Editing Order of Assassins (section)

==Legends and folklore==
{{also|Old Man of the Mountain (Assassin)}}
The legends of the Assassins had much to do with the training and instruction of Assassins ''fida'i''s, famed for their public missions during which they often gave their lives to eliminate adversaries. Some historians have contributed to the tales of ''fida'i''s being fed with hashish as part of their training, but these are only, in reference to the travels of Marco Polo and polemics by enemies.<ref name="Ivanow">{{cite book | last1 = Ivanov | first1 = Vladimir | author-link1 = Vladimir Alexeyevich Ivanov | title = Alamut and Lamasar: two mediaeval Ismaili strongholds in Iran, an archaeological study | publisher = Ismaili Society | year = 1960 | page = 21 | location = Tehran, Iran | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=O_NtAAAAMAAJ | access-date = September 15, 2010 | archive-date = December 4, 2023 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231204025740/https://books.google.com/books?id=O_NtAAAAMAAJ | url-status = live }}</ref> Scholars including [[Vladimir Alexeyevich Ivanov|Vladimir Ivanov]] purport that the assassinations of key figures including Seljuk vizier al-Mulk likely provided encouraging impetus to others in the community who sought to secure the Assassins' protection from political aggression.<ref name="Ivanow" /> Originally a "local and popular term" first applied to the Isma'ilis of Syria, the label was orally transmitted to Western historians and thus found itself in their histories of the Assassins.<ref name="Hodgson" />

It is unknown how Hassan-i-Sabbah was able to get the Assassins to perform with such fervent loyalty. One theory, possibly the best known but also the most criticized, comes from the reports of Marco Polo during his travels to the Orient. He recounts a story he heard that [[Muhammad III of Alamut]] would drug his young followers with hashish, lead them to a "paradise", and then claim that only he had the means to allow for their return. Perceiving that Muhammad III was either a prophet or magician, his disciples, believing that only he could return them to "paradise", were fully committed to his cause and willing to carry out his every request.<ref>
{{cite book|title=The Most Noble and Famous Travels of Marco Polo|last=Frampton|first=John|year=1929}}</ref>

The tales of the ''fida'i''s{{'}} training collected from anti-Ismaili historians and orientalist writers were compounded and compiled in Marco Polo's account, in which he described a "secret garden of paradise".<ref name="Daftary 1998, p. 16">Daftary 1998, p. 16</ref> After being drugged, the Ismaili devotees were said to be taken to a paradise-like garden filled with attractive young maidens and beautiful plants in which these ''fida'i''s would awaken. Here, they were told by an "old" man that they were witnessing their place in Paradise and that should they wish to return to this garden permanently, they must serve the Assassins cause.<ref name="Hodgson" /> So went the tale of the "Old Man in the Mountain", assembled by Marco Polo and accepted by [[Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall]], an 18th-century [[Austrians|Austrian]] orientalist writer responsible for much of the spread of this legend. Until the 1930s, von Hammer's retelling of the Assassin legends served as the standard account of the Assassins across Europe.<ref name="Daftary 1998, p. 16"/>

A well-known legend tells how Count [[Henry II, Count of Champagne|Henry II of Champagne]], returning from [[Armenia]], spoke with Grand Master Rashid ad-Din Sinan at al-Kahf. The count claimed to have the most powerful army and at any moment he claimed he could defeat the Hashashin, because his army was 10 times larger. Rashid replied that his army was instead the most powerful, and to prove it he told one of his men to jump off from the top of the castle in which they were staying. The man did. Surprised, the count immediately recognized that Rashid's army was indeed the strongest, because it did everything at his command, and Rashid further gained the count's respect.<ref>Lewis (2003), p. 25</ref>

The Ismaili began establishing themselves in the [[Indian Subcontinent]] in the 19th century, where they largely reside today. This shift began under the leadership of the 46th Imam, [[Aga Khan I|Hasan Ali Shah]], who was the first to be styled as [[Aga Khan]].

Modern works on the Assassins have elucidated their history and, in doing so, dispelled popular histories from the past as mere legends. In 1933, under the direction of the [[Imamate in Nizari doctrine|Imam]] [[Aga Khan III|Sultan Muhammad Shah]], [[Aga Khan III]], the Islamic Research Association was developed. Historian Vladimir Ivanov was central to both this institution and the 1946 Ismaili Society of [[Bombay]]. Cataloguing a number of Ismaili texts, Ivanov provided the ground for great strides in modern Isma'ili scholarship.<ref name="Daftary 1998, p. 17">Daftary 1998, p. 17</ref>

Ismaili leaders would later support the cause of Pakistan during the partition and have a considerable presence in that country.

In recent years, Peter Willey has provided interesting evidence that goes against the Assassin folklore of earlier scholars. Drawing on its established esoteric doctrine, Willey asserts that the Ismaili understanding of Paradise is a deeply symbolic one. While the [[Qur'an]]ic description of Heaven includes natural imagery, Willey argues that no Assassins ''fida'i'' would seriously believe that he was witnessing Paradise simply by awakening in a beauteous garden.<ref name="Willey, p. 55">Willey, p. 55</ref> The Assassins' symbolic interpretation of the Qur'anic description of Paradise serves as evidence against the possibility of such an exotic garden used as motivation for the devotees to carry out their armed missions. Furthermore, Willey points out that a courtier of [[Hulagu Khan]], [[Ata al-Mulk Juvayni|Juvayni]], surveyed the Alamut castle just before the Mongol invasion. In his reports about the fortress, there are elaborate descriptions of sophisticated storage facilities and the famous Alamut library. However, even this anti-Ismaili historian makes no mention of the gardens on the Alamut grounds.<ref name="Willey, p. 55"/> Having destroyed a number of texts in the library's collection which he deemed to be heretical, it would be expected that Juvayni would pay significant attention to the Assassins' gardens, particularly if they were the site of drug use and temptation. Having not once mentioned such gardens, Willey concludes that there is no sound evidence in favor of these legends.<ref name=":2" />