page_title: Nizari–Seljuk conflicts
section_title: Nizaris establish themselves in Jabal Bahra', Syria
hierarchical_section_title: Nizari–Seljuk conflicts / After Sultan Muhammad Tapar: toward stalemate / Sultan Mas'ud, Muhammad ibn Buzurg-Ummid, and later lords of Alamut / Nizaris establish themselves in Jabal Bahra', Syria
caption_attribution_description: Battle Of Inab (also named Ard al-Hatim)
context_page_description: By the late 11th century, the Shi'a sect of Isma'ilism, propagated by the Fatimid Caliphate, had found many adherents in Persia, although the region was ruled by the staunchly Sunni Great Seljuk Empire. The bulk of the Persian Isma'ilis broke away from the declining Fatimids in 1095, forming the Nizari sect, under Hassan-i Sabbah. Based at Alamut Castle, Hassan revolted against the Seljuk order, and his followers captured many similar strongholds inside Seljuk territories. Socio-economic factors and the religious background of the population, as well as the politically decentralized nature of the Seljuk government, all facilitated the rapid spread of the revolt, while the Ismailis' effective use of strongholds, the selective removal of key enemies through assassination, and maintaining crucial alliances thwarted continuous Seljuk military efforts against their weaker opponent.
  The movement of the Nizaris soon lost its initial vigor and their territories were confined to isolated strongholds within the Seljuk Empire. However, the Seljuks failed to exterminate the Nizaris after prolonged wars, and tacitly accepted their existence.
context_section_description: The Fatimids declined following the Nizari-Musta'li schism and subsequently many in Syria rallied toward the Nizaris. In this third phase of their activity in Syria from 1130 until 1151, the Nizaris obtained and held several strongholds in the Jabal Bahra' (today called the Syrian Coastal Mountain Range). First, they apparently quickly reorganized under da'i Abu al-Fath and transferred their activities outside the cities and penetrated to the mountainous region of Jabal Bahra' following the Crusaders' failure to capture this region. Little is known about this period. They obtained their first fortress, al-Qadmus, by purchasing it from the governor of al-Kahf Castle, Sayf al-Mulk ibn 'Amrun, in 1132–1133. Al-Kahf itself was later sold by Sayf al-Mulk's son, Musa, to prevent the castle's fall to his rival cousins. In 1136–1137, the Frankish-occupied Khariba was captured by local Nizaris. In 1140–1141, the Nizaris captured Masyaf by killing Sunqur, who commanded the fort on behalf of the Banu Munqidh of Shayzar. Khawabi, Rusafa, Maniqa, and Qulay'a were captured around the same time. A few decades later, William of Tyre put the number of these castles at ten and the Nizari population there at 60,000.
  The Nizari enemies at this point were the local Sunni rulers and the Crusader Latin states of Antioch and Tripoli, and the Turkish governors of Mosul; the latter was in the strategic region between the Syrian and Persian Nizari centers. In 1148, the Zengid emir Nur al-Din Mahmud abolished the Shia forms of prayer Aleppo, which was considered as an open war against the Ismailis and Shia Aleppines. A year later a Nizari contingent assisted Prince Raymond of Antioch in his campaign against Nur al-Din; both Raymond and the Nizari commander Ali ibn Wafa' were killed in the subsequent battle at Inab in June 1149.
  A succession dispute occurred after the death of Shaykh Abu Muhammad, the head of the Nizari da'wa in Syria. Eventually, the leadership was passed to Rashid al-Din Sinan by orders from Alamut. He managed to consolidate the Nizari position in Syria by adopting appropriate policies towards the Crusaders, Nur al-Din, and Saladin.
caption: The Battle of Inab
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