LCA 266 EXAM QUESTIONS AND
CORRECT ANSWERS (ALREADY
GRADED A+)
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, what was the outstanding military unit in
Europe?
A) Janissaries
B) Sipahis
C) Gazis
D) Safavid standing armies - Answer ✔ A) Janissaries
How were the Ottomans able to administer their diverse peoples with a minimum of
resistance?
A) They never allowed local or communal-level religious systems to emerge within the
Ottoman Empire
B) They strongly restricted religious freedom for non-Muslim subjects
C) They permitted non-Muslim subjects to retain their religious laws, education systems,
and communal leadership
D) They threatened to implement harsh economic sanctions on entire groups, thus
acquiring the begrudging support of those groups - Answer ✔ C) They permitted non-
Muslim subjects to retain their religious laws, education systems, and communal
leadership
Which of the following statements is the most accurate regarding the standing of the
entire religious establishment within the Ottoman Empire?
A) All offices within the religious establishment operated autonomously of the
bureaucratic and military arms of the empire
B) The entire religious establishment held office at the pleasure of the sultan
,C) Most offices—the shaykh al-Islam and qadis—within the religious establishment
enjoyed broad authority and independence
D) The ulama did not inhabit a respected place in Ottoman society - Answer ✔ B) The
entire religious establishment held office at the pleasure of the sultan
Which of the following was not true for French merchants after the Ottoman Empire
signed the first Capitulation agreement with France in 1536?
A) French merchants were granted permission to trade freely in Ottoman ports
B) French merchants were exempted from Ottoman taxes
C) French merchants were charged low tariff rates for import and export goods.
D) French merchants were subject to Ottoman-Islamic law - Answer ✔ D) French
merchants were subject to Ottoman-Islamic law
The penetration of European merchant capital into the Ottoman Empire—specifically,
the exchange of Ottoman raw materials to Europe for manufactured products—resulted
in a shortage of raw materials for domestic consumption and ___________.
A) inflation
B) increased state revenues
C) severed trade deals with regional neighbors
D) None of these answers is correct - Answer ✔ D) None of these answers is correct
Which of the following does NOT describe the Capitulations?
A) A series of agreements that facilitated the penetration of European goods into the
Ottoman Empire
B) A series of agreements that allowed European merchants to freely trade in the
Ottoman Empire and be exempt from Ottoman taxes
C) A series of agreements that granted Europeans extraterritorial legal privileges in
Ottoman territories
D) A series of agreements that granted Europeans exclusive rights to prospect oil in
the Ottoman Empire - Answer ✔ A) A series of agreements that facilitated the
penetration of European goods into the Ottoman Empire
,Which of the following most accurately describes gaza?
A) The Muslim obligation to give charity (alms) to the less fortunate
B) Warfare against non-Muslims for the purpose of extending domains of Islam
C) A system through which non-Muslims were allowed to practice their own religions,
but were forced to pay a tax
D) The mechanism through which future Ottoman soldiers and bureaucrats were
levied from European provinces of the Empire - Answer ✔ B) Warfare against non-
Muslims for the purpose of extending domains of Islam
Despite the remarkable successes of the Ottoman expansion of the fourteenth to
sixteenth centuries, which of the following remained outside of the empire's reach?
A) The holy cities of Mecca and Medina in the Hijaz
B) Baghdad and the Persian Gulf
C) The Iberian Peninsula
D) All of the answers are correct - Answer ✔ C) The Iberian Peninsula
Which of the following most accurately describes the Janissaries?
A) Provincial cavalrymen who were freeborn Muslims that performed administrative as
well as military functions
B) A slave army that was paid a regular salary and expected to be ready for military
duty at all times
C) A mercenary force of North Africans who "followed the Ottoman standard not for
God, but for gold and glory"
D) A force of Christians who were procured as children from European provinces of
the empire - Answer ✔ B) A slave army that was paid a regular salary and expected to
be ready for military duty at all times
Isma'il made which religion the official religion of the Safavid Empire?
A) Shi'a Islam
B) Sunni Islam
C) Zoroastrianism
, D) Christianity - Answer ✔ A) Shi'a Islam
Who were known as the "Red-headed ones?"
A. The Safavid Shi'a Imams, who donned red skull caps to signify reverence to God
B. The Sunni Turkish tribal forces who began the Safavid Empire's first military
conquests
C. Followers of the Sufi Sunni brotherhood founded in Azerbaijan
D. They were both Turkish tribal forces and followers of the Sufi Sunni brotherhood
founded in Azerbaijan - Answer ✔ D. They were both Turkish tribal forces and followers
of the Sufi Sunni brotherhood
founded in Azerbaijan
Which of the following were the two dominant cosmopolitan centers of commerce, art,
and intellect in the Middle East in the late 1500s and late 1600s, respectively?
A. Istanbul and Isfahan
B. Isfahan and Istanbul
C. Istanbul and Cairo
D. Istanbul and Baghdad - Answer ✔ B. Isfahan and Istanbul
Islam reached the limit of its expansion during the classical Abbasid Empire.
A) True
B) False - Answer ✔ B) False
Before its collapse in 1736, the Safavid Empire of Iran established Sunni Islam as the
state religion.
A) True
B) False - Answer ✔ B) False
Karbala, the site of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn, made Iraq an important place for
Sunni Muslims.
A) True
CORRECT ANSWERS (ALREADY
GRADED A+)
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, what was the outstanding military unit in
Europe?
A) Janissaries
B) Sipahis
C) Gazis
D) Safavid standing armies - Answer ✔ A) Janissaries
How were the Ottomans able to administer their diverse peoples with a minimum of
resistance?
A) They never allowed local or communal-level religious systems to emerge within the
Ottoman Empire
B) They strongly restricted religious freedom for non-Muslim subjects
C) They permitted non-Muslim subjects to retain their religious laws, education systems,
and communal leadership
D) They threatened to implement harsh economic sanctions on entire groups, thus
acquiring the begrudging support of those groups - Answer ✔ C) They permitted non-
Muslim subjects to retain their religious laws, education systems, and communal
leadership
Which of the following statements is the most accurate regarding the standing of the
entire religious establishment within the Ottoman Empire?
A) All offices within the religious establishment operated autonomously of the
bureaucratic and military arms of the empire
B) The entire religious establishment held office at the pleasure of the sultan
,C) Most offices—the shaykh al-Islam and qadis—within the religious establishment
enjoyed broad authority and independence
D) The ulama did not inhabit a respected place in Ottoman society - Answer ✔ B) The
entire religious establishment held office at the pleasure of the sultan
Which of the following was not true for French merchants after the Ottoman Empire
signed the first Capitulation agreement with France in 1536?
A) French merchants were granted permission to trade freely in Ottoman ports
B) French merchants were exempted from Ottoman taxes
C) French merchants were charged low tariff rates for import and export goods.
D) French merchants were subject to Ottoman-Islamic law - Answer ✔ D) French
merchants were subject to Ottoman-Islamic law
The penetration of European merchant capital into the Ottoman Empire—specifically,
the exchange of Ottoman raw materials to Europe for manufactured products—resulted
in a shortage of raw materials for domestic consumption and ___________.
A) inflation
B) increased state revenues
C) severed trade deals with regional neighbors
D) None of these answers is correct - Answer ✔ D) None of these answers is correct
Which of the following does NOT describe the Capitulations?
A) A series of agreements that facilitated the penetration of European goods into the
Ottoman Empire
B) A series of agreements that allowed European merchants to freely trade in the
Ottoman Empire and be exempt from Ottoman taxes
C) A series of agreements that granted Europeans extraterritorial legal privileges in
Ottoman territories
D) A series of agreements that granted Europeans exclusive rights to prospect oil in
the Ottoman Empire - Answer ✔ A) A series of agreements that facilitated the
penetration of European goods into the Ottoman Empire
,Which of the following most accurately describes gaza?
A) The Muslim obligation to give charity (alms) to the less fortunate
B) Warfare against non-Muslims for the purpose of extending domains of Islam
C) A system through which non-Muslims were allowed to practice their own religions,
but were forced to pay a tax
D) The mechanism through which future Ottoman soldiers and bureaucrats were
levied from European provinces of the Empire - Answer ✔ B) Warfare against non-
Muslims for the purpose of extending domains of Islam
Despite the remarkable successes of the Ottoman expansion of the fourteenth to
sixteenth centuries, which of the following remained outside of the empire's reach?
A) The holy cities of Mecca and Medina in the Hijaz
B) Baghdad and the Persian Gulf
C) The Iberian Peninsula
D) All of the answers are correct - Answer ✔ C) The Iberian Peninsula
Which of the following most accurately describes the Janissaries?
A) Provincial cavalrymen who were freeborn Muslims that performed administrative as
well as military functions
B) A slave army that was paid a regular salary and expected to be ready for military
duty at all times
C) A mercenary force of North Africans who "followed the Ottoman standard not for
God, but for gold and glory"
D) A force of Christians who were procured as children from European provinces of
the empire - Answer ✔ B) A slave army that was paid a regular salary and expected to
be ready for military duty at all times
Isma'il made which religion the official religion of the Safavid Empire?
A) Shi'a Islam
B) Sunni Islam
C) Zoroastrianism
, D) Christianity - Answer ✔ A) Shi'a Islam
Who were known as the "Red-headed ones?"
A. The Safavid Shi'a Imams, who donned red skull caps to signify reverence to God
B. The Sunni Turkish tribal forces who began the Safavid Empire's first military
conquests
C. Followers of the Sufi Sunni brotherhood founded in Azerbaijan
D. They were both Turkish tribal forces and followers of the Sufi Sunni brotherhood
founded in Azerbaijan - Answer ✔ D. They were both Turkish tribal forces and followers
of the Sufi Sunni brotherhood
founded in Azerbaijan
Which of the following were the two dominant cosmopolitan centers of commerce, art,
and intellect in the Middle East in the late 1500s and late 1600s, respectively?
A. Istanbul and Isfahan
B. Isfahan and Istanbul
C. Istanbul and Cairo
D. Istanbul and Baghdad - Answer ✔ B. Isfahan and Istanbul
Islam reached the limit of its expansion during the classical Abbasid Empire.
A) True
B) False - Answer ✔ B) False
Before its collapse in 1736, the Safavid Empire of Iran established Sunni Islam as the
state religion.
A) True
B) False - Answer ✔ B) False
Karbala, the site of the martyrdom of Imam Husayn, made Iraq an important place for
Sunni Muslims.
A) True
