Suhail (died 860s), also known as Al-Anqa (English: The Bird) or The Tax Collector, was a member of the Order of the Ancients operating in Baghdad during the 9th century.
Biography[]
By the 860s, Suhail had become the regional tax collector in Baghdad, residing in a mansion in the city's Karkh district.[1] He also joined the Order of the Ancients, where he came to serve under Ning alongside a fellow Order member, Javed.[2]
On Ning's instructions, Suhail raised the taxes for merchants at the Bazaar, especially those of foreign backgrounds, and had his guards harass anyone unable to pay them on time.[3] The money earned this way was used to fund a blockade at the harbor overseen by Javed, who had received his own orders from Ning: to search for a precious Chinese hairpin.[2]
However, Suhail's current directive was halted due to his struggles with finding a group of merchants on the road to Baghdad, one of whom had discovered his identity as Al-Anqa. To prevent the merchants' arrival, he hired bandits to intimidate them, which succeeded in halting their caravan, making it stop at the Palm Grove.[3] With this issue temporarily taken care of, Suhail turned his attention back to extorting taxes from the Bazaar merchants, especially after Ning sent him a letter threatening his life due to his recent failure to raise enough money to fund Javed's blockade.[1]
Suhail's plans were later discovered and thwarted by the Alamut Hidden One Basim Ibn Ishaq, who dealt with the bandits threatening the foreign merchants, allowing them to arrive in Baghdad safely. After learning about Suhail's identity as Al-Anqa, Basim infiltrated his mansion and assassinated him while the Ancient was anxiously awaiting the arrival of his guards with the latest sum of money collected from the merchants.[3]
Behind the scenes[]
Suhail's Order cryptonym, Al-Anqa (العنقة), is a reference to the Anqa, a female bird in Arabian mythology said to fly far away and only appear once in ages.[4] The merchant who reveals Suhail's identity as Al-Anqa to Basim acknowledges this fact when he ponders why the tax collector would use the name of a female bird.[3]
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Assassin's Creed: Mirage – The Toll of Greed
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Assassin's Creed: Mirage – Coin, Corruption and Tea
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Assassin's Creed: Mirage – Of Toil and Taxes
- ↑
Anqa on Wikipedia
