Why the Ottoman Empire and the Safavid Empire Became Rivals
Between the 16th and 18th centuries, the Ottoman Empire and the Safavid Empire were in a near-constant state of competition. As the two largest Muslim-majority empires in the Middle East (the Ottoman power base was Anatolia, and the Safavids were located in Persia/Iran), the nature of their rivalry was largely religious. However, it also had a pure geopolitical and economic component. Exploring the individual elements of this competition reveals nuances about early modern Islamic history, the broader Middle East, and Europe.
Religious Differences
Sultan Ahmed Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey.
The clearest source of rivalry between the Ottomans and the Safavids was religion. The Ottoman Empire was a Sunni Muslim state. Adherents to Sunni Islam believe that the global Muslim community should choose the spiritual and political leader of Islam. After the death of the Prophet Muhammad, they accepted Abu Bakr, Muhammad’s close friend and companion, as his successor. The Safavids, by contrast, established Shia Islam, specifically Twelver Shi’ism, as the state religion. Shias believe that leadership should remain within Muhammad’s family and accept Ali ibn Abi Talib, Muhammad’s cousin and son-in-law, as the first successor. They therefore hold that Ali’s descendants should lead the global Muslim community.
These differences affected Ottoman-Safavid relations in several ways. Significant parts of the population in the eastern Ottoman Empire, the region bordering Safavid territory, were either Shia or sympathetic toward Shiism, and Safavid rulers at times encouraged Shia unrest within Ottoman lands. The Safavids viewed the Ottomans as illegitimate leaders and also faced Ottoman-backed Sunni opposition inside their own borders. These factors, combined with disagreement over Muhammad’s successor, served as central motivations in the rivalry between the Sunni Ottomans and the Shia Safavids.
Geopolitics
Other concerns also influenced the Ottoman-Safavid competition. Each empire sought control over Anatolia, the Caucasus, and Mesopotamia. These regions mattered for several reasons. They opened key trading routes that supported economic growth, contained important holy cities for Shia Islam such as Najaf and Karbala, and functioned as buffers against invasion, making them strategically significant.
As a result, the empires existed in a near-constant state of war during the 16th and 17th centuries. This rivalry also produced periodic diplomatic contacts and attempted understandings with European powers opposed to one side or the other, including the Habsburgs, who shared a rivalry with the Ottomans. Over the long term, territorial control changed little. The Ottomans retained dominance over most of Anatolia and much of Mesopotamia, while the Safavids maintained substantial holdings in the Caucasus and western Iran. Mesopotamia remained a contested zone in repeated conflicts.
Economic Competition
Economic factors also contributed to the Ottoman-Safavid rivalry. Since each empire sat between Europe and eastern Asia, they competed for influence over Eurasian trade. The Ottomans attempted to limit Safavid prosperity by restricting trade routes used by Safavid silk merchants and at times banning commerce with Persia altogether. These policies aimed to weaken the Safavid economy. In response, the Safavids redirected trade through the Caucasus and the Persian Gulf to bypass Ottoman-controlled Anatolia and developed new commercial relationships with European powers such as the English and the Dutch.
Despite these efforts, geographic proximity meant that the empires remained economically connected. Merchants near the Ottoman-Safavid border often ignored political and religious divisions, and cross-border trade, including smuggling, continued to play an important role in the regional economy. Neither empire achieved dominance over Eurasian trade. Increased European reliance on sea routes reduced the effectiveness of land-based trade restrictions, and internal pressures eventually drew greater attention than competition for economic supremacy.
Lasting Borders and Sectarian Divisions
The Ottoman-Safavid rivalry produced long-term consequences. It helped shape borders that still influence the Middle East, particularly through the 1639 Treaty of Zuhab, which established a frontier resembling the modern boundary between Turkey and Iran. The rivalry also reinforced divisions between Sunni and Shia Islam by formalizing sectarian identity as state policy in each empire. This competition contributed to the formation of a Safavid, and later Iranian, national identity by pairing a defined border with a distinct state religion. These outcomes explain why the Ottoman-Safavid rivalry continues to hold historical importance.
