Assabi'as ('A<ra/3<«c v. r. 2«/3t'ac), one of the " captains over thousands" who presented victims for the I'assover under Josiah (1 Esdr. i, 9); evidently the Hashabiah (q. v.) of 2 Chron. xxxv, 9.
Assal'imoth (AuaaXiiiUoSr v. r. 2aA(/*w$), son of Josaphias of the "sons" of Bania, who returned with 1G0 retainers from their exile (1 Esdr. viii, 36) ; evi- dently the Shelomitii (q. v.) of the genuine text (Ezra viii, 10).
Assam, a British province of Farther India, hav- ing an area estimated at 18,200 square miles, and a population of 602,500 souls. It was an independent state until 1822, when it was incorporated with Bur- mah. In 1826 it was ceded to the English. The pre- vailing religion is Brahminism, which in this province lias superseded Buddhism. Among the tribes which inhabit the country, the Assamese, the Khamtis, the Singphos, and the Nagas are the most important. The Grst mission in Assam was established by the American Baptist Union in 1837, on the invitation of Captain Jenkins, commissioner general of India for Assam. It was at first intended to embrace all the four principal tribes in the missionary operations, but insurrectionary movements in 1839 and 1842 induced thnii to restrict their labors to the Assamese. In 1844 tlii> missionaries established an orphan institution at Nowgong, which numbered for several years from 50
1 ; "" smbers. In 1819 the translation of the New
Testament in Assamese was completed, and printed at Sibsagar, in Assam, in is p.). There were in Assam, in 1859, 7 American and 3 native missionaries, 3 churches, 50 church-members, 1 boarding-school with 45 pupils.— Newcomb, Cyclopedia of Missions; (Bos- ton) Missionary Magazine, 1859, p. 27*6. See India.
Assaui'as (Aooafiiac, v. r. Eapiac > Vulg. Assan-
nas), one of the twelve priests selected by Ezra to transport the sacred vessels to Jerusalem (1 Esdr. viii, 54) ; a corruption for Hashabiah (q. v.) of the orig- inal text (Ezra, viii, 24).
Assarius. See Farthing.
Assassins, a secret military and religious order in Syria and Persia, a branch of the "Ismaelites" (q. v.) or " Shiites." They were suppressed in the 11th and 12th centuries, but their principles to some extent survive in the Ansarians (q. v.). The secret doctrines of the Ismaelites, who had their head-quar- ters in Cairo, declared the descendants of Ismael, the last of the seven so-called imaums, to be alone entitled to the caliphate ; and gave an allegorical interpretation to the precepts of Islam, which led, as their adversa- ries asserted, to considering all positive religions equal- ly right, and all actions morally indifferent. The atrocious career of the Assassins was but a natural se- quence of such teaching. The founder of these last, Hassan ben-Sabbah el-Homairi, of Persian descent, about the middle of the 11th century, studied at Nish- pur, under the celebrated Mowasek, and had subse- quently obtained from Ismaelite dais, or religious leaders, a partial insight into their secret doctrines, and a partial consecration to the rank of dai. But, on betaking himself to the central lodge at Cairo, he quarreled with the sect, and was doomed to banish- ment. He succeeded, however, in making his escape from the ship, and reaching the Syrian coast, after which he returned to Persia, everywhere collecting ad- herents, with the view of founding, upon the Ismael' ite model, a secret order of his own, a species o'f or- ganized society which should be a terror to his most powerful neighbors. The internal constitution of the order, which had some resemblance to the orders of Christian knighthood, was as follows : First, as su- preme and absolute ruler, came the Sheikh-al-jebal, the Prince or Old Man of the Mountain. His vice- gerents in Jebal, Kuhistan, and Syria were the three Dai-al-kebir, or grand priors of the order. Next came the dais and refiks, which last were not, however, initiated, like the former, into every stage of the se- cret doctrines, and had no authority as teachers. To the uninitiated belonged, first of all, the fedavis or fedais — i. e. the devoted ; a band of resolute youths, the ever ready and blindly obedient executioners of the Old Man of the Mountain. Before he assigned to them their bloody tasks, he used to have them thrown into a state of ecstasy by the intoxicating influence of the hashish (the hemp-plant), which circumstance led to the order being called Hashishim, or hemp-eat- ers. The word was changed by Europeans into As- sassins, and transplanted into the languages of the West with the signification of murderers. The Lasiks, or novices, formed the sixth division of the order, and the laborers and mechanics the seventh. Upon these the most rigid observance of the Koran was enjoined ; while the initiated, on the contrary, looked upon all positive religion as null. The catechism of the order, placed by Hassan in the hands of his dais, consisted of seven parts, of which the second treated, among other things, of the art of worming themselves into the confidence of men. It is easy to conceive the terror which so unscrupulous a sect must have inspired. Several princes secretly paid tribute to the Old Man of the Mountain. Hassan, who died at the age of 70 (1125 A. I).), appointed as his successor Kia-Busurg- Omid, one of his grand priors. Kia-Busurg-Omid was succeeded in 1138 by his son Mohammed, who knew how to maintain his power against Nureddin and Jus- Buf-Salaheddin. In 1163, Hassan II was rash enough to extend the secret privilege of the initiated — exemp- tion, namely, from the positive precepts of religion — to the people generally, and to abolish Islam in the Assassin state, which led to his falling a victim to his brother-in-law's dagger. Under the rule of his son,