"The Old Man kept at his court such boys of twelve years old as seemed to him destined to become courageous men. When the Old Man sent them into the garden in groups of four, ten or twenty, he game them hashish to drink [sic]. They slept for three days, then they were carried sleeping into the garden where he had them awakened.
“When these young men woke, and found themselves in the garden with all these marvelous things, they truly believed themselves to be in paradise. And these damsels were always with them in songs and great entertainments; they; received everything they asked for, so that they would never have left that garden of their own will.”
And when the Old Man wished to kill someone, he would take him and say: ‘Go and do this thing. I do this because I want to make you return to paradise’. And the assassins go and perform the deed willingly."
- Marco Polo - on his visit to Alamut in 1273
There is much controversy over the truth behind Marco Polo’s words. We have been led to believe assassins originated from the Muslim religion, but this is not truth. I’ve heard that the word “assassin” is derived from the word “hashish”, but apparently this is also not true. The old man refered to in this story is supposedly a radical named Hassan, which the word assassin is derived which means, “follower of Hassan”.
What’s the straight dope?
