"No distinction is attached to birth among the Turks; the deference to be paid to a man is measured by the position he holds in the public service. There is no fighting for precedence; a man's place is marked out by the duties he discharges. In making these appointments the Sultan pays no regard to wealth or power, nor does he take into consideration a recommendation or popularity. He only considers each man's character and ability... Those who receive the highest offices from the Sultan are for the most part the sons of shepherds or herdsmen, and so far from being ashamed of their parentage, they actually boast of it."
—Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, ambassador of the Holy Roman Empire to the Ottoman Empire, Turkish Letters, c. 1555–1562
Based on the passage and your knowledge of world history, which of the following best explains how the Ottoman administrative practices described by Busbecq contributed to imperial consolidation between 1450 and 1750?
- AThey established a decentralized feudal structure where regional vassal lords held autonomous, hereditary control over their local territories.
- BThey created a rigid system of hereditary chattel slavery that permanently barred recruited individuals from achieving social mobility or political influence.
- They allowed the rulers to bypass the traditional landed nobility by creating a loyal bureaucracy and military force recruited from subject populations.Answer
- DThey facilitated administrative alliances with the Safavid Empire by converting elite officials to Shi'a Islam to secure the eastern frontier.