Tankiz

Sayf ad-Din Tankiz ibn Abdullah al-Husami an-Nasiri, better known simply as Tankiz (; died May 1340), was the Damascus-based Turkic ''na'ib al-saltana (viceroy) of Syria from 1312 to 1340 during the reign of the Bahri Mamluk sultan an-Nasir Muhammad.

==Early life and career== 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 Turkic word teñiz'', meaning "sea". Tankiz was raised in Cairo and was later bought by Sultan Husam al-Din al-Lajin in 1296, becoming a mamluk (slave soldier) 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 mamluks). During these years, Tankiz studied the hadiths of Sahih Bukhari and Sahih Muslim and was tutored by several Mamluk ulama (Muslim scholars).