"كتيّب سوريا (بما في ذلك فلسطين). لندن: إدارة استخبارات الأركان البحرية، يونيو ١٩١٩" [و‎‎١‎١‎١] (٧٣٨/٢٢٦)

RELIGION
215
They are a branch of the party which for about two centuries
was dominant in Egypt and the neighbouring countries under
the Fatimite dynasty. The schism started by Hasan Sabbah
aimed in the first place at a change of dynasty. The method
of the society was to seize and occupy fortresses, and in Syria
their strongholds were mostly in the Jebel Ansariyeh. In time
their fortresses in Persia and Syria were taken from them by
Mongol and Egyptian sovereigns, and the head-quarters of the
sect were eventually transferred to India, where its head is
called the Agha Khan. This potentate is recognized by the
community in Syria and members of rival sects have an idea
that he is a woman, who sends yearly to collect money,
obtaining a few piastres from even the poorest. Little is
known of their doctrines and practices. A traveller asserts
that every female born on 27th Rejeb is supposed by them to
be an incarnation of the Deity. She never works; her hair and
nails are never cut, and she may not marry. Every man of the
village wears a piece of her clothing or of her hair in his turban.
Since the Turkish occupation of Egypt and Syria little or
nothing has been heard of any activities on their part in the
way of ‘ assassinating ’, or of their hypnotizing themselves
with the decoction of hemp (hashish) whence some authorities
suppose their name to be derived.
Ansariyeh or Nuseiriyeh
The Ansariyeh (not more than 100,000) live in the hills of
northern Syria (Jebel Ansariyeh). They have, besides, colonies
outside this area, as at Mersina, Tarsus, and Adana. They have
been a very insubordinate element in the Ottoman Empire
and also under previous rulers of Syria. The name perhaps
occurs in Pliny in the form Nazerini and may therefore be very
old. At the present day it is generally derived from the Arabic
name Nuseir, diminutive of Nasr. The sect was in existence
at the beginning of the fifth Islamic century; and the doctrines
cited as characteristic of it at that time are identical with those
which are held by its adherents now. It is an extravagant
form of Shi‘ism, in which divinity is assigned to ‘Ali son of