15th through 17th Centuries | 93All the chapters in this section focus on the reign of Süleyman the Mag-
nificent, during which the Ottomans incorporated the lands and populations
conquered by Selim I and continued both territorial and commercial expansion
and the elaboration of an Ottoman synthesis of religious scholarship and archi-
tectural and artistic innovation. Chapter 7 focuses on the creation of an Ottoman
understanding of Sunni Islam that developed as a result of the rise of the militant
Shiɇi Safavid dynasty in Iran that threatened the Ottomans in eastern Anato-
lia. Chapter 8 analyzes the impact on a provincial city in southeastern Anato-
lia, Aintab, of the conquest of Mamluk territories by Selim I. Policies during the
years following its conquest led to the city’s inhabitants’ gradual transformation
into Ottoman subjects. Chapter 9 analyzes the transformation of Jerusalem into
an Ottoman city through construction financed by the imperial dynasty. Chap-
ter 10 turns to Aleppo and the changes in commercial networks that resulted as
newcomers from Anatolia found ways to prosper through new opportunities in
Arab lands. Chapter 11 focuses on Istanbul, where one female member of the im-
perial family, Mihrimah Sultan, financed construction contributing to the trans-
formation of Istanbul into an Ottoman city.