ABSTRACT
The Ottomans, staunch defenders of Sunni Islam, created one of longest-lasting Islamic empires ever. The Safavids established one of the first governments to adopt Twelver Shiism as its official religion. The Hagia Sophia, main cathedral of the Byzantine Empire, became a mosque, as numerous other religious buildings were also reconfigured for Ottoman use. The Ottomans originated as vassals of the Turkish Seljuk Sultans of Rum. The Rum Seljuks ruled over a fairly substantial empire in Anatolia and the Middle East between the late eleventh to the early fourteenth centuries, since in medieval Middle Eastern geography "Rum" was another name for Anatolia. The Ottomans also placed an embargo on all silk traffic between Persia, the Ottoman lands, and Europe that was kept in place for several years after Chaldiran. The Safavid shah was not the only Ottoman rival in the eastanother was the Mamluk sultan.
