Al-Rusafa, Syria
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Al-Rusafa is a Syrian village located in the Masyaf Subdistrict in Masyaf District, located west of Hama and about 10 kilometers southwest of Masyaf. According to the Syria Central Bureau of Statistic
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Fortress Al Rusafa
Nizari–Seljuk conflicts
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By the late 11th century, the Shi'a sub-sect of Ismailism had found many adherents in Persia, although the region was occupied by the Sunni Seljuk Empire. The hostile tendencies of the Abbasid–Seljuk
Alamut was ideal for use as an impregnable stronghold.
According to medieval Western legends, the Old Man of the Mountain (i.e. Hassan-i Sabbah) ordered a fida'i to stab himself and another one to throw himself off the Alamut's walls, convincing Sultan Malikshah's envoy that his men embrace death. 19th-century drawing by Pierre Méjanel, from Les Mystères de la Franc-Maçonnerie (1886) of Léo Taxil.
Nizam al-Mulk, the vizier and the de facto ruler of the Seljuk Empire, was assassinated in 1092 by the Nizaris. It was the most prominent and the first of the fifty assassinations performed during Hassan-i Sabbah's leadership.
The Nizari commander Buzurg-Ummid captured Lamasar (now in ruins) and rebuilt it into the biggest Nizari fortress. The Nizari strongholds were built to withstand long sieges (for example, Gerdkuh, a similar fortress resisted a Mongol siege of 17 years).