The founder of the Assassins was Sayyidna Hasan bin Sabbah, or Hasan-i Sabbah. The name Assassin could be derived from "followers of Al-Hassan." It is unlikely that the etymology of the word Assassin is from "hashish." Marco Polo's visit to Alamut claimed that that the assassins were kept in line by showing them a paradisical world by use of hashish (even though the imagery portrayed by Polo is closer to the use of wine instead). However, Hasan-i Sabbah had his son executed for drinking wine, so it is unlikely there were any sort of depressants, psychoactives, narcotics, etc. used by the Assassins.
