The Crisis of Religious Identity in Sixteenth Century Central Asia

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Aziza Shanazarova

The religio-political milieu in sixteenth century Central Asia was a time of contestation

between various power-hungry groups, including the newly founded Sunni

Shibanid and Shiʿi Safavid houses. Post-Timurid Central Asia went through a process

of reformulation and reassertion of Sunni identity in response to the promotion of

the forceful militant Shiʿism by the Safavids. The public proclamation of pro-ʿAlid

sentiments that had been propagated by the Timurids became dangerous when the

veneration of ʿAlī and his descendants became associated with sympathies toward

the Shiʿi Safavids. Although the militant Shiʿi Safavid state rapidly became a major

political threat for its neighboring regions, the gradual conversion of the majority

Sunni population of Iran to Shiʿism under the Safavid rule led to even greater intimidation

for Sunni Central Asia from a religious standpoint.

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