Īccounts of the Assassins were preserved within Western, Arabic, Syriac, and Persian sources where they are depicted as trained killers, responsible for the systematic elimination of opposing figures.

Khurshah died in 1256 and, by 1275, the Mongols had destroyed and eliminated the order of Assassins. The Assassins were acknowledged and feared by the Crusaders, losing the de facto King of Jerusalem, Conrad of Montferrat, to an Assassin's blade in 1192 and Lord Philip of Montfort of Tyre in 1270.ĭuring the rule of Imam Rukn al-Din Khurshah, the Nizari Isma'ili State declined internally, and was eventually destroyed as Khurshah surrendered the castles after the Mongol invasion of Persia. The first Frank known to have been killed by the Assassins was Raymond II, Count of Tripoli, in 1152. Saladin, a major foe of the Assassins, escaped assassination twice (1175-1176). Other notable victims of the Assassins include Janah ad-Dawla, emir of Homs, (1103), Mawdud ibn Altuntash, atabeg of Mosul (1113), Fatimid vizier Al-Afdal Shahanshah (1121), Seljuk atabeg Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi (1126), Fatimid caliph al-Amir bi-Ahkami’l-Lah (1130), Taj al-Mulk Buri, atabeg of Damascus (1132), and Abbasid caliphs al-Mustarshid (1135) and ar-Rashid (1138). The first instance of murder in the effort to establish a Nizari Isma'ili state in Persia was the assassination of Seljuk vizier Nizam al-Mulk in 1092. Over the course of nearly 300 years, they killed hundreds - including three caliphs, a ruler of Jerusalem and several Muslim and Christian leaders.

The Assassins posed a substantial strategic threat to Fatimid, Abbasid, and Seljuk authority. The preferred method of killing was by dagger, never poison or arrows. Lacking their own army, the Nizari relied on these warriors to carry out espionage and assassinations of key enemy figures. While Assassins typically refers to the entire sect, only a group of disciples known as the fida'i actually engaged in conflict. Rashid ad-Din Sinan the Grand Master of the Assassins at Masyaf was unsuccessful in keeping Sultan Saladin off his territory. The Western world was introduced to the Assassins by the works of Marco Polo who understood the name as deriving from the term hashish. The Nizari Isma'ili State was ruled by Hassan-i Sabbath until his death in 1124. The Alamut and Lambsar castles became the foundation of a network of Isma'ili fortresses throughout Persia and Syria that formed the backbone of Assassin power, and included Syrian strongholds at Masyaf, Abu Qubays, al-Qadmus and al-Kahf. The state was formed in 1090 after the capture of Alamut Castle in modern Iran, which served as the Assassins' headquarters.

The Nizari Isma'ili State, later known as the Assassins, was founded by Hassan-i Sabbah.

Black templars crusader squad