Penâhî was the pen name under which Nakkaş Şahkulu, the most celebrated master of the Ottoman palace painting studio (nakkaşhane) in the sixteenth century, wrote his poems. According to Âşık Çelebi, this painter and illuminator trained in Tabriz came from Iran in the reign of Bayezid II, entered the court of Şehzade Ahmed (Prince Ahmed) in Amasya, moved to Istanbul after the accession of Selim I (Selim the Grim) and became head painter (nakkaşbaşı) in the reign of Süleyman the Magnificent. Hüseyin Hüsâmeddîn Yasar's Amasya Tarihi likewise counts him among Prince Ahmed's boon companions as "Penâhî-i Tebrîzî, one of the poets of Iran". Ottoman archival documents, however, show that Şahkulu was among the artists brought from Tabriz to Istanbul by way of Amasya in 1515, after Selim's victory at Çaldıran. His connection with Amasya is therefore disputed. Two couplets of his poetry have come down to us, one in Turkish and one in Persian. Penâhî is also mentioned, together with the other poets of Prince Ahmed's circle, in the article Prince Ahmed's Amasya circle and its poets.

Hüsameddin's Record

Hüsameddin does not devote a separate entry to Penâhî. He mentions him in the section describing how the Iranians gained influence at Prince Ahmed's court, among the events of the year 908 (1502-03):

Husûsiyle 908 senesinde gûyâ sünnîliklerini muhâfaza için Şâh İsmâ'il'in kılıcından kaçıp Amasya'ya ilticâ eden Mîr Gıyâseddîn Mehmed bin Mansûr-ı Şîrâzî ile İran şu'arâsından Penâhî-i Tebrîzî şehzâdenin musâhibleri sırasına girmişlerdi.

In English: In particular, in the year 908 Mîr Gıyâseddin Mehmed bin Mansûr-ı Şîrâzî, who had fled to Amasya from Shah Ismail's sword supposedly to preserve his Sunni faith, and Penâhî of Tabriz, one of the poets of Iran, had joined the ranks of the prince's boon companions. In the same section, describing the circumcision festivities Prince Ahmed held for his sons in 911 (1505-06), Hüsameddin lists the poets who were well known in Amasya and this time places Penâhî, together with Basîrî and Kutbî, among the "Acem şu'arâsı", the Persian poets. He adds that the poets celebrated the prince with kasides (qasidas), received rich rewards, and that the Iranians displayed all their skills to win the prince's favour. No poem written by Penâhî for these festivities is known.

His Life

Şahkulu's place and date of birth are unknown. Âşık Çelebi and Hüsameddin regard him as a native of Tabriz; according to the article "Şahkulu" by Fatma Çiçek Derman and Gülnur Duran in the TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi, however, he is recorded as a native of Baghdad in official registers. According to the same article he learned the art of painting and ornament in Tabriz from Âgā Mîrek and became known throughout the Islamic lands for his works. His earliest known signed work is a dragon drawing in the Behrâm Mirza Album of the Safavid period. The part of his life before Amasya must have been spent in the Safavid artistic circle of Tabriz.

The entry in Âşık Çelebi's Meşâ'irü'ş-şu'arâ traces Penâhî's path in the Ottoman lands in three stages. Penâhî is Nakkaş Şah Kulı. He came from the land of the Persians, from Tabriz, in the time of Sultan Bayezid; while Sultan Ahmed was still a prince he entered his service at Amasya; after the accession of Sultan Selim he came to Istanbul; and in the reign of Sultan Süleyman he became head painter. The biographer then launches into long and ornate praise. He calls him a second Mânî, the legendary painter, in his art; he says that the clouds he painted brought rain, his sea rolled in waves, his rose gave off scent, and the fish he drew struggled to leap into the sea. He then continues the same praise in a poem of his own. At the end of the entry he notes that Penâhî, not content with painting, was also a painter of "maʿânî", the world of meanings, and occupied himself with poetry, and quotes two couplets by him.

His Istanbul years can be followed more concretely through archival documents. According to the TDV article, in the pay register of the court artisans (ehl-i hiref) surviving from Süleyman's reign, a record dated 1 Muharrem 927 (12 December 1520) shows Şahkulu receiving 22 akçe a day from the privy purse. In 952 (1545), at 25 akçe a day, he became head of the "Cemâat-i Nakkāşân Bölük-i Rûmiyân", the company of Rumi painters, and remained in this post until his death. According to what the TDV article relates from Gelibolulu Âlî's Menâkıb-ı Hünerverân, he had a workshop of his own in the palace, and Süleyman often visited the painting studio to watch him at work. Among the works he presented to the sultan on feast days are listed a decorated plate, a drawing of a fairy (peri) on paper and an inkwell of pasteboard. He died in 963 (1556) before he could receive a gift the sultan had granted him.

Şahkulu is regarded as the first exponent of the style known in Ottoman ornament as "saz yolu" (the saz style). Large, sinuous, sharp-pointed leaves drawn with black ink and brush on burnished paper, imaginary forest creatures, dragons and fairies are the chief subjects of this style. The style spread to many arts, from illumination to tiles and from carpets to textiles, and remained in use until the eighteenth century. His successor in the palace studio was his pupil Kara Memi.

His position at court at times drew him into rivalries. Gelibolulu Âlî, describing the Şehnâme writer Ârif Fethullah Çelebi in the biographical section of his Künhü'l-ahbâr, names among those who envied him "Nakkaş Şah Kulı nâmındaki müfsid", that is, the mischief-maker called Nakkaş Şah Kulı. According to Âlî these men invented faulty couplets in Ârif's name and passed them around, saying "would a writer of a Şehnâme make such mistakes", but the sultan paid them no heed. That Âlî names this painter by both name and profession suggests that he is the same man as Penâhî.

His Connection with Amasya

Two witnesses link Penâhî to Amasya. Âşık Çelebi writes that he entered Prince Ahmed's court in Amasya and came to Istanbul only after Selim's accession. Hüsameddin likewise places him among the prince's boon companions in 908 and counts him in 911 among the Iranian poets well known in Amasya. Hüsameddin gives details not found in Âşık Çelebi, such as a date and his arrival together with Mîr Gıyâseddin; but he does not say from which source he took them. Even so, Penâhî is one of the few poets of the circle whose relationship with Prince Ahmed's court is also recorded in a sixteenth-century tezkire. After Prince Ahmed was defeated and killed by his brother Selim near Yenişehir early in 1513, according to Hüsameddin a decree arriving in 919 (1513) had some of the Iranians of his court executed, while many of his sheikhs, teachers and boon companions were sent off to other cities. Penâhî is not among the names given. According to Âşık Çelebi, he moved to Istanbul after Selim's accession.

The State of the Sources and Discussion

This picture does not fully agree with the archival documents. As the TDV article notes, a document in the Ottoman Archives of the Prime Ministry lists Şahkulu among the scholars and artists exiled from Tabriz to Istanbul by way of Amasya on 27 Safer 921 (12 April 1515), after Selim's victory over Shah Ismail. The authors of the article state that it is not known how long he stayed in Amasya during this exile or when he went on to Istanbul. According to this document Şahkulu was in Tabriz in 1515 and passed through Amasya with the exiles two years after Prince Ahmed's death. The date 908 (1502-03) given by Hüsameddin and Âşık Çelebi's "in the time of Sultan Bayezid" contradict this document.

The contradiction can be explained in several ways. Şahkulu may have come to Amasya in 1502-03, stayed with the prince for a time, returned to Tabriz and come again with the exiles in 1515. It is also possible that Âşık Çelebi confused the convoy of exiles brought to Istanbul via Amasya with an arrival at the prince's court. In that case Hüsameddin's date of 908 may also derive not from an independent source but from an interpretation of Âşık Çelebi's record. No decision between these possibilities could be reached with the available sources; the explanations are our own inferences. What is certain is that Penâhî's name is linked with Prince Ahmed's court at Amasya both in the tezkire and in Hüsameddin.

Other men bearing the same name should not be confused with this painter. Şahkulu, leader of the Qizilbash revolt that convulsed Anatolia in 917 (1511) and described at length in Hüsameddin's Amasya Tarihi, is a different person. Hüsameddin also identifies with this rebel the Nûreddin Ali Sûfî of Mardin, called "Şâh Kulu", whom Shah Ismail sent as envoy to Amasya in 914 (1508). The Persian kemançe player Şah Kulı mentioned elsewhere by Âşık Çelebi is likewise a musician. The Penâhî in Kınalızâde Hasan Çelebi's anthology, finally, is a dervish-like poet from Rumelia and has nothing to do with the painter from Tabriz.

His Poetry

According to the TDV article, Şahkulu wrote poems in Turkish and Persian under the pen name "Penâhî". No divan of his is known. The two couplets that have come down to us are in Âşık Çelebi's anthology and appear as separate articles in this category. The first is the Persian couplet "Mânî ki bûd u ṣûret-i bî-maʿniyeş çi bûd", which the biographer records Penâhî as saying. In it the painter-poet belittles the legendary painter Mânî and declares that the true Mânî is himself, who unveils the face of meanings. The second couplet, which Âşık Çelebi gives as "şiʿr-i û", his poem, is in Turkish: "Sînemdeki cerâḥati ey eşk tâze ṭut". In this couplet the wound in the breast is kept like a rose as the keepsake of a beauty.

Both couplets bear the mark of a painter's eye in Penâhî's poetry. One is a boast about the art of painting itself; the other sets side by side an image built on likeness of colour, the red wound and the rose. Âşık Çelebi passes no judgement on Penâhî's poetry; he reserves all his praise for his painting. Apart from these two couplets no poem by Penâhî could be found.

Chronology

908 (1502-03): According to Hüsameddin, Penâhî of Tabriz joins Prince Ahmed's boon companions in Amasya.

911 (1505-06): Hüsameddin counts Penâhî among the "Persian" poets known during the circumcision festivities in Amasya.

27 Safer 921 (12 April 1515): According to an archival document, Şahkulu is among the artists brought from Tabriz to Istanbul by way of Amasya.

1 Muharrem 927 (12 December 1520): Recorded in the palace artisans' register at 22 akçe a day.

952 (1545): Becomes head of the company of Rumi painters.

963 (1556): Dies in Istanbul.

Bibliography

Primary sources

Academic studies

Online sources