Egypt / France: The assassination of Turanshah, 2 May 1250, from the 'Vie de Saint...

Turanshah, also Turan Shah (? – 2 May 1250), (epithet: al-Malik al-Muazzam Ghayath al-Din Turanshah) was a Kurdish ruler of Egypt, a son of Sultan As-Salih Ayyub. A member of Ayyubid Dynasty, he became Sultan of Egypt for a brief period in 1249–50. On 28 Muharram 648 / 2 May 1250, Turanshah gave a great banquet. At the end of the feast, Baibars and a group of Mamluk soldiers rushed in and tried to kill him. Turanshah was injured, as apparently a sword blow had split his hand open. Wounded, he managed to escape to a tower next to the Nile River. The Mamluks pursued him and set the tower on fire. He was forced down by the flames tried to run for the river, but was struck in the ribs by a spear. He fled into the river, trailing the spear. His pursuers stood on the banks and shot at him with arrows, even as he begged for his life, offering to abdicate. Unable to kill him from the shore, Baibars himself waded out into the water and hacked the Sultan to death.