Editing Order of Assassins (section)

{{Short description|1090–1275 Nizari Isma'ili religious sect}}
{{Infobox organization
| name                     = Order of Assassins
| image                    = 
| caption                  = 
| formation                = 1090 AD
| dissolved                = 1275 AD
| type                     = 
| purpose                  = 
| headquarters             = {{plainlist|
* [[Alamut Castle]] (Persian Assassins)
* [[Masyaf Castle]] (Levantine Assassins)
}}
| affiliations             = [[Nizari Ismaili state]]
| language                 = [[Arabic]],  [[Persian language|Persian]], other languages
| leader_title             = [[Nizari Ismaili state#Rulers and Imams|Imam]]
| leader_name              = *[[Hasan-i Sabbah]] <small>(first)</small>
*[[Muhammad II of Alamut|Muhammad II]] <small>(last)</small>
| founder                  = [[Hasan-i Sabbah]]
| leader_title2            = 
}}
{{Ismailis|Ismaili History}}
[[File:The Masyaf Castle.jpg|thumb|[[Masyaf Castle]] in [[Hama]]. It was the headquarters of the Assassins in the Levant. Picture taken in 2017]]
[[File:Iran - Qazvin - Alamout Castle - panoramio (1).jpg|thumb|Remains of the [[Alamut Castle]] in [[Qazvin Province|Qazvin]], Iran]]
[[File:Hassan-i_Sabbah-1.jpg|alt=Hassan al-Sabbah (right) depicted with his followers, in the first edition of The Travels of Marco Polo, c. 1310|thumb|[[Hasan al-Sabbah|Hassan al-Sabbah]] (right) depicted with his followers, in the first edition of ''[[The Travels of Marco Polo]]'', c. 1310]]
The '''Order of Assassins''' ({{langx|ar|حَشّاشِین|Ḥashshāshīyīn}}; {{langx|fa|حشاشين|Ḥaššāšīn}}) were a [[Nizari Isma'ilism|Nizari Isma'ili]] order that existed between 1090 and 1275 AD, founded by [[Hasan-i Sabbah|Hasan al-Sabbah]].

During that time, they lived in the mountains of [[Persia]] and the [[Levant]], and held a strict subterfuge policy throughout the [[Middle East]], posing a substantial strategic threat to [[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimid]], [[Abbasid]], and [[Seljuk Empire|Seljuk]] authority, and killing several [[Christian]] leaders. Over the course of nearly 200 years, they killed hundreds who were considered enemies of the [[Nizari Isma'ili state]]. The modern term [[assassination]] is believed to stem from the tactics used by the Assassins.{{sfn|Lewis|1969}}

Contemporaneous historians include [[ibn al-Qalanisi]], [[Ali ibn al-Athir]], and [[Ata-Malik Juvayni]]. The former two referred to the Assassins as ''[[batiniyya]]'', an epithet widely accepted by Isma'ilis themselves.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Chronicle of ibn al-Athir for the Crusading Period from al-Kamil fi'l-Ta'rikh. Part 1, 1097–1146. |editor1-last=Edwards |editor1-first=D. S. |year=2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Damascus Chronicle of the Crusades. Extracted and translated from the Chronicle of ibn al-Qalānisi. |editor1-last=Gibb |editor1-first=N. A. R. |year=1932}}</ref>