Because there were fears that certain emirs might side with the deposed Syrian viceroy, and in order to secure the holdings of Emir Sayf al-Dīn Tankiz—also removed from the Syrian viceroyalty—and prepare them for transfer to Egypt.
On Monday morning, the 6th [of Muḥarram], Emir ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Altunbughā entered Damascus as viceroy. The populace, together with Bashtāk and the Egyptian emirs, came out to greet him, dismounted at his threshold, kissed the noble doorstep, then returned with him to Dār al-Saʿāda, where his letter of appointment was read aloud.
On Monday the 13th, two senior emirs of the first rank were arrested: Aljībughā al-ʿĀdilī (1) and Ṭaybughā Ḥājī (2). They were taken up to the Victorious Citadel and their assets were placed under sequestration.
On Tuesday the household of the amir of amirs, Sayf al-Dīn Tankiz—his wife and children—was packed up and sent off to Egypt.
On Wednesday the 15th, the viceroy Emir ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn Altunbughā rode out with Emir Sayf al-Dīn Bashtāk al-Nāṣirī, Ḥājjah Raqṭiyyah, Sayf al-Dīn Quṭlūbughā al-Fakhrī, and a group of leading emirs. They assembled in the Horse Market and summoned the two mamluks of Emir Sayf al-Dīn Tankiz—Jungāy (3) and Ṭughāy. An order was issued that they be cut in half; they were duly bisected, hung upon the gallows, and a crier proclaimed: “This is the recompense of anyone who dares challenge Sultan al-Nāṣir.”
The death of Tankiz (4). On Tuesday the 21st of this month, Emir Sayf al-Dīn Tankiz, the former Syrian viceroy, died in the Citadel of Alexandria. One report said he was strangled; another, more accurate, said he was poisoned; other explanations also circulated. The people mourned him deeply and for a long time, constantly recalling his imposing presence, his integrity, his zeal for the sanctity of the Muslims and the sacred limits of Islam, and his care for the needy and others—whereupon their grief would intensify. May Allah have mercy on him.
Judge Amīn al-Dīn ibn al-Qalānsī informed us that Emir (5) Sayf al-Dīn Tankiz had been arrested on a Tuesday, entered Egypt on a Tuesday, reached Alexandria on a Tuesday, and died on a Tuesday. The funeral prayer was performed for him in Alexandria, and he was buried there on the 23rd of Muḥarram, near the grave of al-Qabārī. He received an honourable funeral.
On Thursday, the 7th of Ṣafar (6), Emir Sayf al-Dīn Tashtamur—the man who had arrested Tankiz—arrived in Damascus and took up quarters