The Reaction of Ottoman Government to Establishment of The Safawid Shiite State in Iran

The Ottoman Empire, who had always been opposing the establishment of a strong government in the east of its territory, felt a threat with the establishment of the Safawid state. The Ottomans, who regarded themselves as the guards of the Sunnite Islam, knew that the religious leanings of the Ottoman citizens in Anatolia are very close to Safawid’s beliefs. Observing the great leaning of the Turkmen tribes towards the Sheikh Safi’s clan, they attempted to use the religious conflicts to control this process. Ottomans, who had seized power through the support of the same tasawwuf on which the Safawid based their power, felt this threat more and more. Thus, we may classify the factors effective in Ottomans’ reaction to the establishment of Safawid Shiite state into two gwnwral factors: religious and tribal. The present study uses a descriptive-analytical method as well as library resources to investigate the Ottoman’s reaction to the establishment of Safawid state, the actions taken by Bayazid II and Sultan Salim in this regard, as well as their incentives up to Chaldoran Battle.