Glory to the Black CasteOrigin of the word Assassin
Perhaps knowing the origins of the Assassin, the political motivation for such individuals and the historical facts surrounding them might help us understand better our role-playing application of such a character.
Considering John Norman based his story against much of earths own history and also considering that the men of Gor originated from the planet earth, it would be safe to say that many of the customs of earth might have been transferred to Gor, some would have survived and other customs would have evolved into what we understand to be Gorean, for example, Norman uses the reality of the Caste system found in India even today as a basis for his caste system that we read about in the books.
Note on India’s Caste System
The Indian caste system has been in use for many years. Still today the values of the caste system are held strongly. It has kept a sense of order, and peace among the people. There are five different levels of the system: Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra, and Harijans. Within each of these categories are the actual "castes" or jatis within which people are born, marry, and die. They all have their own place among each other and accept that it is the way to keep society from disintegrating to chaos. This system has worked well for Indian people and still has a major role in modern India.)
Imagine if the books were written completely in Gorean, what word would mean Assassin? Could there be a chance that its meaning originated from earth culture? I believe that the need and use of Assassins probably developed on Counter Earth for the same reasons they developed on Earth.
Historical Facts or Fiction:
The word Assassin has many paths leading back to its origin, the most popular by far is the belief that it derives from the Hashshashin, which was a militant Ismaili Muslim cult operating across the Middle East, from around the 8th to the 14th century, a secret society who targeted the Abbasid and Seljuq élite for political and religious motives.
European story tellers played a large part in confusing fact with fantasy regarding these trained killers, even today their origins are uncertain. There is a belief that the assassins took drugs before killing their targets, it is thought they consumed hashish and opium, which possibly supports that the word assassin derives from hasishin, the influence of drugs, or Hassansin, the name of their leader, Hassan-i-Sabah.
This intoxication invariably led to their deaths, but the promise of immediate acceptance into paradise was overpowering. This belief was indoctrinated into their psyche early in their training while at the Alamut. Tales of how members where inducted into the political and religious secret society of the Assassin are endless.
The explorer Marco Polo, who visited Alamut after it fell to the Mongols in the 13th century, is responsible for probably the most well known of these legends.
The Assassin being trained was drugged and made to believe he was dying, when the fellow awoke he found himself in a beautiful garden, surrounded by unimaginable riches, and stunning virgin women who fed him a sumptuous feast fit for a king, the chosen was so convinced that he was in heaven and that Hassan-i-Sabah, the leader of the cult, was indeed divine or in league with divinity, he had no choice but to serve the cult in all it asked, even if death was the prize for his faith and loyalty.
The original place they started their elite group was in Iran (Persia) but like most sects, cults or religions, it soon spread far and wide to many other countries.
According to historical documents, the Assassins altered the original Isma’ili doctrine, basically making the killing of infidels and blasphemers a religious commitment. Over time their ranks grew in numbers, allowing them to construct strongholds across both Iran and Iraq.
Typically, men have shown how they will take a belief based on kindness and twist its meaning for their own gain. The same can be said about the Assassins. The idea of a paradise built around Alamut might have been founded upon the sayings of imam al-Kahir; he talks about a Paradise that man has already entered, but could al-Kahir have been referring to a spiritual one and not an earthly paradise?
The Assassins had secret agents stationed in the heart of major cities, these agents often being high ranking officers of the guard, those men chosen as body guards of the leadership, trusted men who had the ability to stand shoulder to shoulder with their own leaders and by association, the leaders of other countries.
Even though there is a history of the Assassins killing the Seljuq, this clan became an important ally under the Seljuq ruler, Ridwan who was based in Aleppo, a city in northern Syria. This allegiance guaranteed the Assassins passage throughout Syria where they were able to build a number of fortresses. Even though it can be said that the Assassins never had a recognised state of their own, the reality was that they had created their own state within Syria. The Assassins influence over the city of Aleppo became so strong that they ruled politically and economically for over 20 years.
There is evidence that the Assassins regarded education of the utmost importance, this along with physical training was extreme, even fanatical, they were ranked according to physical fitness, intelligence, courage and trustworthiness.
Generally the Assassins worked alone, it was rare for them to team up and work together. They used frequent disguises such as dressing as tradesmen or religious figures, spending extended periods of time in the cities so as to learn its layout and also to study the day to day movements of the target. Outwardly the Assassins were sometimes very likable personalities, this was deliberate on their part as they used this trait to cultivate trusted relationships with the friends or family of the target, even the target themselves.
When it came to performing the murder the Assassin used a dagger. The location would normally be in a public place so that many witnesses would spread the word of the kill, in a very short time the news would have travelled far.
Favoured locations used for the deadly deed included, markets, mosques, temples, palace courtyards and halls. Anywhere that attracted large numbers of citizens. Sadly for the Assassin, it would have been rare for him to escape the swords of guards, he was trained to believe he would die soon after his act of killing and pass into paradise, in fact many Assassins, after killing, would lay down their weapons and wait to be slain.
Ancient methods
It seems likely that the first assassinations would have been direct and simple: stabbing, strangling or bludgeoning. Substantial planning or coordination would rarely have been involved, as tribal groups were too small, and the connection to the leaders too close. As civilization took root, however, leaders began to have greater importance, and become more detached from the groups they ruled. This would have brought planning, subterfuge and weapons into successful assassination plan.
The key technique was likely infiltration, with the actual assassination via stabbing, smothering or strangulation. Poisons also started to be used in many forms. Death cap mushrooms and similar plants became a traditional choice of assassins especially if they could not be perceived as poisonous by taste, and the symptoms of the poisoning did not show until after some time.
Motivation
The Assassins of Hassan-i-Sabah were motivated by their religious fervour and desire to pass into paradise and for political gain rather than financial reward. The ones chosen to go and kill were more like suicide bombers of today, rather than black clad ninja killing machines. Assassins would kill important figures and also kill to highlight a cause, where by the victims are of secondary importance.
These stories have never been confirmed by any investigations of contemporary Isma'ili sources, and there is good reason to believe that such a shortcoming is a clear indication that such stories are fabrications.
Definitions of Assassin on the Web:
A murderer (especially one who kills a prominent political figure) who kills by a treacherous surprise attack and often is hired to do the deed ...
A member of a secret order of Muslims (founded in the 12th century) who terrorized and killed Christian Crusaders
Ancient history
Assassination is one of the oldest tools of power politics, dating back at least as far as recorded history. Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, and Julius Caesar can be noted as famous examples. Emperors of Rome often met their end in this way, as did many of the Shia Imams. The practice was also well-known in ancient China an example of this is Jing Ke's failed assassination of Qin Shi Huang. The ancient Indian military advisor Chanakya wrote about assassinations in detail in his political treatise Arthashastra.
In the Middle Ages, regicide was rare, but with the Renaissance, tyrannicide - or assassination for personal or political reasons - became more common again. Rulers like Henry III and Henry IV of France as well as William the Silent of the Netherlands fell to it.
NB: The broad definition of regicide is the deliberate killing of a monarch, or the person responsible for it. In a narrower sense, in the British tradition, it refers to the judicial execution of a king after alleged due process of law. Tyrannicide literally means the killing of a tyrant.
Assassination for military purposes has long been espoused - Sun Tzu, writing around the time 500 B.C.E., argued in favour of using assassination in his book The Art of War. Nearly 2000 years later Machiavelli also argued assassination could be useful in his book The Prince.
Short note on ninjas as a comparison of culture difference.
In the history of Japan, a ninja was someone specially trained in a variety of unorthodox arts of war. The methods used by ninja included assassination, espionage, and a variety of martial arts.
In the Japanese culture, they were usually trained for dangerous missions. Their exact origins are still unknown; they appeared in 14th century feudal Japan and remained active from the Kamakura to the Edo period.
Their roles may have included sabotage, espionage, scouting and assassination missions as a way to destabilize and cause social chaos in enemy territory or against an opposing ruler, perhaps in the service of their feudal rulers (daimyo, shogun), or an underground ninja organization waging guerilla warfare.
References:
Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Looklex Encyclopedia
Considering John Norman based his story against much of earths own history and also considering that the men of Gor originated from the planet earth, it would be safe to say that many of the customs of earth might have been transferred to Gor, some would have survived and other customs would have evolved into what we understand to be Gorean, for example, Norman uses the reality of the Caste system found in India even today as a basis for his caste system that we read about in the books.
Note on India’s Caste System
The Indian caste system has been in use for many years. Still today the values of the caste system are held strongly. It has kept a sense of order, and peace among the people. There are five different levels of the system: Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra, and Harijans. Within each of these categories are the actual "castes" or jatis within which people are born, marry, and die. They all have their own place among each other and accept that it is the way to keep society from disintegrating to chaos. This system has worked well for Indian people and still has a major role in modern India.)
Imagine if the books were written completely in Gorean, what word would mean Assassin? Could there be a chance that its meaning originated from earth culture? I believe that the need and use of Assassins probably developed on Counter Earth for the same reasons they developed on Earth.
Historical Facts or Fiction:
The word Assassin has many paths leading back to its origin, the most popular by far is the belief that it derives from the Hashshashin, which was a militant Ismaili Muslim cult operating across the Middle East, from around the 8th to the 14th century, a secret society who targeted the Abbasid and Seljuq élite for political and religious motives.
European story tellers played a large part in confusing fact with fantasy regarding these trained killers, even today their origins are uncertain. There is a belief that the assassins took drugs before killing their targets, it is thought they consumed hashish and opium, which possibly supports that the word assassin derives from hasishin, the influence of drugs, or Hassansin, the name of their leader, Hassan-i-Sabah.
This intoxication invariably led to their deaths, but the promise of immediate acceptance into paradise was overpowering. This belief was indoctrinated into their psyche early in their training while at the Alamut. Tales of how members where inducted into the political and religious secret society of the Assassin are endless.
The explorer Marco Polo, who visited Alamut after it fell to the Mongols in the 13th century, is responsible for probably the most well known of these legends.
The Assassin being trained was drugged and made to believe he was dying, when the fellow awoke he found himself in a beautiful garden, surrounded by unimaginable riches, and stunning virgin women who fed him a sumptuous feast fit for a king, the chosen was so convinced that he was in heaven and that Hassan-i-Sabah, the leader of the cult, was indeed divine or in league with divinity, he had no choice but to serve the cult in all it asked, even if death was the prize for his faith and loyalty.
The original place they started their elite group was in Iran (Persia) but like most sects, cults or religions, it soon spread far and wide to many other countries.
According to historical documents, the Assassins altered the original Isma’ili doctrine, basically making the killing of infidels and blasphemers a religious commitment. Over time their ranks grew in numbers, allowing them to construct strongholds across both Iran and Iraq.
Typically, men have shown how they will take a belief based on kindness and twist its meaning for their own gain. The same can be said about the Assassins. The idea of a paradise built around Alamut might have been founded upon the sayings of imam al-Kahir; he talks about a Paradise that man has already entered, but could al-Kahir have been referring to a spiritual one and not an earthly paradise?
The Assassins had secret agents stationed in the heart of major cities, these agents often being high ranking officers of the guard, those men chosen as body guards of the leadership, trusted men who had the ability to stand shoulder to shoulder with their own leaders and by association, the leaders of other countries.
Even though there is a history of the Assassins killing the Seljuq, this clan became an important ally under the Seljuq ruler, Ridwan who was based in Aleppo, a city in northern Syria. This allegiance guaranteed the Assassins passage throughout Syria where they were able to build a number of fortresses. Even though it can be said that the Assassins never had a recognised state of their own, the reality was that they had created their own state within Syria. The Assassins influence over the city of Aleppo became so strong that they ruled politically and economically for over 20 years.
There is evidence that the Assassins regarded education of the utmost importance, this along with physical training was extreme, even fanatical, they were ranked according to physical fitness, intelligence, courage and trustworthiness.
Generally the Assassins worked alone, it was rare for them to team up and work together. They used frequent disguises such as dressing as tradesmen or religious figures, spending extended periods of time in the cities so as to learn its layout and also to study the day to day movements of the target. Outwardly the Assassins were sometimes very likable personalities, this was deliberate on their part as they used this trait to cultivate trusted relationships with the friends or family of the target, even the target themselves.
When it came to performing the murder the Assassin used a dagger. The location would normally be in a public place so that many witnesses would spread the word of the kill, in a very short time the news would have travelled far.
Favoured locations used for the deadly deed included, markets, mosques, temples, palace courtyards and halls. Anywhere that attracted large numbers of citizens. Sadly for the Assassin, it would have been rare for him to escape the swords of guards, he was trained to believe he would die soon after his act of killing and pass into paradise, in fact many Assassins, after killing, would lay down their weapons and wait to be slain.
Ancient methods
It seems likely that the first assassinations would have been direct and simple: stabbing, strangling or bludgeoning. Substantial planning or coordination would rarely have been involved, as tribal groups were too small, and the connection to the leaders too close. As civilization took root, however, leaders began to have greater importance, and become more detached from the groups they ruled. This would have brought planning, subterfuge and weapons into successful assassination plan.
The key technique was likely infiltration, with the actual assassination via stabbing, smothering or strangulation. Poisons also started to be used in many forms. Death cap mushrooms and similar plants became a traditional choice of assassins especially if they could not be perceived as poisonous by taste, and the symptoms of the poisoning did not show until after some time.
Motivation
The Assassins of Hassan-i-Sabah were motivated by their religious fervour and desire to pass into paradise and for political gain rather than financial reward. The ones chosen to go and kill were more like suicide bombers of today, rather than black clad ninja killing machines. Assassins would kill important figures and also kill to highlight a cause, where by the victims are of secondary importance.
These stories have never been confirmed by any investigations of contemporary Isma'ili sources, and there is good reason to believe that such a shortcoming is a clear indication that such stories are fabrications.
Definitions of Assassin on the Web:
A murderer (especially one who kills a prominent political figure) who kills by a treacherous surprise attack and often is hired to do the deed ...
A member of a secret order of Muslims (founded in the 12th century) who terrorized and killed Christian Crusaders
Ancient history
Assassination is one of the oldest tools of power politics, dating back at least as far as recorded history. Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, and Julius Caesar can be noted as famous examples. Emperors of Rome often met their end in this way, as did many of the Shia Imams. The practice was also well-known in ancient China an example of this is Jing Ke's failed assassination of Qin Shi Huang. The ancient Indian military advisor Chanakya wrote about assassinations in detail in his political treatise Arthashastra.
In the Middle Ages, regicide was rare, but with the Renaissance, tyrannicide - or assassination for personal or political reasons - became more common again. Rulers like Henry III and Henry IV of France as well as William the Silent of the Netherlands fell to it.
NB: The broad definition of regicide is the deliberate killing of a monarch, or the person responsible for it. In a narrower sense, in the British tradition, it refers to the judicial execution of a king after alleged due process of law. Tyrannicide literally means the killing of a tyrant.
Assassination for military purposes has long been espoused - Sun Tzu, writing around the time 500 B.C.E., argued in favour of using assassination in his book The Art of War. Nearly 2000 years later Machiavelli also argued assassination could be useful in his book The Prince.
Short note on ninjas as a comparison of culture difference.
In the history of Japan, a ninja was someone specially trained in a variety of unorthodox arts of war. The methods used by ninja included assassination, espionage, and a variety of martial arts.
In the Japanese culture, they were usually trained for dangerous missions. Their exact origins are still unknown; they appeared in 14th century feudal Japan and remained active from the Kamakura to the Edo period.
Their roles may have included sabotage, espionage, scouting and assassination missions as a way to destabilize and cause social chaos in enemy territory or against an opposing ruler, perhaps in the service of their feudal rulers (daimyo, shogun), or an underground ninja organization waging guerilla warfare.
References:
Wikipedia Encyclopedia
Looklex Encyclopedia