TÜRK HAT SANATI/TURKISH ART OF CALLIGRAPHY

This page does not aim to inform the reader about the Turkish art of calligraphy, while  there are solid sources of reference available. I shall put here some comments about the art of calligraphy made by late Prof. Ali Alparslan, one of the leading authorities on the Turkish art of calligraphy. "For a Muslim calligrapher nothing could be more natural than to wish to copy the Kuran in a beautiful script. The different script styles evolved out of this desire to form and connect the existing letters in a way that achieved the ideal aesthetic which is the goal of art. Calligraphy came to be held in such regard in Ottoman Turkey because of the way that it was developed by Ottoman calligraphers into a fine art in its own right , a phenomenon which did not occur to the same extent in the other Islamic countries. The Six Scripts Under the Ottomans: The aklam-ı sitte or six scripts were all modified versions of Kufi script, varying in only minor respects from one another. Indeed, stylistically they are only three scripts, since Reyhani is just small scale Muhakkak, Nesih is a small scale version of Sülüs with a few differently shaped letters, and Rika is a small version of Tevki. Muhakkak and Reyhani were used for writing large Korans;  Sülüs, which is slightly smaller than Muhakkak, for inscriptions, calligraphic plaques and book titles; and Nesih for books and newspapers. Nestalik which is different from the Six Scripts, a word meaning "suspended", it was a more legibile and easily written form of an older hand known as Nestalik-i kadim, and was reminiscent of swallows in flight. This script developed still further in the 14th cent., and by the early 15th cent its characteristics and rules of composition were becoming widely known throughout the Islamic world."

Ali Alparslan, "The Art of Calligraphy and the Ottomans", Ottoman Civilization, eds.Inalcık and Renda, 2, Ministry of Culture, Istanbul, 2003: 825-839.

Bu sayfalarda Osmanlı hat sanatı hakkında bilgi bulunmayacaktır. Ancak bu konuda son zamanlarda çok kıymetli yayınlar ortaya konulmuştur ve bilgilenmek isteyen okuyucu bu kaynaklardan faydalanabilir.. Bununla birlikte İslam dünyası içinde yazı sanatıyla en çok uğraşanlar Osmanlı Türkleri olmuştur ve bu yazı sanatı, önemli bir imparatorluk kurmuş olan Osmanlıların devletleriyle orantılı bir şekilde özellilkle Aklam-ı Sitte olarak bilinen altı çeşit yazı da bütün zamanların en yüksek düzeyine ulaşmıştır. Öte yandan II. Mehmed Dönemi'nde İranlı hattatlarla İstanbul'a dek ulaşan Nestalik 18.yüzyılda Yesari Mehmed Esad ve oğlu Yesarizade Mustafa İzzed Efendiler tarafından Osmanlıya özgü bir karaktere kavuşturularak İran'daki Nestalikten kesin bir şekilde ayrılmıştır.

Kaynaklar:

Ali Alparslan, "The Art of Calligraphy and the Ottomans", Ottoman Civilization, eds.Inalcık and Renda, 2, Ministry of Culture, Istanbul, 2003: 825-839.

Ali Alparslan, Osmanlı Hat Sanatı Tarihi, Yapı Kredi Yayınları, İstanbul, 2004.

Mahmut B. Yazır, Medeniyet Aleminde Yazı ve İslam Medeniyetinde Kalem Güzeli, 3 Cilt, Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı Yayınları, Ankara, 1981-1987.

Carl Faulmann, Yazı Kitabı, çev.: Itır Arda, T.İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları, İstanbul, 2001.