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.

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. 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. 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. The governors of its sub-provinces (nuwabb), Tripoli, Aleppo and Safad, Tankiz managed to conquer Malatya and successfully embarked on a number of raids against nearby Lesser Armenia, which was also allied with the Mongols. He ordered infrastructural repairs, reduced government workers' salaries and removed superfluous stipends in order that the awqaf conformed with their original purposes.

In 1334 he ordered the Druze ruler of Beirut, Nasir ad-Din al-Husayn, to relocate to the city from the Chouf mountain following a Genoese attack against the city and its Catalan traders. Their imprisonment led to a mass hunger strike by their mamluks and an-Nasir was compelled to have them released to avoid a mutiny. Before engaging in architectural work, Tankiz had the city's infrastructure revamped. These projects included the repairing, overhauling and cleaning of the canal systems which supplied water throughout Damascus. The canal system was characterized by two separate underground systems, one of which distributed water from the Barada, Banias and Qanawat rivers, to the city's houses, mosques, schools, hamaams (public bathhouses) and fountains, and another whose purpose was drainage. The work cost 300,000 silver dirhams.

Other projects included various civil planning pursuits that controlled unorganized expansion, particularly in the northern and western parts of the city and the establishment of important streets, bridges and spaces to ease transportation and communication in the district. These works were spread roughly over a decade.

Simmering conflict between the two reached its apex in 1339 after Tankiz's request to hunt in Qal'at Ja'bar in northern Syria was rejected by an-Nasir Muhammad. The latter feared that Tankiz would use the hunting trip as a cover to seek asylum with Dhu al-Qadir, chief of the Turkmen tribes of northern Syria who recognized the authority of Tankiz, but not of an-Nasir Muhammad. Tankiz retorted that an-Nasir Muhammad had "lost his mind" and listened only to his young entourage. Moreover, he communicated to an-Nasir Muhammad that he "would have advised him to seat one of his sons [on the throne]" and Tankiz "would run the affairs of the state in his name." Following his capture, Tankiz was brought to Cairo and then imprisoned in Alexandria. He was subsequently executed in May. When his assets were confiscated, they consisted of 36,000 dinars, 1,500,000 silver dirhams, clothing worth 640,000 dinars, palaces, khans, baths and markets in Damascus valued at 2,600,000 silver dirhams, and other properties in Homs, Beirut, and smaller towns valued at 900,000 silver dirhams and 4,200 animals. The confiscated wealth of Tankiz was distributed among the senior emirs. In 1336 or 1337, He also gave the endowment that built the Cotton Merchants' Market, and surrounding buildings like Cotton Merchants' Gate, the Khān Tankiz (a khān, or inn), Ḥammam al-ʿAyn and Ḥammam al-Shifa (two hammams, or bathhouses).

In honor of his wife (Khawand Sutayta bint Kawkabay al-Mansuri), Tankiz built a twin-domed mausoleum for her in Damascus called al-Turba al-Kawkabʾiyya, which was completed five months after her death in 1330. As a fulfillment of her will, a mosque and a women's hospice were added alongside her tomb. A grandson of Tankiz, Salah al-Din Muhammad ibn Muhmmad, was an amir tabalkhanah and a member of the sultanic khassakiya, and his son Nasir al-Din Muhammad (d. 1399) was also likely an emir.