Following the destruction of the Khwarazmian Empire in 1221, the Mongol Empire's appetite for conquest to the west is whetted. It will take a few Great Khans to kick it off, but with the accession of Möngke to the throne in 1251, the way will be laid bare - to be led by his brother Hülegü Khan.The only thing standing between him and the beating heart of Islam is a ragged band of heretics scattered across the mountain fortresses of northern Persia - a group known as the Nizari Isma'ili... or more infamously: the Assassins.

Time Period Covered:765-1257 CE

Major Historical Figures:Mongol Empire:Möngke Khaghan [r. 1251-1259]Hülegü Ilkhan [r. 1251-1265]General Ket-Buqa (Noyan) [d. 1260]

Nizari Isma'ili:Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq [702-765]Hassan-i Sabbah [1050-1124]Imam Jalal al-Din Hassan [1187-1221]Imam Ala al-Din Muhammad III [1211-1255]Imam Rukn al-Din Khurshah [1230-1256]

Other:Brother Matthew of Paris [1200-1259]Friar William of Rubruck [1220-1293]Ata-Malik Juvayni [1226-1283]Rashid al-Din Hamadani [1247-1318]

Major Sources Cited:Al-Din, Rashid (tr. John Andrew Boyle). The Successors of Genghis Khan.Daftary, Farhad. The Isma’ilis: Their History and Doctrines.Hillenbrand, Robert. “Propaganda in the Mongol ‘World History’” in British Academy Review, issue 17 (March 2011).Hodgson, M. G. S. “The Isma’ili State” in The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 5: The Saljuq and Mongol Periods.Jamal, Nadia Eboo. Surviving the Mongols: Nizari Quhistani and the Continuity of Ismaili Tradition in Persia.Marozzi, Justin. Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood.Paris, Matthew of (tr. John Allen Giles). Chronica Majora (Matthew Paris’s English History From the Year 1235 to 1273, Volume 1).Saunders, J.J. The History of the Mongol Conquests.van Ruysbroeck, Willem (tr. W. W. Rockhill & Peter Jackson). The journey of William of Rubruck to the eastern parts of the world, 1253-55, as narrated by himself, with two accounts of the earlier journey of John of Pian del Carpine.