Saladin and the Assassins

Author(s): Bernard Lewis

Source: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 15,
No. 2 (1953), pp. 239-245
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of School of Oriental and African Studies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/608550
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Saladin and the Assassins

By BERNARD LEWIS

N the year 577/1181-2, in a letter to the Caliph in Baghdad explaining his

activities in Syria, Saladin writes that he is engaged in a struggle for Islam
against a three-fold enemy-the infidel Frankish invader, the heretical and
murderous Assassins, and the treacherous Zangid rulers of Mosul, whom he
accuses of intelligence and even alliance with both Franks and Assassins.'
The story of Saladin's struggle against the Zangids and then against the
Crusaders is well documented and well known. On his dealings with the
Assassins, on the other hand, the sources tell us remarkably little, and most of
that refers to three episodes, as follows :(1) The first Assassin attempt to murder Saladin; Aleppo, Jumada II,
570/Dec. 1174-Jan. 1175.
Sources: Abu Shama, i, 239-240 (= De Sacy 358-9); Ibn al-Athir,
xi, 276-8; Kamal ad-Din, MS. fol. 190a (= Blochet iii 563); Ibn Wasil,
MS. 179; Sibt, 207; cf. Quatremere 354, Defremery, 15-16.
The attempt was made during Saladin's siege of Aleppo. The Assassins
had managed to smuggle themselves into the camp, but were recognized by
Nasih ad-Din Khumartakin, the amir of Abui Qubais, who had had previous
dealings with them. Khumartakin challenged them, and was killed by them.
In the fracas that followed many soldiers were killed, but Saladin suffered
no harm. 'Imad ad-Din and Ibn Abi Tayy, as quoted by Abui Shama, say
that it was the rulers of Aleppo who, when hard pressed by the besiegers,
sought the help of the Assassins and promised them estates and other rewards.
Ibn al-Athir, followed by Kamal ad-Din and Ibn Wasil,2 is more specific,
and names Sa'd ad-Din Gumushtakin, the regent of Aleppo, as having sent a
messenger to Sinan, the Assassin chief, promising rewards and asking assistance.
(2) The second Assassin attempt to murder Saladin; 'Azaz, 11 Dhu'lQa'da 571/22 May 1176.
Sources: Abu Shama, i, 258 (= De Sacy, 360-5); Baha' ad-Din, iii,
62-3; Ibn al-Athir, xi, 285 (= Recueil, i, 623-4); Kamal ad-Din, MS.
fol. 192b (= Blochet, iv, 144-5); Sibt, 212; Bustan, 141 3; Ibn Wasil,
MS. 190-1; Michael the Syrian, iii, 366; cf. Quatremere354, Defremery, v,
16-19.
1 Abu Shama, ii, 23-4 (= Goergens, 27-8). Repeated in Sibt, 234. Cf. Defr6mery, 29-30.
Ibn Wasil otherwise follows fairly closely on 'Imid ad-Din, with some variants. His text
begins as follows:2

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The Bustdnconfusesthe two attempts.

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240

B. LEWIS-

During Saladin's siege of 'Azaz, Assassins, disguised as soldiers, penetrated

his camp and joined his army. On the date mentioned they attacked him, but
thanks to his armour he sustained only minor injuries. After a sharp struggle
the Assassins were killed, and thereafter Saladin took elaborate precautions
to protect his life. The sources for this second attempt are more numerous and
more detailed than for the first, but contain no major disagreements. Aba
Shama quotes three accounts, taken from 'Imad ad-Din, Ibn Abi Tayy, and
a letter of the Qadi al-Fadil written to al-'Adil. Of these only Ibn Abi Tayythe latest of the three-accuses the rulers of Aleppo of inciting the attempt:
' When the Sultan conquered the fortresses of Buza'a and Manbij, the rulers of
Aleppo realized that they were losing the strongholds and castles which they
had held, and they returned to their practice of weaving plots against the Sultan.
They wrote a second time to Sinan, the chief of the Assassins, and induced
him with money and promises to attack the Sultan . . .' Baha' ad-Din, Ibn
al-Athir, and the others describe the incident in more or less detail and in much
the same terms, but make no reference to any instigation from Aleppo.
(3) Saladin's attack on Masyaf; Muharram572/July 1176.
Sources: Abu Shama, i, 261 (= De Sacy 365-6); Ibn al-Athir, xi, 289
(= Recueil, i, 626); Kamal ad-Din, MS. fol. 193a; Ibn Wasil, MS. 192-3;
Sibt, 212; cf. Defremery, 19-20.
After these two attempts on his life Saladin, thirsty for vengeance, invaded
the Assassin territories. He laid siege to Ma.syafon 20 Muh. 572/30 July 1176.1
Then, on the mediation of his maternal uncle Shihab ad-Din Mahmud ibn
Takash, governor of Hama and a neighbour of the Assassins, Saladin made a
truce with Sinan and withdrew his forces. There is some conflict between the
sources on the circumstances of the mediation and the truce. According to
'Imad ad-Din, as quoted by Abu Shama, Saladin wrought havoc and destruction in the Assassin lands. The Assassins wrote to Shihab ad-Din to ask his
help as a neighbour. He then interceded with Saladin to spare them, and
Saladin, satisfied with his revenge, agreed to withdraw. Ibn Wasil follows
'Imad ad-Din fairly closely. Much the same story is told by Ibn al-Athir,
who adds the detail-possibly derived from a fuller version of 'Imad ad-Din
than that cited by Abu Shama-that Sinan threatened to murder Shihabad-Din
' and all the people of Saladin' if he refused to intercede on their behalf. Ibn
al-Athir hints that Saladin's readiness to withdraw was due to the weariness
of his troops and their desire to return home to enjoy their booty. Ibn Abi
Tayy remarks that the main reason for Saladin's withdrawal was a dangerous
Frankish advance in the Biqa'. It was to meet this threat that 'he made terms
with Sinan and returned to Damascus'. According to Kamal ad-Din Saladin
'advanced into the country of the Isma'ilis and laid siege to them; then he
1 Precise dates for this and the preceding are given only by 'Imad ad-Din (apud Abu Shama)
and Ibn Waiil. De Sacy, following a different text of Abui Shma, says Friday 19th Ramadan.
According to Ibn Wasil, Saladin set out from Aleppo on 10th Muharram (cf. Maqrizi, Suliik,
Cairo, 1934, i, 62).

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241

SALADIN AND THE ASSASSINS

made peace with them through his uncle Mahmud ibn Takash and marched
with his troops to Egypt .. .' One of the terms of the truce was the release
of the brothers Ibn ad-Daya, who joined Saladin.1
Two questions arise from these events: why did Sinan suddenly take the
offensive against Saladin in 570/1174-5, and what were the circumstances and
the terms of the truce signed between them in 572/1176. Most of the sources,
as we have seen, attribute Sinan's first attack to the instigation and bribery
of Gumushtakin. That Sinan acted in concert with Gumushtakin, or received
help from him against an enemy that threatened both of them, is by no means
unlikely. But the inducements of Gumushtaldn can hardly have been the
primary motive of Sinan, who was the leader, not of a mere band of cut-throats,
but of a religious order with far-reaching objectives of its own.2 A more direct
reason for Sinan's action may possibly be found in a story told by Sibt ibn
al-Jawzl, though not, oddly enough, by the contemporary chroniclers. In
570/1174-5, according to Sibt, 10,000 horsemen of the anti-Shi'ite Nubuwiya
order of Futuwwa 3 from Iraq raided the Isma'fll centres in Bab and Buza'a,
where they slaughtered 13,000 Isma'ilis 4 and carried off much booty and many
captives. Profiting from the confusion of the Isma'ilis, Saladin sent his army
against them, raiding Sarmin, Ma'arrat Masrin, and Jabal as-Summaq, and
killing most of their inhabitants.5 The raid of the Nubuwiya is also mentioned
independently by Ibn Jubair,6 Ibn Shaddad,7 and the Isma'il writer Abu
Firas,8 though none of these makes any reference to Saladin's attack. Sibt
unfortunately does not say in what month these events took place-the position
in which he places his narrative, shortly after the attempt at Aleppo, is of course
no guide to the real sequence of events. There is therefore nothing to show
'a

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Cf. Lewis, 'Sources ', 489.

3 On the Nubuwiya see H. Thorning, Beitrdge zur Kenntnis des islamischen Vereinswesens,
Tiirkische Bibliothek, vol. 16, Berlin, 1913, 212-13, and F. Taeschner, 'Das Futuwwa-Rittertum
des islamischen Mittelalters', in Beitrdge zur Arabistik, Semitistik und Islamwissenschaft, Leipzig,
1944, 352, n. 17, where further references are given.
4 Thus the MS. The Jewett version
says, absurdly, 13,000 Isma'ili leaders;JLp|^l
(f1z1) p
5 p. 208. MS. fol. 181a. The form 4in ^ in the Jewett text is an obvious error for
. L
as in the MS.
6
pp. 249-250 (translation 259-260). Ibn Jubair, writing in 580 A.H., speaks of these events
as having taken place 'eight years ago'.
7 fol. 146.
Guard 97 and 149. In s41ver

lithe

lis are ofcourse victorious.

8 Guyard 97 and 149. In this version the Isma'ilis are of course victorious.

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242

B. LEWIS-

whether Saladin's raid on the Assassins took place before or after their attempt
to murder him at Aleppo. There is little to choose as regards probability. The
attempt took place in Jumada II, half-way through the Muslim year 570,
leaving about as much time before as after. It is possible that Saladin sent
his raiders while his army was marching northwards towards Aleppo-it is
equally likely that he sent them down from Aleppo, to give encouragement and
booty to his troops.
Whether or not the first act of aggression came from Saladin, his activities
and policies generally made him a potentially dangerous enemy to the Isma'ilis,
and would be sufficient to explain their attack on him, even if immediate
provocation was lacking.
In 567/1171 Saladin had suppressed the last remnant of the Fatimid
Caliphate in Cairo, and restored the suzerainty of the Abbasid Caliph.
The suppression in itself was of no consequence to the Nizari Isma'ilis, to whom
Sinan and his followers belonged. After the murder of Nizar, Musta'li and
his successors were regarded as usurpers by the Nizaris; the last four Fatimid
Caliphs in Cairo were not accepted as Imams by any part of the Isma'lli sect.
But the circumstances of Saladin's abolition of the Fatimid Caliphate cannot
have failed to mark him down as an enemy of the whole Isma'ili, indeed the
whole Shi'ite cause. The suppression of Isma'ilism in Egypt; the destruction
of the great Fatimid libraries of Isma'ili works-many of them common to all
branches of the sect; above all, the restoration, after two centuries, of the
Khutba in the name of the hated Abbasids, all showed that a new power had
arisen who was no longer content to play the political game of his predecessors,
but was determined to restore the unity and orthodoxy of Islam, and re-establish
the supremacy of the Sunni Caliph in Baghdad as head of the Islamic world.1
In 569/1174 pro-Fatimid elements in Egypt, led by the Yemenite poet
'Umara and some others, organized a conspiracy to overthrow Saladin and
restore Fatimid rule, and, for this purpose, sought the help of the Crusaders.
In a letter to Nur ad-Din, drafted by the Qadi al-Fadil, Saladin reported on
this conspiracy and its suppression,and stated that the conspiratorshad written
to Sinan, arguing that their doctrines were basically the same and their
differences trivial, and urging him to attack Saladin.2 Sinan owed no allegiance
to the Cairo Fatimids, but an appeal to him on their behalf is by no means
unlikely. Some half a century previously the Fatimid Caliph Amir had
attempted without success to persuade the Syrian Isma'ilis to accept his leadership, and had entered into arguments with them to that end.3 That Sinan,
for reasons of his own, agreed to collaborate with the Egyptian conspirators is
not impossible, though it is unlikely that he would have continued to act in
their interest after the definitive crushing of the plot in Egypt. But the
1 H. A. R. Gibb, ' The Achievement of Saladin', Bulletin of the John Rylands Library, vol. 35,
1952, 44-60. On the humiliation of the Isma'ilis at this time see Abu Shama, i, 197.
2 Abi
Shama, i, 221.
3 Cf. S. M. Stern, 'The
Epistle of the Fatimid Caliph al-Amir'. JRAS., 1950, 20-31.

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243

SALADIN AND THE ASSASSINS

significance of Saladin's policies would have been brought home to him-the

march into Syria and the attack on the Zangid cities showed that the danger was
immediate.
And then, after three years of conflict, came the truce at Masyaf. The
sources agree that there was a truce, that Shihab ad-Din Mahmud ibn
Takash acted as go-between, and that Saladin then withdrew. Most of the
sources say that the request for terms came from Sinan, though Ibn Abi Tayy
and, more strongly, Kamal ad-Din imply the reverse. The Isma'ili biography
of Sinan by Abu Firas gives another, more fanciful version of Saladin's attack
and withdrawal. In this Saladin, terrified by the supernatural antics of Sinan
and his henchmen, retreats in disorder, leaving all his arms and equipment
behind. Through the mediation of the prince of Hama, here called Taqi ad-Din,
Sinan grants a safe-conduct to Saladin, who 'became his friend after having
been his enemy '.1 Abu Firas's book is full of miracles and marvels, and is
obviously legendary. It was written at a time when the Assassins had become
respectable members of Syrian society, and were anxious to defend themselves
against charges of disloyalty to Islam.2 It is therefore natural that Abi Firas
should depict his hero as a friend and collaborator of Saladin in the Jihad
against the Crusaders and thus rebut the accusation that the Assassins had
been traitors to the Muslim cause. Yet with all its absurdities and its fantasies
Abu Firas's narrative of the truce at Masyaf obviously rests on a foundation
of local historical recollection. In this, as in his other anecdotes, Abu Firas
is independent of the Sunni historians, with whose works he was probably
unacquainted. The very confusion of Saladin's uncle and nephew-Shihab
ad-Din and Taqi ad-Din-suggests that he was relying on local tradition rather
than on the written sources. The same local recollections underlie some of the
stories collected by Kamal ad-Din in his biography of Sinan in the Bughya.
These describe how Sinan and his emissaries demonstrated their irresistible
power, and end with such significant sentences as: 'We returned to Saladin
and informed him of what had happened, and thereupon he made peace with
Sinan' and 'And thereupon Saladin inclined to make peace with him and to
enter into friendly relations with him '.3
Of the terms of the truce we have no certain knowledge. Kamal ad-Din
mentions only the release by Sinan of the brothers Ibn ad-Daya, who joined
Saladin, but apparently remained in friendly relations with Sinan 4-the other
sources add nothing to this scrap of information. But this much is clear-that
1 Guyard, 77 ff. and 137 if.
Cf. H. Laoust, Essai sur les doctrinessociales et politiques de Takf-d-Dfn A&madb. Taimiya,
Cairo, 1939, 124-5, 266-7, for such accusations in Abi Firas's time.
3 Lewis, 'Three Biographies', 344. One of these stories, that of the threatening letter, is
well known from Ibn Khallikan, Wafayit al-A'yan, Cairo, 1882, ii, 115-6 (= M. de Slane, Biographical Dictionary, Paris, 1842-1871, iii, 339-341), cf. Lewis, 'Sources', 487.
4 Lewis, 'Three Biographies', 341. Kamal ad-Din quotes a letter of condolence from Sinan
to Sabiq ad-Din 'Ammar ibn ad-Daya, lord of Shaizar, on the death of his brother Shams ad-Din,
lord of Qal'at Ja'bar.
2

VOL. XV.

PART 2.

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20

244

B. LEWIS-

for the next seventeen years, until the death of both Sinan and Saladin, neither
of them took any hostile action against the other,' and Saladin was left unimpeded to overwhelm first his Muslim and then his Christian enemies. Sinan
and his followers still make a few appearances in the general histories, which
record the suppression by Sinan of a group of his own extremists in 572/1176,2
the murder of Ibn al-'Ajami in Aleppo in 573/1177,3 Assassin incendiarism in
Aleppo in 575/1179-80, as a reprisal for the seizure of Hajira by al-Malik
as-Salih,4 and, most striking of all, the murder of the crusading chief Conrad
de Montferrat in Tyre in 588/1192.5 Only the last of these is attributed to
the instigation of Saladin, and then only by Ibn al-Athir and Abu Firas, both
suspect for different reasons; while 'Imad ad-Din, on the other hand, points
out that Conrad's death came at an inopportune moment for Saladin. But
none of these actions was contrary to his ultimate interests, and the first,
carried out immediately after the truce, may well have been a direct consequence of it. Four months after the murder of Conrad a truce was signed
between Richard Coeur de Lion and Saladin in which, at Saladin's request,
the Assassin territories were included.6
References are given to the following editions and manuscripts :Abui Firas, Mandqib al-Mawl& Rdshid al-Din, in Stanislas Guyard, Un grand maitre des
assassins au temps de Saladin, Paris, 1877 (reprinted from J.A. 7th series, ix, 324-489).
Abfu Shama, Kitab ar-Rawdatain ft Akhbdr ad-Dawlatain, 2 vols., Cairo, 1287-8. Abridged
German translation by E. P. Goergens, Zur GeschichteSalahaddins, Berlin, 1879. Several of the
relevant passages were published and translated in Silvestre de Sacy, ' M6moire sur la dynastie
des assassins et sur l'6tymologie de leur nom ', Memoiresd'histoire et de litteratureorientale, Paris,
1818, 322-403.
Baha' ad-Din, Sirat Salda ad-Din, Recueil H. Or. iii.
Bar-Hebraeus, Chronography,translated by E. A. W. Budge, Oxford, 1932.
Busttn in C. Cahen, 'Une chronique syrienne du VIe/XIIe siecle: le Bustdn al-Jami"',
Bull. d'Et. Or. de l'nst. fr. de Damas, vii-viii, 113-158.
Ibn al-Athir, Al-Kdmil f't-Ta'rikh, ed. J. C. Tornberg, Leiden-Upsala, 1851-1876. Extracts
with French translation in Recueil des historiens des croisades. Historiens orientaux, i, Paris,
1872-1906.
Ibn Jubair, The Travels, ed. W. Wright, rev. M. J. de Goeje, Leiden-London, 1907. English
translation by R. J. C. Broadhurst, London, 1952.
Ibn Shaddid, Al-A'ldq al-Khatira fi dhikr Umard'ash-Shdmwa'l-Jazira, MS. Istanbul, Revan
Kosk 1564.
Ibn Waiil, Mufarrij al-Kuritb fi Akhbar bani Ayyaib, MS. Cambridge 1079.
'Imad ad-Din, Al-Fath al-Qussi ft'l-Fat4 al-Qudsi, ed. C. Landberg, Leiden, 1888.
Kamal ad-Din, (a) Zubdat al-Halab fi Ta'rikh Halab, MS. Paris, 1666; extracts translated
into French by Blochet in Revue de l'orient latin, iii and iv, 1895-6; (b) Bughyat at-Talab fi
1 A source quoted by Kamal ad-Din in the Bughya (Lewis,' Three Biographies', 343) mentions
a third attempt on Saladin, in Damascus. But this does not appear to be mentioned by the other
authorities.
2 Kamal ad-Din, MS. fol. 193b if. (= Blochet, iv, 147-8); cf. Lewis, 'Three Biographies',
338; Quatremere, 354-5; Defr6mery, 8-9.
3 Abu Shima, i, 274-5; Ibn al-Athir, xi, 294-5; Kamal ad-Din, MS. fol. 193b ff. (= Blochet,
iv, 148-9); Bustan, 142; Sibt, 219; Ibn Wasil, 200-1, Ibn Shaddad, fol. 128b; cf. Quatremere,
355-6; Defr6mery, 20-23.
4 Kamal ad-Din, MS., fol. 196; AbuiShima, ii, 16 (= Goergens, 22); cf. Quatrembre, 356-7,
Defr6mery, 24-5.
5 Baha' ad-Din 165; Abu Shama ii, 196 (= Goergens, 185-6); Ibn al-Athir, xii, 51 (= Recueil
ii, 58-9); Bar-Hebraeus, 339; 'Imad ad-Din, Fat4) 420-2; Sibt, 269; Ibn W&ail, 396-7;
Quatremere, 357; Defr6mery, 25-30; Lewis, 'Sources', 487-8.
6 AbuiShma, ii, 203;
Defr6mery, 29.

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SALADIN AND THE ASSASSINS

245

Ta'rikh Halab, extracts in B. Lewis, 'Three Biographies from Kamal al-Din', Mielanges Fuad
KopriliU, Ankara, 1953, 325-344.
Michael the Syrian, Chronique,translated into French by J. B. Chabot, 4 vols. Paris, 18991910.
Sibt ibn al-Jawzi, Mir'dt az-Zamdn, ed. J. R. Jewett, Chicago, 1907, and MS. Istanbul
Saray 2907c xiii.
C. Defr6mery, 'Nouvelles recherches sur les ismaeliens ou bathiniens de Syrie', J.A. 5th
series, v, 1855, 5-76.
B. Lewis, 'The Sources for the History of the Syrian Assassins', Speculum, xxvii, 1952,
475-489.
E. Quatremere, 'Notice historique sur les isma6liens', Fundgruben des Orients, iv, Vienna,
1814, 339-376.

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