تحفة النظار في غرايب الامصار وعجايب الاسفار 13.18.1

13.18.1

This took place before the revolt and rebellion of Qāḍī Jalāl. Tāj al-Dīn ibn al-Kawlamī was one of the great merchants. He came to the Sultan from the land of the Turks with splendid gifts, among them mamlūks, camels, goods, weapons and garments. The Sultan was pleased with what he had done and gave him twelve lakhs, though it is said that the value of his gift was only one lakh. He appointed him over the city of Kanbāya, which had been under the authority of Malik Muqbil, the vizier's deputy. He went there and sent ships to the land of Mulaybār, the island of Saylān and elsewhere; rare goods and gifts came to him in the ships and his fortune grew great. When [Muqbil] resolved to send the revenues of those parts to the capital, Malik Muqbil sent word to Ibn al-Kawlamī to send the gifts and money he had with the gifts of those parts, as was customary. Ibn al-Kawlamī refused, saying: "I will carry them myself or send them with my servants; neither the vizier's deputy nor the vizier has any authority over me." He was made overconfident by the honour and bounty the Sultan had bestowed on him. Muqbil wrote of this to the vizier, and the vizier wrote on the back of his letter: "If you are unable to manage our lands, leave them and return to us." When the reply reached him, he made ready with his troops and mamlūks, and the two met outside Kanbāya. Ibn al-Kawlamī was defeated, a number of men on both sides were killed, and Ibn al-Kawlamī hid in the house of the nākhudha Ilyās, one of the leading merchants.