 The Syrian geographer al-Dimashqi described Gaza in 1300 as "so rich in trees it looks like a cloth of brocade spread out upon the land". He accounted to Gaza the cities and towns of Ascalon, Jaffa, Caesarea, Arsuf, Deir al-Balah, al-Arish (in north-central the Sinai), Bayt Jibrin, Karatiyya, Hebron and Jerusalem — all of which had their own sub-governors. Emir Baibars al-Ala 'i ruled Mamlakat Ghazzah between 1307-1310, during the second reign of an-Nasir Muhammad until the latter was briefly overthrown by Baybars al-Jashnakir. Gaza was one of the places that returned to the allegiance of the exiled sultan; in 1310, an-Nasir Muhammad defeated Sultan Baybars in Gaza, forcing the latter to surrender his throne to him. Baybars was imprisoned in the city.
