Ibn Kemal

Ibn Kemal, (Kemalpashazade), (Turkish:Kemalpaşazâde), "son of Kemal Pasha", (1468–1536), was an Ottoman historian, Sheikh ul-Islam, lawyer and poet.

He was born into a distinguished military family in Edirne and as a young man he served in the army and later studied at various madrasas and became the Kadı of Edirne in 1515. He became a highly respected scholar and was commissioned by the Ottoman ruler Bayezid II to write an Ottoman history (Tevarih-i Al-i Osman, "The Chronicles of the House of Osman"). During the reign of Selim I, in 1516, he was appointed as military judge of Anatolia and accompanied the Ottoman army to Egypt. During the reign of Suleiman I he was appointed as the Sheikh ul-Islam, i.e. supreme head of the Muslim ulema, a post which he held until his death.