Poet of Divan* (b. ?, Amasya
– d. 18 August 1515, İstanbul). He was a member of a respected family known by
the name Tac Bey Oğlu. He was educated by the famous scholars of the period. He
taught at Madrasah Muslim School for a while and during the reign of Bayezid
and Yavuz Sultan Selim he worked as governor in the local regions. He was
married to Taçlı Hanım, Shah İsmail’s wife, who was enslaved during the
Çaldıran War. He was appointed Governor of the Province of Anatolia. He was sentenced
to death because it was claimed that he was connected to a rebellion of the
Janissary crops in Anatolia. He is buried in Balat.
One of the most powerful
writers of the period, Cafer Çelebi wrote the letters of Sultan Selim to the
Şah İsmail and he also wrote the conquest letters to various places after the
Çaldıran War. In his mesnevi*, Hevesname
(Book of Desire), he narrated life in İstanbul in the 15th century
including the important buildings and places to visit.
WORKS:
Divan
(Divan*, Poems in Persian and Turkish), Münşeat
(Articles),
Hevesnâme (Book of
Desire, written in 1493), Fetihnâme-i
İstanbul (Conquest Book of İstanbul, published 1513).