Editing Assassination (section)

===Early forms===
[[File:Sattar Bodyguard.JPG|thumb|upright=.5|A bodyguard who was killed by an [[improvised explosive device|IED]] during [[Abdul Sattar Abu Risha#Death|Sheik Abdul Sattar Abu Risha's assassination]] in 2007.]]
One of the earliest forms of defense against assassins was employing [[bodyguards]], who act as a shield for the potential target; keep a lookout for potential attackers, sometimes in advance, such as on a parade route; and putting themselves in harm's way, both by simple presence, showing that physical force is available to protect the target,<ref name="SS">''[http://www.secretservice.gov/ntac/ntac_jfs.pdf Assassination in the United States: An Operational Study]'' – Fein, Robert A. & Vossekuil, Brian, ''[[Journal of Forensic Sciences]]'', Volume 44, Number 2, March 1999. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060620171200/http://www.secretservice.gov/ntac/ntac_jfs.pdf |date=June 20, 2006}}</ref><ref>[https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/warren-commission-report/appendix7.html Lincoln] – Appendix 7, Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, 1964</ref> and by shielding the target if any attack occurs. To neutralize an attacker, bodyguards are typically armed as much as legal and practical concerns permit.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

Notable examples of bodyguards include the Roman [[Praetorian Guard]] or the Ottoman [[Janissary|Janissaries]], but in both cases, the protectors sometimes became assassins themselves, exploiting their power to make the [[head of state]] a virtual hostage or killing the very leaders whom they were supposed to protect. The loyalty of individual bodyguards is an important question as well, especially for leaders who oversee states with strong ethnic or religious divisions. Failure to realize such divided loyalties allowed the assassination of Indian Prime Minister [[Indira Gandhi]], who was assassinated by two [[Sikh]] bodyguards in 1984.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}<ref>Deol, H. (2000). Religion and nationalism in India: The case of the Punjab (1st ed.). Routledge, 92-109. doi: 10.4324/9780203402269</ref>

The bodyguard function was often executed by the leader's most loyal warriors, and it was extremely effective throughout most of early human history, which led assassins to attempt stealthy means, such as [[poison]], whose risk was reduced by having [[food taster|another person taste the leader's food]] first.{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}