The Nizari Ismaili state or the Alamut state was a Nizari Isma'ili Shia state founded by Hassan-i Sabbah after he took control of the Alamut Castle in 1090 AD, which marked the beginning of an era of Ismailism known as the "Alamut period". Their people were also known as the Assassins or Hashashins.
The state consisted of a nexus of strongholds throughout Persia and the Levant, with their territories being surrounded by huge swathes of hostile as well as crusader territory. It was formed as a result of a religious and political movement of the minority Nizari sect supported by the anti-Seljuk population. Being heavily outnumbered, the Nizaris resisted adversaries by employing strategic, self-sufficient fortresses and the use of unconventional tactics, notably assassination of important adversaries and psychological warfare. They also had a strong sense of community as well as total obedience to their leader.
Almost two centuries after its foundation, the state declined internally and its leadership capitulated to the invading Mongols in 1256, who later massacred many Nizaris. Most of what is known about them is based on descriptions by hostile sources.
It is also known as the Order of Assassins, generally referred to as Assassins or Hashshashin.
Contemporaneous Muslim authors referred to the sect as Batiniyya (باطنية), Ta'limiyya (تعليمية), Isma'iliyya (إسماعيلية), Nizariyya (نزارية), and the Nizaris are sometimes referred to with abusive terms such as mulhid (ملحد, plural: malahida ملاحدة; literally "atheist"). The abusive terms hashishiyya (حشيشية) and hashishi (حشيشي) were less common, once used in a 1120s document by the Fatimid Caliph Al-Amir bi-Ahkam Allah and by late Muslim historians to refer to the Nizaris of Syria, and by some Caspian Zaydi sources to refer to the Nizaris of Persia.
Nizari coins referred to Alamut as kursī ad-Daylam (كرسي الديلم, literally "Capital of Daylam").
Most Ismaili Shias outside North Africa, mostly in Persia and Syria, came to acknowledge Nizar ibn al-Mustansir's claim to the Imamate as maintained by Hassan-i Sabbah, and this point marks the fundamental split between Ismaili Shias. Within two generations, the Fatimid Empire would suffer several more splits and eventually implode.
Following his expulsion from Egypt over his support for Nizar, Hassan-i Sabbah found that his co-religionists, the Ismailis, were scattered throughout Persia, with a strong presence in the northern and eastern regions, particularly in Daylam, Khurasan and Quhistan. The Ismailis and other occupied peoples of Persia held shared resentment for the ruling Seljuks, who had divided the country's farmland into iqtā’ (fiefs) and levied heavy taxes upon the citizens living therein. The Seljuk amirs (independent rulers) usually held full jurisdiction and control over the districts they administered. Meanwhile, Persian artisans, craftsmen and lower classes grew increasingly dissatisfied with the Seljuk policies and heavy taxes. Hassan too, was appalled by the political and economic oppression imposed by the Sunni Seljuk ruling class on Shi'ite Muslims living across Persia. It was in this context that he embarked on a resistance movement against the Seljuqs, beginning with the search for a secure site from which to launch his revolt.
By 1090 AD, the Seljuk vizier Nizam al-Mulk had already given orders for Hassan's arrest and therefore Hassan was living in hiding in the northern town of Qazvin, approximately 60 km from the Alamut Castle. There, he made plans for the capture of the fortress, which was surrounded by a fertile valley whose inhabitants were mainly fellow Shi’i Muslims, the support of whom Hassan could easily gather for the revolt against the Seljuks. The castle had never before been captured by military means and thus Hassan planned meticulously. Meanwhile, he dispatched his reliable supporters to the Alamut valley to begin settlements around the castle.
In the summer of 1090 AD, Hassan set out from Qazvin towards Alamut on a mountainous route through Andej. He remained at Andej disguised as a schoolteacher named Dehkhoda until he was certain that a number of his supporters had settled directly below the castle in the village of Gazorkhan or had gained employment at the fortress itself. Still in disguise, Hassan made his way into the fortress, earning the trust and friendship of many of its soldiers. Careful not to attract the attention of the castle's Zaydi lord, Mahdi, Hassan began to attract prominent figures at Alamut to his mission. It has even been suggested that Mahdi's own deputy was a secret supporter of Hassan, waiting to demonstrate his loyalty on the day that Hassan would ultimately take the castle.
The Alamut fortress was eventually captured from Mahdi in 1090 AD and therefore from Seljuk control by Hassan and his supporters without resorting to any violence. Mahdi's life was spared, and he later received 3,000 gold dinars in compensation.
Capturing of the Alamut Castle marks the founding of the Nizari Ismaili state.
Under the leadership of Hassan-i Sabbah and the succeeding lords of Alamut, the strategy of covert capture was successfully replicated at strategic fortresses across Persia, Syria, and the Fertile Crescent. The Nizari Ismaili created a state of unconnected fortresses, surrounded by huge swathes of hostile territory, and managed a unified power structure that proved more effective than either that in Fatimid Cairo, or Seljuk Bagdad, both of which suffered political instability, particularly during the transition between leaders. These periods of internal turmoil allowed the Ismaili state respite from attack, and even to have such sovereignty as to have minted their own coinage.
The Fortress of Alamut, which was officially called kursī ad-Daylam (كرسي الديلم, literally "Capital of Daylam") on Nizari coins, was thought impregnable to any military attack, and was fabled for its heavenly gardens, impressive libraries, and laboratories where philosophers, scientists, and theologians could debate all matters in intellectual freedom.
The hierarchy (hudūd) of the organization of the Nizari Ismailis was as follows:
Imām – the descendants of Nizar
Dā'ī kabīr – Superior Da'i, Great Da'i
Lāṣiq. Lasiqs had to swear a special oath of obedience to the Imam.