- 26 - 2003
- 4. Histoire, Période Musulmane
- 4.2. Histoire du XVe au XIXe siècle
- 4.2.1. Safavides et Qâjârs
240
Nyitrai, István
« The Third Period of the Ottoman Safavid Conflict: Struggle of Political Ideologies (1555-1578) », in : Éva M. Jeremiás, ed., Irano-Turkic Cultural Contacts in the 11th – 17th Centuries. Piliscsaba, [2002] 2003, pp. 161-176.
This article concentrates on the period 1555-78 in Ottoman-Safavid relations, the interval between the Peace of Amasia and the Lala Mustafa Pasha’s campaign against Iran. The author considers this a period of a “struggle for political ideologies”, arguing that with the accession of Sultan Mehmet II, the Ottomans had begun to project themselves as legitimate claimants to world domination. The objective was to legitimize their conquests and projected conquests of Iranian territory. Part of this was a tendency to “iranize” their titles and to acculturate to Iran’s cultural milieu by commissioning history works in emulation of Firdausi’s Šāh-nāmeh – with the foundation of a şehnameci office in Istanbul in 1555 and the completion of a Sulayman-name in 1558 being the first fruits of this endeavor. By the time of Sultan Selim, the Ottomans had added the term “shah” to their titulature. Suleiman further added the title “righteous perfect sultan” in emulation of Safavid rulers. The author seeks to substantiate this argument on the basis of numismatic evidence. Unfortunately, the article is not accompanied by illustrations of the actual coins in question. Nor is there any acknowledgement and discussion of the discrepancy between this shift in claims and presentation and the strong pragmatism that the Ottomans continued to exhibit vis-à-vis the Safavids.

