Evening star., 1939-02-19
History Volidotes Old
Man of the Mountain
By Frederic J. Hdskin.

definite place in history. That Is to
say the Old Man of the Mountain was
real in series. There were several. but
the early legend made this King of the
Assassins a single person who lived to a
fabulous age.
The ancient legend told how this ruler
lived in palace of unbelievable luxury.
The palace was situated in a mountain
fastness guarded not only by mortal men
but also by magical incantations. No
enemy could reach the palace alive un-
less it was the desire of the Old Man that
he do SO. At this palace there were
gardens of dreamlike beauty. In these
and in the rich apartments of the palace .
dvelt houris of unearthly charms. The
place was an earthly paradise.
In every version of the tale the Old
Man is described as being, indeed, an
old man. He is patriarchal in appear
ance with long white beard, but he Is
far from decrepit. In fact he is every
inch king and, although aged, the
physical superior of any of his younger
VasSalS.
His arm was said TO be the longest in
the world; it reached to every country
and visited his vengeance, or what ne
regarded as his justice, on the most re-
mote victims. The body of assassins
whose king he was found ways of doing
his bidding under any circumstances and
against seemingly insuperable obstacles.
The story is told of how Richard I,
King Richard Occur de Lion of England,
the great Crusader was slain by one of
the assassins sent out by the Old Man
OF the Mountain. 1t is known that Rich
ard was slain under somewhat mys-
terious circumstances while besieging
the Count of st. Pol, with whom he was
at feud, and who was ensconced in a
fortress in the south of France Old
chroniclers tell how white-robed figure
was seen lurking near the scene of Rich
ards death. The king was struck down
swiftly. 1t might have been by an arrow
from the castle wall, but there were wit
nesses who had seen the furtive figure.
When Richard had fallen the man disap-
peared as though in thin air. He was
never taken.
Accepted history does not follow this
version of Richards death, but it does
allow that Richard was struck by a
crossboW bolt, discharged from the walls
of the Chateau of Chalus in the Limousin
Of Southern France. He died from the
festered wound. Nevertheless, contem-
porary tales persisted in attributing his
death to one of the assaSsins of the Old
Man of the Mountain and, for some CEN
turies afterWard chroniclers referred to
this version.
But now to the true, historical story OF
the Old Man of the Mountain or rather
the Old Men Of the Mountain Toward
the close of the 1lth century Hassan ibn
Sabbah founded an offshoot of the Is
lamic faith which became known as the
1smailltes. Hassan, as youth, was sent
to study under the doctors of Nishapur
and there made the acquaintance of
Nizam- -ul-Mulk. The latter became
grand vizier to the Sultan Malik- Shah,
Hassan visited his old friend at court
and, it seems, tried to supplant him in
the favor of the sultan. Hassan was a
man OF great ability and personal charm
and might have succeeded had not Nj
zam m-ul-Mulk found means of banishing
him from Persia.
HaSSan then went to Egypt but there
fell afoul of political personages he had
tried to undermine in the favor of the
sovereign and again had to fee This
time he went to Aleppo and Damascus.
During this period he was spreading a
new doctrine, sort of liberali1ed Mo-
hammedaniSm which proved more at
tractive than strict orthodoxy, especially
to youths. BY 1890 he had collected a
considerable group of followers and. by
stratagem, took the fortress of Alamut
in the Persian mountains. 1t was there
that he first consolidated his society and
gave it purpose.
Hassan took the name or title of Sheik-
al-Jabal, which, translated, means the
Old Man of the Mountain. The chief
purpose of his order was assassination.
It seems fantastic that such an indi-
vidual could surround himself with a
strong body of men who would do his.
bidding. His method was to give his
adherents hashish, the opiate made from
the juice of hemp leaves This, like
opium, begets the most delicious dreams
in the user and imperceptibly enslaves
him both to the drug and the person who
supplies it. The word assassin originally
was hashashin.
Hassan's organization was carefully
built. He had various classes in his So
ciety. The active assassins were the
Fedais or the Devoted Ones. The blind
est obedience was eXacted and paid. Not !.
only were they supplied with the drug,
but also were given the freedom of the
palace gardens and the palace harer,
and, to them. the establishment OF the
Old Man of the Mountain was a paradise
on earth. Also they were instructed in
every art of assassination. They were
skillful marksnlen. swordsmen and poi-
soners. They we're adept at disguise.
They could track like panther. They
knew many languages.
In short they were no more than
drugged automatons, but immensely
skillful ones and they paid unquestioning
obedience to orders. A name would be
given one Of the assassins. That was all.
1t was his task to find his man anywhere
in the world and kill him. He might not
return for two or three years and, OF
course, he might not return at all, but