Persian Brotherhood of Assassins

The Persian Brotherhood of Assassins was the branch of Assassins that operated in Iran. The Persian Brotherhood was originally a branch of the Hidden Ones who followed in the footsteps of a similar group of assassins from the region led by Darius, the killer of King Xerxes I of Persia. In 1090 CE, the Persian branch reorganized itself as the Assassin Brotherhood.

History

Achaemenid Empire

Main article: Protectors of Persia

In the 5th century BCE, a Persian elite by the name of Artabanus formed a group of freedom fighters to oppose the Achaemenid King of Kings Xerxes I, whose reign was supported by the Order of the Ancients.

Darius assassinating Xerxes

With the help of his allies, including Amorges and Pactyas, Artabanus assassinated Xerxes in August 465 BCE. This deed went down in the Assassins' history as the first recorded usage of their iconic weapon, the Hidden Blade, and caused Artabanus to be posthumously honored as one of their predecessors.

However, Artabanus' group disbanded not long after Xerxes' assassination due to an ideological split between its members. This conflict was caused by Artabanus' insistence on preemptively killing Xerxes' successor Artaxerxes I, a decision opposed by Amorges and other members of the group. These members ultimately defected to the Order and protected Artaxerxes from Artabanus, who was subsequently forced to change his name to "Darius" and flee Persia with his family.

Abbasid Caliphate

Main article: Hidden Ones of Alamut

Alamut Castle, the headquarters of the Alamut Brotherhood

By the time of the Abbasid Caliphate, the Hidden Ones had established the Alamut Brotherhood, an early incarnation of the Persian Brotherhood. Operating out of the fortress of Alamut, which was built atop an ancient Isu temple, the Hidden Ones battled the influence of the Order of the Ancients in the Caliphate while seeking to prevent their adversaries from discovering more Isu artifacts.

During the mid-9th century, the Alamut Hidden Ones supported the Zanj rebellion led by Ali ibn Muhammad and attempted to expand their influence in the Caliphate, establishing a number of bureaus in the city of Baghdad. They also secured an uneasy alliance with the Tahirids, who protected the grounds Alamut Castle was located on.

In 861, the Master Assassin Roshan recruited a new initiate to the Brotherhood, a young street thief named Basim Ibn Ishaq, who was secretly the reincarnation of the Isu Loki. Aware of this fact, Roshan tried to suppress Basim's true nature while keeping this information hidden from the rest of the Brotherhood, fearing the consequences of such a discovery. After accompanying Roshan and other Hidden Ones to Baghdad, Basim helped them to dismantle the Order's presence in the city, assassinating many of their high-ranking members and putting an end to their search for Isu artifacts.

The Hidden Ones' base under attack

However, during a confrontation with the Order's leader Qabiha, Basim was informed of his true nature and the existence of the Alamut Temple. Although Roshan assassinated Qabiha and tried to dissuade her apprentice from seeking out the temple, Basim, having grown distrustful of the Hidden Ones, disobeyed her and returned to Alamut. He arrived in the midst of an attack by Tahirid forces, who had betrayed the Hidden Ones due to a deal made by Governor Muhammad ibn Tahir with the Order.

After helping the surviving Hidden Ones to repel the attack, Basim entered the Alamut Temple and regained the memories of his past life as Loki, while Roshan elected to leave the Brotherhood. For his actions, Basim was elevated to the rank of Master Assassin and was later assigned to lead a guild of Hidden Ones in the Byzantine capital of Constantinople.

In 872, Basim and his apprentice Hytham left Constantinople and journeyed to Northern Europe to eliminate the last remnants of the Order, after befriending the Viking Sigurd Styrbjornsson. In 879, Fuladh Al Haami, the Mentor of the Hidden Ones in the Justanid region of Persia, was set to host a council within the fortress of Alamut. Mentor Rayhan invited Hytham to attend the council in order to be elevated to a new rank and to give a full account of Basim's betrayal during their time together in England.

Assassin state

In 1090, Hassan-i Sabbāh reorganized the Brotherhood into a public state, with Alamut as its capital. In 1162, during the reign of Hassan the Younger, an Assassin later known as Al Mualim was sent to the Levant to expand Assassin influence, establishing another branch autonomous from Alamut. This led to the construction of the fortress of Masyaf.

After Al Mualim's successor, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, was led to exile from Masyaf by Abbas Sofian in a coup d'état in 1228, he sought refuge in Alamut fortress alongside his family. The former Mentor remained in Alamut for almost 20 years, eventually deciding to return and reclaim Masyaf in 1247.

In 1256, the Persian Assassins in Alamut were besieged by the forces of the Mongol Empire led by Hülegü Khan. The Mongols had come seeking revenge for the assassination of their leader Genghis Khan in 1227, and were then under the leadership of Möngke Khan, the founder of the Mongolian Rite of the Templar Order. Hülegü Khan later claimed the Assassins in Alamut put up no resistance against the Mongols, and the fortress was ultimately destroyed.

Timurid dynasty

By the time of the Timurid Empire, the Persian Brotherhood operated in secrecy once more. During the 15th century, the Persian Mentor sent one of their Assassin recruits, Dariâ, to Venice, Italy to aid in the rebuilding of the Venetian Brotherhood. ^{[citation needed]}

Afsharid dynasty

In 1747, the Persian Assassin Salah Bey, who served as captain of the guards for Nāder Shāh, killed the Iranian ruler in the hopes of retrieving the Koh-i-Noor diamond, a powerful Piece of Eden in his possession. However, the Koh-i-Noor had already been passed off to Ahmad Shāh Durrānī, an Afghan chief, who therefore became the next target of Salah Bey.

Members

Achaemenid Empire

• Amorges (defected)
• Darius
• Pactyas (defected)

Abbasid Caliphate

• Tabid Al-Nubi
• Fuladh Al Haami (Mentor)
• Hytham
• Basim Ibn Ishaq
• Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Musa
• Ahmad ibn Musa
• Al-Hasan ibn Musa
• Naaji
• Nur
• Rayhan (Mentor)
• Rebekah
• Roshan

Seljuk Empire

• Hassan-i Sabbāh (Mentor)

Timurid Empire

• Dariâ

Afsharid Empire

• Salah Bey

Allies

Achaemenid Empire

• Kassandra
• Natakas

Abbasid Caliphate

• Itamos (Greek Brotherhood)
• Tahirids (betrayed)
  • Aban
• Zanj rebels
  • Ali ibn Muhammad
  • Beshi
• Murjana

Afsharid dynasty

• Achilles Davenport (Colonial Brotherhood)

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed II (first mentioned)
• Assassin's Creed: The Secret Crusade (indirect mention only)
• Assassin's Creed: Memories (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Rogue (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Valhalla (indirect mention only)
• Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood of Venice (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: The Golden City (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Mirage (as the Alamut Brotherhood)
  • The Forty Thieves
• Assassin's Creed: Mirage – Daughter of No One (mentioned only)