Jamal reviewed The Assassin Legends by Farhad Daftary
Academic insights on the legends of the assassins
4 stars
I only read around halfway through the book, since the topic of the second section was not of interest to me.
What I wanted to take out of it was the origin and the doctrine of the so called Nizari Ismaili assassins of Hasan-i Sabbah. The book covered the origins extensively, leading first with a high level yet extensive history of the many schisms that finally lead to the birth of the Nizari Ismaili sect.
The legends were received without much resistance or critical analysis by their audience. This was due to two major factors: 1) the efforts of other Muslim sects in painting the Nizaris as heretics 2) the disinterest of the local European presence at the time in learning more about their neighbors. The first was expected, as is the case in sect-to-sect infighting, but the second point was new to me.
Daftary gave details and evidence of …
I only read around halfway through the book, since the topic of the second section was not of interest to me.
What I wanted to take out of it was the origin and the doctrine of the so called Nizari Ismaili assassins of Hasan-i Sabbah. The book covered the origins extensively, leading first with a high level yet extensive history of the many schisms that finally lead to the birth of the Nizari Ismaili sect.
The legends were received without much resistance or critical analysis by their audience. This was due to two major factors: 1) the efforts of other Muslim sects in painting the Nizaris as heretics 2) the disinterest of the local European presence at the time in learning more about their neighbors. The first was expected, as is the case in sect-to-sect infighting, but the second point was new to me.
Daftary gave details and evidence of this disinterest which I found surprising, such as the reading and translation of Arabic texts happening centuries after their first encounters with the Arabs, which obviously contributed to the obscurity of the region in the collective European knowledge, and the ability of myths and legends to spread. Interestingly enough, I was also reading the Book of Tea by Okakura Kakuzo at the same time, and in it Kakuzo makes a close remark at the European presence in eastern Asia.
Overall, a nice read. Although dry at times due to the academic nature of it, it was still an interesting historical excursion.