2152) Assassins (or the "Nizari Ismailis") -, Niue Island: A $5 (Five Dollars), 2.00 Oz Silver Coin features the legendary, historical group which was founded in the Middle Ages in the Middle East: Coin minted by Gdansk Mint, Poland: Year of Coin issue: 08/2019:
This Coin Series titled "Assassins" is dedicated to legendary, historical groups that were specialised in killing. They were famous for their precision and effectiveness.
So far, the series has published two coins designs: Assassins (2019), Knights Templars (2021).
I was particularly interested in writing about this coin, as we live at a stone's throw from the Aga Khan Palace which holds historical importance in the Freediom Struggle of India, as Mahatma Gandhi was incarcerated there.
The name Assassin was founded in the Middle Ages and described killers from a secret Muslim section operating in the Middle East. They aroused great, common fear and became a synonym of merciless murderers. For many decades they have been operating very effectively, killing on demand and remaining anonymous at the same time.
Who were the Assassins (or the "Nizari Ismailis"):
The Assassins (or "Nizari Ismailis"), were a heretical group of Shiite Muslims who were powerful in Persia and Syria from the 11th century CE until their defeat at the hands of the Mongols in the mid-13th century CE.
Secure in their fortified hilltop castles, they became infamous for their strategy of singling out opposition figures and murdering them, usually in knife-wielding teams.
Origins of the name "Assassin":
The group was known as the "Assassins" by their enemies in reference to their use of hashish, "assassin" being a corruption of the Arabic "hasisi" ("hashish-eater"). The name has since come to be associated with their chief modus operandi, the act of murder for political or religious purposes. The Nizari Ismailis continue to exist as a branch of Islam today.
The Nizari Ismailis ate powdered hemp leaves (hashish) which contain a natural "psychoactive" (mind-altering) drug, reportedly doing so before they went on an assassination mission.
The name 'Assassin' in English comes from the Latin term "assassinus", which is a corruption of the Arabic words "hasisi", "al-Hashishiyyun" or "hashashun", (meaning 'hashish-eater.')
As the Nizari Ismailis used the strategy of assassination so often, the name medieval Arabs used to describe their drug habits became synonymous with the act of murdering a political or religious opponent.
The assassination was often planned to be carried out in a crowded location to maximise the political and religious consequences of the act.
About the Ismailis:
The Ismailis were a Shiite Muslim sect formed in the 8th century CE after they split from other Muslims over their adherence to Ismail (d. 760 CE), the eldest son of the sixth imam (leaders of the faith after the Prophet Muhammad), Jafar al-Sadiq (d. 765 CE).
The Ismailis believed that Ismail, despite predeceasing his father, had already been nominated by the latter as his successor.
Therefore, the next (7th) Imam was Ismail's son Muhammad al-Mahdi, as opposed to the orthodox Shiite support for Ismail's brother Musa al-Kazim (d. 799 CE).
For this reason, the Ismaili's are often referred to as the "Seveners." The Ismailis awaited the arrival of the Mahdi or 'the rightly-guided one' who would restore peace and justice, and signal the arrival of the Qa'im, 'the bringer of the Resurrection.'
The Ismailis were, then, seen as heretics by other Muslim groups, not only by other Shiite Muslims but also the Sunnis of the Abbasid Caliphate (750-1258 CE) based at Baghdad.
In the late 11th century CE, the Ismailis themselves split into two groups after a dynastic dispute and their disappointment of the Ismaili-run Fatimid Caliphate (909-1171 CE), then based at Cairo, to progress their ambition to dominate all of the Muslim world.
The eastern-based branch of the sect, the Nizari Ismailis, were named after their preferred candidate for caliph, Abu Mansur Nizar (1047-1097 CE).
The Nizaris were more militant than their rival Ismaili branch, and it was they who became known as the Assassins.
The Assassin Territories:
The Nizari Ismailis, first led by a missionary from Egypt, Hasan Ibn al-Sabbah (c. 1048-1124 CE), set up bases in Iran and formed a new political-religious community much like the European orders of medieval knights.
Members were educated, trained, and initiated, then ranked according to their knowledge, reliability, and courage. All members swore absolute obedience and loyalty to the order's leader.
The Head of the Sect became known to the West through the Crusaders as the "Old Man of the Mountain".
The sect grew and eventually managed to acquire a string of hilltop castles between 1130 and 1151 CE.
Many strongholds were located in northern Syria in the Jabal Ansariyya region, then a border zone with the Syrian Crusader States.
These acquisitions included the fortress town of Masyaf in the Orontes valley of Syria, taken c. 1141 CE, which effectively became the Nizari capital of an Assassin 'mini-state' in Syria.
The failure of the Second Crusade (1147-49 CE) to retake Edessa from Muslim control and the destruction of two armies commanded by the German king Conrad III (r. 1138-1152 CE) and Louis VII, King of France (r. 1137-1180 CE) permitted the Nizari Ismailis to remain unchallenged in northern Syria even if they did occasionally pay tribute to the Crusader States to maintain their isolation or even support them in the wars against the Sunni Muslims of the region.
By the 13th century CE, the sect had spread and there were Nizari Ismailis in Egypt, Syria, Yemen, southern Iraq, southwest Iran (Khuzestan), and Afghanistan, although they remained essentially isolated from their enemies and each other, but at least well-protected, in their impregnable castles. Rumour spread, nevertheless, of their existence and the head of their sect became known to the West via the crusaders, as the "Old Man of the Mountain." (A title associated with "Sheikh Rashid al-Din Sinan" (r. 1169-1193 CE).
One of the most important of the mountain retreats was Maimun-Diz, located in the north of the Alamut Valley, south of the Caspian Sea (aka Alamut Castle or by its nickname the 'eagle's nest').
The Assassin castles were built of stone with wooden upper structures but some were complex defensive arrangements. Masyaf castle was one such example with concentric walls and a castle keep.
The Assassination Strategy:
The Assassins did have a great military strength and so their strategy of targeting specific and powerful opponents was a good one.
The weapon of choice for assassination was almost always the knife, and the mission was usually carried out by a small team, sometimes in disguise as beggars, ascetics, or monks. The assassination was often planned to be carried out in a crowded location to maximise the political and religious consequences of the act.
The assassins were not expected to survive their mission and were known as "fidain" (sing. "fidai") or 'suicide commandos.'
The Targets:
Infamous victims of the Assassins included the great and powerful vizier of Baghdad, Nizam al-Mulk, murdered on 14 October 1092 CE. Another successful target, and the first Christian victim, was Raymond II, the Count of Tripoli, in 1152 CE. who had upset the Assassins by granting the Knights Hospitaller a swathe of land near their base in the Nosairi Mountains in Syria.
A third notable victim was, on 28 April 1192 CE, Conrad of Montferrat. Conrad, made King of the Kingdom of Jerusalem just a few days before, was stabbed by a double team of assassins one night as he walked home from dinner in Tyre.
The Assassins had been disguised as monks and had caught Conrad off-guard by showing him a letter before fatally stabbing him.
Sometimes the assassins were so effective that nobody was quite sure it was they who had perpetrated the crime. One such victim was Maudud, the atabeg of Mosul who was attacked in a courtyard while walking home from prayers at the Grand Mosque of Damascus on 2 October 1113 CE.
The single assassin approached the atabeg asking for alms and then grabbed his belt and stabbed him twice in the stomach. The assassin was caught, beheaded and his body burned but it was only a suspicion that he had been sent by the Nizari Ismailis.
The Assassins became so feared for their effectiveness that rulers went around continuously wearing chain mail under their extravagant robes.
Even Saladin, who had a brush with the Assassins, took to sleeping in a purpose-built wooden tower rather than a tent and dismissing anyone from his presence he did not personally recognise.
The Downfall:
Mongke Khan, the Great Khan of the Mongol Empire (r. 1251-1259 CE) had made his younger brother Hulegu (d. 1265 CE) viceroy of Iran. Hulegu was given an army and told to go on campaign and expand the empire in the west.
This he did with great success, and on the way, he defeated the Assassins in 1256 CE by taking their previously thought impregnable castles one by one, including Alamut. The Assassins had made the strategic error of carrying out one of their infamous hits on a Mongol commander, one Chaghadai, and the previous Great Khan, Guyuk (r. 1246-1248 CE), had already singled them out as troublesome insubordinates to the Mongol hegemony.
The Mongols were successful thanks to their technologically advanced siege machines and catapults which could, amongst other missiles, throw gunpowder bombs great distances with accuracy and power. In order to fire at the Assassin castles perched on their mountaintops, the Mongols often laboriously climbed an adjacent peak and carried up their catapults and siege crossbows in pieces; from there they were able to fire across at the enemy.
The Assassins did not passively sit behind their fortification walls, though, and had their own catapults and handheld crossbows which inflicted significant casualties on the Mongols.
Nevertheless, the remaining Assassin castles fell in their turn and their inhabitants - including men, women, and children - were slaughtered; those women and children lucky enough to survive were sold into slavery.
The Nizari Ismailis were thus ultimately all but exterminated in Persia, but a few castles did survive in Syria before they were attacked by the Mamluk leader, Al-Zahir Baybars, Sultan of Egypt and Syria (r. 1260-1277 CE). By the 1270s CE, many former Assassin castles had been taken over by the Mamluks.
There were still a few Ismailis in hiding even then, for in the 19th century CE a group is known to have moved on to India where they founded a small and still-heretical community.
When the Mongols moved on to their bigger target of Baghdad, mainstream Muslims ransacked the Assassin libraries which had not already been destroyed by the Mongols, especially the famed library of Almut Castle, saving many ancient texts (most of which ended up at Maragheh, Iran) but also burning any that related to the beliefs of the Ismailis leaving only meagre and unsatisfactory textual remains with which to piece together the history of the Assassins.
Legacy:
The medieval Assassins have long gone but the Nizari Ismailis continued as a branch of Shiite Islam, and their leaders came to be represented by the Agha Khans of Iran from 1817 CE. The current spiritual leader and Imam of the Nizari Ismailis is Prince Shah Karim al-Husseini, Aga Khan IV (r. 1957 CE - present).
The global seat of the Ismaili Imamate is in Lisbon, Portugal.
Nizari teachings emphasize human reasoning or ijtihad—using educated, independent reasoning in solving legal questions; pluralism—the acceptance of racial, ethnic, cultural and inter-religious differences; and social justice. Nizaris adhere to the Jaʽfari school of jurisprudence.
The Coin:
In the background, is seen Alamut - a mountain fortress located in the Elbrus Mountains, which in 1090-1256 was a political center of Nizaris.
The inscription on the upper periphery reads - "ASSASSINS", while on the lower periphery is inscribed "NIZARIS".
High relief highlights the intricate details of the coin design.
On the Obverse of the $5 (Five Dollars) Silver with selective Gold Gilding Coin is depicted an image of Queen Elizabeth II facing right.
The denominational value -"5 DOLLARS" (is on the upper left periphery), Name of the issuing country "NIUE" (is on the upper right periphery) and year of issue "2019" (is also on the upper right periphery). The whole coin is decorated with a beautiful Arabian design, in which two daggers have been presented.
Other inscriptions are - "ELIZABETH II" (on the bottom periphery).
The specifications of the Coin are:
Country of issue: Niue Island; Year: 08/2019; Coin Series Theme: "Assassins"; Coin Theme: "Nizaryci, Asasyni" (Assassins - "Nizaris"); Denomination/Face Value: $5 (Five Dollars); Metal Composition: .999 Fineness Silver (Ag), with Gold gilding; Weight: 2.00 Oz or 62.2 grams; Diameter/Size: 45.00 mm; Coin Quality: Antique Finish (AF); Mintage: 999 pieces; Modifications: High Relief; Edge: Numbered; Presentation Box/Case: Yes; Certificate of Authenticity (COA): Yes.
ABOUT The Mint of Gdansk, Poland:
The Mint of Gdansk, Poland was established in 2010. The company's activity refers to the mint tradition of Gdansk, which began eight centuries ago.
Since the 13th century, the Mint of Gdansk has been functioning perfectly, despite the changing historical and political conditions.
For all these years the Mint of Gdansk was one of the most important mints in Poland.
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Rajan Trikha has commented:
ReplyDelete"Very unique theme."
It is indeed, Trikha sahab. I found it very I interesting, particularly as it connects to the Aga Khan. The Aga Khan palace is very near our residence in Pune..
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