Alamut () is a ruined mountain fortress located in the Alamut region in the South Caspian, near the village of Gazor Khan in Qazvin province in Iran, approximately 200 km (130 mi) from present-day Tehran.

In 1090 AD, the Alamut Castle, a mountain fortress in present-day Iran, came into the possession of Hassan-i Sabbah, a champion of the Nizari Ismaili cause. Until 1256, Alamut functioned as the headquarters of the Nizari Ismaili state, which included a series of strategic strongholds scattered throughout Persia and Syria, with each stronghold being surrounded by swathes of hostile territory.

Alamut, which is the most famous of these strongholds, was thought impregnable to any military attack and was fabled for its heavenly gardens, library, and laboratories where philosophers, scientists, and theologians could debate in intellectual freedom.

The stronghold survived adversaries including the Seljuk and Khwarazmian empires. In 1256, Rukn al-Din Khurshah surrendered the fortress to the invading Mongols, who dismantled it and destroyed its famous library holdings. Though commonly assumed that the Mongol conquest obliterated the Nizari Ismailis presence at Alamut, the fortress was recaptured in 1275 by Nizari forces, demonstrating that while the destruction and damage to the Ismailis in that region was extensive, it was not the complete annihilation attempted by the Mongols. However, the castle was seized once again and fell under the rule of Hulegu Khan’s eldest son in 1282. Afterward, the castle was of only regional significance, passing through the hands of various local powers.

Today, it lies in ruins.

Origins and name

The Alamut castle was built by the Justanid ruler of Daylam, Wahsūdān ibn Marzubān, a follower of Zaydi Shi'ism, around 840 AD. During a hunting trip, he witnessed a soaring eagle perch high on a rock. Realizing the tactical advantage of this location, he chose the site for the construction of a fortress, which was called Aluh āmū[kh]t () by the natives, likely meaning "Eagle's Teaching" or "Nest of Punishment". The abjad numerical value of this word is 483, which is the date of the castle's capture by Hassan-i Sabbah (483 AH = 1090/91 AD). Alamut remained under Justanid control until the arrival of the Isma'ili chief da’i (missionary) Hassan-i Sabbah to the castle in 1090 AD, marking the start of the Alamut period in Nizari Isma'ili history.

List of Nizari Isma'ili rulers at Alamut (1090–1256)

;Nizari da'is who ruled at Alamut

  1. Hassan-i Sabbah () (1050–1124)
  2. Kiya Buzurg-Ummid () (1124–1138)
  3. Muhammad ibn Kiya Buzurg-Ummid () (1138–1162)

;Imams in occultation at Alamut

  1. Ali al-Hadi ibn Nizar ibn al-Mustansir
  2. Muhammad (I) al-Muhtadi
  3. Hasan (I) al-Qahir

;Imams who ruled at Alamut

  1. Hasan (II) Ala Dhikrihi al-Salam () (1162–1166)
  2. Nur al-Din Muhammad (II) () (1166–1210)
  3. Jalal al-Din Hasan (III) () (1210–1221)
  4. Al al-Din Muhammad (III) () (1221–1255)
  5. Rukn al-Din Khurshah () (1255–1256)

History

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, Khorasan and Quhistan. The Ismailis and other occupied peoples of Iran held shared resentment for the ruling Seljuks, who had divided the country's farmland into 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. Meanwhile, Persian artisans, craftsmen and lower classes grew increasingly dissatisfied with the Seljuq policies and heavy taxes. 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 and Rudbar regions, including the castles of Sa’adat-kuh, Mubarak-kuh, and Firuz-kuh. 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 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’s narrative and recounted in the Haft Bab-i Abi Ishaq, an Ismaili book of the 15th century. However, these are either based on Juvayni, or don't go into great detail. 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 al-Mustansir, a qadi (judge) by the name of Abul Hasan Sa'idi travelled from Egypt to Alamut, taking with him Imam Nizar’s youngest son, who was known as al-Hadi.

The Mongol invasion and collapse of the Nizari Ismaili state

thumb|250px|[[Siege of Alamut|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. "Khitayan" meant Chinese and it was a type of arcuballista, deployed in 1256 under Hulagu's command. 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. The device was described as an ox's bow. Pitch which was lit on fire was applied to the bolts of the weapon before firing. Another historian thinks that instead gunpowder might have been strapped onto the bolts which caused the burns during the battle recorded by Juvayini.

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 period has been found by archaeological studies in 2004 led by Hamideh Chubak. Further evidence suggests another Afghan attack on the castle.

Defense and military tactics

thumb|260px|View of the Alamut Castle

The natural geographical features of the valley surrounding Alamut largely secured the castle's defence. Positioned atop a narrow rock base approximately 180 m above ground level, the fortress could not be taken by direct military force. Originally, a "local and popular term" first applied to the Ismailis of Syria, the label was orally transmitted to Western historians and thus found itself in their histories of the Nizaris.

  • In 1918, Harold Lamb published a short story, "Alamut" in Adventure, featuring Lamb's recurring character, Khlit the Cossack.
  • In 1938, Slovenian novelist Vladimir Bartol published the novel Alamut. Alamut is a canonical work of Slovene literature, and has been translated into most major literary languages.
  • In his 1984 story The Walking Drum, Louis L'Amour uses Alamut as the setting for the rescue of Kerbouchard's father.
  • Alamut and Hassan-i-Sabbah are described vividly in William S. Burroughs' 1987 book, The Western Lands.
  • Alamut is described in detail towards the end of Umberto Eco's 1987 novel Foucault's Pendulum.
  • Hassan-i Sabbah and his rule over Alamut play a role in the 1988 historical novel Samarkand by Lebanese-French writer, Amin Maalouf.
  • The Alamut series of fantasy-historical novels was published by American author Judith Tarr between 1989 and 1991.
  • A fictional depiction of Alamut castle in the middle of the 13th century and its fall in 1256 is featured in the 1996 The Children of the Grail books series by German author Peter Berling.
  • In the role-playing game, Vampire: the Masquerade, by White Wolf, Inc., the clan Assamite uses Alamut as its central headquarters.
  • A fictional depiction of the fall of the Alamut citadel is described in the 2008 novel Bones of the Hills, from the Conqueror series written by Conn Iggulden.
  • Assad, the protagonist in Scott Oden's 2010 novel, The Lion of Cairo, is an assassin from Alamut.
  • Alamut is the city of Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) and the location of the Sands of Time in the 2010 film Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.<!--

Not a portrayal: * In the multiplatform computer game Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars, Club Alamut is a dodgy bar the player can visit and meet people. -->

  • Alamut is featured in the video game franchise Assassin's Creed, which draws heavy inspiration from the history of the Assassin Order. It first appears in the novel Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade, wherein the protagonist Altaïr Ibn-LaʼAhad seeks refuge in the fortress during his exile from Masyaf and discovers it was unknowingly built atop an ancient temple of the First Civilization, from which he retrieves several Memory Seals. Alamut and its First Civilization Temple are later mentioned in the game Assassin's Creed Rogue, where it is revealed that the character Edward Kenway came across them during his search for First Civilization sites across the globe. Alamut also appears as a major location in the game Assassin's Creed Mirage, which takes place around the time construction of the fortress finished in 865; it is depicted as the main headquarters of the Assassins, despite them not historically occupying Alamut until two centuries later.

See also

  • Atashgah Castle
  • Alamut (region)
  • Hassan-i Sabbah
  • Lambsar Castle
  • List of Ismaili castles
  • Iranian architecture
  • Qiyama (Nizari Isma'ilism)

Family tree

References

Sources

Further reading

  • HASAN BIN SABBAH AND NIZARI ISMAILI STATE IN ALAMUT
  • Kiya Buzrug Ummid
  • Alamut Castle: A Fortress of History and Legend