Anushtakin was an ethnic Turk born in Khuttal,[lower-alpha 2] a mountainous principality in Transoxiana; from there, he was captured and sold into slavery in Kashgar.[6][7] He escaped to Bukhara, but was again captured and enslaved.[7] He was then taken to the Abbasid capital of Baghdad.[7] Afterward, he was moved to Fatimid-held Damascus in 1009/10,[6] where he was purchased and employed by Dizbiri ibn Awnim[7] (also known as Dizbar), a Fatimid officer of Daylamite descent who had previously served the Hamdanids.[6] Anushtakin acquired the nisba (surname) "al-Dizbari" from his master;[6] his Turkish given name, "Anajtekin", which means "adult-prince", was commonly transcribed in Arabic as "Anushtakin" or "Anashtajin".[8] For the next three years, Anushtakin successfully protected Dizbiri's properties as his steward.[1]