Alamūt , the fortress and seat of the Nizārī Ismāʿīlī state of Persia, is situated in an area known in mediaeval times as Daylamān (in the region of Daylam), later called Rūdbār, some thirty-five kilometres northeast of Qazwīn and near the village of Gāzurkhān. The fortress was erected on the summit of a high rock outcrop in the foothills of the massive Hawdigān range in the central Alburz (or Elburz) Mountains. The fortress dominates a fertile valley and access to it was possible only through a narrow, steep, and winding