Al-Bidayah wa an-Nihayah - Ibn Kathir - (15/573)

Al-Bidayah wa an-NihayahIbn Kathir

He was then besieged, fled to Baalbek, was besieged again, and finally offered his services to al-Ẓāhir (1). Al-Ẓāhir imprisoned him for a time and then released him; al-Manṣūr likewise jailed him for a period before freeing him; al-Ashraf set him at liberty, treated him with respect, and showed him honor. He lived to the age of eighty and died in this same year.

[Then came the year 693 AH.]

At its very beginning al-Ashraf was assassinated (2). On the third of Muḥarram he had gone out hunting, and when he was in the district of Tarūjah (3) near Alexandria on the twelfth of Muḥarram, a group of emirs who had agreed to kill him attacked when he became separated from the main army. The first to strike him was his deputy Baydara (4), and Lājīn al-Manṣūrī finished him off. Baydara hid until Ramaḍān, then reappeared on the day of ʿĪd. Among those who shared in the killing of al-Ashraf were Badr al-Dīn Baysarī (5) and Shams al-Dīn Qarāsunqur al-Manṣūrī.

When al-Ashraf was dead, the emirs concurred in placing Baydara on the throne, giving him the royal title al-Malik al-Qāhir—or al-Malik al-Awhad—but the plan was never realized, for he was killed (6) the next day by order of Kitbughā. Zayn al-Dīn Kitbughā and ʿAlam al-Dīn Sanjar al-Shujāʿī then agreed to enthrone his brother Muḥammad, al-Malik al-Nāṣir ibn Qalāwūn (7), who at that time was eight years old and some months. They seated him on the throne on the fourteenth of Muḥarram.

The vizier Ibn al-Salʿūs was in Alexandria (having set out with the sultan and gone on ahead of him). Suddenly calamity closed in (8) upon him and tribulation came from every side, for he had dealt with the senior emirs as though they were juniors. They seized him, and al-Shujāʿī personally undertook his punishment, administering a severe beating. A heavy financial levy was imposed, and they continued to punish him until he died on the tenth of Ṣafar after all his assets (9) had been confiscated.

The body of al-Ashraf was brought, buried in his own mausoleum, and the people were deeply aggrieved

(1) In MS B: khidmat al-sultan (“service of the Sultan”). (2) In MS B: al-Malik al-Ashraf. (3) In MS T: “Bruja”—a corruption. The correct name is Turujah (ṭāʾ with fatḥa, then ḍamma, silent wāw, jīm), a village in Egypt’s kūra of al-Buhayra under Alexandria, also called Turunjah. It appears in Muʿjam al-Buldan (vol. 2, p. 27) and al-Nujūm al-Zāhirah (vol. 4, p. 30). The village lasted until the 9th century AH, as noted in Ibn al-Jiyān’s al-Tuhfa al-Saniyyah (p. 124, Būlāq ed.), and its settlement remains have been studied. Its site is Kom Turujah in the Turujah basin, in the lands of the Zāwiyya Sifr area, Abū al-Maṭāmir district, al-Buhayra governorate. (4) In MS B: They had already agreed to kill him when they isolated him from the main army; the first to strike was his deputy, Badr al-Dīn Baydara. (5) In MS B: It appeared on the day of the ‘Īd, upon which al-Malik an-Nāṣir spoke briefly, chose one of the prearranged orders and deposed him (more on this below). Among the conspirators were Badr al-Dīn Bisrī and Shams al-Dīn Qarasinqir al-Mansūr. The point is that authority belonged to Baydara, since after they killed al-Malik al-Ashraf during the hunt, they had agreed to grant him the rule. (6) In MS B: and he was killed. (7) In MS B: his brother, al-Malik an-Nāṣir Muḥammad ibn al-Qalāwūn. (8) In MS B: and he was besieged. (9) In MS B: and they continued to beat him until his death on 10 Ṣafar, after he had been completely surrounded.

ثم حوصر وهرب إلى بعلبك فحوصر فأجاب إلى خدمة الظاهر (١) فسجنه مدة وأطلقه وسجنه المنصور مدة وأطلقه الأشرف، واحترمه وأكرمه، بلغ الثمانين سنة، وتوفي في هذه السنة. [ثم دخلت سنة ثلاث وتسعين وستمئة] في أولها كان مقتل (٢) الأشرف، وذلك أنه خرج إلى الصيد في ثالث المحرم، فلما كان بأرض تَرُوجَه (٣) بالقرب من الإسكندرية ثاني عشر المحرم، حمل عليه جماعة من الأمراء الذين اتفقوا على قتله حين انفرد عن جمهور الجيش، فأول من صوبه نائبه بَيْدَرا (٤) ، وتَمَّم عليه لاجين المنصوري، ثم اختفى إلى رمضان، ثم ظهر يوم العيد، وكان ممن اشترك في قتل الأشرف بدر الدين بَيْسَري (٥) وشمس الدين قراسنقر المنصوري، فلما قتل الأشرف اتفق الأمراء على تمليك بَيْدَرا، وسَمّوه الملك القاهر أو الأوحد، فلم يتم له ذلك، فقتل (٦) في اليوم الثاني بأمر كتبغا، ثم اتفق زين الدين كتبغا، وعلم الدين سنجر الشجاعي على أن يملِّكوا أخاه محمدًا الملك الناصر بن قلاوون (٧) ، وكان عمره إذ ذاك ثماني سنين وشهورًا، فأجلسوه على سرير المملكة يوم الرابع عشر من المحرم، وكان الوزير ابن السَّلْعُوس بالإسكندرية، (وكان قد خرج في صحبة السلطان وتقدم هو إلى الإسكندرية) فلم يشعر إلا وقد أحاط (٨) به البلاء، وجاءه العذاب من كل ناحية، وذلك أنه كان يعامل الأمراء الكبار معاملة الصغار، فأخذوه وتولَّى عقوبته من بينهم الشّجاعي فضرب ضربًا عظيمًا، وقرِّر على الأموال ولم يزالوا يعاقبونه حتى كانت وفاته في عاشر صفر بعد أن احتيط على حواصله (٩) كلها. وأُحضر جسد الأشرف فدُفن بتربته، وتألَّم

(١) ب: خدمة السلطان. (٢) ب: الملك الأشرف. (٣) ط: بروجة؛ وهو تحريف. وتَرُوجَة بالفتح، ثم الضم، وسكون الواو وجيم: قرية بمصر من كورة البحيرة من أعمال الإسكندرية وقيل اسمها تُرُنْجة. معجم البلدان (٢/ ٢٧) وفي النجوم الزاهرة (٤/ ٣٠) هـ ٣: تروجه هذه القرية كانت موجودة لغاية القرن التاسع الهجري حيث وردت في كتاب التحفة السنية لابن الجيعان صـ ١٢٤ طبع بولاق، وقد درست مساكنها. ومحلها كوم تروجه بحوض تروجة أراضي ناحية زاوية صفر بمركز أبي المطامر بمديرية البحيرة. (٤) ب: قد اتفقوا على قتله قبل ذلك حين استفردوا به عن جمهور الجيش فأول من ضربه نائبه بدر الدين بيدرا. (٥) ب: وظهرت يوم العيد فقل به الملك الناصر واختار منها الأمر المعددة وخلع عليه وسيأتي وكان ممن شرك في قتله بدر الدين بيسري وشمس الدين قراسنقر المنصور، والمقصود أن الأمر له لما قتلوا الملك الأشرف وهم بالصيد اتفقوا على تمليك بيدرا. (٦) ب: وقتل. (٧) ب: أخاه الملك الناصر محمد بن القلاوون. (٨) ب: وقد أحيط به. (٩) ب: ولم يزالوا يضربونه حتى كانت وفاته في عاشر صفر بعدما احتيط على حواصله.