McDermott Post-Classical-Islamic Caliphate Practice Test

The central idea here is the shift of religious-political authority after 1517. When Selim I defeated the Mamluks and seized Egypt, the Ottoman sultans began to claim the title of Caliph, presenting themselves as the rightful leaders of the entire Muslim community. This move established Istanbul (Constantinople) as the new seat of caliphal legitimacy for many Muslims, effectively uniting Sunni authority under the Ottoman ruler. The Ottoman claim to the caliphate was widely recognized across large parts of the Sunni world, making the empire the central source of religious-political legitimacy. Other powers in the period did not assume this universal caliphal role in the same way. The Safavid Empire in Persia was a Shia state with its own religious leadership, not the broadly accepted Sunni caliphate. The Mughal Empire in India operated as a powerful imperial state with religious authority within its domain, but it did not serve as the universal Sunni caliphate recognized across the Islamic world. The Idrisid Dynasty had long since faded into history by this era. So the rise of the Ottoman Empire after 1517 best fits the description of becoming the new center of caliphal legitimacy for many Muslims.