23. These Medieval State-Sponsored Terrorists Went Rogue and Began Terrorizing on Their Own Hook
The killing campaign carried out by Hassan al Sabbah’s followers initially hewed to the goals of the Assassins’ Fatimid sponsors. As with modern terrorists sponsored by states, their targets were prominent opponents of their patrons – in the Assassins’ case, prominent Sunnis who ran afoul of the cult’s Fatimid sponsors. Eventually, however, al Sabbah and his cult went rogue and asserted their independence.
While retaining some Fatimid financial backing, they went into the killing business on their own hook to further their own agenda and goals. The result was nearly two centuries of terror, during which fear of the Assassins was an ever-present concern for Middle Eastern leaders and prominent figures of all faiths and denominations. One of the more remarkable things about them, as seen below, was their recruitment methods. The Assassins adopted one of the most innovative recruitment strategies known to history, by convincing recruits that their leader, the Sheik known as The Old Man of the Mountain, held the keys to paradise.