Reminiscence from the Levant: Part Six – Hassassins and an old tailor

During the Crusades….the crusaders and the Muslims feared a deadly force called Hassassins… stories of the hassassins has assumed mythical proportions in the Levant.

So who were these Hassassins… according to reliable sources… they were a sect within Shiite Islam, specifically the Nizari Ismailis…who, under the intoxication of 'Hashish' committed daring and fearless murders during the crusades of Muslims and Crusaders alike… such was their terror that the mighty Salahuddin, after their two failed assassination attempts on him, called a truce and made them an ally. Hassassins distorted the religious teachings and made casting terror as their religious duty… that would give them "immediate entry to paradise of sweet food and wine and beautiful and willing women." (Does it sound familiar, even today?)

Hassassins were not only fearless, but also great strategists… they used the art of intelligence and sabotage to their advantage… their spies used to infiltrate enemy camps to get the vital information… followed by an assassination attempts… Some call them mercenaries who used to act at the behest of anybody who paid them well. So they acted for Crusaders and Muslims alike, killing anybody and everybody… the rulers of Aleppo were particularly close to the Hassassins, who gave recognition to a de-facto Hassassin state in the hills of Syria… One of their castles survives till date… MISYAF.

Misyaf is a small little town without much else to show…

I was carrying all my essential wares in a waist bag… like my passport, money, some medicines, camera and a paper & a pen…At Apamea, I realized that the chain of the front pouch of my waist bag was not functioning properly… I asked Abdu if I can get it re-made somewhere… and he drove me to a tailor in Misyaf…he was an old man called Yasser with a face full of wrinkles and a very warm smile…as soon as he realized my predicament… he started working on my waist bag… He checked in one of his shelves for a spare chain of the same size… and luckily enough found one to suit my need…then he told me to go and visit the castle while he works on the bag.

Misyaf castle was totally destroyed by the Ottomans… who made it a point to teach a lesson to these "bunch of mercenaries". In recent times, however, the castle was re-built by Agha Khanis… that belong to the Ismaili sect closely related to the Hassassins sect (the Agha Khan's sect is, however, a very moderate and very civilized sect… excelling in life and highly respected). He told me that Agha Khan often comes to this town because his father's tomb is located over here.

The castle it self is very small… but very tactfully done…with a lots of secret ways… that used to lead a person in and out, small and pitch dark chambers… where the Hassassins used to meditate after having a dose of Hashish…. However even the restoration work has not been able to re-do the magic of the place…it did not take more than twenty odd minutes for me to see the castle… though a walk outside the castle reveals a lot of interesting things…the outlets of many secret passage ways, the remains of shelling, and the sharp bend of walls that does not let anybody realize if there is somebody just around the corner, till the very last moment… often working to the advantage of the Hassassins.

From atop the castle, one can see beautiful views of the hill town of Misyaf… Abdu had told me that hereafter a very beautiful Mountain Road begins that takes us to Krac De Chevaliers.

When I went back to the tailor, he had finished working on my waist bag. I offered him some money as he had used his time, labour and material… but he refused. I looked towards Abdu… he smiled and said –whatever I may try a Syrian never charges money for his hospitality.

On our way to Krac through the mountain road, I realized that the road is punctuated with apple orchards, fig orchards and small little village… the women in these villages were much more liberally dressed than the women I had seen in either Aleppo or Hamah… these were Christians…

Syrian Christians are not a homogeneous sect, unlike in Egypt… where everybody is a Copt… some follow the Eastern Orthodoxy, some the Greek orthodoxy, some are Maronites and some are even Roman Catholics… and yet I believe most have the same gene pool. I have always said that to see the exotic features of the original inhabitants of any place in Middle East, see the Christians of that place… and in countries like Levant, Turkey and Egypt still have a sizeable Christian population left… Muslims other hand have intermarried a lot and it is very difficult to say that this feature is attributable to this land.

During the second semester of Arabic, I had a very pretty girl Maria Korkunc in my class…she was from Norway… and for quite some time, I was perplexed because of her features that were definitely oriental… black hairs, black eyes, fairish brown skin… then some days later she told me that she was a Turk… but a Syrian Christian.

These villages were small and beautiful… overlooking orchards on one side and a beautiful valley on the other… and with small way side chapels. I stopped Abdu at one of the chapel and visited it… it was very beautiful indeed. Abdu thought that I was a Christian… earlier during the travel we had been talking about the position of Christians in Syria and he was at pains to tell me that they are not persecuted, as the western Media would like us to believe.

Further ahead, I saw a huge Apple orchard and a person selling apples in a nearby stall, I enquired the price… 25 Syrian Pounds (roughly 20 Indian Rupees) for a kilo of Lebanese Apples (well there is not much of difference), I remembered how we had to pay more than 100 Indian Rupees equivalent for the same in Cairo. I purchased two kilos of it.

These proved to be one of the soundest investments. All along the journey, people helped me and did not seek a penny in return… I used to offer them an apple instead and they happily took it.