Murjana

"I hear she is formidable with a sword. Some say she dances with them in battle."

―Fuladh Al Haami describing Murjana, 860s.^[src]^-[m]

Murjana was an Abbasid adventurer and daughter of the renowned merchant Ali Baba who lived in Baghdad during the 9th century.

Biography[edit | edit source]

Early life[edit | edit source]

"I was not the child he expected. I wanted to see the world, heed the call of the chase. Steel meeting steel, hearts into battle... For him, someone who enjoyed the simple, diplomatic life would be a better fit. Despite that, he loved me all the same. The only time we disagreed was due to his dealings with the Forty Thieves."

―Murjana reflecting on her relationship with her father, 860s.^[src]^-[m]

As Ali Baba's only daughter, Murjana was sheltered by her overprotective father, who wished that she would settle for a simple, diplomatic life.^[1] However, Murjana possessed a strong love of adventure and wished to travel beyond the Abbasid Caliphate's borders, as far as India and China. Seeing he could not put a stop to his daughter's wanderlust, Ali Baba secretly resolved to fulfill her dream, which led him to begin dealing with the notorious Forty Thieves in the hopes of gaining the necessary funds.^[2]

After discovering her father's clandestine deals, Murjana strongly opposed his decision to partner with the thieves, whom she saw as untrustworthy and dangerous.^[1] Nevertheless, their relationship remained as close as ever, and Murjana frequently assisted Ali Baba by protecting his caravans and acting as his personal bodyguard.^[3] Her skill with the sword eventually led her to develop a reputation as a powerful warrior, said to "dance" with blades in battle.^[4]

At some point, Murjana befriended Beshi, a former slave who became a prominent member of the Zanj rebels. Through him, she learned about the Hidden Ones and their efforts to protect the common people, though she remained largely distrustful of them due to their methods.^[4]

Conflict with the Forty Thieves[edit | edit source]

Murjana: "The Mark of the Thieves! They still live."

Basim: "This means you have been targeted. Now they know where you are, and more will come until you lie still."

Murjana: "Is taking my father's life not enough?"

—Basim and Murjana, shortly after Ali Baba's funeral, 860s.^[src]^-[m]

In the 860s, after Ali Baba and one of his caravans mysteriously went missing, Murjana, out of options, wrote a letter to the Hidden Ones bureau in Harbiyah requesting their assistance. The Alamut Hidden One Basim ibn Ishaq found the note and subsequently met with Murjana at Baghdad's southern gate, where the latter was arguing with an apple merchant about her inflated prices.^[4]

After Basim introduced himself, Murjana, concerned for her father's well-being, skipped the formalities and asked the Hidden One to ride with her as they ventured into the desert to look for the missing caravan. Along the way, Murjana told Basim about her father's dealings with the Forty Thieves, whom she suspected to be behind his disappearance. Eventually, the pair came across the destroyed caravan and Ali Baba's slain horse, Tuffaha. Looking around their surroundings, they soon found the Forty Thieves' hideout, making it clear they were responsible.^[4]

Although Murjana wanted to exact retribution on the thieves, Basim convinced her to let him handle the situation more discreetly. After the Hidden One eliminated all the bandits, he and Murjana began searching for Ali Baba. To their dismay, they found his dead body, as Murjana's father had been abducted and murdered by the thieves. After mourning his death, Murjana grabbed Ali Baba's body and took it back to Baghdad to give it a proper funeral, telling Basim to meet her at her home for payment.^[4]

During Ali Baba's funeral at his estate, Murjana was joined by Basim, who offered his condolences and told her that she had been a good daughter. In response, Murjana told the Hidden One about her and her father's conflicting views on the type of life she should lead, before leading him inside to continue their conversation in private. There, Murjana revealed that, among Ali Baba's belongings, she had found notes detailing her father's knowledge of the thieves' secret treasure, which was likely the reason he had been murdered.^[1]

As Murjana began to lament her father's decision to keep such information hidden from her, Basim comforted her and claimed that people often kept secrets, even from those they loved. Just then, the two heard a commotion and rushed outside to see a man fleeing after having painted a red cross on the wall of Murjana's home. Murjana recognized it as the mark of the Forty Thieves, indicating that she was the group's newest target.^[1]

While Murjana became furious at the thieves' refusal to leave her alone after already killing her father, Basim offered to help her defend herself. Refusing to let the bandits come near her father's body, Murjana went to look after it, leaving Basim to carry out his plan to deceive the thieves by marking different houses. However, while alone, Murjana was attacked by a group of thieves who managed to identify the correct residence.^[1]

Despite being overwhelmed and injured by her assailants, Murjana managed to defeat them with Basim's help. Afterwards, she told the Hidden One that she had overheard the bandits talking about their leader, the King of Thieves, being behind the attacks on her family.^[1]

Although Murjana was willing to deal with the King herself, especially since she had yet to pay Basim for his services, the Hidden One insisted that he would take care of the problem while Murjana recovered from her wounds. Reluctantly accepting, Murjana promised to meet Basim at the thieves' hideout as soon as she was able to.^[1]

When Murjana arrived at the hideout, she saw that Basim had already killed all the remaining thieves, including the King himself. Inspecting the King's legendary "flaming" sword, Murjana saw that it was just an ordinary blade, made to appear special through illusions. She subsequently gifted it to Basim while telling him about her plans to finally travel the world now that the threat looming over her was gone. Claiming that she would join a caravan to Samarkand first, she bid Basim farewell and jokingly told him that, if they were to meet again, it would be Basim who finds her, as she doubted she could find him.^[5]

Behind the scenes[edit | edit source]

Murjana is a character in Assassin's Creed: Mirage, introduced as part of its downloadable expansion The Forty Thieves. She may have been based on and named after Morgiana, a slave girl who later became Ali Baba's daughter-in-law in the original tale's folklore.^[6]