The Jews and Christians in the region were at first probably ambivalent, if not indifferent or hostile, to the change in the dyn
astic succession from Marnluk to Ottoman sultans who exercised sovereignty over their lives, but their fortunes were about to improve under the new regime. The Ottoman sultans were still winning victories
against European armies on the battlefield, and the presence of Christians so distant from the war zone in Central Europe must not have felt particularly threatening or
Indeed important (beyond the collection of their taxes) to most Ottoman officials posted in the Arab lands. In the case of the Sephardic Jews, the Ottoman sultans
welcomed them into their realm as potentially revenue-producing subjects. Most importantly, the political tradition honored by the Ottoman sultans was to grant
autonomy to the various religious groups of their empire. This afforded the Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Middle East fairly wide ranging freedoms and allowed
them to recover some of the losses they had endured under the Mamluks, including the right to repair damaged churches and synagogues and, in a few cases,
permission to build new ones."
Jewish communities from the Iberian Peninsula who were forced to leave
after the Christian reconquest of what became Spain and Portugal
Bruce Masters, historian, Christians and Jews in the Ottoman Arab World book published in 2001
Which of the following would a historian most likely cite as evidence in support of the author's argument in the second paragraph of the passage?
A: The Ottoman millet system, an arrangement designed to utilize the economic contributions of non-Muslim groups within the empire while granting
them limited autonomy to organize their communal affairs under their own religious leaders
B: The Ottoman practice of devshirme, a military levy of Christian boys who would be converted to Islam and trained as Ottoman Janissary soldiers or
bureaucrats in state service
C: The Ottoman practice of farming out the collection of taxes to local private individuals (some of them non-Muslim), because of the shortage of
trained government financial officials
D: The Ottoman sultans continued powers of granting final approval for any high-ranking appointment of a non-Muslim religious leader, including the
power to approve patriarchs and bishops of the various Christian communities and chief rabbis of the Jewish community
Answer: A: The Ottoman millet system, an arrangement designed to utilize the economic contributions of non-Muslim groups within the empire while granting them limited autonomy to organize their communal affairs under their own religious leaders
Explanation:
The second paragraph talks about how the Ottomans welcomed other groups into their areas as potentially revenue-producing subjects and allowed them wide-ranging freedoms. The best support for this would be the Millet System.
By this system, the Ottomans allowed Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities the right to govern themselves provided them accept Ottoman superiority. This drew more people into the empire and allowed the Ottomans to benefit from the economic contributions of these groups.
