Editing Alamut Castle (section)

==History==
{{main|Nizari Ismaili state|History of Nizari Isma'ilism|Nizari–Seljuk wars}}
Following his expulsion from Egypt over his support for [[Nizar ibn al-Mustansir]], Hassan-i Sabbah found that his co-religionists, the Isma'ilis, were scattered throughout Persia, with a strong presence in the northern and eastern regions, particularly in Daylaman, [[Greater Khorasan|Khorasan]] and [[Quhistan]]. The Ismailis and other occupied peoples of Iran held shared resentment for the ruling [[Great Seljuq Empire|Seljuq]]s, who had divided the country's farmland into ''[[Iqta'|iqtā’]]'' (fiefs) and levied heavy taxes upon the citizens living therein. The Seljuq ''[[amirs]]'' (independent rulers) usually held full jurisdiction and control over the districts they administered.<ref name="Short History">{{cite book |last=Daftary |first=Farhad |title=A Short History of the Ismailis: Traditions of a Muslim Community |year=1998 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |location=Edinburgh |isbn=9781558761933}}</ref>{{rp|126}} Meanwhile, Persian artisans, craftsmen and lower classes grew increasingly dissatisfied with the Seljuq policies and heavy taxes.<ref name="Short History"/>{{rp|126}} Hassan too, was appalled by the political and economic oppression imposed by the [[Sunni]] Seljuq ruling class on [[Shi'i]] Muslims living across Iran.<ref name="Short History"/>{{rp|126}}

===Capture of Alamut===
[[File:Assassins2-alamut.jpg|thumb|250px|Capture of the Alamut, 15th-century [[Mughal miniature]]]]
By 1090 AD, the Seljuq vizier [[Nizam al-Mulk]] had already given orders for Hassan's arrest and therefore Hassan was living in hiding in the northern town of [[Qazvin]], approximately 60&nbsp;km from the Alamut castle.<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|23}} There, he made plans for the capture of the fortress, which was surrounded by a fertile valley whose inhabitants were mainly fellow Shi’i Muslims, the support of whom Hassan could easily gather for the revolt against the Seljuqs. The castle had never before been captured by military means and thus Hassan planned meticulously.<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|23}}

In the summer of 1090 AD, Hassan set out from Qazvin towards Alamut on a mountainous route through [[Andej]]. He remained at Andej disguised as a schoolteacher named Dehkhoda until he was certain that a number of his supporters had settled directly below the castle in the village of [[Gazorkhan]] or had gained employment at the fortress itself.<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|23}} Still in disguise, Hassan made his way into the fortress, earning the trust and friendship of many of its soldiers. Careful not to attract the attention of the castle's Zaydi ‘Alid lord, Mahdi, Hassan began to attract prominent figures at Alamut to his mission. It has even been suggested that Mahdi's own deputy was a secret supporter of Hassan, waiting to demonstrate his loyalty on the day that Hassan would ultimately take the castle.<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|23}}

Earlier in the summer, Mahdi visited Qazvin, where he received strict orders from Nizam al-Mulk to find and arrest Hassan who was said to be hiding in the province of Daylaman. Upon his return to the Alamut fortress, Mahdi noticed several new servants and guards employed there. His deputy explained that illness had taken many of the castle's workers and it was fortunate that other labourers were found from the neighbouring villages. Worried about the associations of these workers, Mahdi ordered his deputy to arrest anyone with connections to the Ismailis.<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|22}}

Mahdi's suspicions were confirmed when Hassan finally approached the lord of the fortress, revealing his true identity and declared that the castle now belonged to him. Immediately, Mahdi called upon the guards to arrest and remove Hassan from the castle, only to find them prepared to follow Hassan's every command. Astounded, he realized he had been tricked and was allowed to exit the castle freely.<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|23}} Before leaving however, Mahdi was given a draft of 3000 gold dinars as payment for the fortress, payable by a Seljuq officer in service to the Isma'ili cause named Ra’is Muzaffar who honoured the payment in full.<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|23}} The Alamut fortress was captured from Mahdi and therefore from Seljuq control by Hassan and his supporters without resorting to any violence.<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|24}}

===Construction and intellectual development===
[[Image:Alamut.JPG|thumb|left|260px|Scaffolding by [[Iran's Cultural Heritage Organization]].]]
With Alamut now in his possession, Hassan swiftly embarked on a complete re-fortification of the complex. By enhancing the walls and structure of a series of storage facilities, the fortress was to act as a self-sustaining stronghold during major confrontations. The perimeters of the rooms were lined with limestone, so as to preserve provisions to be used in times of crisis. Indeed, when the Mongols invaded the fortress, Juvayni was astonished to see stored countless supplies in perfect condition to withstand a possible siege.<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|27}}

Next, Hassan took on the task of irrigating the surrounding villages of the Alamut valley.  The land at valley's floor was arable land, allowing for the cultivation of dry crops including barley, wheat and rice. In order to make available the maximum amount of cultivable land, the ground was terraced under Hassan's direction.<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|27}}

The construction of [[Alamut]]'s famous library likely occurred after Hassan's fortification of the castle and its surrounding valley. With its astronomical instruments and rare collection of works, the library attracted scholars and scientists of a variety of religious persuasions from around the world who visited it for many months at a time, hosted by the Isma'ilis.<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|27}} By and large the writings of the Persian Ismailis, both scientific and doctrinal, did not survive beyond the Alamut period. In addition to the rich literature they had already produced in Arabic, the relocation of the Ismaili center to Iran now prompted a surge in Persian Ismaili literature.<ref name="Short History"/>{{rp|121}}

One of the earliest losses of the library came during the early years of the [[Jalaluddin Hasan|Imam Jalal al-Din Hasan]]’s leadership at [[Alamut]]. In keeping with his principles of bridging the gaping relations between the Persian Ismailis and the broader Sunni world, [[Jalaluddin Hasan|Imam Jalal al-Din Hasan]] invited a number of religious scholars from the town of Qazvin to visit the castle's library and [[book burning|burn]] any books they deemed heretical.<ref name="Short History"/>{{rp|121}} However, it was not until under the direction of the Mongol ruler, [[Hulegu Khan]], when the Mongols ascended to the fortress in December 1256 AD, that the [[Alamut]] library was lost. With the permission of Hulegu, Juvayni explored the library and selected a few works he deemed worthy of salvaging, before the remainder was set aflame. His choice items included copies of the Qur'an, a number of astronomical instruments and treatises, and a number of Ismaili works.  An anti-Ismaili, [[Ata-Malik Juvayni]]'s personal leanings were the sole measure of heretical content of the library's doctrinal works.<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|66}} Thus, some of the richest treatises regarding the tenets of Ismaili faith were lost with his destruction of the library. From his tour and survey of the castle, Juvayni compiled a description of Alamut that he incorporated into his chronicle of the Mongol invasions, entitled ''[[Tarikh-i Jahangushay-i Juvaini]]'' ("The History of the World Conqueror").<ref name="History of Survival"/>{{rp|31}}

===Concealment and emergence: Imamat at Alamut===
With the death of Hassan-i Sabbah in 1124 AD, the Alamut fortress was now in the command of the ''da’i'' [[Kiya Buzurg Ummid]], under whose direction Ismaili-Seljuq relations improved.<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|34}} However, this was not without a test of the strength of Buzurg Ummid's command, and consequently the Seljuks began an offensive in 1126 AD on the Isma'ili strongholds of Rudbar and Quhistan. Only after these assaults failed did the Seljuq sultan [[Ahmad Sanjar]] concede to recognise the independence of the Isma'ili territories.<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|34}}

===Muhammad ibn Kiya Buzurg===
Accordingly, [[Muhammad Buzurg Ummid|Muḥammad]] succeeded Kiya Buzurg Ummid in 1138 AD. Though they expected some resistance to his rule, the fragmented Seljuks were met with continued solidarity amongst the Ismailis, who remained unified under Muhammad's command.<ref name="The Ismailis">{{cite book |last=Daftary |first=Farhad |title=The Ismāʻīlīs: Their History and Doctrines |year=1990 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge |isbn=9780521370196 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/ismlstheirhistor0000daft }}</ref>{{rp|382}} The early part of Muhammad's rule saw a continued low level of conflict, enabling the Nizaris to acquire and construct a number of fortresses in the [[Qumis (region)|Qumis]] and Rudbar regions, including the castles of Sa’adat-kuh, Mubarak-kuh, and Firuz-kuh.<ref name="The Ismailis"/>{{rp|383}}

===Imam Hasan ‘ala Dhikrihi al-Salam===
{{further|Hassan II (imam)|Ata al-Mulk Juvayni|Tarikh-i Jahangushay-i Juvaini}}
Taken by illness in 1162 AD, Muhammad was succeeded by Hasan, who was then about thirty-five years of age.<ref name="[[Alamut]] and [[Lambasar|Lamasar]]">{{cite book |last=Ivanov |first=Vladimir A. |title=Alamut and [[Lambasar|Lamasar]]; Two Mediaeval Ismaili Strongholds in Iran, an Archaeological Study |year=1960 |publisher=Ismaili Society |location=Teheran |oclc=257192}}</ref>{{rp|25}} Only two years after his accession, the Imam Hasan, apparently conducted a ceremony known as ''qiyama'' (resurrection) at the grounds of the [[castle]] of [[Alamut]], whereby the Imam would once again become visible to his community of followers in and outside of the [[Nizārī Ismā'īlī state]]. Given [[Ata al-Mulk Juvayni|Juvayni]]'s polemical aims, and the fact that he burned the [[Ismā'īlī]] libraries which may have offered much more reliable testimony about the history, scholars have been dubious about his narrative but are forced to rely on it given the absence of alternative sources. Fortunately, descriptions of this event are also preserved in [[Rashid-al-Din Hamadani|Rashid al-Din]]’s narrative and recounted in the Haft Bab-i Abi Ishaq, an Ismaili book of the 15th century AD. However, these are either based on Juvayni, or don't go into great detail.<ref name="Secret Order">{{cite book |last=Hodgson |first=Marshall G.S. |title=The Secret Order of Assassins: The Struggle of the Early Nizārī Ismā'īlīs Against the Islamic World |year=2005 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |location=Philadelphia |isbn=9780812219166}}</ref>{{rp|149}}  No contemporary Ismaili account of the events has survived.

===Ismaili version of the Alamut history===
What little we know about the Imamate at Alamut is narrated to us by one of the greatest detractors of the Ismailis, Juvayni. A Sunni Muslim scholar, Juvayni was serving Mongol patrons. While he then could not openly celebrate the Mongol victories over other Muslim rulers, the Mongol victory over the Nizari Ismailis, who Juvayni considered heretics and “as vile as dogs” became the focus of his work about Mongol invasions.

According to the Ismaili version of the events,  in the year following the death of the Imam-Caliph [[Ma’ad al-Mustansir Billah|al-Mustansir]], a ''qadi'' (judge) by the name of Abul Hasan Sa'idi travelled from Egypt to Alamut, taking with him [[Imam]] [[Nizar (Fatimid Imam)|Nizar]]’s youngest [[son]], who was known as al-Hadi.<ref name="The Ismailis" />{{rp|391}}

===Imam Nur al-Din Muhammad===
{{further|Nur al-Din Muhammad II}}
Succeeding [[Hassan II (imam)|Hasan 'ala dhikri al-salam]] in 1166, was the Imam [[Nur al-Din Muhammad II|Nūr al-Dīn Muhammad II]], who, like his father and the imams of the pre-Alamut period, openly declared himself to his followers.

===Imam Jalal al-Din Hasan===
{{further|Hassan III of Alamut}}
Within Persia, the Nizaris of the qiyama period largely disregarded their former political endeavours and became considerably isolated from the surrounding Sunni world. The death of Muhammad II however, ushered in a new era for the Nizaris, under the direction of the next Imam Jalal al-din Hasan. Imam Jalal al-Din Hasan invited Sunni scholars and jurists from across Khurasan and Iraq to visit Alamut, and even invited them to inspect the library and remove any books they found to be objectionable.<ref name="The Ismailis"/>{{rp|405}} During his lifetime, the [[Jalaluddin Hasan|Imam Jalal al-Din Hasan]] maintained friendly relations with the `[[Abbasid]] [[Caliph]] [[al-Nasir]]. An alliance with the caliph of [[Baghdad]] meant greater resources for the self-defence of not only the Nizari Ismaili state, but also the broader Muslim world.<ref name="[[Alamut]] and [[Lambasar|Lamasar]]" />{{rp|29}}

===Imam Ala al-Din Muhammad===
{{further|Muhammad III of Alamut}}
[[File:Alâ al Dîn Muhammad droguant ses disciples.jpeg|thumb|upright=1.5|The 26th Nizari Ismaili Imam [[Muhammad III of Alamut|Ala al-Din Muhammad]] depicted in ''[[The Travels of Marco Polo]]''. ([[Bibliothèque nationale de France]])]]
After his death in 1221, Imam Jalal al-Din Hasan was succeeded by his son ‘Ala al-Din Muhammad. Ascending to the throne at only nine years of age, Imam 'Ala al-Din Muhammad continued his father's policy of maintaining close relations with the Abbasid caliph.<ref name="The Ismailis"/>{{rp|406}} Under the leadership of Imam 'Ala al-Din Muhammad, the need for an Imam to constantly guide the community according to the demands of the times was emphasized. Intellectual life and scholarship flourished under the rule of Imam 'Ala al-Din Muhammad. The Nizari libraries were invigorated with scholars from across Asia, fleeing from the invading Mongols.<ref name="Short History"/>{{rp|147}}

===Imam Rukn al-Din Khurshah===
{{further|Rukn al-Din Khurshah}}
By the time of Imam 'Ala al-Din Muhammad's murder in 1255, the Mongols had already attacked a number of the Ismaili strongholds in Quhistan. Imam 'Ala al-Din Muhammad was succeeded by his eldest son Imam Rukn al-Din Khurshah who engaged in a long series of negotiations with invading Mongols, and under whose leadership, the Alamut castle was surrendered to the Mongols.<ref>{{cite book |last=Daftary |first=Farhad |title=Mediaeval Isma'ili History and Thought |year=1996 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=New York |isbn=9780521451406}}</ref>

===The Mongol invasion and collapse of the Nizari Ismaili state===
{{main|Mongol campaign against the Nizaris}}
[[File:Prise d'Alamût (1256).jpeg|thumb|left|350px|''Siege of Alamut'' (1256), depicted in the ''[[Jami' al-tawarikh]]'' by [[Rashid-al-Din Hamadani]] Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Département des Manuscrits, Division Orientale.]]
The expansion of Mongol power across Western Asia depended upon the conquest of the Islamic lands, the complete seizure of which would be impossible without dismantling the ardent Nizari Ismaili state.<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|75}}

The first Mongol attack on the Ismailis came in April 1253 AD, when many of the Quhistani fortresses were lost to the [[Christians|Christian]] Mongol general [[Kitbuqa|Ket-Buqa]]. By May, the Mongol troops had proceeded to the fortress of [[Girdkuh]] where Ismaili forces held ground for several months. In December, a [[cholera]] outbreak within the castle weakened the Ismaili defences. Reinforcements quickly arrived from the neighbouring Alamut fortress and thwarted the attacking Mongols, killing several hundred of Ket-Buqa's troops.<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|76}} The castle was saved but the subsequent Mongol assaults on the towns of [[Ferdows|Tun]] and [[Tus, Iran|Tus]] resulted in massacres. Across Khurasan the Mongols imposed tyrannical laws and were responsible for the mass displacement of the province's population.<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|76}}

After the massacres at Tun in 1256 AD, Hulegu became directly involved in the Mongol campaign to eliminate the Ismaili centres of power. From a lavish tent erected for him at Tus, Hulegu summoned the Ismaili governor at Quhistan, [[Nasir al-Din Muhtasham]] and demanded the surrender of all fortresses in his province. Nasir al-Din explained that submission could only come at the Imam's orders and that he, as governor, was powerless to seek the Ismailis' compliance.<ref name="Secret Order"/>{{rp|266}}

Meanwhile, Imam ‘Ala al-Din Mohammad, who had been murdered, was succeeded by his son [[Rukn al-Din Khurshah]] in 1255 AD. In 1256 AD, Rukn al-Din commenced a series of gestures demonstrating his submission to the Mongols. In a show of his compliance and at the demand of Hulegu, Rukn al-Din began the dismantling process at Alamut, [[Maymundiz]] and [[Lambsar Castle|Lamasar]], removing towers and battlements.<ref name="Secret Order"/>{{rp|267}} However, as winter approached, Hulegu took these gestures to be a means of delaying his seizure of the castles and on November 8, 1256, the Mongol troops quickly encircled the Maymundiz fortress and residence of the Imam. After four days of preliminary bombardment with significant casualties for both sides, the Mongols assembled their [[mangonel]]s around the castle in preparation for a direct siege. There was still no snow on the ground and the attacks proceeded, forcing Rukn al-Din to declare his surrender in exchange for his and his family's safe passage.<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|79}}

In the hands of Hulegu, Rukn al-Din was forced to send the message of surrender to all the castles in the Alamut valley. At the Alamut fortress, the Mongol Prince [[Balaghai]] led his troops to the base of the castle, calling for the surrender of the commander of Alamut, [[Muqaddam al-Din]]. It was decreed that should he surrender and pledge his allegiance to the Great Khan within one day, the lives of those at Alamut would be spared. Maymundiz was reluctant and wondered if the Imam's message of surrender was an actually act of duress.<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|79}} In obedience to the Imam, Muqaddam and his men descended from the fortress, and the Mongol army entered Alamut and began its demolition.<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|79}}

Compared with Maymundiz, the Alamut fortress was far better fortified and could have long withstood the assaults of the Mongol army. However, the castle was relatively small in size and was easily surrounded by the Mongols. Still, the most significant factor in determining the defeat of the Ismailis at Alamut was the command by the Imam for the surrender of the castles in the valley. Many of the other fortresses had already complied, therefore not only would Muqaddam's resistance have resulted in a direct battle for the castle, but the explicit violation of the instructions of the Imam, which would impact significantly on the Ismaili commander's oath of total obedience to the Imam.<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|80}}

The conquest of the Ismaili castles was critical to the Mongol's political and territorial expansion westward. However, it was depicted by Juvayni as a "matter of divine punishment upon the heretics [at] the nest of Satan".<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|81}} Juvayni's depiction of the fall of the Nizari Ismaili state reveals the religious leanings of the anti-Ismaili historian. When Rukn al-Din arrived in Mongolia with promises to persuade the prevailing Ismaili fortresses to surrender, the Great Khan Mongke no longer believed the Imam to be of use. En route back to his homeland, Rukn al-Din was put to death. In his description of this, Juvayni concludes that the Imam's murder cleansed "the world which had been polluted by their evil".<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|83}} Subsequently, in Quhistan, the Ismailis were called by thousands to attend large gatherings, where they were massacred. While some escaped to neighbouring regions, the Ismailis who perished in the massacres following the capture of the Ismaili garrisons numbered nearly 100,000.<ref name="Eagle's Nest"/>{{rp|83}}

According to [[Ata-Malik Juvayni]] during the assault on the Alamut fort, "Khitayan" built siege weapons resembling crossbows were used.<ref name="Joveynī1958">{{cite book|author=ʻAlā al-Dīn ʻAṭā Malek Joveynī|title=The history of the World-Conqueror|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aChtAAAAMAAJ&q=Khitayan+devil+like+heretics|year=1958|publisher=Harvard University Press|page=631}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Journal of Asian History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4IltAAAAMAAJ&q=Khitayan+devil+like+heretics|year=1998|publisher=O. Harrassowitz|page=20}}</ref><ref name="HaidarHistory2004">{{cite book|author1=Mansura Haidar|author2=Aligarh Muslim University. Centre of Advanced Study in History|title=Medieval Central Asia: polity, economy and military organization, fourteenth to sixteenth centuries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UuptAAAAMAAJ&q=Khitayan+devil+like+heretics|date=1 September 2004|publisher=Manohar Publishers Distributors|isbn=978-81-7304-554-7|page=325}}</ref> "Khitayan" meant Chinese and it was a type of arcuballista, deployed in 1256 under Hulagu's command.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wright |first=David Curtis |editor-last=Ferris |editor-first=John |date=2008 |title=NOMADIC POWER, SEDENTARY SECURITY, AND THE CROSSBOW |url=https://archive.org/details/militarystudiesh0000unse/page/86 |journal=Calgary Papers in Military and Strategic Studies |volume=2 |series=Military Studies and History |publisher=Centre for Military and Strategic Studies |pages=[https://archive.org/details/militarystudiesh0000unse/page/86 86] |isbn=978-0-88953-324-0 }}</ref> Stones were knocked off the castle and the bolts "burnt" a great number of the Assassins. They could fire a distance around 2,500 paces.<ref name="Juvaini1958">{{cite book|author='Ala-ad-Din 'Ata-Malik Juvaini|title=The history of the world-conqueror|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyoftheworl011648mbp/historyoftheworl011648mbp_djvu.txt|volume=II|year=1958|publisher=Harvard University Press|pages=630=631}}</ref> The device was described as an ''ox's bow''.<ref>Wright, David C. "The Sung-Kitan War OF A.D. 1004-1005 and the Treaty of Shan-Yüan". ''Journal of Asian History'', vol. 32, no. 1, 1998, p. 20. {{JSTOR|41933065}}.</ref> Pitch which was lit on fire was applied to the bolts of the weapon before firing.<ref name="Willey2001">{{cite book|author=Peter Willey|title=The Castles of the Assassins|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OCxWAAAAYAAJ&q=Juvayni+devil+like+heretics|year=2001|publisher=Linden Pub.|isbn=978-0-941936-64-4|page=166}}</ref> Another historian thinks that instead gunpowder might have been strapped onto the bolts which caused the burns during the battle recorded by Juvayini.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Haw |first=Stephen G. |date=July 2013 |title=The Mongol Empire – the first 'gunpowder empire'? |url=https://www.academia.edu/4590334 |journal= Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society|volume=23 |issue= 3|page=458 |doi=10.1017/S1356186313000369 |s2cid=162200994 }}</ref>

===After the Mongol invasion===

It was assumed that with the initial siege of the Alamut Castle in 1256 the Nizari Ismaili presence in the area would have been obliterated. Though the damage was extensive, Nizari forces were able to recapture the Castle in 1275.

Evidence of another wave of destruction in the [[Safavid Iran|Safavid]] period has been found by archaeological studies in 2004 led by Hamideh Chubak. Further evidence suggests another Afghan attack on the castle.<ref name=Virani2007>{{cite book |last1=Virani |first1=Shafique N. |last2=Virani |first2=Assistant Professor Departments of Historical Studies and the Study of Religion Shafique N. |title=The Ismailis in the Middle Ages: A History of Survival, a Search for Salvation |date=2007 |publisher=Oxford University Press, USA |isbn=978-0-19-531173-0 |page=32 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VH88DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA32 |language=en}}</ref>