[1] Called Fatimids because they professed to trace their descent to Fatima the daughter of the Prophet (Mohammed). [↑]
CHAPTER XII
HULAGU DESTROYS THE ASSASSIN COMMONWEALTH
The valiant and powerful Prince of Mosul, Aksonkor Burshi, was one of the first victims of the second Grand Prior. He was just and daring, a man greatly feared not only by the Assassins but also by the Crusaders with whom he had recently fought a battle. Shortly after his return from this encounter he was attacked by eight Assassins who, disguised as dervishes, fell upon him in the chief mosque of Mosul while he was taking his place on the throne. Protected by armor he defended himself with immense courage. Three of the Assassins he killed, but before his assistants could come to his aid he received a wound which soon proved fatal. All the other Assassins were slain save one who fled and escaped from the wrath of the people. When the mother of this man learned of Aksonkor’s death she adorned herself immediately through pride in the success of the onset for which, as she supposed, her son had given his life. But when he came home uninjured she cut off her hair and blackened her face in deep sorrow, since he had not died with his comrades in honor—such was her view of honor.
Busi the Prince of Damascus was marked for destruction. Tahir the friend of the Assassins had been executed and six thousand of the Order had been massacred in 1129 at that prince’s command; therefore there was no escape for Busi. Within two years of that massacre he was attacked by a band of Assassins and escaped with difficulty; the year following, however, brought death to him from the effects of wounds received in that encounter.
The vengeance of the Assassins continued for years; it waited for time, opportunity, and place, nay more, it passed from one generation to another. They never forgot and never forgave. Shems ul Muluk, son of Busi, as well as many other people of renown fell under the daggers of the Order. The mufti of Kasvin [[223]]and the mayors of Ispahan and Tebriz were among those who perished. Besides rulers and great men a multitude of merchants and ordinary men were murdered by the tools of Hassan Ben Sabah and his successors the so-called apostles of Islam.
But in spite of the bitter enmity between the Abbasids and the Fatimids and the fact that the Assassins, an offshoot of the Fatimids, had worked long and industriously to overthrow their opponents, the throne of the Kalif of Bagdad had not been stained with the blood of its occupants thus far. But the time had now come when the Order dared to murder even the successor of the Prophet. Through a strange retribution, however, Kalif Abu Ali Mansur the tenth of the Fatimid dynasty was the first to die by the hand of an Assassin, but whether this death was effected by the policy of the Order or by private revenge is unknown. It was thought by many that the murderer was employed by the family of Efdhal, the grand vizir.