from the Citadel by Kitbugha rebelled and went on a rampage in Cairo. These Mamluks, known as the al-Mamalik al-Ashrafiyah Khalil (the Mamluks of al-Ashraf Khalil) were enraged because Hossam ad-Dain Lajin, who was involved in the murder of their benefactor, Sultan al-Ashraf Khalil, had arrived in Cairo but was not arrested and punished. The Ashrafiyah Khalil were defeated and many of them were killed and executed. Rise to power Kitbugha continued as the regent and the actual ruler of Egypt with Al-Nasir Muhammad, being a child, merely the nominal Sultan. After the murder of Vizier al-Shuja‘i, Kitbugha became more powerful. He was then convinced by Lajin, who was aware that the Mamluks of Khalil and Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammed would want to seek revenge for the death of Sultan Khalil, to depose Al-Nasir and take on complete power. After the defeat of the rebelling Burji Mamluks, Kitbugha assembled the emirs at his office and told them: "The system of the Kingdom has been undermined. There can not be respect while Sultan Al-Nasir is young ". The emirs agreed and they decided to replace Al-Nasir Muhammed with Kitbugha. Al-Nasir Muhammed was removed with his mother to another section of the palace and later to Al Karak . Kitbugha was installed as Sultan and took the royal name Al-Adil. He made Lajin his Vice-Sultan. The Oirats In 1296 a large group of Oirats, Mongol refugees, arrived in the Levant. They were led by Turghai, the son-in-law of Hulagu Khan. They had fled to the Levant from Ghazan. While some of the Oirat group was received warmly in Cairo by Kitbugha and then resided in the Cairene district of al-Hisiniyah, others were sheltered in the coastal towns of the Levant. The Oirats were not Muslims, but after they intermarried with Egyptian emirs and later with Egyptian commoners, they converted to Islam and merged with Egyptian society. However, as Kitbugha was himself of Mongol origin, his extraordinary generosity towards the Oirats made many emirs suspicious about his motives. This would be one of the factors that would later lead to his downfall. Loss of power Later in the reign of Kitbugha, Egypt and the Levant faced shortages of water and food in addition to an epidemic that caused the death of many people in Egypt. Kitbugha was not popular among the Egyptians who regarded him as a bringer of ill-omens. Also, the Egyptian were