04 1514 The Ottoman sultan, Selim – a Sunni – defeats the Shah of Iran

1514  The Ottoman sultan, Selim – a Sunni – defeats the Shah of Iran


OTTOMAN SULTAN SELIM I AND SAFAVID SHAH ISMAIL I [In Muslim opinion, the Ottomans' right to rule rested on their success in war against the Christians and on their implementing the Holy Law in their lands. But this did not entitle them to dominate other Sunni Muslim states and when Ottoman arms first attempted to overthrow rival Muslim rulers throughout Asia Minor, religious resistance developed. In 1502 the threat increased when the head of the Safavid family, Ismail, proclaimed himself shah and quickly built an empire directly to the east of the Ottoman frontier. Ismail's success depended on his followers' belief that his descent (probably fictitious) from Muhammad's sonin-law `Ali made him the true and only legitimate successor to the Prophet. Such a claim implied that all other Muslim rulers were usurpers, including the Ottoman sultans. This doctrine was especially explosive because large numbers of people in Asia Minor were predisposed to accept such an idea. For generations a semisecret Shi`ite propaganda had taught that the rulers of Islam were all illegitimate, and that the true head of the Muslim community, the Imam, would appear someday to overthrow the mighty and set all things right. Ismail's meteoric career seemed to match such expectations, and the many views which had developed about how and when the Imam would manifest himself tended to coalesce around his person. Sultan Selim I responded to this challenge by resorting to terror against those in his domains suspected of sympathizing with Shah Ismail. He massacred many thousands in eastern Asia Minor and then marched on Tabriz, Ismail's new capital. Selim's Ottoman forces defeated Ismail and his army at Chaldiran (1514) and occupied Tabriz, but could not hold it because the town was too far from Constantinople. The result was a stand-off, each ruler remaining supreme within his own frontiers. Before the battle of Chaldiran, Selim and Ismail exchanged a number of letters. The two of these letters translated below are not dated, but were probably written sometime in 1514. Ismail's letter, apparently the only one he wrote, came in reply to three Selim had written, one of which is translated below. The letters were, in fact, a form of propaganda. Selim set out to defend his right to rule by quoting from the Quran and alluding to examples from history which buttressed his claims. Ismail, who based his claims on heredity, had no need of such leaming; rather he quotes from seemingly contemporary Persian poetry and appears almost casual, if not insolent, in addressing his rival.]