791 AH, 16/08
Minṭāsh as soon as he had arrested al-Jūbānī, rode with his followers to the Gate of the Chain, took all the horses standing there, and attempted to assault the Gate in order to take al-Nāṣirī unawares. This he was unable to do, as the gates were closed and al-Nāṣirī’s mamlūks shot arrows and stones upon him from the top of the wall. Minṭāsh then returned to his palace near the college of sultan Ḥasan (it is the palace that once belonged to Manjak al-Yūsufī, and had then been bought and renovated by Tamurbughā al-Ẓāhirī the dawādār), and on his way plundered the house of ʾĀqbughā al-Jawharī, the ʾustādār, carrying off his horses and furniture.
Minṭāsh as soon as he reached his palace gave orders to his mamlūks and adherents to ascend to the College Mosque of sultan Ḥasan; this they did, and secured possession of it. The amirs who ascended were Tankizbughā,raʾs nawba, and ʾUzdamur, the polo-club bearer (al-Jūkandār), who had been al-malik al-Ẓāhir’s dawādār; with them also were a number of mamlūks.
Minṭāsh then sent a supply of arrows and stones to the mosque, and these were shot from the top of the two minarets and from around the dome upon al-Nāṣirī’s followers in the Rumayla Place. Al-Nāṣirī therupon ordered his mamlūks and adherents likewise to arm themselves; he was amazed that Minṭāsh had been able to accomplish what he had, since he had but exceedingly few mamlūks and followers. When the news of what had happened reached the amirs, they also ascended to al-Nāṣirī with their mamlūks and battalions.
Minṭāsh, however, also gained further in strength and determination when both the ʾAshrafī and the Ẓāhirī mamlūks joined him. The adherence of the Ẓāhirīs was caused by their hope of securing the release of their master, al-malik al-Ẓāhir, while the ʾAshrafīs joined Minṭāsh because they were his barrack comrades (khushdāshīya) - that is to say, Minṭāsh himself was an ʾAshrafī. By the adherence of these mamlūks, Minṭāsh’s force, which numbered only seventy horsemen when he first rode in revolt, was increased now to 500;and a large crowd of the populace (al-ʿāmma) also came to join him.
Al-Nāṣirī, on the other hand, was joined by the Yalbughāwīs, although it is true that he also was a barrack comrade of Barqūq, since both of them were by origin Yalbughāwīs. The Yalbughāwīs at this time included the oldest amirs and the greater part of the egyptian army.
When the two factions had shot upon each other and engaged in battle Ḥusām al-Dīn Ḥusayn ibn al-Kūrānī the wālī of Cairo and amir Maʾmūr the great chamberlain went down among the populace and on behalf of al-Nāṣirī in a public proclamation gave them permission to plunder Minṭāsh’s mamlūks and to seize and bring to al-Nāṣirī those of them who should fall into their power; but a Minṭāshī detachment put the two amirs to flight, forcing them to return to al-Nāṣirī. The wālī then closed the city gates.
The battle increased in violence and Minṭāsh himself went out with his followers, addressed the populace kindly and ingratiatingly, and distributed gold among them. As a result, they were won over to his cause and rushed to gather for him the arrows which the Nāṣirīs were shooting. They showed extreme daring in rendering him this assistance; one of them, for instance, would leap up to snatch an arrow in the air before another could catch it and bring it to him. Another party of them asisted by carrying stones to the top of the College Mosque of Ḥasan. This they continued to do till nightfall.