Ahmed Karahisarî

Calligrapher (B. 1470, Afyonkarahisar – D. 1556, Istanbul).  His full name is Ahmed ŞemseddinKarahisarî. There is not sufficient information on his family, his training and his educational status. It is known that he went to Istanbul for educational purposes during the first years of Bayezid II period and stayed there until the end of his life. He practiced with the Persian Calligrapher Esedullah-ıKirmanî who was assumed to settled to Istanbul with a group of artists during the rule of Fâtih Sultan Mehmed. He spiritually attached himself to a Halvetiyye sheikh named CemâleddinİshakKaramâni and upon completing his Sufi education he became a sheikh himself. In the notes he added to his works he indicated Esedullah-ıKirmânî as his master. Karahisarî passed away around the age of ninety. He was inhumed in the garden of the dervish lodge of CemâleddinİshakKaramâni in Sütlüce. Hüdâyî Mustafa Efendi dated his death with the verse “GeçtihayfâKarahisârî- ipir” (963).

In biography collections it is stated that Karahisârî was a live example of Sufi morality, he lived a devoted, modest and simple life and he was a skilled artist in poetry and tailoring. In Celî(high level) and müsennâ(letters with two dots) scriptures, he took YahyaSufî and Ali b. YahyaSufî’s calligraphies of Fatih period as an example, he reached a certain harmony in letters and compositions and presented the style which is named after him. The shape, proportion, sequence and different page designs he gave to letters and words made the most beautiful form of works. Karahisarî who collected numerous artists around him with his innovations started to be known as "Şemsü'l-hat" and “Yâkut-iRûm” in a short time. The celîsülüs, muhakkak (exact), müsennâ and müselsel(combined)compositions he arranged with a great ingenuity and care set an example for other calligraphers.

Karahisarî, who continuously looked for new compositions and shapes, had a sensitivity and accuracy of an illuminator and he decorated the letters he wrote using gold ink with black ink and the ones he wrote using black ink with gold ink, granted the calligraphy a new esthetical dimension. A nesta’lik(a type of writing) plaque he drew using a very fine black ink in a stanza which is present in Cairo Menyel Palace Museum of Calligraphy proves that he also knew that calligraphic style. Karahisârî authored many works in aklâm-ısitte (T.N. six pens referring to six different calligraphy styles in Islamic Calligraphy) including mushaf(T.N. Koran scripture), en'âm, prayer booklets and murakka. His Koran scripture, illumination, cover and size he prepared for Kanunî Sultan Süleyman present his most famous works, which reflect the civilization level of that period. His works are kept in museums and libraries such as Topkapı Palace Museum Library, Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum, Süleymaniye Library, Istanbul University Library, Afyonkarahisar Museum.

  REFERENCE: Ekrem Hakkı Ayverdi / Fatih Devri Hattatla­rı ve Hat Sanatı (s. 24, 1953), Rıfkı Melûl Meriç / Türk Nakış Sanatı Tarihi Araştırma­ları (s. 58-66-68, 1953), Süheyl Ünver / Hattat Ahmed Karahisarî (1964), Ömer Lütfı Barkan / Süleymaniye Cami ve İmareti İn­şaatı 1550-1557 (1979), M. Uğur Derman / Türk Hat Sanatının Şaheserleri (1982), Ali Alparslan / Ünlü Türk Hattat­ları (s. 49-64, 1992), Muhittin Serin / Hat Sanatı ue Meşhur Hattatlar (s. 109-113, 1999) - Muhittin Serin / TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi (C. 24, s. 421-424, 2001), İhsan Işık / Ünlü Sanatçılar (Türkiye Ünlüleri Ansiklopedisi, C. 5, 2013) - Encyclopedia of Turkey’s Famous People (2013).