Ahmed Karahisari

Opening pages from a Qur'an manuscript transcribed by Ahmed Karahisari and illuminated by Kara Memi. Istanbul, 1546/47. Topkapi Palace Museum Ahmed Karahisari (1468–1566) was an Ottoman calligrapher.

Born, Ahmed Şemseddîn’dir, he became known as Karahisari after his place of birth, Karahisar. His date of birth is uncertain but is around 1468 or 1469. Very little is known about his early life. In the early Bayezid era, he went to Istanbul for his education and remained there for the rest of his life.

Unlike most of the Ottoman calligraphers of his era, he did not follow the style of Sheikh Hamdullah. Instead, he wanted to reinvigorate the style of the Abbasid calligrapher, Yaqut al-Musta'simi (1221–98), which had dominated Islamic calligraphy prior to Hamdullah's innovations. Karahisari improved the best examples of Thuluth and Naskh scripts. However, apart from his students, his style was not widely accepted and was largely overshadowed by the developments made by Sheikh Hamdullah (1436–1520) and Hâfiz Osman (1642–1698).

Some of the most impressive of the Mus'hafs prepared in the Ottoman Palace Studios have been attributed to Ahmed Karahisari. His most important work is the Mus'haf which he penned for Suleiman the Magnificent (reigned 1520-1566), which is preserved today at the Topkapi Palace.

He died in Istanbul when he was well into his 90s, and was buried in the grave of Cemaleddin İshak Karamânî in Sütlüce. His epitaph was written by his adoptive son, Hasan Çelebi.

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