The Prince of Mosul and his brother alarmed by the success of Saladin now joined their forces to those of Aleppo and advanced against him. The armies met April 13, 1175, near Hamath. The troops of Aleppo and Monsul were routed most thoroughly and pursued even to the gates of Aleppo.
Saladin, now the greatest power in Egypt and Syria, waited no longer; he at once proclaimed himself King and named the dynasty which he founded “The Eyubite dynasty” in honor of his father. Twelve months later the Prince of Mosul, who had brought together a numerous army, met Saladin near Aleppo where a fierce battle was fought April 22, 1176. Seif ed din was defeated and lost his camp and his army.
Very soon after this victory Saladin took three important fortresses: [[239]]Bosaa, Manbidj, and Azaz, the latter only after a siege lasting nearly a month. During this siege the king was again attacked by Assassins; the first struck at his head with a knife but Saladin seized the man’s hand and an attendant rushed forward and killed him. A second and even a third murderer sprang forth but met with no better success.
Saladin, greatly alarmed by these repeated attacks, determined to destroy the Assassins, or at least drive them out of Syria. In 1177, after peace was established with Mosul and Aleppo, he advanced with a large force and blockaded Massiat which was built on an almost inaccessible peak commanding a deep ravine. Moslem historians assure us that he would have captured this all-important fortress and thus ended the Order in Syria had not his uncle, Shihab ed din, Lord of Hamath, begged him to make peace on the assurance of Sinan that the king would thereafter be protected from Assassins. Other historians assert that he was terrified by the threats of Sinan and relate how on a night Saladin awoke and found by his bed some hot scones of a size and shape peculiar to the Assassins. Near them, pinned down by a dagger, was a paper containing a threat and a warning. Whatever the cause may have been Saladin withdrew to Damascus without capturing the Assassin stronghold. Then leaving Turan Shah in command of Syria he returned to Cairo after an absence of two years.
Thereafter Saladin campaigned both in Egypt and Syria, took possession of the principal cities held by the Crusaders, and won the Holy Land for Mohammedans, but was never again attacked by Assassins.
Mohammed II died at Alamut in 1213 from poison, as is stated, leaving a son, Jelal ud din Hassan, who was twenty-five years of age at that time. From boyhood he had been opposed to the practices of the Assassins. As years passed this opposition became so intense that father and son feared each other and when Mohammed died suddenly suspicion rested on Jelal. As soon as the new Grand Prior assumed command he announced his return to the true tenets of Islam, and gave notice to the Kalif at Bagdad, the Kwaresmian Shah and the Governor of Irak of this change in the teachings at Alamut, undertaking at the same time to bring all [[240]]Ismailians to follow his example. Belief seems to have been given to these assurances, for when his wife and mother went on a pilgrimage to Mecca they were received with distinction at Bagdad and the party of pilgrims who marched under the banner of the Alamut ruler preceded all others. He lived only twelve years after coming to the throne but during those years he built mosques, established schools and called in learned men to teach his people the true faith. Some historians consider Jelal ud din a shrewd politician rather than a reformer and assert that he remained an apostle of atheism. Be this as it may he did for a short time suppress assassination but it reinstated itself quickly when poison removed him and his son, Alai ed din Mohammed, a boy nine years of age, reached the throne. During Alai ed din’s reign women of the harem ruled at Alamut. Every law established by Jelal ud din, his father, was abolished and atheism and the dagger held sway as in the days of Hassan Ben Sabah. When nearing manhood Alai ed din showed symptoms of mental disorder but no man had the courage to say that the chief was in need of assistance. Had a physician dared to tell the truth on that subject he would have been torn limb from limb by the rabble at Alamut. As his illness increased his conduct became almost beyond sufferance, though his associates declared that what he said and did was divine in its origin. When Alai ed din was eighteen years of age a son was born to him. This son he named Rokn ud din Kurshah and made him his successor.
From childhood the Ismailians looked upon Rokn ud din as their future Grand Prior and showed him honor equal to that given his father. This roused anger in Alai ed din and he resolved to depose his son and appoint another successor. When his advisors declared that the nomination was final he was enraged and from that time on annoyed and tormented his son, till at last Rokn ud din disclosed his whole mind to those courtiers who were as much dissatisfied with his father as he was. He declared that Alai ed din was ruining the Commonwealth, and that Mongol arms would destroy it because of his conduct. “I will withdraw from my father,” said he, “send envoys to the Grand Khan and make terms with him.”
The greater number of the chief men agreed with Rokn ud din and promised to defend him to the utmost, but in case of attack [[241]]by his father the person of the chief, as they said, must be sacred. A short time after this pact and agreement, Alai ed din when drunk fell asleep in a thatched wooden building near one of his sheep pens, a place which he visited whenever he indulged in his favorite amusement of acting as shepherd. He was found dead in that house about midnight, his head cut from the body. A Turkman and a native of India were found wounded near him.
At the end of eight days, after many had been tortured on suspicion, they discovered the murderer. He was a certain Hassan of Masanderan, the late chief’s nearest intimate, his inseparable companion, a man whom he loved till his death though tormenting him in every way possible.