Chapter 21 Multiple Choice

The capital of the Safavid empire under Abbas the Great was Select one: a. Isfahan. b. Baghdad. c. Tabriz. d. Kabul. e. Mosul.

a

What European nation first threatened the Ottoman monopoly of trade with east Africa and India? Select one: a. Portugal b. England c. Spain d. France e. Germany

a

Which of the following groups represented such extreme conservatism within the Ottoman Empire that reform was frustrated? Select one: a. Janissaries b. Merchants c. Artisans d. Sultans e. Peasants

a

During their reign, Safavid policies in Persia (A) alienated the majority of the population. (B) fostered as sense of Persian religious nationalism and social unity. (C) favored Turkish traditions and customs. (D) favored the Arabic language and Arab bureaucracies. (E) favored agriculture over trade and manufacturing.

b

What was the chosen language of the Ottoman court? Select one: a. Greek b. Turkish c. Persian d. Arabic e. Russian

b

The Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires shared all of these characteristics EXCEPT: (A) They originated in Turkish nomadic cultures of the steppe. (B) They were Muslim led. (C) They were based on conquest and the use of military technologies. (D) They began with absolutist rulers and efficient bureaucracies. (E) They ruled predominantly Muslim populations.

e

After Chaldiran, the official language of the Safavid empire became Select one: a. Persian. b. Hindi. c. Arabic. d. Farsi. e. Turkish.

a

Prior to the Mongol invasions of their empire, the Abbasid dynasty was dominated by Select one: a. the Seljuk Turks. b. the Mamluks. c. Timur-i-Lang. d. the Ozbeg Turks. e. the West.

a

The Safavids arose to power in Persia primarily due to (A) their support for the Shi'ite cause. (B) an alliance with Portuguese merchants and soldiers. (C) their conversion from Islam to Christianity. (D) a monopoly on military technologies and guns. (E) their control of trade along the silk road

a

What did the Ottomans do to Constantinople following its fall in 1453? Select one: a. Soon after its conquest, the Ottoman sultan undertook the restoration and beautification of Constantinople. b. The original city remained, but in a much reduced condition that the Ottomans did little to restore. c. They used it only as a port city but did rebuild the walls and turned the churches into mosques. d. The Ottomans rapidly abandoned Constantinople to the leaders of the Orthodox church who were responsible for its restoration and the construction of significant churches. e. The Ottomans destroyed the city and moved their capital to Sophia.

a

What was the principle of succession within the Ottoman Empire? Select one: a. Like earlier Islamic dynasties, the Ottoman Empire lacked a principle of succession, a fact that led to protracted warfare among prospective successors. b. Like the early Islamic administration of the orthodox caliphs, the successions within the Ottoman Empire were elective. c. A committee of chieftains made the selection after the death of the sultan by electing one of their own. d. Ottoman sultans selected their successors prior to their death and elevated them as co-rulers. e. Succession within the Ottoman Empire was based on primogeniture, that is, the oldest son automatically succeeded the previous sultan.

a

Which of the following statements most accurately characterizes the reign of Humayan? Select one: a. Despite the seeming stability of Babur's reign, his son Humayan was exiled by 1540 and forced to fight to restore the Mughal rule. b. Humayan completed the task of crushing opposition to the Mughal dynasty during the first 20 years of his reign, but settled into dissolute behavior later in his life. c. Humayan fell ill and during his long illness the army mutinied leading to a new dynastic ruler. d. Humayan was able to build on the reforms of his father and enjoyed one of the most stable and prosperous reigns of the Mughal dynasty. e. Humayan was assassinated shortly after his accession and the Mughal dynasty was briefly replaced by a Hindu family.

a

Which of the following was NOT a cause for the decline of the Ottoman Empire? Select one: a. The addition of European military technology such as light artillery made the Janissaries so powerful that they could challenge the authority of the sultan. b. Local officials began to retain increasing amounts of revenue for their own purposes. c. The ability of individual sultans to rule declined. d. Oppressive demands of local officials caused the peasantry to abandon their holdings and flee. e. Western Europe grew more powerful and challenged their existence.

a

The class which initially dominated the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal states and social hierarchy was (A) descendants of slaves (Mameluks). (B) a military aristocracy. (C) the clergy. (D) the merchant class. (E) largely composed of intellectuals and scholars.

b

The immediate successor of the Safavid dynasty in Persia was Select one: a. Muhammad Ali. b. Nadir Khan Afshar. c. Suleyman the Great. d. Akbar the Great. e. Babur the Great.

b

The original base of the Ottoman Turks was Select one: a. the Balkans. b. Anatolia. c. Transoxiana. d. Syria. e. Mesopotamia.

b

What event was most directly responsible for the rise of the gunpowder empires in Turkey, Iran, and India and similar states in Tsarist Russia and Ming China? (A) the invention of gunpowder (B) the collapse of the Mongol Empire and its khanates (C) the arrival of western European merchants in the area (D) the revival of trade across Eurasia (E) steppe nomads founded all five states

b

What led to the rapid demise of the Safavid empire? Select one: a. The threat of Mongol conquest destabilized the government, which led to a revolt of the Janissaries. b. Like the Ottoman Empire, the lack of a principle of succession led Abbas the Great to eliminate all capable rivals, leaving no capable ruler following his death. c. The successful conquest of the Ottoman Empire overextended the Safavid resources, so that the central government became increasingly inefficient. d. The Safavid defeat at the battle of Panipat at the hands of a Russian army stripped the empire of its military forces just as pressure from outside enemies increased. e. The collapse of the Safavid economy in the 18th century diminished the revenues of the empire to the point that the central government could no longer function.

b

Which of the following descriptions of the accomplishments of Babur is NOT accurate? Select one: a. He was a fine musician and designed gardens for his new capital at Delhi. b. He reformed the ineffective Lodi bureaucracy to create a streamlined administration. c. He wrote one of the great histories of India and was a fine musician. d. He defeated a much larger force in 1526 at the Battle of Panipat, which led to the establishment of his dynasty. e. He was a fine military strategist and fierce fighter who went into battle alongside his troops.

b

In order to supply its elite Janissaries and palace bureaucrats with soldiers, the Turks (A) used feudal levies. (B) relied on old Muslim nobles and aristocrats. (C) forcibly conscripted young Christian boys, converted them to Islam, and trained them. (D) imported trained foreigners and mercenaries. (E) relied on Muslim clergy

c

In what way were the artisans of Constantinople similar to their counterparts in the West? Select one: a. They produced goods that were much in demand in Asia and other eastern markets. b. They had begun to form a proletariat. c. Like their counterparts in medieval European towns, the artisans were organized into guilds. d. In the capital city of the Ottoman Empire, artisans were free of governmental supervision. e. Like the earlier West, craft production was limited and there were few independent artisans.

c

On the sea, the Ottoman galleys were eclipsed by Western naval power as early as the Select one: a. 18th century. b. 14th century. c. 16th century. d. 17th century. e. 15th century.

c

The Safavid dynasty had its origins in the 14th century in a family devoted to what variant of Islam? Select one: a. Sunni b. Ismaili c. Sufi d. Sikh e. Kurd

c

The Safavid empire reached its greatest extent under Shah Select one: a. Reza Pahlavi. b. Isma'il. c. Abbas the Great. d. Tahmasp I. e. Suleyman the Great.

c

The center of the Safavid empire was the modern-day state of Select one: a. Syria. b. Jordan. c. Iran. d. Turkey. e. Iraq.

c

The first Mughal emperor successfully defeated the Muslim ruler of the Lodi dynasty in 1526 at the battle of Select one: a. Farghana. b. Delhi. c. Panipat. d. Chaldiran. e. Kandahar.

c

The first Safavid shah was Select one: a. Osman. b. Suleyman the Great. c. Isma'il. d. Abbas the Great. e. Akbar.

c

The founder of the Mughal dynasty was Select one: a. Nadir Khan Afshar. b. Akbar. c. Babur. d. Mehmet II. e. Timur.

c

What permitted the Janissaries to gain a position of prominence in the Ottoman Empire? Select one: a. They rapidly gained control of the mosques of the Ottoman Empire and were able to define religious orthodoxy. b. Islamic law defined their authority as written in the Quran and the Sunna. c. Their control of artillery and firearms gave them prominence over the aristocratic Turkish cavalry. d. As members of the royal family, they had access to the sultans. e. Their control of the bureaucracy made them indispensable to the operation of the empire.

c

What was the critical feature of Akbar's new religion, the Din-i-Ilahi? Select one: a. Although it retained the formal appearance of Islam, the popular aspects of the new religion were almost entirely Buddhist. b. It was very similar to Zoroastrianism but included elements of Christianity and Judaism. c. It attempted to blend elements of the many faiths with which he was familiar as a means of reconciling Hindus and Muslims. d. Like the Safavids to whom early members of the Mughal dynasty fled in exile, Akbar adopted militant Shi'ism. e. It sought to purify the Islamic faith and remove Hindu influences by adopting many of the Sufi teachings already extant in India.

c

What was the impact of Aurangzeb's religious policies? Select one: a. More freedom for all religious groups with the exception of Christians b. The emperor succeeded in reestablishing the political and social dominance of the Hindu majority in India. c. Aurangzeb's religious policies gravely weakened the internal alliances between Hindus and Muslims and disrupted the social peace that Akbar had established. d. Aurangzeb's religious policies succeeded in removing Buddhism from India. e. Aurangzeb's introduction of Christianity to India began the process by which millions of Indians were converted to the new religion.

c

Which of the following statements concerning Ottoman naval power is most accurate? Select one: a. The Ottoman Empire was sufficiently powerful at sea that until the 18th century they were able to monopolize the Arabian Sea. b. The Ottoman Empire used both Western and Chinese naval technologies and established naval bases in Italy. c. Powerful Ottoman galley fleets captured major island bases in the eastern Mediterranean, but were unable to prevent Western advances in the Indian Ocean. d. The Ottomans retained their naval dominance in the Indian Ocean, but almost immediately lost all of their Mediterranean possessions. e. The Ottoman Empire never developed a navy, thus were unable to control the Mediterranean or challenge the growing naval supremacy of the West.

c

Which of the following statements concerning the economy of the Mughal empire is most accurate? Select one: a. Unlike the other Muslim empires, the Mughals successfully banned European merchants from their markets. b. The Indian markets of the Mughals were flooded with Western products. c. European traders brought products from throughout Asia to exchange for the subcontinent's famed cotton textiles. d. The Mughal economy was self-sufficient and operated under a strict Islamic code of behavior. e. The Mughal empire produced nothing of value to the West, but served as a conduit of products from southeastern Asia much in demand among the Europeans.

c

Which of the following statements concerning the reign of Akbar is NOT accurate? Select one: a. He personally oversaw the building of the military and administrative system. b. He patronized the arts. c. He attempted to purify Islam by removing Hindu influences. d. He encouraged intermarriage between the Mughal aristocracy and the Hindu Rajput rulers. e. He extended the Mughal conquests in central and northern India.

c

Which of these statements about women in India during the Mughal Empire is TRUE? (A) Child-bride marriages were ended. (B) Seclusion (purdah) of upper-class Hindu and Muslim women began. (C) Widow remarriage was temporarily encouraged, but then became rare. (D) The practice of sati ended. (E) The birth of girl children was seen as an unlucky event.

c

Followers of the Safavids' followers were called Select one: a. the White Lotus Society. b. Yellow Turbans. c. Plum Blossoms. d. Red Heads. e. the Red Hand.

d

Following the invasions of Timur, the Ottoman Empire was restored under Select one: a. Akbar. b. Shah Abbas the Great. c. Suleyman the Magnificent. d. Mehmed II. e. Muhammad Ali.

d

How did the Savafid economy compare to that of the Ottomans? Select one: a. Only the Ottoman sultans actively sought to encourage handicraft production and trade in their empire. b. The Safavid economy, because of the geographical location of the empire, was oriented exclusively toward the East and had no contact with Western merchants. c. The Safavid empire made a more concerted and successful attempt to enlarge their market economy, particularly by attracting merchants from the West. d. The Ottoman empire benefited in the short run from non-Muslim traders (Christians and Jews) who had extensive contacts with overseas empires that the Safavid empire lacked. e. The Safavids traded mainly in the Indian Ocean basin, and the Ottomans traded in the western Mediterranean.

d

One of the most beautiful of the Ottoman mosques of Constantinople was the Select one: a. Taj Mahal. b. Kahil Jibran. c. St. Basilís. d. Süleymaniye. e. Saffah.

d

The Ottomans conquered Constantinople and ended the Byzantine Empire in Select one: a. 1519. b. 1337. c. 1683. d. 1453. e. 1245.

d

Unlike the Ottomans and Safavids conquerors, Babar (A) favored trade. (B) was intolerant of religious differences. (C) avoided the use of advanced military technologies. (D) did not conquer lands for religious reasons. (E) never developed a strong centralized state or government.

d

What was the outcome of the Din-i-Ilahi? Select one: a. It maintained a large number of believers until the introduction of Christianity in the 18th century by the British. b. The new religion was widely accepted during Akbar's lifetime and became the state religion of the Mughal empire. c. Accepted by Hindus who benefited from the lenient policies of Akbar, the new religion was rejected by the Muslims. d. By Akbar's death in 1605, the Din-i-Ilahi was rejected by both Muslims and Hindus. e. Accepted by Muslims who saw it as a means of cementing the authority of the Mughals over the traditional Hindu rulers, the new religion was rejected by Hindus.

d

What was the state of the Mughal empire following Aurangzeb's death in 1707? Select one: a. The empire included more territory than ever before and there was greater religious homogeneity than earlier in the reign. b. The Mughal empire had shrunken so much during Aurangzeb's reign that the dynasty controlled only Bengal. c. The empire collapsed in the face of a Safavid invasion from the Indus River valley. d. The empire was far larger than earlier, but control and state revenues passed increasingly to regional lords who gave little more than tribute payments to the emperors. e. The empire managed to arrange treaties with western powers, which in the long run provided enough resources for the empire to grow.

d

Which of the following represents a difference between the origins of the Ottomans and the Safavids? Select one: a. The Safavids were originally frontier warriors. b. The Safavids represented a highly militant strain of Islam. c. The Safavids originated from a Turkish nomadic group. d. The Safavids represented the Shi'a strain of Islam. e. The Safavids were of Chinese origin.

d

Why was the battle of Chaldiran in 1514 so important? Select one: a. It signaled the beginning of Islamic regional dominance, which would lead to the beginning of secular type governments in the Middle East. b. The defeat of the Safavids by a Western army reduced the Islamic empire to economic dependency on the West and military inferiority to the other Muslim empires. c. The battle established the military supremacy of the Safavids over the Ottomans and marked the end to eastern expansion of the Ottoman Empire. d. The Safavids were dealt a devastating defeat that checked the westward advance of Shi'ism and decimated the ranks of the Turkic warriors who had built the Safavid empire. e. The combined armies of the Safavids and Ottomans defeated the Mughal armies and ended the policy of expansion undertaken by the Mughal emperors of India.

d

Akbar used the following to build a stable state in India EXCEPT: (A) a well-trained, well-led military. (B) an efficient bureaucracy and administration. (C) patronage of the arts and intellectual developments. (D) religious toleration and reconciliation with the Hindus. (E) promotion of foreigners, especially Europeans, to positions of power.

e

All of these developments weakened the rule of the Ottoman government EXCEPT: (A) powerful factions within the Janissaries and court bureaucrats. (B) harem politics by rival wives and their sons, who were potential heirs. (C) the hedonistic lifestyles of many sultans. (D) corruption and graft. (E) the development of the office of vizier.

e

How did the Ottoman dynasty compare to other ruling families? Select one: a. Because the Ottoman succession was elective, it is misleading to think of the sultans as a single dynasty. b. The Ottoman dynasty was among the most long-lasting in history, surviving for over 200 years—exceeded only by the Chinese dynasties. c. Due to the lack of a principle of succession, the Ottomans endured constant dynastic change with individual families surviving only for decades. d. It was a series of brief kingships with long periods of disorder and warfare due to succession problems. e. The Ottoman dynasty lasted for over 600 years-a feat matched by no other ruling family.

e

In what year was the first Safavid declared shah? Select one: a. 1553 b. 1722 c. 1571 d. 1453 e. 1501

e

The Janissaries were Select one: a. eunuchs from the royal family charged with care of the imperial harem. b. powerful members of the scholar-gentry aristocracy within the Ottoman Empire who dominated regional administration. c. religious leaders under the control of the Ottoman state. d. Islamic judges not subject to state authority but only answered to the caliphs in Bagdad. e. slave troops of the Ottomans forcibly conscripted as adolescents from conquered territories.

e

The head of the Ottoman central bureaucracy was the Select one: a. patriarch. b. dhimmi. c. caliph. d. eunuch. e. vizier.

e

What was the state of the Mughal dynasty at the outset of the reign of Aurangzeb? Select one: a. The status of women in the Mughal empire was higher than at the beginning of the dynasty. b. Although the cultural level of the empire had declined, the administrative reforms of Shah Jahan renewed the spirit of the empire. c. The Mughal bureaucracy remained efficient and effective, but the military had lapsed into technological conservatism. d. Affairs of state had taken precedence over military issues due to the demands of the bureaucracy. e. The Mughal bureaucracy was bloated and corrupt, the army was backward in weaponry and tactics, and the peasants and artisans had seen living standards fall.

e

What was the status of the Turkish chiefs under the Safavid shahs? Select one: a. Turkish chiefs were nominally independent of any centralized control or rule. b. The former Turkish nomads were reduced to slavery, but still composed the foundation of the Safavid military. c. The former Turkish warriors were replaced entirely by the indigenous Persian nobility who formed a mercenary military force. d. Unlike the Ottomans, the Turkish cavalrymen were driven from the Safavid empire. e. Like the Ottomans, the Turkish chiefs were gradually transformed into a warrior nobility with assigned villages and peasant labor.

e

Which of the following represents a difference between the declines of the Abbasids and the Ottomans? Select one: a. The Abbasid decline was much more gradual than that of the Ottoman Empire. b. Only the Ottoman Empire suffered from the intervention of mercenary soldiers in politics. c. Only the Abbasids declined as a result of revolts by peasants and townsmen oppressed by the landed classes. d. Only the Ottomans failed to develop a principle of succession leading to civil strife. e. The Ottomans were at a much greater disadvantage as a result of the more potent threat from the West.

e

Which of the following was NOT a result of the Ottoman loss of monopoly over the Indian trade? Select one: a. Internal unrest further undermined Ottoman rule. b. Spices carried around Africa by Europeans enriched the Ottomans' Christian rivals. c. Direct carriage of eastern goods to ports in the West implied loss of revenues in taxes in Muslim trading centers. d. Military setbacks revealed the obsolescence of the Muslim fleets. e. Bullion caused by a negative balance of trade flowed out of the Ottoman Empire to the West.

e

Which of the following was NOT one of the early modern Islamic empires? Select one: a. Safavid b. Ottoman c. Followers of Shi'a Islam in former Persian territory d. Mughal e. Abbasid

e