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    "source_title": "Encyclopaedia Britannica (1911)",
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    "chunk_id": "1911:assary:c77373c60d0e",
    "title": "ASSARY",
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    "verified_text": "assary, or assarion, a roman copper coin, the \"farthing\" of matthew x. 29. assassin (properly _hashishin_, from _hashish_, the opiate made from the juice of hemp leaves), a general term for a secret murderer, originally the name of a branch of the shiite sect (see shiites), known as isma'ilites, founded by hassan (ibn) sabbah at the end of the 11th century, and from that time active in syria and persia until crushed in the 13th century by the mongols under hulaku (hulagu) in persia, and by the mameluke bibars in syria. the father of hassan sabbah, a native of khorasan, and a shiite, had been frequently compelled to profess sunnite orthodoxy, and from prudential motives had sent his son to study under an orthodox doctor at nishapur. here hassan made the acquaintance of nizam-ul-mulk, afterwards vizier of the sultan malik-shah (see seljuks). during the reign of alp-arslan he remained in obscurity, and then appeared at the court of malik-shah, where he was at first kindly received by his old friend the vizier. hassan, who was a man of great ability, tried to supplant him in the favour of the sultan, but was outwitted and compelled to take his departure from persia. he went to egypt (1078-79), and, on account of his high reputation, was received with great honour by the lodge at cairo. he soon stood so high in the caliph mostansir's favour as to excite against him the jealousy of the chief general, and a cause of open enmity soon arose. the caliph had nominated first one and then another of his sons as his successor, and in consequence a party division took place among the leading men. hassan, who adopted the cause of nizar, the eldest son, found his enemies too strong for him, and was forced to leave egypt. after many adventures he reached aleppo and damascus, and after a sojourn there, settled near kuhistan (kohistan). he gradually spread his peculiar modification of isma'ilite doctrine, and, having collected a considerable number of followers, formed them into a secret society. in 1090 he obtained, by stratagem, the strong mountain fortress of alamut in persia, and, removing there with his followers, settled as chief of the famous society afterwards called the assassins. the speculative principles of this body were identical with those of the isma'ilites, but their external policy was marked by one peculiar and distinctive feature--the employment of secret \"assassination\" against all enemies. this practice was introduced by hassan, and formed the essential characteristic of the sect. in organization they closely resembled the western lodge at cairo. at the head was the supreme ruler, the _sheik-al-jabal_ (_jebel_), i.e. chief, or, as it is commonly translated, old man of the mountains. under him were three _da'i-al-kirbal_, or, as they may be called, grand priors, who ruled the three provinces over which the sheik's power extended. next came the body of _da'is_, or priors, who were fully initiated into all the secret doctrines, and were the emissaries of the faith. fourth were the _refiqs_, associates or fellows, who were in process of initiation, and who ultimately advanced to the dignity of _da'is_. fifth came the most distinctive class, the _fedais_ (i.e. the devoted ones), who were the guards or assassins proper. these were all young men, and from their ranks were selected the agents for any deed of blood. they were kept uninitiated, and the blindest obedience was exacted from and yielded by them. when the sheik required the services of any of them, the selected _fedais_ were intoxicated with the _hashish_. when in this state they were introduced into the splendid gardens of the sheik, and surrounded with every sensual pleasure. such a foretaste of paradise, only to be granted by their supreme ruler, made them eager to obey his slightest command; their lives they counted as nothing, and would resign them at a word from him. finally, the sixth and seventh orders were the _lasiqs_, or novices, and the common people. hassan well knew the efficacy of established law and custom in securing the obedience of a mass of people; accordingly, upon all but the initiated, the observances of islam were rigidly enforced. as for the initiated, they knew the worthlessness of positive religion and morality; they believed in nothing, and scoffed at the practices of the faithful. the assassins soon began to make their power felt. one of their first victims was hassan's former friend, nizam-ul-mulk, whose son also died under the dagger of a secret murderer. the death by poison of the sultan malik-shah was likewise ascribed to this dreaded society, and contributed to increase their evil fame. sultan sinjar, his successor, made war upon them, but he was soon glad to come to terms with enemies against whose operations no precaution seemed available. after a long and prosperous rule hassan died at an advanced age in 1124. he had previously slain both his sons, one on suspicion of having been concerned in the murder of a _da'i_ at kuhistan, the other for drinking wine, and he was therefore compelled to name as his successor his chief _da'i_, kia-busurg-omid. during the fourteen years' reign of this second leader, the assassins were frequently unfortunate in the open field, and their castles were taken and plundered; but they acquired a stronghold in syria, while their numerous murders made them an object of dread to the neighbouring princes, and spread abroad their evil renown. a long series of distinguished men perished under the daggers of the _fedais_; even the most sacred dignity was not spared. the caliph mostarshid was assassinated in his tent, and not long after, the caliph rashid suffered a similar fate. busurg-omid was succeeded by his son mahommed i., who, during the long period of twenty-five years, ruthlessly carried out his predecessor's principles. in his time massiat became the chief seat of the syrian branch of the society. mahommed's abilities were not great, and the affections of the people were drawn towards his son hassan, a youth of great learning, skilled in all the wisdom of the initiated, and popularly believed to be the promised imam become visible on earth. the old sheik prevented any attempt at insurrection by slaying 250 of hassan's adherents, and the son was glad to make submission. when, however, he attained the throne, he began to put his views into effect. on the 17th of the month ramadan, 1164, he assembled the people and disclosed to them the secret doctrines of the initiated; he announced that the doctrines of islam were now abolished, that the people might give themselves up to feasting and joy. soon after, he announced that he was the promised imam, the caliph of god upon earth. to substantiate these claims he gave out that he was not the son of mahommed, but was descended from nizar, son of the egyptian caliph mostansir, and a lineal descendant of isma'il. after a short reign of four years hassan was assassinated by his brother-in-law, and his son mahommed ii. succeeded. one of his first acts was to slay his father's murderer, with all his family and relatives; and his long rule, extending over a period of forty-six years, was marked by many similar deeds of cruelty. he had to contend with many powerful enemies, especially with the great atabeg sultan nureddin, and his more celebrated successor, saladin, who had gained possession of egypt after the death of the last fatimite caliph, and against whom even secret assassination seemed powerless. during his reign, also, the syrian branch of the society, under their _da'i_, sinan, made themselves independent, and remained so ever afterwards. it was with this syrian branch that the crusaders made acquaintance; and it appears to have been their emissaries who slew count raymund of tripoli and conrad of montferrat. mahommed ii. died from the effects of poison, administered, it is believed, by his son, jelaleddin hassan iii., who succeeded. he restored the old form of doctrine--secret principles for the initiated, and islam for the people--and his general piety and orthodoxy procured for him the name of the new mussulman. during his reign of twelve years no assassinations occurred, and he obtained a high reputation among the neighbouring princes. like his father, he was removed by poison, and his son, 'ala-ed-din mahommed iii., a child of nine years of age, weak in mind and body, was placed on the throne. under his rule the mild principles of his father were deserted, and a fresh course of assassination entered on. in 1255, after a reign of thirty years, 'ala-ed-din was slain, with the connivance of his son, rukneddin, the last ruler of the assassins. in the following year hulaku (hulagu), brother of the tatar, mangu khan, invaded the hill country of persia, took alamut and many other castles, and captured rukneddin (see mongols). he treated him kindly, and, at his own request, sent him under escort to mangu. on the way, rukneddin treacherously incited the inhabitants of kirdkuh to resist the tatars. this breach of good faith was severely punished by the khan, who ordered rukneddin to be put to death, and sent a messenger to hulaku (hulagu) commanding him to slay all his captives. about 12,000 of the assassins were massacred, and their power in persia was completely broken. the syrian branch flourished for some years longer, till bibars, the mameluke sultan of egypt, ravaged their country and nearly extirpated them. small bodies of them lingered about the mountains of syria, and are believed still to exist there. doctrines somewhat similar to theirs are still to be met with in north syria. see j. von hammer, _geschichte der assassinen_ (1818); s. de sacy, _memoires de l'lnstitut_, iv. (1818), who discusses the etymology fully; _calcutta review_, vols. lv., lvi.; a. jourdain in michaud's _histoire des croisades_, ii. pp. 465-484, and trans. of the persian historian mirkhond in _notices et extraits des manuscrits_, xiii. pp. 143 sq.; cf. r. dozy, _essai sur l'histoire de l'islamisme_ (leiden and paris, 1879); ch. ix. (g. w. t.) assault (from lat. _ad_, to or on, and _saltare_, to leap), in english law, \"an attempt or offer with force or violence to do corporal hurt to another, as by striking at another with a stick or other weapon, or without a weapon, though the party misses his aim.\" notwithstanding ancient opinions to the contrary, it is now settled that mere words, be they ever so provoking, will not constitute an assault. coupled with the attempt or threat to inflict corporal injury, there must in all cases be the means of carrying the threat into effect. a _battery_ is more than a threat or attempt to injure the person of another; the injury must have been inflicted, but it makes no difference however small it may be, as the law does not \"draw the line between degrees of violence,\" but \"totally prohibits the first and lowest stage of it.\" every battery includes an assault. a common assault is a misdemeanour, and is punishable by imprisonment with or without hard labour to the extent of one year, and if it occasions bodily harm, with penal servitude for three years, or imprisonment to the extent of two years, with or without hard labour. there are various different kinds of assaults which are provided against by particular enactments of parliament, such as the offences against the person act 1861, the prevention of crimes act 1871, &c.; and there are also certain aggravated assaults for which the punishment is severer than for common assault, as an assault with intent to murder, with intent to commit a rape, &c. in certain cases an assault and battery is sometimes justifiable, as in the case where a person in authority, as a parent or schoolmaster, inflicts moderate punishment upon a child, or in certain cases of self-defence, or in defence of one's goods and chattels. an assault may be both a tort and a crime, giving a civil action for damages to the person injured, as well as being the subject of a criminal prosecution. _united states._--the general principles applicable throughout the united states are the same as in england. riding a horse threateningly near a person; or riding a bicycle against another (_mercer v. corbin_, 117 indiana rep. 450); waking one from sleep to present a milk bill (_richmond v. fiske_, 160 mass. 34), are assaults. a minor is liable for damages for an assault (_hildreth v. hancock_, 156 illinois rep. 618). in texas it has been held that an assault with a knife is not necessarily an aggravated assault (_warren v. state_, 3 s.w. 240), and an axe is not necessarily a \"deadly weapon\" with which to assault (_gladney v. state_, 12 s.w. 868), and the state must prove that it would be likely to produce death or serious bodily injury (_melton v. state_, 17 s.w. 257). neither a pistol nor brass knuckles are necessarily deadly weapons; the state must show their size or manner of use in making the assault (_ballard v. state_, 13 s.w. 674; _miles v. state_, 5 s.w. 250). but in 1903 a pistol was held by the texas supreme court to be a deadly weapon if not used simply as a club (_lockland v. state_, 73 s.w. 1054), and the same court held in 1904 that a pistol is a deadly weapon (_pace v. state_, 79 s.w. 531), and so the assault was an aggravated assault. in north carolina it has been held that an axe is _ex vi termini_ a \"deadly weapon\" (_state v. shields_, 110 n.c. 49).",
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