Key Terms

caliphate

an area under the control of a Muslim ruler called a caliph

caravansary

an inn funded by the state or wealthy individuals where travelers could spend the night and store their goods securely

devshirme

the system of recruiting Christian boys from the Balkans to be enslaved, converted to Islam, and trained to serve the Ottoman sultan

dhimmi

a non-Muslim living under Muslim rule

hajj

the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca

millet system

the system through which non-Muslim religious communities were allowed to regulate their internal affairs according to their own religious laws

sharia

Islamic religious law

Sultanate of Women

the period between the tenure of Hurrem Sultan in the mid-fifteenth century and the late seventeenth century, during which wives and mothers of the sultan were able to exert political power and influence at court

Twelvers

members of a large Shia sect who believe the twelfth imam, Muhammad al-Mahdi, will return, along with Jesus, to defeat evil on earth

ulama

a class of religious clerics and scholars who act as the primary interpreters of Islamic law

ummah

the community of Muslims