is there a predecessor or an ancestor to the ninja?

Question

is there really an ancestor to the ninja that existed during the 10th century? bets answer gets the points!!!

Answer 1

"Ninja as a group first began to be written about in 15th century feudal Japan as martial organizations predominately in the regions of Iga and Koga of central Japan, though the practice of guerrilla warfare and undercover espionage operations goes back much further."

" “Ninjutsu did not come into being as a specific well defined art in the first place, and many centuries passed before ninjutsu was established as an independent system of knowledge in its own right. Ninjutsu developed as a highly illegal counter culture to the ruling Samurai elite, and for this reason alone, the origins of the art were shrouded by centuries of mystery, concealment, and deliberate confusion of history” "The Historical Ninja". –By Sōke Masaaki Hatsumi"

"A similar account is given by 10th dan instructor Stephen K. Hayes, who was the first American to be accepted as a student by Grandmaster Hatsumi– “The predecessors of Japan's’ ninja were so called rebels favoring Buddhism who fled into the mountains near Kyoto as early as the 7th century A.D. to escape religious persecution and death at the hands of imperial forces” Ninjutsu: "The Art of Invisibility"."

"Ninja : Historical period of origin" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja#Historical_period_of_origin

"Incidents of espionage are well documented throughout history. The ancient writings of Chinese and Indian military strategists such as Sun-Tzu and Chanakya contain information on deception and subversion. Chanakya's student Chandragupta Maurya, founder of the Maurya Empire, made use of assassinations, spies and secret agents, which are described in Chanakya's Arthasastra. The ancient Egyptians had a thoroughly developed system for the acquisition of intelligence, and the Hebrews used spies as well, as in the story of Rahab."

"Espionage : History" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spy#History

"The term 'Assassin' is thought to be derived from its connections to the Hashshashin, a militant religious sect of Ismaili Muslims, thought to be active in the Middle East in the 8th to 14th centuries. This mystic secret society killed members of the Abbasid elite for political or religious reasons."

"It was said that they were drugged during their murders, often with materials such as hashish and opium. The name assassin is derived from either hasishin for the supposed influence of the drugs, and disregard for their own lives in the process, or hassansin for their leader, Hassan-i-Sabah."

"Today, it is known that hashishinnya was an offensive term used to depict this cult by its Muslim and Mongolian detractors; the extreme zeal and cold preparation to murder makes it unlikely they ever used drugs. As far as is known they only used daggers, rarely survived their attacks, even when successful (unlike in many tales, where they are silent, invisible killers) and it seems that they rarely acted against westerners during the Crusades, partly because the crusading orders were not as affected by losing individual leaders as were the autocratic local regimes of the time."

"Assassination is one of the oldest tools of power politics, dating back at least as far as recorded history. Philip II of Macedon, the father of Alexander the Great, and Julius Caesar can be noted as famous examples. Emperors of Rome often met their end in this way, as did many of the Shia Imams. The practice was also well-known in ancient China like Jing Ke's failed assassination of Qin Shi Huang. The ancient Indian military advisor Chanakya wrote about assassinations in detail in his political treatise Arthashastra."

"Assassination" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assasin

"Chanakya (c. 350-283 BC) wrote about assassinations in detail in his political treatise Arthashastra. His student Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Maurya Empire, later made use of assassinations against some of his enemies, including two of Alexander's generals Nicanor and Philip."

"Towards the end of the Warring States Period (3rd century BC) in China, the state Qin rose to hegemony over other states. The Prince of the state Yan felt the threat and sought to remove the Qin king (later Qin Shi Huang) and sent Jing Ke for the mission. The assassination attempt was foiled and Jing Ke was killed on the spot."

"History of assassination" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_assassination

Answer 2

in Ancient china, long before the Ninja, there was a secret society of assassin/spies called, if memory serves me right, Lei Han... the Green Leaf Society... they are believed to be the precursors of the Ninja.. They were called Green Leaves due to their wearing green as camouflage due to the forests of China.. They were used much as the Ninja... You have more than likely heard of Nin-jitsu but the Ninja had a Nin-po which means Shadow Hand and has evidence to have been derived from Chuan Fa a Chinese system which means Fist Law

Answer 3

Ninja are warriors of the low hinin class and did dirty work for samurai often. Samurai are warriors of the noble bushi class and began much earlier than ninja. Samurai are like knights of Europe or patricians of Rome, and ninja are serfs or plebeians. Ninja had no honor, unlike the samurai. I do not see how hiring a ninja to do dishonorable deeds makes a samurai less guilty than the ninja.

Answer 4

Desendants

Answer 5

the samuri preceeded the ninja but were hardly ancestors