Hasan Tahsin (1800/1801 – 18 August 1861), also known as Kör Tahsin ("Blind Tahsin"), was a

Turkish Cypriot Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( tr, Kıbrıs Türkleri or ''Kıbrıslı Türkler''; el, Τουρκοκύπριοι, Tourkokýprioi) are ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,00 ...

divan poet and Islamic jurist. He rose to high-ranking judicial positions in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, becoming the

kazasker A kazasker or kadıasker ( ota, قاضی عسكر, ''ḳāḍī'asker'', "military judge") was a chief judge in the Ottoman Empire, so named originally because his jurisdiction extended to the cases of soldiers, who were later tried only by their ...

Rumelia Rumelia ( ota, روم ايلى, Rum İli; tr, Rumeli; el, Ρωμυλία), etymologically "Land of the Names of the Greeks#Romans (Ῥωμαῖοι), Romans", at the time meaning Eastern Orthodox Christians and more specifically Christians f ...

. Not much of his written work survives.

Life

Hasan Tahsin was born in

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

. His father was Hacı Mehmed Agha, the '' muhassıl'' of Cyprus and a '' surre emini'', who owned a house in

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

known as "Beytü'ş-şürefâ". His grandfather, Mehmed Agha, was also Cypriot. Hasan Tahsin started his educational life with the lessons he took from his father, learning about the

Quran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...

and tecvid. These lessons were later supplemented by lessons from local Cypriot scholars. He then moved to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

, where he continued his Islamic studies, with the appointment of his father. While in Constantinople, he took lessons on sülus and

nesih Naskh ( ar, , qalam an-naskh, from the verb , , 'to copy', from n-s-kh root (ن-س-خ)) is a smaller, round script of Islamic calligraphy. Naskh is one of the first scripts of Islamic calligraphy to develop, commonly used in writing administrati ...

from the famous

calligrapher Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "t ...

Laz Ömer Efendi. He was educated in a

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

, where learned about divan poetry and Islamic fine arts. When his father was appointed the muhassıl of Cyprus, he returned there, and upon his father's appointment as the surre emini in 1824, he went to

Hijaz The Hejaz (, also ; ar, ٱلْحِجَاز, al-Ḥijāz, lit=the Barrier, ) is a region in the west of Saudi Arabia. It includes the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif, and Baljurashi. It is also known as the "Western Provinc ...

and made his

Hajj The Hajj (; ar, حَجّ '; sometimes also spelled Hadj, Hadji or Haj in English) is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried ...

, returning to Cyprus in 1826. Afterwards, he was known as Hacı Hasan Tahsin Bey. He started his public service as a müderris (religious teacher in a madrasa) in

Edirne Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...

in 1826/27. He then served as the

qadi A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...

Sofia Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...

Üsküdar Üsküdar () is a large and densely populated district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the Anatolian shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered to the north by Beykoz, to the east by Ümraniye, to the southeast by Ataşehir and to the south by Kadıköy; w ...

and

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

respectively. On 27 June 1834, he obtained the "license of

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red ...

" ( tr, Mekke payesi), which allowed him to serve as a

. During his time in Hijaz in obtaining this distinction, he had lessons from Sheikh Mehmed Can Efendi. After this, he was appointed first the qadi of Constantinople, afterwards being appointed to the sadaret of

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

and than in 1847 the sadaret of

. On 15 January 1848 he was appointed as the nakîbü'l eşrâf. In October or November 1849, he was further designated as a member of the Meclis-i Vâlâ-yı Ahkâm-ı Adliyye ("Supreme Council of Judicial Ordinances"). With the decision of the Meclis-i Vâlâ to found a ministry for taking care of the properties of the orphans ( tr, Emval-ı Eytam Nezareti), in November or December 1851 Hasan Tahsin was appointed the first minister of this institution with 24 employees. In October or November 1852, however, he was removed from his ministerial position and he served as the kazasker of Rumelia twice, in 1853 and in 1859. He also briefly served as the

grand mufti The Grand Mufti (also called Chief Mufti, State Mufti and Supreme Mufti) is the head of regional muftis, Islamic jurisconsults, of a state. The office originated in the early modern era in the Ottoman empire and has been later adopted in a num ...

Literary style

According to literary historian Mehmet Fatih Köksal, commentary on Hasan Tahsin's poetry is close to none. His surviving works, according to Köksal, are not "enough in number to get to know a poet in depth", but those that to survive contain didactic couplets, which suggests that he was a follower of the style of

Yusuf Nabi Yusuf Nabi (1642 – 10 April 1712) was a Turkish Divan poet of Kurdish descent, in the court of Mehmet IV. He was famous for "his brilliant lyrics filled with popular sayings and critiques of the age and verses commemorating innumerable importa ...

Personal life

Hasan Tahsin has around 10 children. One of his eyes was blind, hence his nickname as "Blind Tahsin", and some jokes have been recorded about his blindness. Records exist about a keen interest by Hasan Tahsin on chemistry.

References

{{authority control Turkish Cypriot poets 1800 births 1861 deaths