List of massacres of Nizari Ismailis explained

Numerous massacres are recorded against the minority Nizari Ismaili Shia Muslims, particularly during the Alamut Period.

In many cases, the victims include non-Nizaris; such as supporters of the Nizaris, and people who are falsely accused and killed due to personal enmity.

The Nizari response was often the assassination of the leader behind the massacre.^[1]

List

List of massacres of Nizaris

Date	Location	Perpetrator(s)	Deaths	Notable victims	Notes
1010–1025	Multan and al-Mansura, Sindh	Ghaznavids			Multiple massacres of Ismailis.^[2]
1093	Isfahan's city square, Seljuk Empire	local Sunni Muslims			All suspected Ismailis in the town were burned alive in the city center.^[3]
1101-	Seljuk Empire	Sultan Barkiyaruq		Muhammad ibn Dushmanziyar ibn Ala' al-Dawla (Persian: محمد بن دشمنزیار بن علاءالدوله), governor of Yazd; son of Kayqubad, commandant of Tikrit^[4]	As listed below.
1101	Isfahan's city square, Seljuk Empire	local Sunni Muslims, allowed by Barkiyaruq			^[5]
1101-	Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq	ordered by Abbasid caliph al-Mustazhir		Abu Ibrahim Asadabadi (relative of Bahram al-Da'i)	Widespread massacres.^[6]
1113	Aleppo	Sa'id ibn Badi', ra'is of Aleppo and militia commander, approved by Alp Arslan al-Akhras during Muhammad I Tapar's anti-Nizari campaign	~200 massacred or imprisoned and their properties were confiscated	da'i Abu Tahir al-Sa'igh, da'i Isma'il, and a brother of da'i al-Hakim al-Munajjim	^[7]
1124	Amid, southern Armenia		~700		^[8]
1125	Aleppo	Ibn al-Khashshab
September 1129	Damascus, Emirate of Damascus	Atabeg Taj al-Muluk Buri, the militia (al-ahdath) and the mob	6,000-10,000	Shadhili al-Kadim	^[9]
1138	Isfahan, Seljuk Empire				After the assassination of the Abbasid caliph al-Rashid Billah.^[10]
1140s	Seljuk Empire	Abbas (governor of Rayy)			After the assassination of Sultan Da'ud^[11]
1204	Lower Iraq
May 1256	Tun (modern Ferdows), Nizari Ismaili state	Kitbuqa and Köke Ilgei	almost all inhabitants		^[12]
1257	Mongol Empire	Mongke Khan	~100,000		Multiple massacres, as listed below^[13] ^[14]
1257	Toungat, Mongol Empire	Khurshah's Mongol guard (ordered by Mongke Khan)		Rukn al-Din Khurshah and his companions	^[15] ^[16] ^[17] ^[18]
1257	between Qazvin and Abhar, Mongol Empire	Qaraqai Bitikchi (ordered by Mongke Khan)		Khurshah's relatives	^[19]
1257	Quhistan, Mongol Empire	Ötegü-China (ordered by Mongke Khan)	12,000
1257?	Mongol Empire	Bulghan Khatun or Bulghan or Qara-Bulghan, the child of the assassinated Mongol commander Chagatai the Elder	200 or 300		^[20]
15 December 1270	Gerdkuh, Ilkhanate	Ilkhanate forces (during Abaqa Khan's reign)	the garrison of Gerdkuh
1809	Eyalet of Acre, Ottoman Empire (present-day Syria)	Nusayris			^[21]
1392	Tabaristan, Timurid Empire	Timur's troops
May 1393	Anjudan, Timurid Empire	Timur's troops
1416	Daylam	Sayyid Radi Kiya of the Karkiya dynasty		Many Isma'ili leaders, including some descendants of the Imam Khudawand Ala al-Din Muhammad

See also

• Nizari–Seljuk wars
• List of assassinations by the Assassins

Notes and References

1. B. Hourcade, “ALAMŪT,” Encyclopædia Iranica, I/8, pp. 797-801; an updated version is available online at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/alamut-valley-alborz-northeast-of-qazvin- (accessed on 17 May 2014).
2. Book: Kassam . Tazim R. . Songs of Wisdom and Circles of Dance: Hymns of the Satpanth Isma'ili Muslim Saint, Pir Shams . 1995 . SUNY Press . 978-0-7914-2591-6 . 120 . en.
3. Book: Daftary . Farhad . The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines . 2007 . Cambridge University Press . 978-1-139-46578-6 . 329 . en.
4. واحددرآبادی . رقیه . برومند . صفورا . اتهام به الحاد و مصادیق آن در دوران سلجوقیان . پژوهش نامه تاریخ اجتماعی و اقتصادی . 4 . 1 . 83–102 . fa . 2383-1278.
5. Book: Peacock . A. C. S. . Great Seljuk Empire . 2015 . Edinburgh University Press . 978-0-7486-9807-3 . 75 . en.
6. Book: Wasserman . James . The Templars and the Assassins: The Militia of Heaven . 2001 . Simon and Schuster . 978-1-59477-873-5 . 91 . en.
7. Book: Daftary . Farhad . The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines . 2007 . Cambridge University Press . 978-1-139-46578-6 . 334–335 . en.
8. Book: Wasserman . James . The Templars and the Assassins: The Militia of Heaven . 2001 . Simon and Schuster . 978-1-59477-873-5 . 101 . en.
9. Book: Mirza . Nasseh Ahmad . Syrian Ismailism: The Ever Living Line of the Imamate, AD 1100-1260 . 1997 . Psychology Press . 978-0-7007-0505-4 . 12 . en.
10. Book: Lewis . Bernard . The Assassins: A Radical Sect in Islam . 2011 . Orion . 978-0-297-86333-5 . en . 54–.
11. Book: Wasserman . James . The Templars and the Assassins: The Militia of Heaven . 2001 . Simon and Schuster . 978-1-59477-873-5 . 102 . en.
12. Book: Daftary . Farhad . The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines . 1992 . Cambridge University Press . 978-0-521-42974-0 . 423 . en.
13. Web site: Daftary . Farhad . Farhad Daftary . The Mediaeval Ismailis of the Iranian Lands The Institute of Ismaili Studies . www.iis.ac.uk . 31 March 2020 . 3 August 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160803145807/http://www.iis.ac.uk/mediaeval-ismailis-iranian-lands . dead .
14. Book: Willey . Peter . Eagle's Nest: Ismaili Castles in Iran and Syria . 2005 . Bloomsbury Academic . 978-1-85043-464-1 . 75–85 . en.
15. Willey, Peter. Eagle's Nest - Ismaili Castles in Iran and Syria (New York: I. B. Tauris, 2005), 83
16. Book: Juvaini . Ata-Malik . Qazvini . Mirza Muhammad . Genghis Khan: The History of the World Conqueror . 1997 . Manchester University Press . 978-0-7190-5145-6 . 609, note 9 . en.
17. Book: Ohsson . Constantin Mouradgea d' . Histoire des Mongols . 1834 . 201 . fr.
18. Book: The Chinese Recorder and Missionary Journal . American Presbyterian Mission Press . 310, note 4 . en.
19. Book: Daftary . Farhad . The Isma'ilis: Their History and Doctrines . 1992 . Cambridge University Press . 978-0-521-42974-0 . 429 . en.
20. Book: Boyle . John Andrew . The Mongol World Empire, 1206-1370 . 1977 . Variorum Reprints . 978-0-86078-002-1 . en.
21. Virani . Shafique N. . The Eagle Returns: Evidence of Continued Isma?ili Activity at Alamut and in the South Caspian Region Following the Mongol Conquests . Journal of the American Oriental Society . 2003 . 123 . 2 . 351–370 . 10.2307/3217688 . 3217688 . 0003-0279.