Test: Muslim Gunpowder Empires
1. Which of the following was a major cause of Ottoman decline?
A. corrupt officials
B. diversion of trade by Europeans
C. inflation due to the influx of bullion into Europe.
D. all of the above
E. A and C only
2. Why is Suleiman I known as Kanuni in Turkish history?
A. He used heavy cannon in the siege of Vienna.
B. He codified Ottoman law, harmonizing Turkish law with shari’a.
C. His mother was named Kanusu.
D. Kanuni is the religious title he adopted when he captured Mecca.
3. With whom did Babur forge an alliance early in his reign?
A. Sultan Selim I
B. Tsar Ivan IV
C. Shah Abbas I
D. Shah Ismail I
4. Which of the following policies would empower peasants?
A. Giving land to noble warriors after a victory
B. Redistributing nobles’ land to the commonfolk
C. Promising spoils to one’s army
D. Decreeing a land ownership requirement for voting
5. Which of the following is not a true statement about Islam?
A. Islam is monotheistic.
B. Historically, jihad has usually referred to war against infidels.
C. Since Islam is open to interpretation, there are many different forms of the religion.
D. Because the Qur’an cannot be translated, shari’a is uniform throughout the Islamic world.
6. What was a millet?
A. a marching band used by the janissaries
B. any of a number of ethnic communities in the Ottoman Empire
C. a regional province of the Ottoman Empire
D. any of a number of religious communities in the Ottoman Empire
7. What was the name of the elite infantry unit of the Ottoman Empire?
A. Ghulams
B. Janissaries
C. Sipahis
D. Cossacks
8. The Ottoman Empire was militarily successful because it made use of:
A. war elephants, purchased from India.
B. suicide bombers.
C. units trained in the use of gunpowder weapons. D. Christian missionaries.
9. Which of the following is not a true statement about Islam?
A. Islam is monotheistic.
B. Historically, jihad has usually referred to war against infidels.
C. Since Islam is open to interpretation, there are many different forms of the religion.
D. Because the Qur’an cannot be translated, shari’a is uniform throughout the Islamic world.
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10. With what figure was Ismail I closely associated?
A. Jesus the Christ
C. the Mahdi
B. St. Peter
D. al-Ghazali
11. All of the following are correct about the Ottoman sultans except:
A. Harem women often had considerable power.
B. The sultan ruled through an imperial administrative council headed by the Grand Vezir.
C. The position of sultan was hereditary, but not necessarily by the eldest son.
D. Even the sultan himself never entered the harem because it was considered sacred.
E. Court rituals were adapted from Byzantine and Persian practices.
12. What did Babur gain from the alliance in question 3?
A. military support
C. gold from the Crimea
B. trade contacts with Europe
D. Chinese silk
13. Which of the following policies would empower peasants?
A. Giving land to noble warriors after a victory
B. Redistributing nobles’ land to the commonfolk
C. Promising spoils to one’s army
D. Decreeing a land ownership requirement for voting
14. What region was disputed between the Ottoman and Safavid Empires?
A. the Balkans
B. Egypt
C. Afghanistan
D. Mesopotamia
15. Which of the following is not a true statement about the devshirme?
A. They were drawn from Christian boys collected as a tax in the Balkans.
B. They were loyal directly to the sultan.
C. They were usually rewarded by marrying into the sultan’s family.
D. They were made slaves and then converted to Islam.
16. What important element did the Imperial Household oversee in Akbar’s administration?
A. the army
B. infrastructure
C. the courts
D. imperial mosques
17. All of the following are correct about the Safavids except:
A. The population included urban Persians and Turkic tribesmen.
B. The shah claimed to be the spiritual leader of Shi’ism.
C. Sunni missionaries from the Ottoman Empire weakened the shah’s control in the 1600s.
D. There were significant Christian and Jewish populations as well as Muslims and Zoroastrians
18. What substance was associated with anti-government activities in the Ottoman Empire?
A. coffee
B. hashish
C. opium
D. tobacco
19. What happened when the rules governing devshirme graduates were relaxed?
A. The bureaucracy devolved from a meritocracy to an aristocracy.
B. Ottoman sultans asserted their rights as absolute rulers.
C. The bureaucracy evolved from an aristocracy to a meritocracy.
D. The Ottoman Empire became more efficient since high-ranking officials were content.
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20. What is the term for the chain of transmitters (teacher-to-disciple) in Islam?
A. apostolic succession
B. isnad
C. jihad
D. shari’a
21. What religion, founded in 1499, is a syncretism (blending) of Islam and Hinduism?
A. Buddhism
B. Jainism
C. Hinduism
D. Sikhism
22. Why were Turkish irregular troops problematic for the Ottoman Empire?
A. They were not as well trained or as well equipped as their regular counterparts.
B. Their primary loyalty was often to their tribal bey rather than the sultan.
C. They might abandon a campaign if it took too long.
D. All of the above.
E. A and C, but not B
23. Which empire sponsored the development of a school of religious philosophy that blended rationalist and
intuitive methods of inquiry?
A. the Ottomans
B. the Timurids
C. the Safavids
D. the Mughals
24. What is the idea that all creation combines to make up the Divine?
A. pantheism
B. polytheism
C. monotheism
D. baboons
25. Which ancestor of Babur’s served as the basis of his claim to the Delhi Sultanate?
A. Jenghiz Khan
B. Suleiman the Magnificent
C. Timur
D. Jagadai Khan
26. What title did Selim I assume when he captured Mecca in 1517?
A. Sultan
B. Bey
C. Caliph
D. Pope
27. What did the Iranians gain in the alliance in question 3?
A. an ally to help control Uzbeks and Afghans on their frontier
B. Babur’s sister as a wife
C. greater influence over Central Asian trade systems
D. both B and C, but not A
E. both A and C, but not B
28. What city did the Ottomans capture in 1453?
A. Constantinople
C. Baghdad
B. Mecca
D. Rome
29. What is the term for self-denial and bodily discipline for the sake of spiritual goals?
A. maya
B. prayer
C. reincarnation
D. asceticism
30. What was the term for the Christian converts to Islam whom Abbas the Great promoted?
A. devshirme
B. ghulams
C. janissaries
D. Jesuits
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31. What was the Hindu confederacy that put up stiff resistance to Muslim and British rule?
A. the Pavla Empire
B. the Mughal Empire
C. the Rajputs
D. the Delhi Sultanate
32. What was the strategic importance of the Battle of Chaldiran for the Ottomans?
A. It gave the Ottomans control over Mesopotamia.
B. Selim I crushed the Safavid army, clearing the way for his conquest of the Mamluk Empire.
C. It gave the Safavids control over Mesopotamia.
D. Selim I crushed the Hungarians, clearing the way for his conquest of Transylvania.
33. According to Hindu belief, what is maya?
A. a group of people in Central America
C. reality
B. illusion
D. salvation
34. Which of the following were advantages of the promotion systems used by the Ottomans and Safavids?
A. It diminished the power of the Turkic aristocracy, allowing the ruler to centralize power.
B. It provided trained, professionals who were dependent on the ruler.
C. It established a meritocracy, rather than an aristocracy.
D. All of the above
35. What term describes a relationship in which one state dominates the foreign affairs of another, while
allowing it autonomy in domestic policy?
A. imperialism
B. populism
C. suzerainty
D. neo-colonialism
36. According to Hindu, what determines a person’s dharma?
A. predestination
C. social status
B. the whims of the gods
D. wealth
37. What were the conditions of the agreement in question 3?
A. The Ottomans had suzerainty over the Mughals and Babur converted to Shi’ism.
B. The Mongols were granted rule over China again, but ceded Afghanistan to the Safavids.
C. The Safavids had suzerainty over the Mughals and Babur converted to Shi’ism.
D. The Safavids had suzerainty over the Mughals and Babur converted to Sufism.
38. What was the title of a local ruler appointed by the central government of the Ottoman Empire?
A. sultan
B. vezir
C. grand duke
D. pasha
39. Which state was the chief European rival to the Ottoman Empire?
A. Norway
B. England
C. the Habsburg Empire
D. France
40. What is the ruling council of scholars in a Muslim state called?
A. majlis
B. ulama
C. senate
D. sacred college
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41. Which of the following was key to Akbar’s power?
A. his claim to be the reincarnation of the Mahdi
B. strategic marriages and the use of gunpowder in his military
C. strategic trade deals with European companies
D. his murdering his brothers to eliminate all rivals
42. What is the term for the rigid system of social classes and sub-classes in Indian society?
A. yoga
B. karma
C. Brahman
D. caste
43. What was the mystical expression of Islam that many militant Qizilbash brotherhoods espoused?
A. Sunnism
B. Sufism
C. Calvinism
D. Zen
44. Mughal decline in the seventeenth century was the result of all of the following except:
A. the successive assassinations of Jahangir and Shah Jahan
B. Nur Jahan’s use of her position to enrich and empower her relatives
C. the lack of investment in agriculture and infrastructure
D. Shah Jahan’s expensive building and military campaigns
45. What entity took advantage of Mughal weakness in the eighteenth century to eventually take over India by
the mid-1800s?
A. the French East India Company
B. the Safavid Empire
C. the British East India Company
D. the Ottoman Empire
46. With what did Suleiman I and his advisors attempt to harmonize his law code?
A. Roman legal tradition
B. shari’a
C. the Da Vinci Code
D. the Code of Hammurabi
47. Which element in Mughal society would have been most likely to support Aurangzeb’s religious policies?
A. the Marathas
B. the Khalsa
C. the Ulama
D. the Rajputs
48. What was the title of a Turkish tribal chieftain, which was later used for an Ottoman provincial official?
A. sultan
B. bey
C. caliph
D. imam
49. Who were the Hindus in the Deccan who established a state-within-a-state to resist Aurangzeb’s conquest?
A. the Rajputs
B. the Sikhs
C. the Marathas
D. the Mughals
50. The rule of the British East India Company:
A. led to the transfer of capital and land to British officials.
B. led to the development of a wealthy Indian merchant class.
C. turned the zamindars into English gentry.
D. encouraged the development of local industry in India.
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51. All of the following are correct about the Ottoman, Safavid, and Mughal empires except:
A. They became vulnerable to exploitation by wealthy, powerful Western states.
B. Gunpowder played an important role in their rise.
C. All experienced destructive factionalism within their ruling families.
D. All were of Turko-Mongol nomadic origins.
E. All three made Sunni Islam their official religion.
52. The Ottoman Empire was treated essentially like any other European state in diplomacy by the 1600s.
A. True
B. False
53. Which of the following was not a characteristic of the Din-i-Ilahi (Divine Faith)?
A. It was a creation of Akbar the Great to serve his political ends.
B. It borrowed elements from many different religions.
C. It united Muslims and Hindus and formed the basis of Sikhism.
D. It was basically rejected by almost everyone in India.
54. With whom did Suleiman the Magnificent form an alliance in Europe?
A. Vlad III Dracula of Wallachia
B. Francis I Valois of France
C. Frederick the Wise of Prussia
D. Charles V Habsburg
55. What ultimately destroyed the effectiveness of the millet system?
A. atheism due to Enlightenment ideas
B. autonomy
C. nationalism
D. war with the Safavids
56. What guided Aurangzeb’s approach to policy?
A. sulahkul
C. a desire for greater profits
B. a strict understanding of shari’a
D. the Din-i-Ilahi
57. Which of the following would not have been a reason for the Ottoman Empire to be at war with the
Habsburg Empire?
A. The conversion of Bohemia to Islam
B. The Ottomans’ treaties with the Valois dynasty in France
C. The duty of the sultan as caliph to wage jihad
D. Spain’s attempts to expand into North Africa
58. How did Akbar the Great remove his former regent and military chief?
A. Akbar had him drowned in his bath.
B. Akbar hired an Afghan assassin to stab him in Kandahar.
C. Akbar executed him as a traitor when he raised a rebellion in Punjab.
D. Akbar sent him on a hajj in order to signal his retirement.
59. What did each millet gain in the Ottoman system?
A. tax breaks
C. exemption from military service
B. exemption from the jitza
D. a degree of autonomy
60. What did sulahkul, the dominant principle in Akbar the Great’s religious policy, mean?
A. persecution of non-Muslims
B. seizure of Buddhist monasteries
C. tolerance of all religions
D. persecution of non-Hindus
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61. What was the title for local governors in the Mughal Empire?
A. bey
B. pasha
C. zamindar
D. orangutan
62. From whom did Abbas the Great have to re-conquer much of Afghanistan?
A. the Ottomans
B. the Russians
C. the Chinese
D. the Uzbeks
63. What magnificent building did Shah Jahan build to commemorate his dead wife?
A. the Blue Mosque
B. the Taj Mahal
C. the Brihadeshvara Temple
D. the Khajuraho Monuments
64. According to Abu’l Faz’l, the power of what Shi’a institution resided in just rulers?
A. the papacy
B. the imamate
C. the caliphate
D. the ulema
65. What Greek philosopher’s idea of the philosopher-king influenced Abu’l Faz’l in this?
A. Plato
B. Aristotle
C. K’ung Fu-tse
D. John Stuart Mill
66. What tax did Akbar the Great suspend, giving him greater popular support?
A. the jitza
B. the land tax
C. the income tax
D. tariffs
67. What religious group organized a resistance movement against Aurangzeb called the Khalsa?
A. Sikhs
B. Hindus
C. Zoroastrians
D. Christians
Reading Primary Sources. Read the following selection from Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq (a Habsburg
diplomat), “The Turkish Letters, 155-1562” (from C. T. Forster and F. H. B. Daniel, eds., The Life and
Letters of Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, vol. I (London: Kegan Paul, 1881), pp, 86-88, 153-155, 219-222, 287290, 293.) <http:// www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/1555busbecq.html> and answer questions 68-74 that
follow.
At Buda I made my first acquaintance with the Janissaries; this is the name by which the Turks call the infantry
of the royal guard. The Turkish state has 12,000 of these troops when the corps is at its full strength. They are
scattered through every part of the empire, either to garrison the forts against the enemy, or to protect the
Christians and Jews from the violence of the mob. There is no district with any considerable amount of
population, no borough or city, which has not a detachment of Janissaries to protect the Christians, Jews, and
other helpless people from outrage and wrong. …
After reaching the door, they would stand respectfully with their arms crossed, and their eyes bent on the
ground, looking more like monks than warriors. On receiving a few small coins (which was what they wanted)
they bowed again, thanked me in loud tones, and went off blessing me for my kindness. To tell you the truth, if
I had not been told beforehand that they were Janissaries, I should, without hesitation, have taken them for
members of some order of Turkish monks, or brethren of some Moslem college. Yet these are the famous
Janissaries, whose approach inspires terror everywhere. …
It makes me shudder to think of what the result of a struggle between such different systems must be; one of us
must prevail and the other be destroyed, at any rate we cannot both exist ]in safety. On their side is the vast
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wealth of their empire, unimpaired resources, experience and practice in arms, a veteran soldiery, an
uninterrupted series of victories, readiness to endure hardships, union, order, discipline, thrift and watchfulness.
On ours are found an empty exchequer, luxurious habits, exhausted resources, broken spirits, a raw and
insubordinate soldiery, and greedy quarrels; there is no regard for discipline, license runs riot, the men indulge
in drunkenness and debauchery, and worst of all, the enemy are accustomed to victory, we to defeat. Can we
doubt what the result must be? The only obstacle is Persia, whose position on his rear forces the invader to take
precautions. The fear of Persia gives us a respite, but it is only for a time. …
Among the Turks, therefore, honours, high posts, and judgeships are the rewards of great ability and good
service. If a man be dishonest, or lazy, or careless, he remains at the bottom of the ladder, an object of
contempt; for such qualities there are no honours in Turkey!
This is the reason that they are successful in their undertakings, that they lord it over others, and are daily
extending the bounds of their empire. These are not our ideas, with us there is no opening left for merit; birth is
the standard for everything; the prestige of birth is the sole key to advancement in the public service.
68. What function did the janissaries serve in the mid-sixteenth century in peace time?
A. They were religious specialists like monks.
B. They were gendarmes.
C. They were controlling the government.
D. They were firefighters.
69. Which element in Mustafa Naima’s Cycle of Equity would this function represent?
A. military
B. wealth
C. justice
D. subjects
70. Which of the following is not a comparison Busbecq made regarding Habsburg troops and the janissaries?
A. The Ottomans were wealthy while the Habsburgs were impoverished.
B. Ottoman troops were disciplined while the German troops fought amongst themselves.
C. The Ottomans had a tradition of victory while the Habsburgs suffered from low morale.
D. The janissaries were experts with guns while the Habsburg troops were still fighting with swords.
71. According to Busbecq, what was preventing an Ottoman conquest of the Habsburg Empire?
A. The Ottomans had to defend their eastern border against the Persians, so they could not attack with
their full might.
B. The Ottomans lacked a sufficient navy to bring the janissaries and sipahis to Europe.
C. The Habsburgs had superior artillery.
D. The Ottomans were concentrating their forces on fighting the Russians in the Crimea.
72. Based on this reading, which policy would Busbecq most likely have supported?
A. A Habsburg invasion of Ottoman provinces of North Africa.
B. Continuing the Habsburg alliance with the Safavids.
C. Sending money and troops to Romania to support the Draculestis in order to create a buffer state
between the Habsburg Empire and the Ottoman Empire.
D. Signing an alliance with England to conduct a joint invasion of Valois France.
73. In the sixteenth century, what was the basis of advancement and promotion in the Ottoman Empire?
A. ability and merit
B. bribes
C. birthright
D. religious piety
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74. What was the basis of a man’s
position in the Ottoman Empire?
A. ability and merit
B. bribes
C. birthright
D. religious piety
Visual Analysis. Questions 75-79
refer to this Mughal painting.
75. What is the best explanation for
the halo behind Jahangir?
A. Jahangir learned the secrets
of the spiritual life from
the Sheikh to his right
and became a saint.
B. According to the Din-iIlahi, Jahangir was the
infallible Imam.
C. According to the ideas of
Abu’l Faz’l, Jahangir
had the grace of the
Imamate as a
philosopher-king.
D. The Mughals adopted sunworship from the
Zoroastrians.
76. Who is the man in the white shirt?
A. Sultan Osman II of the
Ottoman Empire
B. Shah Abbas I of the
Safavid Empire
C. King Philip II of Spain
D. King James I of England
77. Given the position of the various
men in the painting, what is the overall
message of this piece?
A. Jahangir was more interested in spiritual matters than political ones.
B. Life is short, so a ruler should devote himself to enjoying pleasures in this world.
C. Jahangir was an intellectual ruler who wrote books.
D. Hindus were below contempt for Jahangir.
78. What political message does the relative position of the men in this piece convey?
A. European ambassadors had to talk to Sufi sheikhs in order to gain access to the Mughal padshah.
B. The Mughal padshah had absolute power over both India and Persia.
C. Jahangir considered England less important than the Ottoman Empire, though he thought both were
beneath him.
D. Hindus needed the intercession of foreign ambassadors.
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79. What seems to be the defining feature determining the men’s relative position?
A. how wealthy and powerful their states are
B. how close to India their states are
C. their age
D. their degree of “holiness” based on religion
Use the following graphic representation of Mustafa Naima’s seventeenth-century theory of the state to
answer questions 80-84.
Subjects
Justice
State
Wealth
Military
80. What should the Ottomans do as a result of capturing major trade centers such as Constantinople, Cairo,
Beirut, Baghdad and Basra?
A. invest in better equipment for its army
B. build roads to improve the lives of the people
C. train and employ more soldiers
D. Both A and B
E. Both A and C
81. What would happen as the weak and incompetent sultans came into office and the government was run by
self-interested viziers and janissaries?
A. The janissaries and the sipahis would begin fighting over the flow of wealth, further weakening the
sultans.
B. The principles of justice would break down and the people would suffer.
C. Unemployment would skyrocket and the millets would start rebelling against the state.
D. The sultan would crush the janissaries.
82. What would be the result of Shah Jahan’s failing to invest in infrastructure and agricultural improvements
as well as raising regressive taxes on the peasants to pay for military and building projects?
A. It would represent a failure of the government to provide justice, so the subjects would be unable to
generate wealth.
B. It would represent a failure in the state, creating corruption in the legal system.
C. It would represent a failure of the government to provide for the subjects, which would create a
stronger army that would likely overthrow the state.
D. It would represent a strengthening of the subjects, generating more wealth for the military.
83. Using Mustafa Naima’s model, what would be the effect of European countries establishing colonies in the
Americas and gaining control over sea routes to trade directly with East Asia?
A. The Ottomans would lose wealth and their military would become weak, threatening the stability of
the state.
B. The Ottomans would lose wealth and their subjects would rebel, and weakening the sultanate.
C. The Ottomans would build a large navy to capture the sea routes.
D. These actions would have no significant effect.
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84. What effect would Abbas the Great’s creation of the ghulam system have?
A. A stronger military and competent bureaucracy would strengthen the state.
B. It would strengthen the Qizilbash aristocracy, generating wealth for the Safavid Empire.
C. The ghulams could provide police protection for the subjects, allowing them to trade and farm in
peace.
D. Harmonizing the Safavid law code with shari’a allowed for a better justice system, which would
generate more wealth that could be invested in the subjects.
Reading II. Questions 85-87 refer to the following short essay.
85. What type of source is this?
A. oral history
C. secondary
B. primary
D. short story
86. Which of the following is not an advantage provided by social hierarchies, according to this author?
A. a safety net
B. the subordination of women
C. a ladder of upward mobility
D. stability in decentralized political units
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87. Which of the following best represents this author’s thesis?
A. The subordination of women is a result of the Fall, as in Genesis.
B. Nomadic societies are egalitarian because there is no job specialization.
C. The development of agriculture created the need for job specialization and private property,
which creates social hierarchies.
D. The agricultural revolution established the idea of private property, so large joint families
became an adaptive advantage.
Geographic Analysis. Questions 88-93 refer to the following map.
88. Which of the following was conquered by Suleiman the Magnificent?
A. Greece
B. Mecca
C. Italy
D. Hungary
89. What rival empire lay to the north of the Ottoman Empire?
A. Spain
B. Russia
C. Persia
D. Mughal Empire
90. Which body of water did the Ottoman Empire essentially control after 1520?
A. The Mediterranean Sea
B. the Persian Gulf
C. the Red Sea
D. the Caspian Sea
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91. What city is located at the junction of Europe and Asia and at the junction of the Mediterranean and Black
Seas?
A. Istanbul
B. Mecca
C. Vienna
D. Isfahan
92. Which city did the Ottomans most likely capture from the Safavids?
A. Istanbul
B. Mecca
C. Baghdad
D. Tripoli
93. Suppose an Ottoman official traveled from the western border of Algeria straight to the Safavid border,
approximately how many miles would he travel before leaving the Ottoman Empire?
A. 400 miles
B. 2700 miles
C. 4000 miles
D. 1200 miles
94. What was the major difference between the devshirme and ghulam systems?
A. The ghulam system required conversion to Islam, but the devshirme made it voluntary.
B. The ghulam used incentives to win converts, but the devshirme recruited by means of a tax.
C. The devshirme system was dominated by Armenian Christians, but the ghulam system was
controlled by Turkic aristocrats.
D. The devshirme system created a new Muslim aristocracy, but the ghulam system forbade
conversion to Islam, creating a Christian aristocracy instead.
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