Hasan-i Sabbah was an exceptional and charismatic leader. Under him and his appointed successor the Nizari-Ismaili mini-state, headquartered in Alamut, enjoyed relative success, making raids as far as Jerusalem and the Caucuses and even encroaching on Templar territory.
However, the military successes soon began to dwindle and, with the Imam still hidden somewhere, the Nizari Ismailis (who by the mid-12th century numbered about 60 000), became increasingly disillusioned. Then, in August 1164, Hasan II – grandson of Hasan-i Sabbah's appointed successor – captured their imagination.
He declared he had received a message from the hidden Imam. The Imam, he said, had appointed him as his representative and he should be obeyed in all matters. He proclaimed Judgement Day, the Day of Resurrection, had arrived. Using Ismaili esoteric interpretation, this now meant Paradise had effectively been realised on earth. A year and a half later he was murdered by his brother-in-law.
Hasan II's son and successor completed what his father had begun. He claimed he and his father were the actual Imams, descended from a son or grandson of the last known Imam who had secretly fled to Alamut, or perhaps had been smuggled there. Hasan II had then been switched at birth with the son of the ruler of Alamut without anyone else's knowledge, hence the appearance that he was his son when in fact he was from the line of Imams.
Farhad Daftary, in his definitive The Ismailis – Their History and Doctrines (p.361), admits that
“Many modern day Nizaris question the validity of certain aspects of the narratives of this episode.”
It is a debated and historically shaky narrative. As with every religion though, it is a matter of faith, in this case faith in the unbroken chain traced back from the present Aga Khan to Muhammad.
Originally published 2 years ago