Old Man of the Mountain (Assassin) explained

The Old Man of the Mountain (ar|شيخ الجبل|Shaykh al-Jabal, la|Vetulus de Montanis), is the expression used by Marco Polo in a passage from Book of the Marvels of the World, to indicate Muhammad III of Alamut, the grand master of the Order of Assassins, who took refuge in Alamut Castle. It later became a common name used by the Crusaders.

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

Bibliography

• Web site: Mirza . Naseeh Ahmed . Alamut. Bastion of Peace and Information . Melbourne, Australia . Alamut . 20 July 1998 . 3 April 2021 .
• Polo . Marco . Marco Polo . Yule . Henry . Henry Yule . Concerning the Old Man of the Mountain . The Travels of Marco Polo . https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Travels_of_Marco_Polo/Book_1/Chapter_23 . 1920 . 1300 . .
• Book: Wasserman, James . James Wasserman . A Note to the Reader on the Historical Context . Templar Heresy: A Story of Gnostic Illumination . Destiny Books . 8 August 2017 . 978-1-62055-658-0 .
• Book: Lewis, Bernard . Bernard Lewis . Islam .
• Web site: Rashid al-Din Sinan . 2003 . February 8, 2018 . . .
• Book: Reston, James Jr.. James Reston Jr. . Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade . New York . . 2001 . 9780385495615 .