791 AH, Sun, 04/06
This continued until on monday [Poppers corrects: sunday] morning it was found that amirs ʾĀqbughā al-Māridīnī, great chamberlain, Jumaq ibn ʾAytamish al-Bajāsī, and ʾIbrāhīm ibn Ṭashtamur al-ʿAlāʾī al-Dawādār, had during, the night gone with about 500 of the sultan’s mamlūks to join al-Nāṣirī. That morning, which was II jumādā 5 [Popper:4], amir Qurqmās al-Ṭashtamurī al-dawādār al-kabīr; Qarā Damurdāsh al-ʾAḥmadī, ʾatābak al-ʿasākir of Egypt, and Sūdūn Bāq, amir of the council, also joined al-Nāṣirī with a vast number of mamlūks and attendants (khadam), and battalions (al-ʾaṭlāb), so that with the sultan there remained behind of the amirs only his cousin Qajmās; Sūdūn al-Shaykhūnī the viceroy; Sūdūn Ṭurunṭāy; Tamurbughā al-Manjakī; ʾAbū Bakr ibn Sunqur; Baybars al-Tumantamurī; Shaykh al-Ṣafawī; Shankal muqaddam al-mamālīk; and a number of the amirs whom he himself had bought as mamlūks, and of his intimate mamlūks.
It is a surprising fact that the sultan but yesterday had given money to the amirs whp went over to al-Nāṣirī, 10 000 dinars to each amir of 100, and 5000 to each one of 40, and had received their oaths of loyalty and aid. And in one night, hehad given 30 000 dinars in one sum, as well as a precious ring valued at many thousands, to the ʾatābak al-ʿasākir Qarā Damurdāsh al-ʾAḥmadī, who had said to him: “Our lord the sultan, may my own life be a ransom for you - have no fear, as long as I remain in your service you are safe !” The sulan had thanked him, but straightway Qarā Damurdāsh, descending from the sultan’s presence and mounting his horse, had gone out of the Qarāfa Gate, cut off the water which flows into the citadel, and wit the amirs who have been mentioned had gone over to al-Nāṣirī. The latter, however, did not pay any special attention to them when they arrived, but treated them as he had the other Egyptian amirs who had come to him.
When the sultan learned of the reachery of these amirs after he had treated them as generously as he had he knew that his reign was over.