Alamut by Vladimir Bartol

*Note: This was a term paper for a class. Decided to post it here because I don't know what grade the professor gave me.

Introduction
Alamut is a novel by the Slovenian writer Vladimir Bartol. It was published in 1938 and the author dedicated it to Benito Mussolini as a form of sarcasm.

The book chronicles the story of Hassan-i Sabbah and the forces of the Ismaili sect at Alamut fortress from which the title of the book was taken.

The story has helped popularize the Hashshashin or the assassins. Its maxim is “Nothing is true, everything is permitted.” The book is also considered the most popular Slovenian novel. It was also said to be an allegory of the Revolutionary Organization of the Julian March TIGR, an anti-fascist group, and the Italian repression of the Slovene minority in Italy.

Vladimir Bartol
Bartol grew up in a middle class Slovene minority in an Austro-Hungarian city. His mother was probably an influence to him because she was a teacher and editor. He was a child whose interests ranged from biology to art.

His other influences include Friedrich Nietzsche, Slovene philosopher Klement Jug and Sigmund Freud.

Scholars think that the rise of totalitarian dictators at the time of the book’s printing may have influenced Bartol. Hitler, Stalin and Mussolini were the big names at that time.

Background of Alamut
The novel by Bartol is based on the historical figure Hassan-i Sabbah and on the work The Travels of Marco Polo. One of the tales details a warlord who trained young men to become assassins by convincing them that he has the power to take them to paradise. He had a secret however. He constructed a garden and filled it with beautiful women to serve as houris and made the young trainees take hashish. This account is considered fictional by some scholars, however the idea has taken deep root in the minds of readers. The brotherhood of assassins has inspired numerous adaptations not just in books but also in other forms of media like films, graphic novels, animation, and video games.

The real Hassan-i Sabbah in 1090 had acquired the fortress of Alamut, famous for its impregnable defenses and location. He used it when he led the revolt against the Seljuk Turks who had invaded Persia and ousted the Sassanid Empire.

In Bartol’s novel, one of the young assassins neutralized Nizam al-Mulk but historical evidence suggest that one of Hassan’s men may have assassinated the vizier. Political assassinations were common at that time. Those stories, along with Hassan’s reputation provided the inspiration for the novel.

The Nizari Ismailis
There are names mentioned in the book that need explanation to understand the novel better. Most of these names are taken from real-life people and concepts. This section will give a brief description of each.

1) Ismailism - a branch of Shia Islam. The members of the sect cater to the idea that Imam Isma’il ibn Jafar was the spiritual successor to Ja’far al-Sadiq. They differ from the Twelvers who believe that Musa al-Kadhim was the true Imam. However, they both share the belief that the descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatima were the true imams.

2) Nizari Ismaili - a branch of Shia Islam that emphasizes reasoning, pluralism and social justice. The Fatimid Caliph-Imam al-Mustansir Billah had designated his son Nizar as the heir. Of the Fatimid State. Among those who knew of this plan was Hassan-i Sabbah. When al-Mustansir died however, the Armenian vizier Al-Afdal Shahanshah staged a coup for al-Musta’li and placed him on the throne. Nizar fled but was later taken prisoner and executed. Because of this, the Nizari Ismailis split from the Mustaali Ismailis.

Al-Hadi ibn Nizar, Nizar’s son, was taken to Alamut Fort in the Alborz mountains and was under the regency of Hassan.

3) Assassin - taken from the word hashshashin or assassiyun, which means “those faithful to the foundation.” It originally referred to the Nizari Ismailis led by the Old Man of the Mountain.

4) Fidai or Fedayeen - the term is often used in the novel Alamut. It refers to the the hashshashins.

5) Hashish or hash - part of the cannabis family of drugs. It can be smoked or consumed orally.

6) Houris - “companions” in paradise who welcome believers who have performed good deeds. In the novel Alamut, they are described as young, beautiful virgins.

Questions
To further understand the novel Alamut, the following questions will serve as guides:

1)What does the sect’s maxim mean?
2)Can Hassan’s actions be considered good or evil?
3) What is the message of the novel?

Summary
The novel is told from three perspectives: one is Halima, a young girl, bought and transported to Alamut; another is by Avani ibn Tahir whose grandfather was a martyr for Persia. He was sent to Hassan to train and avenge his grandfather’s death; and finally, Hassan, called Sayyiduna who led the Ismailis.

Halima was sold off in Bukhara then bought by one of the followers of Hassan to Alamut. There she sees the most beautiful garden with the loveliest of women. They live in an isolated area behind the castle where the women are trained in the arts. Halima however does not know why she was taken to the paradise-like garden. She was the youngest among the girls and was treated like a princess. She has yet to meet her benefactor Sayyiduna.

Avani ibn Tahir’s grandfather was beheaded for the cause of the Ismailis. He went to Alamut and endured harsh physical and mental training. He was among the brilliant students in the group of young boys, excelling in a lot of areas and impressing his teachers. He was told he was going to become a fedayeen. Tahir also has not met Sayyiduna yet.

Hassan-ibn Tahir has been planning for a long time. He has grand dreams no one has ever thought of before. He wanted “[t]o become feared by all potentates and foreign despots far and wide.” That plan explains the training that Halima and Tahir were undergoing separately.

When he revealed this to his closest colleagues, they were stunned yet amazed. Hassan has embraced the idea that “[t]he truth is unknowable. Therefore we believe in nothing and have no limits on what we can do." But that doesn't stop him from using the teachings and the lore of Islam to get his way. He was going to test the limits of faith, he said.

He explains that he will convince his fedayeen to overcome any fear of death. He has long thought of doing this by giving them a peek of what awaits them when they die a martyr's death for the cause --- a peek at paradise itself. Hassan believes, and by controlling even this part of their lives (by giving them a taste paradise) they conform completely to his will. He claims that he does not feel that he was being unfair to the boys. Moreover he justifies this by saying that “[t]hey (the believers) want us to get rid of the blank space of the unknown for them. They can't tolerate any uncertainty. But since we don't have any truth, we have to comfort them with fairy tales and fabrications.”

That explains why he needed young, impressionable men like Tahir. These boys were trained to obey whatever orders were given to them and that by performing well, they will surely go to heaven. There were other soldiers besides the fedayeen, because he was gathering an army to oppose the Seljuk Turks. Some of the men doubt the rumors that Hassan had been given the key to paradise, after all you can only go to paradise after death. Hassan’s claim sounded preposterous even to some of his followers, but he was determined to show them that he indeed possessed the key.

Hassan orders three of the best students to be given to him to try the experiment at last. He drugs Tahir and two of Tahir’s friends, Suleiman and Yusuf, with some hashish, and when they wake up they are in paradise itself. They were not yet aware that the paradise were the gardens of Alamut, populated by the fair maidens, including Halima, who have been instructed to do whatever was required of them, and to treat their guests as though they really were in heaven.

After this, the three boys spread their story. The fedayeen finally believed that Allah granted Hassan the key to send anyone to heaven for a short time.

His plan seemed to work for a while, but he did not foresee the effect it had on Halima and the boys. His enemies were scared and his followers were in awe after he ordered Yusuf and Suleiman to sacrifice themselves. The boys did not waver even when Yusuf was ordered to jump off a tower because they believed they could go to heaven. The boys had fallen in love with the houris and were obsessed with going back to paradise. The hashish also had affected their behavior. This scene happened when the Seljuk army besieged Alamut.

When they survived and the enemies were wary of their power, Hassan ordered Tahir to kill the grand vizier Nizam al-Mulk. Tahir was able to see the vizier in the pretense of delivering a letter. Tahir stabbed Nizam with a poisoned dagger. Nizam lived long enough however to tell Tahir that he was being played at by Hassan.

Tahir agreed to return to Alamut so he could kill Hassan. But Hassan also talked to Tahir of his true intentions. He said that Tahir had understood what his mission was. Hassan tells him about al-Araf or the wall that separates Heaven and Hell. He lectured about his motto "Nothing is an absolute reality, all is permitted." Hassan was so embedded in his own morality that he even consented to have his son executed for disobedience. He never felt remorse or pity for his son, the same way that he was detached to his two daughters.

Tahir leaves Alamut. After another fedai assassinated the Seljuk sultan, political turmoil followed. Hassan decided to lock himself up in his tower and leave the affairs of state and military to his trusted men.

Analysis
The questions written above will be used to analyze the important parts of the novel.

1) What does the sect’s maxim mean?
“Nothing is true, everything is permitted,” was the guiding principle of Hassan. In his explanation to his senior followers, he recounts his search for truth. He was young when he converted to Ismailism after he had left the Twelvers. To his dismay however, he discovered that Ismailism was just a bait used to rally the dissatisfied Persians against the Sunni Seljuk Turks. He concluded that Ismailism was a pure rationalist philosophy with no beliefs in any metaphysical or divine reality. The believers think that objective truth is unknowable, because our senses can be deceiving. This makes up the first phrase “nothing is true” and refers to the epistemological skepticism of the Ismailis. When all our perceptions of the world are delusional, no perception can be truer than the others. Therefore it depends entirely on one’s perception of the matter. The idea of good or bad depends entirely on what one sees, therefore “everything is permitted.” For Hassan, there is no evil intent in sending young boys to murder people and die in the process. The young men after all know that if they performed their tasks, they will go back to heaven.

2) Can Hassan’s actions be considered good or evil?
If one considers the creed stated above, Hassan can be said to have freed himself from any moral obligation. Because nothing is true and everything is permitted, Hassan can create his own idea of morality. He had achieved that by realizing that he should not be dragged down by norms and values in the society. He had transcended those ideas and do not need to act according to them. His own morality however is the basis for his behavior. It is ironic that he does not conform to the society’s norms and values but he was faithful to his own laws. One evidence is his indifference to his children, one of whom he had executed.

3) What is the message of the novel?
Alamut cautions the reader about a stateless organization led by a charismatic and ruthless individual who adopts suicide as a weapon. It warns about the abuse of faith and the ability to twist minds to obtain blind obedience. The novel is an eerie reminder that this kind of system is possible. The best example would be the religious extremists who sacrifice their lives to enter paradise or in the service of a cause. There have been instances in history more frightening than the assassins like the suicide bombers of modern-day terrorist attacks and the suicide pilots in World War II.

The novel also looks closer at humanity’s conflicting quests for faith and doubt as well as for meaning and knowledge, and for power and morality.

Conclusion
Hassan can be considered the prime example of Friedrich Nietzsche’s Ubermensch or superhuman. He no longer conforms to the society’s norms and morals but has created his own laws. His idea of good or bad is dictated by what conforms to his own laws, laws which he follows faithfully. He is an extreme rationalist. Although he worries about the world’s godlessness and materialism, his answer to the problem is to leave it behind and focus on his own world. His pursuit of knowledge is more important than the masses who understood nothing. This is similar to Nietzsche’s concept that “god is dead.”

Hassan is an anti-realist who created his own “simulated reality” to deceive his followers. Despite his understanding, Hassan seems like a lonely man. It is further emphasized by his withdrawing into the tower and leaving the affairs of the world to other people.

Alamut deals with questions about the nature of reality, the value of truth, and how to learn about it. Hassan embodied the person who has reached the pinnacle of his quest. In some ways, his withdrawal into the tower can be considered as his final act that will finally free him from the human world.

When Hassan lectured about al-Araf to Tahir, he likened it to being able to transcend good and evil. Al-Araf was the wall that divides Heaven and Hell. When you stand on it, figuratively, you will be able to see everything from a different perspective. Your perception of the world, truth and knowledge are challenged. Tahir understood this and that was why he left so he could stand on al-Araf one day like Hassan to pursue knowledge.

References
Bartol, Vladimir. Alamut. Scala House Press, 1938.
Nietzsche, Friedrich. Thus Spoke Zarathustra. Penguin Books, 1978.
Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Gay Science. Random House, 1974.