As the nisba in his name suggests, he was a Khazar by origin, and is said to have been a slave working in the kitchen of Sallam al-Abrash al-Khadim—whence his nickname al-Tabbakh, "the cook"—before he was purchased as a ghulām by al-Mu'tasim in 815.[1][2] He rose to become one of the senior commanders in al-Mu'tasim's "Turkish" guard, and participated in several expeditions such as the Sack of Amorium.