Sunday, August 14, 2005
Hashshashin
On friday, the Sri Lnkan Foreign Minister was assassinated. Accorging to reports, he was hit in the head and chest several times, and from what I gathered, the calibre of the bullet was 7.62mm.
Russian made bullet, probably fired from a modified AK-47 by a sniper.
It's been quite a while since such methods were used on political leaders, and today, let's talk about the origins of the word, "assassin".
The word assassin probably is derived from the term Hashshashin. I first heard of this word on the Discovery channel, during on of the Lonely Planet episodes, that brought the viewers to turkey. The Hashshashin were a feared group of muslim zealots who carried out killing missions. These men were feared for their ferocity, which according to historians, due to their usage of opium and a drug, hashih, derived from the cannabis resin.
This made these warriors literally impervious, as they did not seem to experience any pain, and the Crusaders started to refer to them as the "Hashashin" (sometimes Hashishin).
The main purpose of this group was to carry out politically motivated assasinations against rival muslim factions. However since, such warrirors consumed drugs, they are cosidered by the muslim world as heretics. They are perhaps one of the very first terrorist groups to emerge in history.
Like the ninjas from Japan, their modus operandi is to operate in stealth, often opting for disguise. The Hashashin's preferred weapon was a dagger, as they would not choose any weapon that would not ensure a kill. It is said that these men are so fearless that they would choose to die when captured over revealing any secrets.
Wouldn't it be fun to be the leader of these men?
In your spare time, you and the boys could spend your time smoking some joint, and when the need arises, the boys could be sent out to carry out assasinations for you. It was certainly a very lethal group while it existed. It is no wonder that the group is spoken of in a sort of hushed respect.
Gavin
pondered @ 17:23
