Muhammad II now ruled as Imam over all Nizari Ismailis from his castle in Alamut, Persia whilst the Syrian Ismaili faction operated under the delegated leadership of the legendary Old Man of the Mountain. Feared by Crusaders and Saladin alike for his devoted assassins who wreaked havoc and terror in the Holy Land, he even had the King of Jerusalem assassinated in 1192.
In 1210, Muhammad II died and was succeeded by his son, Hassan III who immediately ordered his followers to embrace Sunni Islam.
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.
Over a few decades, the Fatimid Ismaili empire succombed to bitter infighting, intense factionalism, leadership crises and defeat at the hands of the Crusaders in the Middle East. Finally, in 1171 Cairo itself was conquered by Saladin and his Sunni warriors. The Ismaili empire was at an end.
Meanwhile, in the mountains of Iran, a shift was taking in place in the identity of Ismailism.
