Hasan-i Sabbah

Hasan-i Sabbah (circa 1034 - 1124) was the charismatic leader of an Islamic mystery cult, known to us as the Assassins. Not much is known about Sabbah, per se, but legends abound as to the tactics used to inculcate members into his quasi-religious political organization. A future assassin was subjected to rites very similar to those of other mystery cults in which the subject was made to believe that he was in imminent danger of death. But the twist of the assassins was that they drugged the person to simulate a "dying" to later have them awaken in a garden flowing with wine and served a sumptuous feast by virgins. The supplicant was then convinced he was in Heaven and that Sabbah was minion of the divinity and that all of his orders should be followed, even to death.