theocracy · Anatolia and the Levant

Nizari Ismailis of Syria

1132 CE – 1273 CE (approx.) · capital Masyaf

The Syrian branch of the Nizari Ismailis, the 'Assassins' of Crusader legend, who ruled a network of mountain castles around Masyaf.

Origins

Nizari missionaries sent from Alamut in Iran first worked in Aleppo and Damascus but were driven out by massacres. From 1132 they acquired castles in the Jabal Bahra, the coastal mountains of Syria, including Qadmus, Kahf and in 1140-1141 Masyaf.

Rule and society

The castles formed a small state led by a chief missionary appointed from Alamut. Rashid al-Din Sinan, the original Old Man of the Mountain, led it from about 1162 to 1193, making it largely independent. The Nizaris used targeted killings by devotees against powerful enemies, including Conrad of Montferrat in 1192, and twice attempted to kill Saladin. They also paid tribute to the Hospitallers at times.

Decline and legacy

After the Mongols destroyed Alamut in 1256, the Syrian castles survived, but the Mamluk sultan Baybars took them one by one between 1270 and 1273. The Nizari community remained in the region, notably around Salamiyah and Masyaf.

Connections (2)

More states of Anatolia and the Levant →

Cite this page
APA
The Epoch Institute. (2026). Nizari Ismailis of Syria. In The Epoch Institute States Register. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/nizari-ismailis-of-syria
MLA
“Nizari Ismailis of Syria.” The Epoch Institute States Register, The Epoch Institute, 2026, https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/nizari-ismailis-of-syria. Accessed .
Chicago
The Epoch Institute. “Nizari Ismailis of Syria.” The Epoch Institute States Register. 2026. https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/nizari-ismailis-of-syria.
Harvard
The Epoch Institute (2026) ‘Nizari Ismailis of Syria’, The Epoch Institute States Register. Available at: https://the-epoch-institute.org/state/nizari-ismailis-of-syria (Accessed: ).

Last reviewed October 2026Random state ↻