Ahmed Karahisari

Ahmad Karahisari (1469–1556) was the most famous Ottoman calligrapher during the reign of Sultan Sulayman (r. 1520–1566). He was a student of Shaykh Ḥamdullâh (1436–1520) and studied with Asadullah al-Kirmani. Conferred with the title, Shams al-Din ("Sun of Religion"), Karahisari modeled his unique style of calligraphy on that of Yāqūt al-Musta‛ṣimī (d. 1298), most famous for canonizing the classical scripts known as the Six Pens. Karahisari perfected the thuluth and tawqi styles and is well known for his use of the musalsal chain script, composed in a single stroke. He was responsible for the calligraphic inscriptions around the mihrab and frieze encircling the dome of the Süleymaniye Mosque, which his adopted son, Hasan Çelebi (d. 1594), finished following Karahisari's death in 1556.