Assassination

An assassination is the willful killing of a person through a sudden or secret attack. This act typically targets prominent or important individuals. Most often, these attacks are driven by political or ideological reasons. An assassin is the person who carries out the act. Sometimes, individuals act alone to achieve their goals. Other times, entire organizations or groups order the attack and use accomplices to finish it.

Because they target leaders, these events can fundamentally change the course of history.

The word "assassin" has a deep and debated history. It is believed to come from the medieval Italian and French words for a group known as the Assassins. This was a radical sect of Nizari Ismailis active in the Near East from the 11th to the 13th centuries. A man named Hassan-i Sabbah founded this group. They targeted the political and religious elite of the Abbasid, Seljuk, Fatimid, and Christian Crusader worlds.

While some believe the name comes from the use of hashish, many modern scholars debate this connection. The term "assassinare" appeared in Medieval Latin by the mid-13th century. Later, the verb "to assassinate" appeared in printed English in 1600.

Assassination has been a tool of power politics since ancient times. The earliest known victim might be the Egyptian pharaoh Teti from the 23rd century BC. Other Egyptian monarchs, like Amenemhat I and Ramesses III, were also recorded as victims of assassination. In the Persian Achaemenid Dynasty, seven kings were murdered between 550 BC and 330 BC.

Ancient Chinese texts also discuss these tactics. The political treatise *Arthashastra*, written by Chanakya, provides detailed information on the subject. Famous historical victims include Philip II of Macedon in 336 BC and the Roman dictator Julius Caesar in 44 BC. Many Roman emperors and Muslim Shia Imams also fell victim to such attacks.

Throughout history, different groups have used specific methods for these acts. Some were small groups, while others were specialized units. For example, the *sicarii* were an early group active around 6 AD. In the Middle Ages, regicide was rare in Western Europe but common in the Eastern Roman Empire. In those cases, strangling in a bathtub was a frequent method. In Japan, many assassins used bladed weaponry. This tradition continued into modern times, including a recorded instance of a sword being used against Inejiro Asanuma.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, international lawyers began to argue against these acts. Balthazar Ayala was a prominent jurist who condemned assassination in foreign policy. Alberico Gentili argued that assassinations caused short-term anger and long-term chaos. Hugo Grotius also wrote that killing should only be permitted on a battlefield.

As the modern world developed, the killing of leaders became a tool for political symbolism. This is sometimes called the "propaganda of the deed."

Modern history contains many significant examples of political violence. In the United States, four presidents were assassinated: Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy.

In 1914, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo helped start World War I. During the Cold War, many nations were accused of using covert operations to target enemies. In India, both Mahatma Gandhi and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi were assassinated.

Civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X also lost their lives to such attacks.

Today, the subject remains a complex part of global politics. In some cases, governments have used targeted killings, such as the "kill list" used by the Obama administration. Other instances involve international campaigns, like the one led by the Islamic Republic of Iran in the 1970s and 1980s. These events show how the targeting of individuals remains a powerful, and often destabilizing, force in the world. Whether through specialized units or lone actors, the impact of an assassination continues to shape how nations interact.