Ghanima Atreides (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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fandomhigh2023-10-04 02:09 pm
atreideslioness) wrote in fandomhigh2023-10-04 02:09 pm
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The History of Assassination. Wednesday, First Period [10/4]
Ghanima and Trebor were back today, Trebor being minorly fussy in his pack-and-play until Ghanima gave in and popped him into the baby sling right before class began.
"You really have to get used to not being carried everywhere," she murmured to him, dropping a kiss on his head as he got settled. "Your Fremen aunties are going to throw a fit about what a loud, spoiled baby you are."
To be fair, by Fremen standards, he was a very loud baby.
"When we talk about assassins, many of you who are from Earth may picture the ninja of Japan," Ghanima said, once class had settled in. "However, they were far from the first."
"The first recorded group of what we might think of as assassassins are the Sicarii -- a group who, in the decades preceding Jerusalem's destruction in 70 CE, strongly opposed the Roman occupation of Judea and attempted to expel them from the area." As was right and proper.
"The Sicarii carried sicae, or small daggers, concealed in their cloaks, hence the name. It is said that att public gatherings, they pulled out these daggers to attack Romans and alleged Roman sympathisers alike, blending into the crowd after the deed to escape detection. To historians, the Sicarii are regarded as one of the earliest known organized assassination units of cloak and daggers, predating the Islamic Hashishin and Japanese ninja by centuries. Today, the derived Spanish term sicario is used in contemporary Latin America to describe a hitman."
"Of course, given that this was almost two-thousand years ago, with few contemporary records, so access to reliable primary sources are scarce. While everything ever written always has a political or cultural bias, the tensions in the area at that time polarized everything."
"Now, the Hashshashin -- or the Order of the Assassins -- were a Nizari Isma'ili order that existed between 1090 and 1275 CE, founded by Hasan-i Sabbah. During that time, they lived in the mountains of Persia and the Levant, and held a strict subterfuge policy throughout the Middle East through the covert murder of Muslim and Christian Crusader leaders who were considered enemies of the Isma'ili state. Contemporaneous historians include Arabs ibn al-Qalanisi and Ali ibn al-Athir, and the Persian Ata-Malik Juvayni. The first two referred to the Assassins as batiniyya, an epithet widely accepted by Isma'ilis themselves."
"The Hashshashin state was formed in 1090 CE after the capture of Alamut Castle in modern Iran, which served as the Assassins' headquarters. 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 Western world was introduced to the Assassins by the works of Marco Polo, who incorrectly understood the name as deriving from the word hashish." Was there a lot of scorn in that last sentence? Yes. Yes there was.
"While Assassins typically refers to the entire group, only a group of disciples known as the fida'i actually engaged in conflict. The preferred method of killing was by dagger, nerve poison or arrows. The Assassins posed a substantial strategic threat to Fatimid, Abbasid, and Seljuk authority. Over the course of nearly 300 years, they killed hundreds – including three caliphs, a ruler of Jerusalem and several Muslim and Christian leaders. Their work remains unparalleled."
"Other notable victims of the Assassins include Janah ad-Dawla, emir of Homs, in 1103, Mawdud ibn Altuntash, atabeg of Mosul in 1113, Fatimid vizier Al-Afdal Shahanshah in 1121, Seljuk atabeg Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi in 1126, Fatimid caliph al-Amir bi-Ahkami’l-Lah in 1130, Taj al-Mulk Buri, atabeg of Damascus in 1132, and Abbasid caliphs al-Mustarshid in 1135 and ar-Rashid in 1138. Saladin, a major foe of the Assassins, escaped assassination twice. The first Frank known to have been killed by the Assassins was Raymond II, Count of Tripoli, in 1152. 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." Ghanima smiled dryly. "They were very efficient."
"During the rule of Imam Rukn al-Din Khurshah, the Isma'ili State was eventually destroyed as Khurshah surrendered the castles after the Mongol invasion of Persia. Khurshah died in 1256 and, by 1275, the Mongols had destroyed and eliminated the order of Assassins."
"Now, in pursuit of their religious and political goals, the Isma'ilis adopted various military strategies popular in the Middle Ages. One such method was that of assassination, the selective elimination of prominent rival figures. The murders of political adversaries were usually carried out in public spaces, creating resounding intimidation for other possible enemies. Throughout history, many groups have resorted to assassination as a means of achieving political ends. The assassinations were committed against those whose elimination would most greatly reduce aggression against the Ismailis and, in particular, against those who had perpetrated massacres against the community. A single assassination was usually employed in contrast with the widespread bloodshed which generally resulted from factional combat. Assassins are also said to have been adept in furusiyya, or the Islamic warrior code, where they were trained in combat, disguises, and equestrianism. Codes of conduct were followed, and the Assassins were taught in the art of war, linguistics, and strategies. For about two centuries, the Assassins specialized in assassinating their religious and political enemies."
"And last, but not least, we have the ninja. A figure of assassination and intrigue in the modern imagination, however, these highly-trained people were more spies than assassins."
"A ninja, or 'one who is invisible'; or shinobi 'one who sneaks'; was a covert agent, mercenary, or guerrilla warfare expert in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included siege and infiltration, ambush, reconnaissance, espionage, deception, and later bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu. Their covert methods of waging irregular warfare were deemed dishonorable and beneath the honor of the samurai. Though shinobi proper, as specially trained warriors, spies, and mercenaries, appeared in the 15th century during the Sengoku period, antecedents may have existed as early as the 12th century. However, it was not until the 15th century that spies were specially trained for their purpose. It was around this time that the word shinobi appeared to define and clearly identify ninja as a secretive group of agents. Evidence for this can be seen in historical documents, which began to refer to stealthy soldiers as shinobi during the Sengoku period."
"In the unrest of the Sengoku period, jizamurai families in Iga Province and the adjacent Kōka District formed ikki - "revolts" or "leagues" - as a means of self-defense. They became known for their military activities in the nearby regions and sold their services as mercenaries and spies. It is from these areas that much of the knowledge regarding the ninja is drawn. Following the unification of Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate in the 17th century, the ninja faded into obscurity. A number of shinobi manuals, often based on Chinese military philosophy, written in the 17th and 18th centuries, most notably the Bansenshūkai in 1676."
"By the time of the Meiji Restoration in 1868, shinobi had become a topic of popular imagination and mystery in Japan. Ninja figured prominently in legend and folklore, where they were associated with legendary abilities such as invisibility, walking on water and control over natural elements. Much of their perception in popular culture is based on such legends and folklore, as opposed to the covert actors of the Sengoku period."
"Now, historically, the word ninja was not in common use, and a variety of regional colloquialisms evolved to describe what would later be dubbed ninja. Along with shinobi, these include monomi - "one who sees", nokizaru - "macaque on the roof", ga-mono - "one from Iga", and more. However, in historical documents, shinobi is almost always used."
In the Western world, the word ninja became more prevalent than shinobi in the post–World War II culture, possibly because it was more comfortable for Western speakers. In English, the plural of ninja can be either unchanged as ninja, reflecting the Japanese language's lack of grammatical number, or the regular English plural ninjas."
"Now, I'm curious. How do these organizations fit your concept of assassins? Do you have anything similar where you are from? Is any of this new information to you, or does it fit your understanding of assassination organizations?"
"You really have to get used to not being carried everywhere," she murmured to him, dropping a kiss on his head as he got settled. "Your Fremen aunties are going to throw a fit about what a loud, spoiled baby you are."
To be fair, by Fremen standards, he was a very loud baby.
"When we talk about assassins, many of you who are from Earth may picture the ninja of Japan," Ghanima said, once class had settled in. "However, they were far from the first."
"The first recorded group of what we might think of as assassassins are the Sicarii -- a group who, in the decades preceding Jerusalem's destruction in 70 CE, strongly opposed the Roman occupation of Judea and attempted to expel them from the area." As was right and proper.
"The Sicarii carried sicae, or small daggers, concealed in their cloaks, hence the name. It is said that att public gatherings, they pulled out these daggers to attack Romans and alleged Roman sympathisers alike, blending into the crowd after the deed to escape detection. To historians, the Sicarii are regarded as one of the earliest known organized assassination units of cloak and daggers, predating the Islamic Hashishin and Japanese ninja by centuries. Today, the derived Spanish term sicario is used in contemporary Latin America to describe a hitman."
"Of course, given that this was almost two-thousand years ago, with few contemporary records, so access to reliable primary sources are scarce. While everything ever written always has a political or cultural bias, the tensions in the area at that time polarized everything."
"Now, the Hashshashin -- or the Order of the Assassins -- were a Nizari Isma'ili order that existed between 1090 and 1275 CE, founded by Hasan-i Sabbah. During that time, they lived in the mountains of Persia and the Levant, and held a strict subterfuge policy throughout the Middle East through the covert murder of Muslim and Christian Crusader leaders who were considered enemies of the Isma'ili state. Contemporaneous historians include Arabs ibn al-Qalanisi and Ali ibn al-Athir, and the Persian Ata-Malik Juvayni. The first two referred to the Assassins as batiniyya, an epithet widely accepted by Isma'ilis themselves."
"The Hashshashin state was formed in 1090 CE after the capture of Alamut Castle in modern Iran, which served as the Assassins' headquarters. 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 Western world was introduced to the Assassins by the works of Marco Polo, who incorrectly understood the name as deriving from the word hashish." Was there a lot of scorn in that last sentence? Yes. Yes there was.
"While Assassins typically refers to the entire group, only a group of disciples known as the fida'i actually engaged in conflict. The preferred method of killing was by dagger, nerve poison or arrows. The Assassins posed a substantial strategic threat to Fatimid, Abbasid, and Seljuk authority. Over the course of nearly 300 years, they killed hundreds – including three caliphs, a ruler of Jerusalem and several Muslim and Christian leaders. Their work remains unparalleled."
"Other notable victims of the Assassins include Janah ad-Dawla, emir of Homs, in 1103, Mawdud ibn Altuntash, atabeg of Mosul in 1113, Fatimid vizier Al-Afdal Shahanshah in 1121, Seljuk atabeg Aqsunqur al-Bursuqi in 1126, Fatimid caliph al-Amir bi-Ahkami’l-Lah in 1130, Taj al-Mulk Buri, atabeg of Damascus in 1132, and Abbasid caliphs al-Mustarshid in 1135 and ar-Rashid in 1138. Saladin, a major foe of the Assassins, escaped assassination twice. The first Frank known to have been killed by the Assassins was Raymond II, Count of Tripoli, in 1152. 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." Ghanima smiled dryly. "They were very efficient."
"During the rule of Imam Rukn al-Din Khurshah, the Isma'ili State was eventually destroyed as Khurshah surrendered the castles after the Mongol invasion of Persia. Khurshah died in 1256 and, by 1275, the Mongols had destroyed and eliminated the order of Assassins."
"Now, in pursuit of their religious and political goals, the Isma'ilis adopted various military strategies popular in the Middle Ages. One such method was that of assassination, the selective elimination of prominent rival figures. The murders of political adversaries were usually carried out in public spaces, creating resounding intimidation for other possible enemies. Throughout history, many groups have resorted to assassination as a means of achieving political ends. The assassinations were committed against those whose elimination would most greatly reduce aggression against the Ismailis and, in particular, against those who had perpetrated massacres against the community. A single assassination was usually employed in contrast with the widespread bloodshed which generally resulted from factional combat. Assassins are also said to have been adept in furusiyya, or the Islamic warrior code, where they were trained in combat, disguises, and equestrianism. Codes of conduct were followed, and the Assassins were taught in the art of war, linguistics, and strategies. For about two centuries, the Assassins specialized in assassinating their religious and political enemies."
"And last, but not least, we have the ninja. A figure of assassination and intrigue in the modern imagination, however, these highly-trained people were more spies than assassins."
"A ninja, or 'one who is invisible'; or shinobi 'one who sneaks'; was a covert agent, mercenary, or guerrilla warfare expert in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included siege and infiltration, ambush, reconnaissance, espionage, deception, and later bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu. Their covert methods of waging irregular warfare were deemed dishonorable and beneath the honor of the samurai. Though shinobi proper, as specially trained warriors, spies, and mercenaries, appeared in the 15th century during the Sengoku period, antecedents may have existed as early as the 12th century. However, it was not until the 15th century that spies were specially trained for their purpose. It was around this time that the word shinobi appeared to define and clearly identify ninja as a secretive group of agents. Evidence for this can be seen in historical documents, which began to refer to stealthy soldiers as shinobi during the Sengoku period."
"In the unrest of the Sengoku period, jizamurai families in Iga Province and the adjacent Kōka District formed ikki - "revolts" or "leagues" - as a means of self-defense. They became known for their military activities in the nearby regions and sold their services as mercenaries and spies. It is from these areas that much of the knowledge regarding the ninja is drawn. Following the unification of Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate in the 17th century, the ninja faded into obscurity. A number of shinobi manuals, often based on Chinese military philosophy, written in the 17th and 18th centuries, most notably the Bansenshūkai in 1676."
"By the time of the Meiji Restoration in 1868, shinobi had become a topic of popular imagination and mystery in Japan. Ninja figured prominently in legend and folklore, where they were associated with legendary abilities such as invisibility, walking on water and control over natural elements. Much of their perception in popular culture is based on such legends and folklore, as opposed to the covert actors of the Sengoku period."
"Now, historically, the word ninja was not in common use, and a variety of regional colloquialisms evolved to describe what would later be dubbed ninja. Along with shinobi, these include monomi - "one who sees", nokizaru - "macaque on the roof", ga-mono - "one from Iga", and more. However, in historical documents, shinobi is almost always used."
In the Western world, the word ninja became more prevalent than shinobi in the post–World War II culture, possibly because it was more comfortable for Western speakers. In English, the plural of ninja can be either unchanged as ninja, reflecting the Japanese language's lack of grammatical number, or the regular English plural ninjas."
"Now, I'm curious. How do these organizations fit your concept of assassins? Do you have anything similar where you are from? Is any of this new information to you, or does it fit your understanding of assassination organizations?"
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During the Lecture
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Discussion!
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Talk to Ghanima & Trebor
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