Taught by Professor Richard B. Spence | 27 min | Categories: The Great Courses Plus Online History Courses

Travel to a historic empire that stretched from Anatolia to Central Asia as you get to know The Assassins, who’s roots reach back at least as far as the beginning of Islam in the 7th century. This invisible empire was led by Hasan-i-Sabah who called his acolytes asasiyun, “the faithful.” See how “assassin”—our generic term for professional killer, especially one who commits political murders—is linked to these asaiyun, who were notably the cause of 200 years of terrorism and murder, including a chief minister, a sultan, viziers, emirs, and even a Crusader king.