Old Man of the Mountain (Assassin)
{{Short description|Nickname of Muhammad III of Alamut}}
File:Rouget - Saint Louis reçoit à Ptolémaïs les envoyes du Vieux de la montagne.jpg receiving the envoy of the Old Man of the Mountain in Ptolemais. Painting by Georges Rouget in 1819.]]
The Old Man of the Mountain ({{langx|ar|شيخ الجبل|Shaykh al-Jabal}}, {{langx|la|Vetulus de Montanis}}),{{Sfn|Mirza|1998}} is the expression used by Marco Polo in a passage from Book of the Marvels of the World, to indicate Muhammad III of Alamut,{{Sfn|Yule|1920}} the grand master of the Order of Assassins, who took refuge in Alamut Castle. It later became a common name used by the Crusaders.{{Sfn|Wasserman|2017}}
Subsequently, this nickname was given to various Isma'ili successors of Hassan, in Syria, particularly,{{Sfn|Lewis|p=196}} for example Rashid al-Din Sinan, the da'i (missionary){{Sfn|Oxford Reference|2003}} and a leader of the Syrian branch of the Nizari Isma'ili state.{{sfn|Reston|2001|p=16}}
References
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Bibliography
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- {{Cite web |last=Mirza |first=Naseeh Ahmed |url=http://www.alamut.com/subj/ideologies/alamut/mirza-Sinan.html |title=Alamut. Bastion of Peace and Information |location=Melbourne, Australia |work=Alamut |date=20 July 1998 |access-date=3 April 2021 }}
- {{Cite wikisource |last1=Polo |first1=Marco |author-link1=Marco Polo |editor-last1=Yule |editor-first1=Henry |editor-link1=Henry Yule |chapter=Concerning the Old Man of the Mountain |title=The Travels of Marco Polo |wslink=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Travels_of_Marco_Polo/Book_1/Chapter_23 |year=1920 |orig-year={{circa}} 1300 |ref={{SfnRef|Yule|1920}} }}
- {{Cite book |last=Wasserman |first=James |author-link=James Wasserman |chapter=A Note to the Reader on the Historical Context |title=Templar Heresy: A Story of Gnostic Illumination |publisher=Destiny Books |date=8 August 2017 |isbn=978-1-62055-658-0 }}
- {{Cite book |first=Bernard |last=Lewis |author-link=Bernard Lewis |title=Islam }}
- {{Cite web |url=http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100507596 |title=Rashid al-Din Sinan |year=2003 |access-date=February 8, 2018 |work=Oxford Reference |ref={{SfnRef|Oxford Reference|2003}} }}
- {{Cite book |last=Reston |first=James Jr.|author-link=James Reston Jr. |title=Warriors of God: Richard the Lionheart and Saladin in the Third Crusade |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7ZmAAAAMAAJ |location=New York |publisher=Doubleday |year=2001 |isbn=9780385495615 }}
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