According to Abd al-Razzaq Samarqandi, she was the daughter of Shaikh Awais Jalayir of the Jalairid Sultanate in Iraq.
The marriage was arranged by his uncle Ahmad Jalayir as an alliance between Iraq and Egypt against Timur.
[2] The marriage was arranged during a journey she made with her uncle to Cairo, when Barquq was allegedly astonished by her beauty and asked for her hand, and when her uncle returned to Iraq, she remained, while Egypt sent support of the Egyptian armies to assist Iraq against Timur.
Tandu, however, did not like life in Egypt and suffered from homesickness, and eventually, Barquq allowed her to return to Iraq.
In Iraq, she eventually married her cousin, Shah Walad Jalayir, heir of Ahmad.