Yalbughā al-Nāṣirī then rode to the citadel (of Aleppo) and took possession of it, summoned the Turkumān and Arabs, and wrote to Tamurbughā al-ʾAfḍalī al-ʾAshrafī, known as Minṭāsh, to join him. Minṭāsh, overjoyed, came to hi after a few days and acknowledged allegiance to him. Previously, Minṭāsh had been persecuted by al-Nāṣirī, who had fought him several times since his defection from the sultan. Now he became one of al-Nāṣirī’s adherents, and furthermore the ʾAshrafīs and the Yalbughāwīs (the latter were the more numerous faction) became his allies, since al-Nāṣirī was one of the leading Yalbughāwīs and Minṭāsh one of the leading ʾAshrafīs. many of the leading amirs, too, joined al-Nāṣirī as will be explained later. This news was brought back to Cairo by Maliktamur on ṣafar 15 - and it was bad news whiche he brought !