REBIRTH 183The Ottoman's eastward expansion did get blocked by another rising
power, the Safavids (about whom more later}, but the Ottomans simply
headed south at that point and conquered the old Arab heartland from the
Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean, then conquered Egypt, eliminating
the mamluk dynasty from history, and then went on expanding west along
the North African coast.
At their apogee, during the reign of the sixteenth century Suleiman the
Magnificent (the title Europeans gave him-among his own he usually
wore the honorific of Suleiman the Lawgiver} the Ottoman empire proba-
bly ranked as the world greatest power. It straddled Europe and Asia, it
possessed both Rome (i.e., Constantinople} and Mecca, not to mention
Cairo; and its monarch ruled over more people and more territory than
any other. No wonder the Ottoman ruler began to call himself khalifa. No
one disputed the title. Of course, that's partly because no one thought it
worth disputing. The title had only ceremonial significance by this time,
but still it's worth noting that the Ottoman emperor claimed the two most
important titles of universal authority in Islam: for the first time in history
khalifa and sultan were the same man. For the ordinary Muslim citizen,
this meant that surely history was moving forward again: the Umma was
back on track to becoming the global community.
THE SAFAVIDS (906-1 I 38 AH)
"Khalifa'' and "sultan" were not, however, the only titles of universal au-
thority in Islam: there was also "imam," as understood by that other sect
of Muslims, the Shi'i-which brings us to the Safavids of Persia, the ones
who blocked Ottoman expansion eastward.
The Safavids came to power in a most unusual way. Their roots go back
to a Sufi brotherhood that took shape just after the Mongol eruption. The
order coalesced in northern Persia around a spiritual master named Sheikh
Safi al-Din and came to be known as the Safavids.
For three generations, this brotherhood functioned pretty much like
any other Sufi order of the time: it was a peaceful, apolitical group that
offered spiritual companionship and a refuge from the turmoil of the
world. But then the order began to change. For one thing, when the third
sheikh died, his son became the new sheikh, and when he died, his son,