"To the ruler of the Persians, Ismail:
The scholars of our empire have decreed that your abandonment of the orthodox Sunni path and your promotion of heretical doctrines constitute a betrayal of the true Islamic community. Your active efforts to convert Sunni Muslims in Anatolia to your deviant sect threaten the peace and stability of the realm. Therefore, it has become our sacred duty to unsheathe the sword of justice to restore the purity of the faith and defend our borders from your subversion."
—Letter from the Ottoman Sultan Selim I to the Safavid Shah Ismail I, 1514
The conflict described in the passage is best understood as a reflection of which of the following developments in the period 1450 to 1750?
- AA decline in scientific and cultural exchange across Southwest Asia due to the political division of the Islamic world
- BThe Safavid Empire's successful conquest of Anatolian ports to establish dominant trade networks in the eastern Mediterranean
- The intensification of regional rivalries as land-based empires utilized religious doctrines to reinforce state sovereignty and political legitimacyCevap
- DThe Ottoman Empire's implementation of the devshirme system to forcibly convert and assimilate Shi'a populations in eastern Anatolia
Cevap
The intensification of regional rivalries as land-based empires utilized religious doctrines to reinforce state sovereignty and political legitimacy
The correct answer is correct because both the Ottoman and Safavid empires utilized state-sponsored religious orthodoxies (Sunni Islam for the Ottomans and Twelver Shi'ism for the Safavids) to define their political legitimacy, mobilize their populations, and justify warfare against their rival neighbor.
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Anahtar Kavram
The Ottoman-Safavid conflict was a political and military rivalry intensified by the Sunni-Shi'a sectarian split, which both empires utilized to legitimize state authority and consolidate territorial rule.