Tankiz
Tankiz | |
---|---|
Na'ib al-Saltana ("Viceroy") of Syria | |
Reign | 1312–1340 |
Predecessor | Sayf al-Din Kipchak |
Successor | Bahri |
Religion | Sunni Islam |
Sayf ad-Din Tankiz ibn Abdullah al-Husami an-Nasiri, better known simply as Tankiz (
Early life and career
According to a Mamluk-era biographer of Tankiz, Khalil ibn Aybak as-Safadi, Tankiz was brought to
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.
Viceroy of Syria
Tankiz was appointed viceroy of Syria (na'ib al-saltana al-sham) by an-Nasir Muhammad in August 1312.
In 1315, Tankiz was dispatched by an-Nasir Muhammad as the supreme commander of Egyptian and Syrian mamluk regiments in an
Tankiz went on the
In 1334 he ordered the
Infrastructural works
Throughout his rule, Tankiz engaged in several building works, "changing [sic] the face" of Damascus with the new public structures, according to historian Moshe Sharon.[17] 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.[18] 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.[19]
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.[18] Although several shops and benches were demolished in the newer outer neighborhoods of the city in order to widen the road networks, the buildings of the old inner city were not affected.[20] These works were spread roughly over a decade.[18]
Downfall
From the 1330s, an-Nasir Muhammad began to assert his authority over many of his most powerful emirs. Following the execution of a leading emir, Baktamur as-Saqi in 1332, Tankiz, wary of sharing Baktamur's fate, paid a visit to an-Nasir Muhammad who subsequently contented himself that Tankiz was fearful of him. According to medieval Mamluk sources, tensions between Tankiz and an-Nasir in the form of relatively minor quarrels and incidents in the late 1330s led to the eventual downfall of Tankiz in 1340. According to Amalia Levanoni, an author specializing in Mamluk affairs, an-Nasir Muhammad bore "a silent grudge" towards Tankiz when the latter refused three of his requests to release mamluk Juban from imprisonment in
Tensions grew further when in 1339, Tankiz levied a punitive tax on the Christians of Damascus to fund repairs for property damage resulting from a series of arson attacks that the Christians were alleged to have committed. An-Nasir Muhammad had discouraged Tankiz from imposing the tax to avoid deteriorating already sour relations with the Byzantine Empire, but then ordered the tax revenue to be transferred to the treasury in Egypt, a request Tankiz refused.[21]
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."[21] With Tankiz being in a strong position to launch a decisive revolt in Syria, an-Nasir Muhammad interpreted his words as a threat to usurp the throne.[21] In an-Nasir Muhammad's view, Tankiz had become too independent of his authority.[4]
An-Nasir Muhammad dispatched Emir Bashtak an-Nasiri and 350 of Bashtak's mamluks to Syria to arrest Tankiz in 1340.[22] Following his capture, Tankiz was brought to Cairo and then imprisoned in Alexandria. He was subsequently executed in May.[23] 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.[24] The confiscated wealth of Tankiz was distributed among the senior emirs.[3] In 1343, two years after an-Nasir Muhammad died, Tankiz's body was brought to Damascus where it was buried in the mausoleum he had built during his rule.[3]
Architectural legacy
Throughout his rule, Tankiz embarked on several architectural projects. In Damascus alone nearly 40 public institutions, including mosques and schools, were constructed or restored either under the direct orders of Tankiz or by various princes, judges and wealthy merchants.[18]
Between 1318-19 he commissioned a restoration of the
In 1328-1330, Tankiz endowed a charitable foundation, madrasa (the
In 1336 or 1337, He also gave the endowment that built theIn 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,[30] 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.[26]
Family
Tankiz was married to a Khawand Sutayta bint Sayf al-Din Kawkabay al-Mansuri.[30] She died in Tankiz's Damascus home in mid-1330 and five months later a domed mausoleum was built over her tomb by Tankiz. Khawand Sutayta had also ordered that a mosque and women's hospice be constructed adjacent to her mausoleum.[26] The closeness between Tankiz and an-Nasir Muhammad was highlighted between the intermarriage of their offspring. Tankiz arranged the marriage of his daughter Qutlughmalik to an-Nasir Muhammad. In 1338, Qutlughmalik gave birth to as-Salih Salih, who later became sultan in 1342–1345.[8] Also in 1338, two of Tankiz's sons married two of an-Nasir Muhammad's daughters from another of the latter's wives.[6][11] Of Tankiz's sons, Ali was granted an emirate in 1331 and Muhammad and Ahmad became emirs, during Tankiz's rule and with an-Nasir Muhammad's blessing.[31] 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.[32]
References
- ^ a b Flood 1997, p. 68.
- ^ a b Conermann 2008, p. 7.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Conermann 2008, p. 5.
- ^ a b c Steenbergen 2001, p. 459.
- ^ a b Conermann 2008, p. 8.
- ^ a b Sharon 2009, p. 98.
- ^ a b c Levanoni 1995, p. 29.
- ^ a b c Williams 1994, p. 61.
- ^ a b c Kenney 2009, p. 10.
- ^ a b c d Harris 2012, p. 75.
- ^ a b c d Levanoni 1995, p. 70.
- ^ Kenney 2009, p. 21.
- ^ Kenney 2009, p. 11.
- ^ a b c d e f g Lapidus 1984, p. 75.
- ^ Berkes, p. 208.
- ^ a b c Levanoni 1995, p. 64.
- ^ Sharon 2009, p. 99.
- ^ a b c d Lapidus 1984, p. 22.
- ^ Lapidus 1984, p. 70.
- ^ Lapidus 1984, p. 72.
- ^ a b c Levanoni 1995, p. 71.
- ^ Levanoni 1995, p. 67.
- ^ Sharon 2009, p. 89.
- ^ Lapidus 1984, p. 50.
- Bāb al-Silsila/Bāb as-Sakīna.
- ^ ribāṭ) for women built next to her mausoleum […] Tankiz’s charitable foundation at Bab al-Silsila in Jerusalem also includes a women’s hospice which was also endowed in 730 (1330)"
- ^ "Suq al-Qattanin (Market)". Institute for International Urban Development.
- ^ "Khan Tankiz". Institute for International Urban Development.
- ^ "Hammam al-ʿAyn". Institute for International Urban Development.
- ^ a b Jarrar 1998, p. 89, fig. 11.
- ^ Levanoni 1995, p. 48.
- ^ Mazor 2014, p. 36.
Bibliography
- Conermann, Stephan (2008). "Tankiz ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥusāmī al-Nāṣirī (d. 740/1340) as Seen by His Contemporary al-Ṣafadī (d. 764/1363)" (PDF). Mamluk Studies Review. 12 (2). Middle East Documentation Center, University of Chicago: 1–24.
- Flood, F. B. (1997). Necipoğlu, Gülru (ed.). "Umayyad Survivals and Mamluk Revivals: Qalawunid Architecture and the Great Mosque of Damascus" (PDF). Muqarnas. 14. Brill: 57–79. JSTOR 1523236.
- Jarrar, Sabri (1998). Necipoğlu, Gülru (ed.). "Suq al-Maʿrifa: An Ayyubid Hanbalite Shrine in al-Haram al-Sharif" (PDF). Muqarnas. 15. Brill: 71–100. JSTOR 1523278.
- Kenney, Ellen V. (2009). Power and Patronage in Medieval Syria: The Architecture and Urban Works of Tankiz Al-Nāṣirī. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0970819949.
- Lapidus, Ira M. (1984). Muslim Cities in the Later Middle Ages. CUP Archive. ISBN 0521277620.
- Levanoni, Amalia (1995). A Turning Point in Mamluk History: The Third Reign of Al-Nasir Muuammad Ibn Qalawun (1310-1341). BRILL. ISBN 9004101829.
- Little, Donald P. (1976). Essays on Islamic Civilization: Presented to Niyazi Berkes. BRILL Archive. ISBN 9004044647.
- Mazor, Amir (2014). "The "Manṣūrīyah Legacy": The Manṣūrī Amirs, Their Mamluks, and Their Descendants during al-Nāṣir Muḥammad's Third Reign and After". Mamluk Studies Review. 18: 1–56.
- ISBN 9789047424161.
- Steenbergen, Jo Van (2001). "The Amir Qawsun: Statesman or Courtier? (720-741 AH/1320-1341 AD)". In Vermeulen, Urbain; Steenbergen, Jo Van (eds.). Egypt and Syria in the Fatimid, Ayyubid, and Mamluk Eras III. Peeters Publishers. ISBN 9789042909700.
- William, Harris (2012). Lebanon: A History, 600-2011. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195181111.
- Williams, Caroline (1994). "The Mosque of Sitt Hadaq". In ISBN 9004100709.