and order of society lay behind the veil.

Indeed the circ.u.mstance of the Ismalite chiefs professing themselves to be only the ministers and representatives of the invisible imam was in itself highly suspicious; for what was to prevent their enjoining any atrocity which might be for their interest, in the name of their viewless master? They are ignorant indeed of human nature who suppose that a prompt obedience would not be yielded to all such commands by the ignorant and bigoted members of the sect.

The ill leaven of the secret doctrine displayed itself before very long.

Keah Mohammed, who appears to have been a weak, inefficient man, was held in little esteem by his followers. They began to attach themselves to his son Ha.s.san, who had the reputation of being a man of prodigious knowledge, learned in tradition and the text of the Koran, versed in exposition, and well acquainted with the sciences. Ha.s.san, either through vanity or policy, began secretly to disseminate the notion of his being himself the imam whose appearance had been promised by Ha.s.san Ben Sabah. Filled with this idea, the more instructed members of the society vied with each other in eagerness to fulfil his commands, and Keah Mohammed, seeing his power gradually slipping from him, was at length roused to energy. a.s.sembling the people, he reprobated in strong terms the prevailing heresy. "Ha.s.san," said he, "is my son, and I am not the imam, but only one of his missionaries. Whoever maintains the contrary is an infidel." Then, in true a.s.sa.s.sin fashion, he gave effect to his words by executing 250 of his son's adherents, and banishing an equal number from the fortress. Ha.s.san himself, in order to save his life, was obliged publicly to curse those who held the new opinions, and to write dissertations condemning their tenets, and defending those of his father. By these means he succeeded in removing suspicion from the mind of the old chief; but, as he continued to drink wine in private, and violated several of the other positive precepts of the law, his adherents became only the more convinced of his being the imam, at whose coming all the precepts of the law were to cease to be of any force.

Ha.s.san was obliged to be cautious and conceal his opinions during the lifetime of his father; for, whatever their opinion might be of the capacity and intellectual power of the head of their sect, the a.s.sa.s.sins believed themselves to be bound to obey his orders, as proceeding from the visible representative of the sacred invisible imam; and, high as their veneration for Ha.s.san was, his blood would have flowed on the ground the instant an order to that effect had pa.s.sed the lips of his father. But no sooner was Keah Mohammed dead, after a reign of twenty-four years, and the supreme station was come to Ha.s.san himself, than he resolved to fling away the mask at once, and not only to trample on the law himself, but to authorize and encourage all his people to do the same.

Accordingly, when the month Ramazan (the Mohammedan Lent) of the 559th year of the Hejra (A.D. 1163) was come, he ordered all the inhabitants of Roodbar to a.s.semble on the place of prayer (_Mosella_), or esplanade, before the castle of Alamoot. Facing the direction of the Keblah[46] he caused a pulpit to be erected, at whose four corners were displayed banners of the different hues familiar to Islam, namely, a white, a red, a yellow, a green, colours adverse to the black of the Abba.s.sides.

[Footnote 46: That is, the point towards which they turn in prayer, namely, Mecca.]

On the 17th day of the month the people, in obedience to his commands, appeared in great numbers beneath the walls of the fortress. After a little time Ha.s.san came forth and ascended the pulpit. All voices were hushed; expectation waited on the words of the Sheikh-al-Jebal. He commenced his discourse by perplexing the minds of his auditors by enigmatical and obscure sentences. When he had thus deluded them for some time, he informed them that an envoy of the imam (that is, the phantom of a khalif who was still sitting on the throne at Cairo) had arrived, and had brought him a letter addressed to all Ismalites, whereby the fundamental tenets of the sect were renewed and confirmed.

He proceeded to a.s.sure them that, by this letter, the gates of mercy and compa.s.sion had been opened for all who would follow and obey him; that they were the true elect; that they were freed from all obligations of the law, and delivered from the burden of all commands and prohibitions; that he had now conducted them to the day of the resurrection, that is, of the revelation of the imam. He then commenced in Arabic the Khootbeh, or public prayer, which he said he had received from the imam; and an interpreter, who stood at the foot of the pulpit, translated it for them to the following effect:--

"Ha.s.san, the son of Mohammed, the son of Buzoorg Oomeid, is our khalif (_successor_), dai, and hoojet (_proof_). All who follow our doctrine must hearken to him in affairs of faith and of the world, and regard his commands as imperative, his words as impressive. They must not transgress his prohibitions, and they must regard his commands as ours.

They should know that our lord has had compa.s.sion upon them, and has conducted them to the most high G.o.d."

When this proclamation was made known Ha.s.san came down from the pulpit, directed tables to be spread, and commanded the people to break the fast, and to give themselves up, as on festival days, to all kinds of enjoyment, with music, and various games and sports. "For this," cried he, "this is the day of the resurrection;" that is, according to the Ismalite mode of interpreting the Koran, the day of the manifestation of the imam.

What the orthodox had before only suspected was now confirmed. It was now manifest, beyond doubt, that the Ismalites were heretics who trampled under foot all the most plain and positive precepts of Islam; for, though they might pretend to justify their practice by their allegorical system of interpretation, it was clearly repugnant to common sense, and might be made the instrument of sanctioning, under the name of religion, every species of enormity. From this time the term Moolahid (_impious_) began to become the common and familiar appellation of the Ismalites in the mouths of the orthodox Moslems. As to the Ismalites themselves, they rejoiced in what they had done; they exalted like emanc.i.p.ated bondsmen in the liberty which they had acquired; and they even commenced a new era from the 17th (or, according to some authorities, the 7th) Ramazan of the 559th year, namely, the day of the manifestation of the imam. To the name of Ha.s.san they henceforth affixed the formula "_On his memory be peace_;" which formula, it would appear, was employed by itself to designate him; for the historian Mirkhond a.s.sures us that he had been informed by a credible person that over the door of the library in Alamoot was the following inscription:--

"With the aid of G.o.d, the bonds Of the law he took away, The commander of the world, Upon whose name be peace."

The madness of Ha.s.san now attained its climax. He disdained to be regarded, like his predecessors, as merely the representative of the imam on earth, but a.s.serted himself to be the true and real imam, who was now at length made manifest to the world. He sent letters to all the settlements of the society, requiring them to acknowledge him in his new capacity. He was prudent enough, however, to show a regard for the dignity and power of his different lieutenants in these letters, as appears by the following specimen, being the letter which was sent to Kuhistan, where the reis Mozaffar commanded:--

"I Ha.s.san say unto you that I am the representative of G.o.d upon earth, and mine in Kuhistan is the reis Mozaffar, whom the men of that country are to obey, and to receive his word as mine."

The reis erected a pulpit in the castle of Moominabad, the place of his residence, and read the letter aloud to the people, the greater part of whom listened to its contents with joy. The tables were covered before the pulpit, the wine was brought forth, the drums and kettle-drums resounded, the notes of the pipe and flute inspired joy, and the day of the abolition of the positive precepts of the law was devoted to mirth and festivity. Some few, who were sincere and upright in their obedience to Islam, quitted the region which they now regarded as the abode of infidelity, and went in search of other abodes; others, of a less decided character, remained, though shocked at what they were obliged every day to behold. The obedience to the commands of the _soi-disant_ imam was, however, tolerably general, and, according to Hammer, who can scarcely, however, be supposed to regard the system of Ha.s.san as really more licentious than he has elsewhere described that of Mahomet, "the banner of the freest infidelity, and of the most shameless immorality, now waved on all the castles of Roodbar and Kuhistan, as the standard of the new illumination; and, instead of the name of the Egyptian khalif, resounded from all the pulpits that of Ha.s.san as the true successor of the Prophet."

The latter point had presented some difficulty to Ha.s.san; for, in order to satisfy the people on that head, it was necessary to prove a descent from the Prophet, and this was an honour to which it was well known the family from which he was sprung had never laid claim. He might take upon him to abolish the positive precepts of the law as he pleased, and the people, whose inclinations were thereby gratified, would not perhaps scan very narrowly the authority by which he acted; but the attempt to deprive the Fatimite khalif of the honour which he had so long enjoyed, and to a.s.sume the rank of G.o.d's viceregent on earth in his room, was likely to give too great a shock to their prejudices, if not cautiously managed.

It was necessary, therefore, that he should prove himself to be of the blood of the Fatimites. He accordingly began to drop some dark hints respecting the truth of the received opinion of his being the son of Keah Mohammed. Our readers will recollect that, when Ha.s.san Sabah was in Egypt, a dispute had taken place respecting the succession to the throne, in which Ha.s.san had nearly lost his life for opposing the powerful commander-in-chief (_Emir-al-Jooyoosh_), and Nezar, the prince for whom the khalif Mostanser had designed the succession, had been deprived of his right by the influence of that officer. The confidents of Ha.s.san now began to give out that, in about a year after the death of the khalif Mostanser, a certain person named Aboo-'l-Zeide, who had been high in his confidence, had come to Alamoot, bearing with him a son of Nezar, whom he committed to the care of Ha.s.san Sabah, who, grateful to the memory of the khalif and his son, had received the fugitive with great honour, and a.s.signed a village at the foot of Alamoot for the residence of the young imam. When the youth was grown up he married and had a son, whom he named _On his Memory be Peace_. Just at the time when the imam's wife was confined in the village, the consort of Keah Mohammed lay in at the castle; and, in order that the descendant of Fatima might come to the temporal power which was his right, a confidential woman undertook and succeeded in the task of secretly changing the children. Others went still further, and did not hesitate to a.s.sert that the young imam had intrigued with the wife of Keah Mohammed, and that Ha.s.san was the fruit of their adulterous intercourse.

Like a true pupil of ambition, Ha.s.san was willing to defame the memory of his mother, and acknowledge himself to be a b.a.s.t.a.r.d, provided he could succeed in persuading the people to believe him a descendant of the Prophet.

These pretensions of Ha.s.san to a Fatimite pedigree gave rise to a further increase of the endless sects into which the votaries of Islam were divided. Those who acknowledged it got the name of Nezori, and by them Ha.s.san was called the Lord of the Resurrection (_Kaim-al-Kiamet_), and they styled themselves the Sect of the Resurrection.