Old Man of the Mountain (Assassin)

The Old Man of the Mountain (Arabic: شيخ الجبل, romanized: Shaykh al-Jabal, Latin: Vetulus de Montanis),[1] is the expression used by Marco Polo in a passage from Book of the Marvels of the World, to indicate Hassan-i Sabbah,[2] the grand master of the Order of Assassins, who took refuge in Alamut Castle. It later became a common name used by the Crusaders.[3]

Saint Louis receiving the envoy of the Old Man of the Mountain in Ptolemais. Painting by Georges Rouget in 1819.

Subsequently, this nickname was given to various Isma'ili successors of Hassan, in Syria, particularly,[4] for example Rashid al-Din Sinan, the da'i (missionary)[5] and a leader of the Syrian branch of the Nizari Isma'ili state.[6]

References
  1. Mirza 1998.
  2. Yule 1920.
  3. Wasserman 2017.
  4. Lewis, p. 196.
  5. Oxford Reference 2003.
  6. Reston 2001, p. 16.

Bibliography
  • Mirza, Naseeh Ahmed (20 July 1998). "Alamut. Bastion of Peace and Information". Alamut. Melbourne, Australia. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  • Polo, Marco (1920) [c. 1300]. "Concerning the Old Man of the Mountain" . In Yule, Henry (ed.). The Travels of Marco Polo  – via Wikisource.
  • Wasserman, James (8 August 2017). "A Note to the Reader on the Historical Context". Templar Heresy: A Story of Gnostic Illumination. Destiny Books. ISBN 978-1-62055-658-0.
  • Lewis, Bernard. Islam.
  • "Rashid al-Din Sinan". Oxford Reference. 2003. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  • Reston, James Jr. (2001). Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 9780385495615.
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