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Alamut, a mountain fortress in northern Iran, was built to survive long sieges: its defenders kept water in cisterns cut into the rock, brought more in through channels and grew food on terraced slopes below the walls.

Alamut Castle

HistoryTechnology

The story behind the card

After Hasan-i Sabbah took Alamut in 1090, he had the fortress enlarged and prepared for isolation. Storerooms were lined with limestone to keep provisions, water came in through pipes and channels from the surrounding mountains, and terraced fields fed the garrison. Seljuk armies besieged it more than once without taking it. When the Mongols entered in December 1256, after the Nizari ruler had already surrendered elsewhere, the historian Juvayni found deep tanks and chambers still full of wine, vinegar and honey; one soldier, he wrote, nearly drowned in a tank of honey.

Türkçe oku
Kuzey İran'daki dağ kalesi Alamut, uzun kuşatmalara dayanacak biçimde donatılmıştı: Kayaya oyulmuş sarnıçlarda su biriktiriliyor, kanallarla dışarıdan su getiriliyor, surların altındaki teraslarda da yiyecek yetiştiriliyordu.

Hasan Sabbah 1090'da Alamut'u aldıktan sonra kaleyi genişletti ve dış dünyadan uzun süre kopuk kalabilecek hâle getirdi. Erzak odalarının duvarları yiyecekleri korumak için kireç taşıyla kaplandı, su çevredeki dağlardan boru ve kanallarla getirildi, teraslı tarlalar da kale muhafızlarını besledi. Selçuklu orduları kaleyi birkaç kez kuşattı ama alamadı. Nizari hükümdarı başka bir kalede teslim olduktan sonra, Aralık 1256'da Moğollar Alamut'a girdiğinde tarihçi Cüveynî derin depoların hâlâ şarap, sirke ve balla dolu olduğunu gördü. Anlattığına göre askerlerden biri bir bal deposunda neredeyse boğuluyordu.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Alamut Castle
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Next card in the archiveWhen Alamut surrendered to the Mongols in 1256, the Persian historian Ata-Malik Juvayni was allowed to inspect its famous library. By his own account, he saved a selection of books and scientific instruments and burned the Ismaili works he considered heretical.Read next →