Tankiz | |||||
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Na'ib al-Saltana ("Viceroy") of Syria | |||||
Reign | 1312–1340 | ||||
Predecessor | Sayf al-Din Kipchak | ||||
Successor | Yilbugha al-Nasiri | ||||
Died | May 1340 Alexandria, Egypt |
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Burial | Damascus, Syria | ||||
Spouse | Khawand Sutaytah bint Sayf al-Din Kawkabay al-Mansuri | ||||
Issue | Ali Muhammad Ahmad Qutlughmalik |
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Dynasty | Bahri | ||||
Religion | Sunni Islam |
Full name | |
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Sayf ad-Din Tankiz al-Husami an-Nasiri |
Sayf ad-Din Tankiz ibn Abdullah al-Husami an-Nasiri better known simply as Tankiz (Arabic: تنكيز) (died May 1340) was the Damascus-based na'ib al-saltana (viceroy) of Syria from 1312 to 1340 during the reign of the Bahri Mamluk sultan an-Nasir Muhammad.
According to a Mamluk-era biographer of Tankiz, Khalil ibn Aybak as-Safadi, Tankiz was brought to Cairo as a young child by a man named al-Khwajah Alaa al-Din al-Siwasi. The name tankiz was the Arabic version of the Turkish word teniz, meaning "sea". Tankiz was raised in Cairo and was later bought by Sultan Husam al-Din al-Lajin in 1296, becoming a mamluk in his service until January 1299, when Lajin was killed. Following Lajin's death, Tankiz became a bodyguard (khassakiya) of Sultan an-Nasir Muhammad in 1299. In December 1299, Tankiz participated in the Battle of Wadi al-Khazandar between the Mamluks and the Mongol Ilkhanate and the latter's allies. Sometime during an-Nasir Muhammad's second reign (January 1299–March 1309), Tankiz was made an amir ashara (emir of ten mamluk horsemen). During these years, Tankiz studied the hadiths of Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim and was tutored by several Mamluk ulama (Muslim scholars).
Because of his initial tenure with Lajin, Tankiz was a relative outsider when he became part of an-Nasir Muhammad's inner circle of mamluks. Nonetheless, Tankiz became one of the sultan's closest friends. In 1309, when an-Nasir Muhammad went into voluntary exile at al-Karak in Transjordan after he was toppled by Baybars al-Jashnakir, Tankiz accompanied him until an-Nasir Muhammad left to take back the sultanate in 1310. According to historian Stephan Conermann, while Tankiz and an-Nasir Muhammad were posted at al-Karak, an-Nasir Muhammad sent Tankiz "on some dangerous missions" to Syria, which he executed successfully. Thus, when an-Nasir Muhammad regained the sultanate later that year, Tankiz was given the rank of amir tabalkhanah. On an-Nasir Muhammad's instructions, Tankiz was then trained how to govern by Arghun an-Nasiri, the na'ib as-saltana (viceroy) of Egypt.